Category Archives: chicanery

Should We Be Worried About Russian Interference in the 2020 Elections? Reasons for Comfort, Reasons for Concern, and BIG Reasons for More Early Voting

October 22, 2020, 3:57 pmchicanery, voting technologyRick Hasen

By Richard L. Hasen The latest murky revelations from U.S. intelligence officials that Russian government operatives are probing state voter registration databases as they did in 2016 raises the question: is this all they’ve got? Why aren’t the Russians doing… Continue reading

“Trump Campaign Draws Rebuke for Surveilling Philadelphia Voters”

October 22, 2020, 2:30 pmchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: The Trump campaign has been videotaping Philadelphia voters while they deposit their ballots in drop boxes, leading Pennsylvania’s attorney general to warn this week that the campaign’s actions fall outside of permitted poll watching practices and could amount to… Continue reading

“Md. elections officials say video’s allegation of ballot fraud is untrue. But it’s already gone viral.”

October 21, 2020, 9:14 pmcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Elections officials in Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction held an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss a viral video alleging that an election worker attempted to tamper with a mailed-in ballot.A thorough investigation revealed no evidence of fraud or misconduct,… Continue reading

Florida: “Armed guards at St. Pete early voting site told deputies they were hired by Trump campaign, election officials say”

October 21, 2020, 8:37 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

WFLA: Two armed guards set up in a tent outside an early voting location in downtown St. Petersburg claiming to be with the Trump campaign, according to Julie Marcus, the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections.“The Sheriff [Bob Gualtieri] told… Continue reading

“Threatening emails to Democratic voters spark investigations in Florida and Alaska”

October 20, 2020, 8:46 pmcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Authorities in Florida and Alaska on Tuesday were investigating threatening emails sent to Democratic voters that claimed to be from the Proud Boys, a far-right group supportive of President Trump, but appeared instead to be a deceptive campaign making… Continue reading

“Federal lawsuit filed to halt firm hiring armed guards for Minnesota polling sites”

October 20, 2020, 4:41 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

The Star-Tribune reports.

California Ballot Drop Box Targeted in Possible Arson

October 19, 2020, 10:08 amchicaneryRick Hasen

This is terrible and these boxes are designed to make this difficult to do. People interfering with ballots like this can face felony charges.

“Trump Campaign Lawyers Are Aiding a Leading Proponent of QAnon”

October 16, 2020, 12:27 pmchicanery, election law bizRick Hasen

NYT: Senior lawyers for the Trump campaign set up a small law firm last year that is working for Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican House candidate in Georgia with a history of promoting QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory.While… Continue reading

“White House was warned Giuliani was target of Russian intelligence operation to feed misinformation to Trump”

October 15, 2020, 7:02 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House last year that President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence, according to four former officials familiar with the matter.The warnings were… Continue reading

“Learning From Paterson’s Election Scandal to Prevent Voter Fraud”

October 15, 2020, 9:38 amchicaneryRick Hasen

NBC News New York video report: Recent election fraud problems in Paterson are being used by President Trump to question vote-by-mail ballots, but election experts say the problems there are the exception rather than the rule. NBC New York’s… Continue reading

“Microsoft Takes Down a Risk to the Election, and Finds the U.S. Doing the Same”

October 12, 2020, 9:35 amchicanery, voting technologyRick Hasen

NYT: Microsoft and a team of companies and law enforcement groups have disabled — at least temporarily — one of the world’s largest hacking operations, an effort run by Russian-speaking cybercriminals that officials feared could disrupt the presidential election in… Continue reading

“Intelligence chief briefed lawmakers of foreign influence threats to Congress”

October 9, 2020, 9:37 amchicaneryRick Hasen

The Hill: The nation’s top intelligence official briefed lawmakers last month that foreign influence campaigns targeting Congress were more expansive than previously known, but a lack of specifics has left some with questions, multiple sources tell The Hill.Director of National… Continue reading

“Elliott Broidy, a Top Trump Fund-Raiser, Charged in Foreign Influence Case”

October 8, 2020, 8:23 pmchicanery, lobbyingRick Hasen

NYT: The details of the accusations against Mr. Broidy are especially striking: They include a promised $75 million success fee from Mr. Low and discussions about arranging for Malaysia’s prime minister to play golf with Mr. Trump. But they follow… Continue reading

“Facebook bans marketing firm running ‘troll farm’ for pro-Trump youth group”

October 8, 2020, 10:19 amcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Facebook said Thursday it will permanently ban from its platform an Arizona-based marketing firm running what experts described as a domestic “troll farm” — in a probe of the deceptive behavior prompted by a Washington Post article last month.The… Continue reading