Category Archives: chicanery

“Woodward and Bernstein thought Nixon defined corruption. Then came Trump.”

June 5, 2022, 7:27 pmchicanery, election subversion riskRule of LawTabatha Abu El-Haj

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, in an exclusive Washington Post perspective piece, use Richard Nixon as a foil to reflect on Donald Trump’s continuing threat to democratic institutions. The heart of Nixon’s criminality was his successful subversion of the electoral… Continue reading

GOP Plans to Contest Swing-State Elections, on Tape

June 1, 2022, 5:26 amchicanery, Election Meltdown, election subversion risk, political polarizationTabatha Abu El-Haj

Politico’s Special Report describes the GOP plan for Michigan, which centers on recruiting activists primed to believe election fraud lies as poll workers and connecting them directly to movement lawyers. This appears to be the party’s playbook for other swing… Continue reading

States’ Concerted Efforts to Curb Election Misinformation

May 31, 2022, 5:17 amchicanery, election subversion risk2022 Election Cycle, StatesTabatha Abu El-Haj

Cecilia Kang, N.Y. Times, reports on efforts in several states to combat election misinformation in advance of November. The focus will be on unfounded rumors and lies about voting and election fraud. Connecticut “plans to spend nearly $2 million… Continue reading

“Lawyer Who Plotted to Overturn Trump Loss Recruits Election Deniers to Watch Over the Vote”

May 30, 2022, 7:17 amchicanery2020 Election ConspiraciesTabatha Abu El-Haj

In depth story by Alexandra Berzon in the NY Times on Cleta Mitchel’s mission to organizing a group of activists, recruited from right-wing organizations prone to conspiracy theories, “into an ‘army of citizens’ trained to aggressively monitor elections.”

NYT: Federal Grand Jury Looking at Trump Lawyers Eastman, Giuliani, Ellis in Connection with Fake Electors Scheme

May 25, 2022, 10:49 amchicanery, election subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: The Justice Department has stepped up its criminal investigation into the creation of alternate slates of pro-Trump electors seeking to overturn Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory in the 2020 election, with a particular focus on a team of… Continue reading

“Inside the push that landed a Trump legal adviser on a federal election advisory board”

May 22, 2022, 5:08 pmchicanery, Election Assistance Commission, Election Meltdown, election subversion riskTabatha Abu El-Haj

CNN reports on how individuals who promote baseless voter fraud claims have been promoted for seats on an Advisory Board to the Election Assistance Commission. “Emails obtained by CNN reveal how the push extended to a federal election advisory… Continue reading

“How Trump’s 2020 Election Lies Have Gripped State Legislatures”

May 22, 2022, 6:15 amchicanery, Election Meltdown, election subversion risk2020 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

N.Y. TImes has a new analysis of Trump’s hold over elected officials in the battle-ground states. Support for 2020 election lies is quite strong (44% overall), still the Times notes that it is not unchecked (yet). “The Times’s analysis also… Continue reading

New Fox Poll Shows Kemp with Comfortable Lead in Polls

May 19, 2022, 5:20 amchicanery, Election Meltdown, election subversion riskTabatha Abu El-Haj

A new Fox News poll shows Republican primary voters supporting Brian Kemp by wide-margins. This strikes me as going to the point that it is easier to distrust “other” people’s election systems than one’s own. Even in a swing state,… Continue reading

“Georgia county under scrutiny after claim of post-election breach”

May 13, 2022, 7:10 amchicanery, election subversion risk, voting technologyRick Hasen

WaPo: A former elections supervisor in rural Coffee County, Ga., has told The Washington Post that she opened her offices to a businessman active in the election-denier movement to help investigate results she did not trust in the… Continue reading

“Sussmann trial to test credibility of controversial figures from 2016”

May 12, 2022, 7:00 amchicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: After five years of accusations, investigations and recriminations, a federal jury will soon grapple with one of the legal hangovers of the 2016 presidential campaign: the trial of a politically connected lawyer charged with lying when he brought the… Continue reading

“‘Audit’ records show Cyber Ninjas went deep into debt, despite pro-Trump donations”

May 11, 2022, 3:57 pmchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

AZ Mirror: Newly released documents by the watchdog group American Oversight show that the Arizona Senate’s partisan review of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County went over its proposed budget and spent more money than it had available… Continue reading

John Eastman Proposed that Pennsylvania Legislators Do Some Creative Math About Ballot Fraud to “Provide Some Cover” for Appointing an Alternative Slate of Electors to Help Trump Steal Election

May 11, 2022, 6:44 amchicanery, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Politico on how the Eastman revelations get worse and worse: Attorney John Eastman urged Republican legislators in Pennsylvania to retabulate the state’s popular vote — and throw out tens of thousands of absentee ballots — in order to show… Continue reading

“Three Friends Chatting: How the Steele Dossier Was Created”

May 10, 2022, 6:56 amchicaneryRick Hasen

WSJ: Hours after the publication in early 2017 of a dossier claiming President-elect Donald Trump conspired with Russia to steer the U.S. election, a public relations executive in Washington tapped out an email to a client whose company was cited… Continue reading

“Inside Mark Meadows’s final push to keep Trump in power”

May 9, 2022, 6:44 amchicanery, election subversion riskRick Hasen

WaPo: A review of Meadows’s actions in that periodby The Washington Post — based on interviews, depositions, text messages, emails, congressional documents, recently published memoirs by key players and other material — showshowMeadows played a pivotal role in advancing… Continue reading