Category Archives: chicanery

“QAnon adherents discussed posing as National Guard to try to infiltrate inauguration, according to FBI intelligence briefing”

January 18, 2021, 7:47 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: The FBI privately warned law enforcement agencies Monday that far-right extremists have discussed posing as National Guard members in Washington and others have reviewed maps of vulnerable spots in the city — signs of potential efforts to disrupt Wednesday’s… Continue reading

Jonathan Swan’s “Off the Rails” Series Describes How Dangerous and Bonkers Election Fraud Theories Swirled Around the President

January 18, 2021, 9:37 amchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

From Episode 3 of Axios’s must-read “Off the Rails” series: President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office one day in late November when a call came in from lawyer Sidney Powell. “Ugh, Sidney,” he told the staff in the… Continue reading

“How Republicans Are Warping Reality Around the Capitol Attack”

January 17, 2021, 3:08 pmchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: Immediately after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, all corners of the political spectrum repudiated the mob of President Trump’s supporters. Yet within days, prominent Republicans, party officials, conservative media voices and rank-and-file voters began making a rhetorical shift… Continue reading

“Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump”

January 16, 2021, 4:19 pmcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Online misinformation about election fraud plunged 73 percent after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week, research firm Zignal Labs has found, underscoring the power of tech companies to limit the falsehoods poisoning public… Continue reading

“Progressive group urges corporations to halt donations to conservative Federalist Society after riot”

January 16, 2021, 3:24 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

CNBC: A progressive group is urging corporations to stop contributing to the Federalist Society after one of the conservative legal organization’s leaders was featured at last week’s rally that preceded the deadly riot on Capitol Hill.Demand Justice told CNBC that… Continue reading

“Nonprofits helped organize the pro-Trump rally before the Capitol siege – but they probably won’t suffer any consequences”

January 16, 2021, 3:01 pmchicanery, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

The Conversation: Editor’s note: Some of the money used to organize the Jan. 6 pro-Trump “March to Save America” came from social welfare groups. One of them, Women for America First, notably obtained a permit from the… Continue reading

Remember that Luzerne County Thrown-Away Military Ballots Issue? “A Pennsylvania election probe that Trump falsely touted as a sign of vote-rigging ended without charges”

January 16, 2021, 2:55 pmabsentee ballots, chicaneryRick Hasen

Philly Inquirer: Federal prosecutors in Harrisburg announced Friday they had found “insufficient evidence” of a crime in an election investigation that President Donald Trump and his allies had repeatedly touted as a sign of vote-rigging in Pennsylvania.The case, involving … Continue reading

“Far-right groups make plans for protests and assaults before and after Inauguration Day”

January 14, 2021, 2:15 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: President Trump’s exhortation for his supporters to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6 has galvanized a nationwide extremist movement and fueled those determined to disrupt the transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden and violently challenge the legitimacy of… Continue reading

“A ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer, now banned by Twitter, said three GOP lawmakers helped plan his D.C. rally”

January 13, 2021, 7:11 amchicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Weeks before a mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, right-wing activist Ali Alexander told his followers he was planning something big for Jan. 6.Alexander, who organized the “Stop the Steal” movement, said he hatched the plan… Continue reading

“First it was ‘fraud,’ then they just didn’t like the rules: How Pa. Republicans justified trying to overturn an election”

January 13, 2021, 7:06 amchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Philly Inquirer: Yet the congressmen and others from Pennsylvania nevertheless spent months supporting the claim that widespread fraud, procedural decisions, or irregularities undermined the integrity of the election, lending their authority to the argument that the very foundation of… Continue reading

“State Capitols ‘on High Alert,’ Fearing More Violence”

January 12, 2021, 7:50 amchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Officials in state capitals across the country are bracing for a spillover from last week’s violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, with legislatures already becoming targets for protesters in the tense days around the inauguration of the incoming… Continue reading

“Fringe Groups Splinter Online After Facebook and Twitter Bans”

January 12, 2021, 7:48 amcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Social media has played a crucial role in the support of Mr. Trump since he announced his intention to run for president five years ago. And the rioters who attacked the Capitol last week did much of their planning… Continue reading

“Trump’s Effort To Overturn The Election Should Be Investigated Like 9/11”

January 10, 2021, 8:13 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

John Harris in Politico: No previous transition has raised similar doubts about whether the executive branch, including the military, is being run with a clear and lawful chain of command, with a psychologically competent individual at the top.It is imperative… Continue reading

“White House Forced Georgia U.S. Attorney to Resign”

January 9, 2021, 5:39 pmchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

WSJ: White House officials pushed Atlanta’s top federal prosecutor to resign before Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs because President Trump was upset he wasn’t doing enough to investigate the president’s unproven claims of election fraud, people familiar with the matter said.A… Continue reading

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