Category Archives: chicanery

“A MAGA Troll’s Memes Were Blatant Disinformation. But Were They a Crime?”

April 4, 2024, 2:32 pmchicanery, First Amendment theoryRick Hasen

The Intercept reports on the Mackey appeal; oral argument is Friday morning. Here’s my earlier Slate piece on the case; and here’s my amicus brief with Protect Democracy and Yale’s MFIA Clinic.

“Jeffrey Clark’s bid to aid Trump election scheme violated attorney rules, DC Bar panel finds”

April 4, 2024, 1:42 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Politico: A disciplinary panel in Washington has found that Jeffrey Clark, a former high-ranking Justice Department official, violated ethics rules for lawyers in his attempt to aid Donald Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election. The three-member disciplinary committee determined… Continue reading

“A Reversal Cannot Undo the Damage Caused by This Voting Fraud Case”

April 4, 2024, 10:49 amchicaneryRick Hasen

Gregory Nolan NYT oped: When a Texas appeals court reversed itself last week and acquitted Crystal Mason, a mother of three, in a voting fraud case, it ended almost a decade in which Ms. Mason lived in fear of… Continue reading

“Democratic tactics against RFK Jr. are rattling his campaign”

April 4, 2024, 7:28 amballot access, chicaneryRick Hasen

Politico: A billboard truck paid for by the DNC has been circling Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign events. Protesters picketed his vice presidential announcement rally. The website’s grassroots organizing forum was flooded with fake, provocative event pages. And a job… Continue reading

My New One at Slate: “2016 Election Fraudster ‘Ricky Vaughn’ Might Finally Be About to Face the Music”

April 1, 2024, 7:16 amcheap speech, chicanery, First Amendment theoryRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. it begins: On Friday, a federal appeals court in New York will consider a case with key implications for the 2024 election. At issue is whether it violates federal law to trick… Continue reading

“China’s Advancing Efforts to Influence the U.S. Election Raise Alarms”

April 1, 2024, 7:11 amcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Covert Chinese accounts are masquerading online as American supporters of former President Donald J. Trump, promoting conspiracy theories, stoking domestic divisions and attacking President Biden ahead of the election in November, according to researchers and government officials. The accounts… Continue reading

“GOP official who claimed 2020 election was stolen voted illegally 9 times, judge rules”

March 28, 2024, 2:54 pmchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WaPo: Georgia Republican official who pushed false claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” was found to have voted illegally nine times, a judge ruled this week. Brian Pritchard, first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, was ordered to… Continue reading

“Eastman disciplinary case probably not going to the California Supreme Court just yet”

March 28, 2024, 12:19 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

David Ettinger explains the procedures, including how the case could end up at SCOTUS.

“A Georgia man created a tool to challenge voter registrations. Trump’s allies may use it.”

March 27, 2024, 7:05 amchicanery, fraudulent fraud squad, voter registrationRick Hasen

USA Today: Election deniers and allies of former President Donald Trump want to help regular citizens ask election officials to clean the voter rolls. That effort has alarmed experts who worry that local government workers will be inundated with requests… Continue reading

“How Trump Moved Money to Pay $100 Million in Legal Bills”

March 27, 2024, 7:03 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump has spent more than $100 million since leaving office, on lawyers and other costs related to fending off various investigations, indictments and his coming criminal trials, according to a New York Times review of… Continue reading

California: “A Central Valley politician was charged with voter fraud. Right-wing conspiracies took over”

March 19, 2024, 5:46 pmabsentee ballots, chicaneryRick Hasen

LA Times: Hicks, a real estate agent from Lodi, believes California’s universal vote-by-mail process is fraught with fraud risks, echoing unfounded messaging from the far right that election officials nationwide have worked to combat since Donald Trump and his allies… Continue reading

“Some states are fighting to protect voters from doxxing. They’re losing.”

March 17, 2024, 12:09 pmchicanery, election administrationRick Hasen

See this piece from Politico, with the subhed: “As state leaders move to protect voter data in the interest of privacy, a conservative transparency campaign is winning a battle to put it all on the internet.”

Must-read NYT Deep Dive that Helps Explain SCOTUS Argument Monday in Murthy v. Missouri: “How Trump’s Allies Are Winning the War Over Disinformation”

March 17, 2024, 12:04 pmcheap speech, chicanery, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

It’s a complex story because concern about government jawboning is real but the mendacious attack on those who fought disinformation in the 2020 election is having major reverberations for 2024. Jim Rutenberg and Steven Lee Myers lay it all out:… Continue reading

Quote of the Day

March 15, 2024, 10:20 amchicaneryRick Hasen

“They should be getting insurance. They should be filing lawsuits, and getting injunctions in place to make sure that all the state legislatures, election rules are being followed strictly. And that they’re not being waived because of COVID or Chinese… Continue reading