Category Archives: chicanery

Trump Jr. Appears to Acknowledge He Knew Meeting with Russians to Get “Dirt” on Clinton Raised Legal Questions

September 7, 2017, 8:42 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Donald Trump Jr. told Senate investigators on Thursday that he set up a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer because he was intrigued that she might have damaging information about Hillary Clinton, saying it was important to learn… Continue reading

Would Russian Paid Facebook Ads to Help Elect Trump Be Illegal?

September 6, 2017, 2:18 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Today’s news reveals that Facebook got money, likely from sources connected to the Russian government, to spend ads likely intended to benefit Trump’s election. Is this illegal? The issue is complicated and below I reproduce a footnote from my Cheap … Continue reading

“Facebook says it sold political ads to Russian company during 2016 election”

September 6, 2017, 1:10 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that it has discovered it sold ads during the U.S. presidential election to a shadowy Russian company seeking to target voters, according to several people familiar with the company’s findings. Facebook officials… Continue reading

“Congress Can Help Prevent Election Hacking”

September 6, 2017, 7:20 amchicanery, election administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

Michael Chertoff oped in the WSJ: American voters received yet another rude awakening last month. Chicago’s Board of Elections reported that names, addresses, birth dates and other sensitive information about the city’s 1.8 million registered voters had been exposed on… Continue reading

“Cash-strapped states brace for Russian hacking fight”

September 5, 2017, 7:09 amchicanery, election administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Politico: The U.S. needs hundreds of millions of dollars to protect future elections from hackers — but neither the states nor Congress is rushing to fill the gap. Instead, a nation still squabbling over the role Russian cyberattacks played in… Continue reading

Today’s Must-Read in NYT: “Russian Election Hacking Efforts, Wider Than Previously Known, Draw Little Scrutiny”

September 1, 2017, 11:51 amchicanery, election administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

NYT: After a presidential campaign scarred by Russian meddling, local, state and federal agencies have conducted little of the type of digital forensic investigation required to assess the impact, if any, on voting in at least 21 states whose election… Continue reading

“Former Walker Aide, Target in John Doe Probe, Loses Seventh Circuit Appeal”

August 30, 2017, 8:18 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

WisBar News: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that Cynthia Archer, a former aide to Gov. Scott Walker, cannot pursue claims against six Milwaukee prosecutors and investigators who targeted her in a John Doe probe.… Continue reading

“Cyber experts were blocked in their push to patch voting systems in 2016”

August 29, 2017, 10:33 pmchicanery, election administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Troubling McClatchy report: They knew Russian operatives might try to tamper with the nation’s electronic voting systems. Many people inside the U.S. government and the Obama White House knew. In the summer of 2016, a cluster of volunteers on a… Continue reading

“U.S. state election officials still in the dark on Russian hacking”

August 25, 2017, 7:42 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Reuters: The federal government has not notified U.S. state election officials if their voting systems were targeted by suspected Russian hackers during the 2016 presidential campaign, and the information will likely never be made public, a top state election chief… Continue reading

“Lobbyist at Trump Campaign Meeting Has a Web of Russian Connections”

August 21, 2017, 7:15 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT deep dive: Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian immigrant who met last summer with senior Trump campaign officials, has often struck colleagues as a classic Washington mercenary — loyal to his wife, his daughter and his bank account. He avoided work… Continue reading

“Trump’s Son In Crosshairs Of Special Counsel Mueller”

August 21, 2017, 6:53 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

BuzzFeed reports.

“Seattle candidate accused of defrauding first-in-nation democracy-voucher program”

August 18, 2017, 10:44 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Seattle Times: Seattle police are investigating a City Council campaign after an allegation that it tried to defraud Seattle’s first-in-the-nation, taxpayer-funded “democracy voucher” program. The police inquiry comes after a former campaign manager for Sheley Secrestwent to city… Continue reading

“At Senator Menendez’s Trial, Stakes Are High for Democrats”

August 17, 2017, 10:23 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Shane Goldmacher for the NYT: If Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, is convicted and then expelled from the United States Senate by early January, his replacement would be picked by Gov. Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey and an… Continue reading