Category Archives: campaigns

“Political group tied to Kanye West campaign law firm sent misinformation on Biden with mail-in ballot applications to battleground state voters”

September 4, 2020, 7:28 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

CNN: An Ohio-based political advocacy group that shares a Republican-allied law firm with Kanye West’s political campaign is sending unsolicited mail-in ballot applications containing misinformation on Democratic candidates to voters in Pennsylvania and Minnesota — both key battleground states for… Continue reading

“Facebook will limit some advertising in the week before the US election — but it will let politicians run ads with lies”

September 3, 2020, 8:30 amcampaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

CNN: In an attempt to combat efforts to undermine the US presidential election in November, Facebook on Thursday took several steps it says will address concerns about election interference on its platform.But Facebook will continue to allow politicians to … Continue reading

“DHS withheld July intelligence bulletin calling out Russian attack on Biden’s mental health”

September 2, 2020, 10:43 amcampaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

ABC News: In early July the Department of Homeland Security withheld publication of an intelligence bulletin warning law enforcement agencies of a Russian scheme to promote “allegations about the poor mental health” of former Vice President Joe Biden… Continue reading

“Biden posts stunning monthly cash haul: $365 million”

September 2, 2020, 9:48 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee reported raising a record $365 million in August, surprising even seasoned party fundraisers and putting to rest fears that President Trump would drown him in campaign spending.The staggering cash coincides with Biden… Continue reading

“Blunting Foreign Interference Efforts by Learning the Lessons of the Past”

September 2, 2020, 9:10 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

New report from CAP.

“Digital Disinformation and Vote Suppression”

September 2, 2020, 9:04 amcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

New Brennan Center report.

Suit Seeking to Kick Kanye West Off Virginia Ballot Alleges That At Least Three People Listed as West Electors Had Their Signatures Obtained via Fraud

September 1, 2020, 6:19 pmcampaigns, chicanery, electoral collegeRick Hasen

You can find the complaint at this link. As Ben Jacobs noted the other day, this may be the first time a candidate for President has been sued by one of the candidate’s purported presidential electors.

“Barr tightens rules on surveillance of political candidates and advisers”

September 1, 2020, 12:08 pmcampaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: Attorney General William P. Barr imposed new rules Tuesday tightening the use of government surveillance on political candidates or their staffers — a move likely to cheer conservatives who have long criticized how the FBI investigated the Trump… Continue reading

“Google greenlights ads with ‘blatant disinformation’ about voting by mail”

August 28, 2020, 1:22 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Google has declined to remove ads from a shadowy group echoing President Trump’s misleading claim that there is a meaningful difference between voting by mail and absentee voting.Google took five days to reach its decision to leave… Continue reading

“What if Facebook Is the Real ‘Silent Majority’?”

August 28, 2020, 7:15 amcampaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

Kevin Roose for the NYT: Listen, liberals. If you don’t think Donald Trump can get re-elected in November, you need to spend more time on Facebook.Since the 2016 election, I’ve been obsessively tracking how partisan political content is performing on… Continue reading

“Viral pro-Trump tweets came from fake African American spam accounts, Twitter says; Disinformation experts are anticipating that social media platforms will continue to be central to foreign and domestic efforts to mislead voters.”

August 27, 2020, 8:50 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

NBC News: Twitter has taken action to stop a spam operation that pushed messages from fake accounts about Black people abandoning the Democratic Party.The company removed two fake accounts and deleted the account of a San Diego man who… Continue reading

Dirty Tricks Dep’t: Detroit Voters Targeted with Robocalls Containing False Voting Information Intended to Suppress Vote By Mail

August 27, 2020, 2:38 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Detroit News: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is warning Detroit voters of a “racially charged” and false robocall that appears to be discouraging mail-in voting ahead of the November election. The recording tells voters that their personal information… Continue reading

“Disinformation campaign stokes fears about mail voting, using LeBron James image and boosted by Trump-aligned group”

August 20, 2020, 4:05 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: A prominent Washington-based conservative advocacy organization is promoting a deceptive digital ad campaign that is stoking fears about mail-in voting and targeting battleground states with high concentrations of minority voters.FreedomWorks, the tax-exempt nonprofit that helped launchtea-partyprotests a decade ago… Continue reading