Category Archives: Department of Justice

“Shock and frustration inside Justice Dept. over Barr’s vote-investigation memo”

November 10, 2020, 7:53 pmDepartment of Justice, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WaPo: Current and former Justice Department officials said Tuesday they were stunned and frustrated by Attorney General William P. Barr’s move to loosen internal restrictions on how and when federal prosecutors investigate certain election-fraud cases before the results are… Continue reading

NYT: AG Barr’s Action on Election Investigation Prompts Leading Voter Fraud Attorney to Step Down From Role; Investigations Appear to Involve Allegations Unsupported By Evidence

November 9, 2020, 7:33 pmDepartment of Justice, Election Meltdown, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: Attorney General William P. Barr, wading into President Trump’s unfounded accusations of widespread election irregularities, told federal prosecutors on Monday that they were allowed to investigate “specific allegations” of voter fraud before the results of the presidential race are… Continue reading

“Armed Agents Are Allowed in Ballot-Counting Venues, Justice Dept. Tells Prosecutors”

November 4, 2020, 7:36 pmchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

NYT: The Justice Department told federal prosecutors in an email early on Wednesday that the law allowed them to send armed federal officers to ballot-counting locations around the country to investigate potential voter fraud, according to three people who described… Continue reading

“Justice Dept. Eases Election Fraud Inquiry Constraints as Trump Promotes False Narrative”

October 7, 2020, 7:01 pmDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

NYT: For decades, federal prosecutors have been told not to mount election fraud investigations in the final months before an election for fear they could depress voter turnout or erode confidence in the results. Now, the Justice Department has lifted… Continue reading

“DOJ Frees Federal Prosecutors to Take Steps That Could Interfere With Elections, Weakening Long-standing Policy”

October 7, 2020, 9:53 amDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

Very worrisome development broken by ProPublica: The Department of Justice has weakened its long-standing prohibition against interfering in elections, according to two department officials.Avoiding election interference is the overarching principle of DOJ policy on voting-related crimes. In place since… Continue reading

“Justice Dept., FBI planning for the possibility of Election Day violence, voting disruptions”

October 2, 2020, 1:33 pmDepartment of Justice, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

WaPo: Bracing for possible civil unrest on Election Day, the Justice Department is planning to station officials in a command center at FBI headquarters to coordinate the federal response to any disturbances or other problems with voting that may… Continue reading

“Don’t fall for claims of voter fraud. Error is more likely the case, and errors don’t swing elections”

September 25, 2020, 5:20 pmDepartment of Justice, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

I have written this piece for the LA Times. It begins: Let’s admit this now: We are not going to have a perfect election in November. We never have perfect elections.There will be reports of ballots sent to voters that… Continue reading

“Justice Dept. Discloses Pa. Ballot Inquiry, Prompting Fears of Politicization”

September 24, 2020, 8:35 pmchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

NYT: The Justice Department on Thursday released details about an investigation into nine discarded mailed-in ballots in Pennsylvania, an unusual step that stoked new fears that President Trump’s political appointees were using the levers of law enforcement to sow doubt… Continue reading

“White House touts unusual Justice Department announcement about ‘discarded’ Trump ballots in Pennsylvania”

September 24, 2020, 2:54 pmchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

Marshall Cohen for CNN: The Justice Department said Thursday that it is investigating “potential issues with mail-in ballots” in the swing state of Pennsylvania and, in a highly unusual disclosure, revealed that several ballots marked for President Donald Trump… Continue reading

Justin Levitt (Who Was a Voting Official at DOJ) on the Bizarre DOJ Press Release on an Investigation Into 9 Potentially Mishandled Ballots

September 24, 2020, 12:48 pmchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

Thread starts here: An investigation here may be reasonable. But there is NO legit reason for:1) a DOJ press release on a pending investigation, that2) announces a partial list of unconfirmed facts, including3) the identity of one of the… Continue reading

DOJ Settles Voting Rights Act Section 2 Lawsuit with South Dakota School District Allegedly Violating Native American Rights; A Rare Pro-Voter Action by Trump DOJ

May 28, 2020, 10:32 amDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Tierney Sneed: The DOJ announces a Voting Rights Act settlement in a case concerning a school district election process in South Dakota that allegedly disenfranchised Native American voters https://t.co/P8QQ1mcsOI pic.twitter.com/CCCNYM3iZW— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney_Megan) May 28, 2020

“Trump’s DOJ Has Not Filed A Single New Voting Rights Act Case”

March 5, 2020, 9:31 amDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Tierney Sneed for TPM: The apparent refusal of President Trump’s Justice Department to engage in any meaningful, public enforcement of the Voting Rights Act has taken Republicans’ general hostility to the law to a whole new level. The DOJ has… Continue reading

“Barr disputes key inspector general finding about FBI’s Russia investigation”

December 2, 2019, 8:19 pmDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

Barr further disgraces the office of the attorney general.

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

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