Category Archives: chicanery

“No Deal: How Secret Talks With Russia to Prevent Election Meddling Collapse”

December 9, 2017, 2:22 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

BuzzFeed: The Trump administration has rejected a sweeping Russian proposal seeking a mutual ban on foreign political interference, three senior US administration officials tell BuzzFeed News. Russia first broached the subject in July, when one of Vladimir Putin’s top diplomats… Continue reading

“Lobbyists Ask for Votes. Some Lawmakers Want Much More.”

December 8, 2017, 3:01 pmchicanery, lobbyingRick Hasen

What a lede on this NYT story; Vanessa Alarid was a lobbyist in New Mexico when she asked a lawmaker over drinks one night if she could count on his support for a bill that appeared to be coming down… Continue reading

“10 Month Sentence For Bloomingburg Developer In Voter Fraud Case”

December 7, 2017, 6:25 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

The latest: It will be ten months in prison, a year of supervised released, 400 hours of community service and a $200,000 fine for Bloomingburg developer Shalom Lamm who pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to corrupt an election. As… Continue reading

WI: “Attorney General Brad Schimel wants sanctions and contempt proceedings over Gov. Scott Walker John Doe leak”

December 6, 2017, 7:27 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: State Attorney General Brad Schimel has recommended contempt proceedings for a prosecutor and eight other officials over their handling of material from a secret probe of Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign. In a 91-page report made public Wednesday, the… Continue reading

Former GOP Chair Who Admits Casting His Ex-Wife’s Absentee Ballot Says He Doesn’t Remember, But Was Able to Work 80-95 Hours Per Week at the Time

December 6, 2017, 6:19 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Greeley Tribune with the latest on this saga: Yet, Curtis said in court Wednesday, although he concluded he must have filled out the ballot and submitted it in an envelope with his ex-wife’s name on it, he had no memory… Continue reading

Free Speech for People’s Argument for Impeachment Investigation Against President Trump Built in Part on Campaign Finance Claims

December 6, 2017, 6:13 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

See pp. 31-32.

“Some of Alabama County’s Sample Ballots Marked for Doug Jones”

December 5, 2017, 8:18 pmchicanery, election administrationRick Hasen

WAAY: Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill confirms some sample ballots in one Alabama county were marked for Democratic US Senate candidate Doug Jones. This comes after Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore’s campaign wrote an open letter to Merrill… Continue reading

“Former Colorado GOP chairman accused of voter fraud blames diabetic episode in Weld District Court”

December 5, 2017, 8:07 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Seriously?

Colorado: “Voter fraud trial underway for former GOP chairman”

December 4, 2017, 7:47 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

News from Colorado: Just weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Steve Curtis told his radio listeners “Virtually every case of voter fraud, that I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats or do I not have the… Continue reading

Toobin Skeptical of Criminal Campaign Finance Charges Against Trump Campaign (But More Bullish on Obstruction Claims)

December 2, 2017, 12:31 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

New Yorker’s Jeff Toobin: Does any of this behavior rise to the level of criminality, and, if so, what laws might it have violated? Federal law prohibits political candidates and their advisers from seeking or obtaining contributions from foreign… Continue reading

“Senate GOP campaign arm stole donor data from House Republican”

November 30, 2017, 7:11 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Politico: Staffers for Senate Republicans’ campaign arm seized information on more than 200,000 donors from the House GOP campaign committee over several months this year by breaking into its computer system, three sources with knowledge of the breach told POLITICO.… Continue reading

“FBI gave heads-up to fraction of Russian hackers’ US targets”

November 26, 2017, 3:48 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

AP: The FBI failed to notify scores of U.S. officials that Russian hackers were trying to break into their personal Gmail accounts despite having evidence for at least a year that the targets were in the Kremlin’s crosshairs, The Associated… Continue reading

Much Russian Activity Meddling in 2016 Elections Likely Didn’t Violate Federal Law, Wouldn’t Be Covered by Proposed “Honest Ads Act,” and May Be Beyond (Conservative Justices’ Views of) Constitution to Limit

November 20, 2017, 7:20 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

I’ve already hinted at some of these things in this Politico piece, but I’ve now fleshed it out in the latest draft of my forthcoming First Amendment Law Review article, Cheap Speech and What It Has Done (to American Democracy… Continue reading