Category Archives: chicanery

“Indictment Details How Emirates Sought Influence in 2016 Campaign”

December 5, 2019, 8:13 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: The indictment accused Mr. Nader of funneling more than $3.5 million in illicit campaign donations through Mr. Khawaja to buy access and influence in Washington — initially with Mrs. Clinton and her Democratic allies during the 2016 campaign, and… Continue reading

Kentucky Governor Bevin Makes Unsupported Voter Fraud Charges Again, This Time with a Racist Dog Whistle

December 4, 2019, 9:45 amchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WFPL: During a series of interviews on talk radio shows Wednesday morning, outgoing Republican Gov. Matt Bevin said that he lost his race for reelection because the Democratic Party “harvested votes in urban communities.”… “They were able to go into… Continue reading

“Prominent Political Donors Charged in Campaign Finance Scheme”

December 4, 2019, 8:39 amchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: An influential political power broker who was a witness named in the Mueller report was among eight people charged with conspiring to conceal the source of excessive contributions to groups supporting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, the Justice Department… Continue reading

Kansas: “U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins tangled in voter fraud, perjury allegations for listing UPS store as residence”

December 4, 2019, 8:30 amchicaneryRick Hasen

Topeka Capital-Journal: U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins’ decision to sign a Kansas voter registration form and two other election documents that asserted his residential address was a UPS Store in Topeka could constitute felony voter fraud under federal law and election… Continue reading

New DOJ Indictment Alleges Millions of Dollars in Foreign Money Illegally Funneled to Support Hillary Clinton in 2016

December 3, 2019, 4:39 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

The indictment includes George Nader, who appears to have been seeking influence in both the Trump and Clinton campaigns (and is now being held on child pornography charges): Earlier today, an indictment was unsealed against the CEO of an online… Continue reading

“A Census Whodunit: Why Was the Citizenship Question Added?”

December 2, 2019, 7:42 amcensus litigation, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: But five months after the Supreme Court blocked the question, a steady trickle of new disclosures in the case this past month has sharpened questions about whether Republican Party politics drove the effort to add the question to the… Continue reading

“Sen. Kennedy says both Ukraine and Russia interfered in 2016 election, despite intelligence community’s assessment”

December 2, 2019, 7:33 amchicaneryRick Hasen

Inexcusable.

John Gore’s Ostensibly Faulty Memory Now at Issue in Litigation Over Pence-Kobach Commission (in Addition to Census Case)

November 26, 2019, 7:09 amchicanery, Department of Justice, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Tierney Sneed for TPM: The apparent memory problems of a former Trump Justice Department appointee have continued to haunt the department since the official left the administration.Last week, in two separate cases, the Justice Department had to tell courts that… Continue reading

Senator John Kennedy Backs Away from Ridiculous Statement That Ukraine Not Russia Interfered in 2016 Elections

November 25, 2019, 8:37 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

CNN: "I was wrong," says GOP Sen. John Kennedy, backtracking after he repeated a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 US election. "It was Russia who tried to hack the DNC computer. I’ve seen no indication that… Continue reading

“Putin’s Revenge: The Foreign Threat to American Campaign Finance Law”

November 25, 2019, 12:46 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Tony Gaughan has posted this draft on SSRN (Howard Law Journal). Here is the abstract: When Congress established federal contribution limits in 1974, it also instituted a complete ban on foreign campaign contributions. In adopting the post-Watergate reforms, Congress… Continue reading

Giuliani Being Investigated for Illegal Foreign Campaign Contributions and Illegal Conduit Contributions

November 25, 2019, 12:43 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Among other things, per WSJ: The subpoenas offer the clearest indication yet that federal prosecutors are examining Mr. Giuliani’s consulting work. Among the entities named in the subpoenas are Giuliani Partners, a security-consulting firm founded by Mr. Giuliani in… Continue reading

DOJ Officials in Census Citizenship Case Claim Faulty Memories

November 22, 2019, 5:21 pmcensus litigation, chicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

Hansi Lo Wang: https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1198046939390066688

“Charges of Ukrainian Meddling? A Russian Operation, U.S. Intelligence Says”

November 22, 2019, 12:53 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Republicans have sought for weeks amid the impeachment inquiry to shift attention to President Trump’s demands that Ukraine investigate any 2016 election meddling, defending it as a legitimate concern while Democrats accuse Mr. Trump of pursuing fringe theories for… Continue reading

“Trump’s Senate Impeachment Defense Will Be to Put Joe Biden on Trial”

November 22, 2019, 10:10 amchicaneryRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate, which concludes: A trial of Biden or CrowdStrike in the Senate could be a Trump victory, or it could be a morass for Senate Republicans. Remember that the whole point of pressuring Ukraine… Continue reading