Category Archives: Department of Justice

DOJ Drops Menendez Indictment: What Does It Say About the Supreme Court’s Approach to Political Bribery? Not What You May Think

January 31, 2018, 9:23 ambribery, Department of Justice, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

News today that DOJ, after a hung jury the last time, has dropped the remaining charges against Sen. Menendez (some were dropped by the judge after the first trial). Much of the reason for the problems with the charges… Continue reading

“Civil Rights Division Lawyers And Staff Gave Low Marks To Justice Department Leadership In A Workplace Survey”

December 11, 2017, 8:22 pmDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

Zoe Tillman: Fewer than a third of attorneys and staff in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division who participated in a workplace survey this year reported feeling “satisfied” with the policies and practices of senior DOJ leadership, according to a … Continue reading

Trump DOJ Argues that Remedy to Cure Any Voting Rights Violation in U.S. Territories is to Strip Voting Rights from More People

September 14, 2017, 7:39 amDepartment of Justice, votingRick Hasen

Pacific Daily News: The Trump administration is arguing in federal court that, if one U.S. territory doesn’t have the same rights as the others, then all of them should be stripped of those rights, according to a group pursuing lawsuits… Continue reading

Bob Bauer Calls on von Spakovsky to Resign from Pence-Kobach Sham Commission, and Has Questions About DOJ/AG Role

September 13, 2017, 7:27 amDepartment of Justice, fraudulent fraud squad, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

MSMHL: The email was sent in February of this year. In June, President Trump appointed one of these Heritage experts, Hans Von Spakovsky, to the Commission. It turns out that Von Spakovsky also wrote the email, a fact now confirmed … Continue reading

“Russian Facebook Political Ad Buys During 2016 Election Draw DOJ & FEC Complaints”

September 8, 2017, 9:50 amcampaign finance, chicanery, Department of Justice, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Release: Today Common Cause filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that one or more unknown foreign nationals made expenditures, independent expenditures or disbursements in connection with the 2016 presidential… Continue reading

“Top Civil Rights Nominee Won’t Refute Trump Falsehood About Illegal Voting in 2016”

September 6, 2017, 8:13 pmDepartment of Justice, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Pema Levy for Mother Jones: Recent events loomed over the hearing. Dreiband faced questions about the violence in Charlottesville, which the division is investigating, and the rise of hate crimes. He was also asked about voting rights, amid moves by… Continue reading

“After Disclosure Failure, DC Judge Wants List of Trump Voter Commission Docs”

August 30, 2017, 2:13 pmDepartment of Justice, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

The NLJ: A federal judge is stepping in to ensure that President Donald Trump’s voter integrity commission is in compliance with public disclosure laws. Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Shapiro apologized to U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District of… Continue reading

DOJ flips on SCOTUS purge case

August 7, 2017, 5:14 pmDepartment of Justice, NVRA (motor voter)Justin Levitt

Justin here (and with a caveat: at DOJ, I worked on amicus briefs on this issue, including in this case). Today, DOJ filed an amicus brief in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute. The case, now at SCOTUS, is… Continue reading

“Trump DOJ: Trust Texas to Fix Racist Voter ID Law Without Court Oversight”

July 20, 2017, 1:10 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Texas Observer reports.

Trump DOJ: Court Should Give Up Jurisdiction and Trust Texas on Voter ID Education Efforts

July 18, 2017, 10:18 amDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Texas dragged its feet in implementing the district court’s interim remedy in the Texas voter id case, which allowed voters without one of the right (narrow) forms of identification to vote in Texas elections. The state was so bad at… Continue reading

“While Kobach Commission Bumbles, DOJ Sends Its Own Voter Suppression Signals”

July 11, 2017, 8:49 amchicanery, Department of Justice, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

TPM reports.

“This DOJ Letter May Be More Alarming Than Trump Commission’s Request For Voter Data”

July 5, 2017, 1:51 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, NVRA (motor voter), The Voting WarsRick Hasen

HuffPo: Former Department of Justice officials and voting advocates are seriously alarmed over a DOJ letter sent to states last week that they say could signal a forthcoming effort to kick people off voter rolls. This comes as national attention… Continue reading

Vanita Gupta: “It’s Time to Revive the Heart of the Voting Rights Act”

June 21, 2017, 7:45 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Vanita Gupta in The Root: Instead of focusing on actual problems, like modern-day voting discrimination, however, the Trump administration is working to further undermine our democracy. One of Jeff Sessions’ first moves as attorney general was to withdraw the Department… Continue reading

“Friend Says Trump Is Considering Firing Mueller as Special Counsel”

June 12, 2017, 8:55 pmDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

NYT: Under Justice Department rules, Mr. Trump would seemingly have to order Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to rescind department regulations protecting a special counsel from being fired for no good reason, and then to fire Mr. Mueller. If… Continue reading