Category Archives: campaigns

“Democrats Propose Making It Illegal To Spread False Election Information”; Some Thoughts on Constitutionality

July 26, 2018, 10:20 amcampaignsRick Hasen

HuffPost: Several congressional Democrats plan to introduce legislation Thursday that would make it a federal crime to knowingly and intentionally publish false information about elections. The legislation would criminalize knowingly spreading wrong information related to the time and place of… Continue reading

Is the Trump Tape Evidence of a Campaign Finance Violation?

July 25, 2018, 9:36 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

A brief exploration in seven tweets.

“‘It looks kind of skeevy’: Illinois governor shamed by cash giveaway”

July 23, 2018, 3:11 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Politico: Gov. Bruce Rauner, who’s campaigning as an anti-corruption crusader, today found himself fending off attacks on his own ethics after attending an event where a political ally handed out $300,000 in cash. The cash giveaway happened after the Republican… Continue reading

“The super rich boost political giving ahead of November’s tough midterm election”

July 23, 2018, 8:00 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

USA Today: Donors who have given $1 million or more in this cycle contributed $120.1 million to super PACs in the April-to-June fundraising quarter. That’s more than twice the $58.8 million they donated during the previous three-month period. Republicans accounted… Continue reading

“Tabloid Company, Aiding Trump Campaign, May Have Crossed Line Into Politics”

July 21, 2018, 1:26 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Federal authorities examining the work President Trump’s former lawyer did to squelch embarrassing stories before the 2016 election have come to believe that an important ally in that effort, the tabloid company American Media Inc., at times acted more… Continue reading

“Ethics complaints target eight write-in candidates as bogus, including two in Tampa”

July 21, 2018, 1:13 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Tampa Bay Times: If only members of one party are running in an election, so the primary will decide the race, the primary is open to all voters. But if any other candidate files, including a write-in, the primary is… Continue reading

“Michael Cohen Taped Conversation With Trump About Buying Rights to Playmate’s Story”

July 20, 2018, 2:35 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WSJ: MIchael Cohen taped a conversation in person with Donald Trump in which the two men discussed buying the rights to a former Playboy Playmate’s story that she had an affair with Mr. Trump more than a decade ago, according… Continue reading

“Indicted Russian Company Uses Trump’s Supreme Court Pick as Get Out of Jail Free Card”

July 18, 2018, 9:06 amcampaign finance, campaigns, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Every Voice: A Russian company indicted earlier this year as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into foreign interference in our elections is using a decision written by none other than Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to… Continue reading

“The Biggest Spender of Political Ads on Facebook? President Trump”

July 18, 2018, 9:04 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: It’s official: President Trump is the single biggest political advertiser on Facebook. Mr. Trump and his political action committee spent $274,000 on ads on the social network since early May, outpacing the second-biggest spender, Planned Parenthood Federation of America,… Continue reading

“NSA and Cyber Command to coordinate actions to counter Russian election interference in 2018 amid absence of White House guidance”

July 17, 2018, 12:40 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: The head of the nation’s largest electronic spy agency and the military’s cyberwarfare arm has quietly directed the two organizations to coordinate actions to counter potential Russian interference in the 2018 midterm elections. The move, announced to staff at… Continue reading

“Candidate arrested for posting ‘revenge porn’ of his wife on campaign website, police say”

July 17, 2018, 8:03 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

“Indicted Russian firm says it was backing free political speech, not disrupting 2016 election”

July 17, 2018, 7:45 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: A Russian company accused of bankrolling a massive online operation to disrupt the 2016 presidential election argued Monday that it had broken no federal laws, that it was merely supporting free political speech and that the fraud charge against… Continue reading

“Mariia Butina, Who Sought ‘Back Channel’ Meeting for Trump and Putin, Is Charged as Russian Agent”

July 17, 2018, 7:40 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Russian woman who tried to broker a secret meeting between Donald J. Trump and the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, during the 2016 presidential campaign was charged Monday and accused of working with Americans to carry out a secret… Continue reading

Yablon: “Campaigns, Inc.”

July 11, 2018, 8:02 amcampaignsDan Tokaji

Rob Yablon has posted this article on SSRN, forthcoming in Minnesota Law Review. Here’s the abstract: Election campaigns have become the domain of a thriving industry of paid political service providers. While leading scholars in other fields regard the rise… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law