Category Archives: chicanery

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

“Sondland acknowledges there was a ‘quid pro quo’ involving Ukraine”

November 20, 2019, 7:15 amchicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified Wednesday more bluntly than he had before that President Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, sought to condition a White House invite for Ukraine’s new president to demands that his country publicly launch… Continue reading

“Possible pay-to-play scheme for ambassador role in Trump administration uncovered by CBS News”

November 18, 2019, 7:18 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

CBS News: A CBS News investigation has uncovered a possible pay-for-play scheme involving the Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the Bahamas. Emails obtained by CBS News show the nominee, San Diego billionaire Doug Manchester,… Continue reading

Another Hofeller Bombshell: Hofeller Was Communicating with DOJ Officials to Approve Letter Regarding Citizenship Question on the Census, Meaning DOJ Officials Likely Lied

November 14, 2019, 4:44 pmcensus litigation, chicaneryRick Hasen

I’ll update this post with a link to the full filing when I have it. (Update: the document is here.) In the meantime, here is a key tweet from Jonathan Topaz: https://twitter.com/JonathanTopaz/status/1195137404207869952 https://twitter.com/JonathanTopaz/status/1195133896930865152

“Georgia election officials investigate prominent critics”

November 13, 2019, 6:23 pmchicanery, election administrationRick Hasen

Looks like more chicanery from Georgia election officials: Georgia election officials have opened an investigation into two prominent critics of the state’s new touchscreen voting machines, secretary of state Brad Raffensperger’s office confirmed Wednesday.Those critics called the investigation an attempt… Continue reading

“Democrats Look to Build Case That Trump Tried to Bribe or Extort Ukraine”

November 12, 2019, 9:15 pmbribery, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: A top Democratic official said the witnesses — William B. Taylor Jr., the top diplomat in Ukraine, and George P. Kent, a senior State Department official — would lay out a timeline of serious misconduct by Mr. Trump and… Continue reading

Parnas and Fruman Got Access to Trump to Call for Dumping Ambassador By Promising Big Contribution to Trump Super PAC

November 12, 2019, 9:09 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: The April 2018 dinner was designed to be an intimate affair, an opportunity for a handful of big donors to a super PAC allied with President Trump to personally interact with the president and his eldest son.In an exclusive… Continue reading

“Hillary Clinton Raps Boris Johnson Over His Suppression of a Russia Report”

November 11, 2019, 2:57 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Russia’s influence in British politics has resurfaced as a potentially explosive issue in the country’s general election, with Hillary Clinton joining a parade of critics castigating Prime Minister Boris Johnson for withholding a secret parliamentary report on Russia until… Continue reading