Category Archives: chicanery

“Iowa’s top election official announces voter ID bill”

January 5, 2017, 6:09 pmchicanery, election administration, The Voting Wars, voter idRick Hasen

AP: Iowa will require voters to show identification at the polls under a bill announced Thursday by the state’s top election official, and Republicans in the new GOP-controlled Legislature have indicated a willingness to pass it. The legislation mirrors… Continue reading

NC Litigation Over Legislative Changes to Board of Elections

January 5, 2017, 8:55 amchicanery, election administration, election law and constitutional lawRichard Pildes

Yesterday, as this blog noted, Governor Cooper filed his brief in his effort to block the last-minute changes the North Carolina legislature made to abolish the existing state board of elections and replace it with a newly configured one.… Continue reading

“Drain the Swamp: Conflicts of Interest, Lobbying, and Corruption Solutions to Restore Trust in Government that Works for Americans”

January 5, 2017, 8:55 ambribery, campaign finance, chicanery, conflict of interest laws, ethics investigationsRick Hasen

Release: Today, the Center for American Progress released a new report to address the threats to representative self-government inherent in special interest lobbying, revolving door politics, corruption of public service, and lax ethics and contracting oversight, as well as the… Continue reading

“Congressman spent campaign funds for rabbit air travel”

January 5, 2017, 7:48 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Not the Onion: Rep. Duncan Hunter used campaign funds to pay for $600 of airline fees to fly a pet rabbit, one of the more colorful expenses to surface in an ongoing review of his practices.

“The FBI Never Asked For Access To Hacked Computer Servers”

January 5, 2017, 7:46 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

BuzzFeed: The FBI did not examine the servers of the Democratic National Committee before issuing a report attributing the sweeping cyberintrusion to Russia-backed hackers, BuzzFeed News has learned. Six months after the FBI first said it was investigating the hack… Continue reading

“U.S. obtained evidence after election that Russia leaked emails: officials”

January 4, 2017, 7:51 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Reuters reports.

New Office of Congressional Ethics Cannot Communicate with Public in Any Way

January 2, 2017, 6:44 pmchicanery, conflict of interest laws, ethics investigationsRick Hasen

Matt Viser highlights a wow detail. Eric Lipton for the NYT: The surprising vote came on the eve of the start of a new session of Congress, with emboldened Republicans ready to push an ambitious agenda on everything from health… Continue reading

Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking”

December 30, 2016, 12:17 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: President Obama struck back at Russia on Thursday for its efforts to influence the 2016 election, ejecting 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives from the United States and imposing sanctions on Russia’s two leading intelligence services. The administration also… Continue reading

Absentee Ballots: “St. Louis prosecutor uncovers ‘important evidence’ in voter fraud probe, turns case over to feds”

December 21, 2016, 8:00 amabsentee ballots, chicanery, election administrationRick Hasen

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The city’s top prosecutor said her office “uncovered important evidence” in a voter fraud investigation dealing with an August primary statehouse race that has since been reversed by voters. The case — which centered on the… Continue reading

“Fact check: No proof in story of mass voter fraud in Michigan”

December 21, 2016, 7:56 amchicanery, election administration, fraudulent fraud squad, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

AP: A widely shared story that claimed in headlines that Michigan had mass Democratic voter fraud and that more than half of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s Detroit vote faces disqualification is false. State election officials say there is no proof… Continue reading

NC: “How courts could view moves to strip Roy Cooper’s power”

December 17, 2016, 1:59 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

The News and Observer reports.

“FBI backs CIA view that Russia intervened to help Trump win election”

December 16, 2016, 11:30 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: FBI Director James B. Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have backed a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to help Donald Trump win the presidency, according to U.S. officials. Comey’s support… Continue reading

NC Gov. McCrory Signs Election Bill Power Grab

December 16, 2016, 11:24 amchicanery, election administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Wasting no time: The House approved Senate Bill 4 67-23, and sent it to the Senate for final approval. The Senate signed off on it in the early afternoon and sent it to the governor. Gov. Pat McCrory signed the… Continue reading

WI: “Brad Schimel: Grand jury likely to investigate John Doe leak”

December 16, 2016, 9:52 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Wisconsin State Journal: The Department of Justice will likely convene a grand jury to investigate a leak of evidence collected during a secret criminal investigation into whether Gov. Scott Walker’s recall campaign circumvented state campaign finance law, Attorney General Brad… Continue reading