Category Archives: campaigns

“Trump Fundraising Surges After Election As He Makes False Claims It Was Rigged”

December 4, 2020, 7:55 amcampaigns, chicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Tamara Keith for NPR: After President Trump lost the election to President-elect Joe Biden, the campaign’s emails and texts to supporters carried on, urgently pushing them to donate money — a strategy that seems to have paid off.The Trump campaign,… Continue reading

“The Most Expensive Election Ever”

November 11, 2020, 8:41 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy for the Brennan Center.

“Trump solicits ‘election defense’ donations that also finance his new leadership PAC”

November 10, 2020, 7:42 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: In the wake of the election, President Trump’s supporters have been peppered with texts and emails asking for donations to support legal battles contesting his loss to President-elect Joe Biden.“We can’t allow the Left-wing MOB to undermine our Election,”… Continue reading

“At behest of Trump campaign official, Minneapolis police union calls for retired officers to act as ‘eyes and ears’ on Election Day”

October 29, 2020, 7:20 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Star Tribune: The Minneapolis police union put out a call this week for retired officers to help serve as “eyes and ears” at polling sites in “problem” areas across the city on Election Day, at the request of an… Continue reading

Kansas: “Secret recording: O’Donnell, Capps, Clendenin plot how to get away with Whipple smear”

October 23, 2020, 5:06 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Wichita Eagle: A secret recording released Friday shows that three Republican officials sought to frame the county’s Republican chairman for a falsified ad they put together smearing then-mayoral candidate Brandon Whipple. One compared their mission to that of the… Continue reading

“Facebook Seeks Shutdown of NYU Research Project Into Political Ad Targeting”

October 23, 2020, 5:01 pmcampaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

WSJ: Facebook is demanding that a New York University research project cease collecting data about its political-ad targeting practices, setting up a fight with academics seeking to study the platform without the company’s permission.The dispute involves the NYU Ad… Continue reading

“Twitter Changes Course After Republicans Claim ‘Election Interference’”

October 16, 2020, 10:36 amcampaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump called Facebook and Twitter “terrible” and “a monster” and said he would go after them. Senators Ted Cruz and Marsha Blackburn said they would subpoena the chief executives of the companies for their… Continue reading

“Adelsons pour $75M into last-ditch effort to save Trump”

October 15, 2020, 1:07 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam Adelson gave $75 million to a super PAC that flooded battleground states with anti-Joe Biden ads in September, a huge investment from the GOP megadonors as President Donald Trump slipped in… Continue reading

“ActBlue’s stunning third quarter: $1.5 billion in donations”

October 15, 2020, 12:30 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Democratic candidates and left-leaning groups raised $1.5 billion through ActBlue over the last three months — a record-smashing total that reveals the overwhelming financial power small-dollar donors have unleashed up and down the ballot ahead of the 2020 election.From… Continue reading

“Biden raised whopping $383M in September”

October 14, 2020, 8:59 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Joe Biden announced Wednesday evening that his campaign and affiliated committees raised $383 million in September, breaking a record he had just set the prior month as his campaign continues to ride a surge of online donations.Biden, the… Continue reading

“‘Green tsunami’: Inside Senate Republicans’ financial freak-out”

October 12, 2020, 9:13 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: The online fundraising edge that Democrats have enjoyed for years has mushroomed into an overpowering force, with small-dollar donors smashing “donate” buttons over the last three months to process their disgust for President Donald Trump, fury with Senate… Continue reading

“Jaime Harrison raised record-breaking $57 million in third quarter, campaign says”

October 11, 2020, 9:50 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: Democrat Jaime Harrison raised a record-breaking $57 million in the past three months in his bid to unseat Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), shattering the mark for a Senate candidate.The single-quarter haul Harrison raised from July through September smashes… Continue reading

“Trump Engineered a Sudden Windfall in 2016 A Campaign Funds Dwindled”

October 9, 2020, 9:03 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Donald J. Trump needed money.His “self-funded” presidential campaign was short on funds, and he was struggling to win over leery Republican donors. His golf courses and the hotel he would soon open in the Old Post Office in… Continue reading

Mitch McConnell Laments the Small Donor Revolution

October 9, 2020, 7:51 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

I’m going to have a lot more to say about this after the election: On Thursday, in a conference call with a group of lobbyists, Mr. McConnell vented that the party’s Senate candidates are being financially overwhelmed because of small-dollar… Continue reading