Category Archives: campaigns

“Operative at center of NC election fraud hearing won’t testify”

February 18, 2019, 7:29 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

News & Observer: The stepdaughter of a Bladen County political operative detailed how she said his ballot harvesting operation worked on the first day of a hearing Monday into voting irregularities in the unresolved 2018 election in North Carolina’s 9th… Continue reading

Evidence of Major Illegal Activity Connected to #NC09 Election in Bladen County Coming Out at North Carolina Hearing: I Expect Board to Order New Election

February 18, 2019, 10:20 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Follow Joe Bruno at the hearing. I’ll be very surprised if the board does not vote for a new election given what we are seeing so far.

Center for Public Integrity Does Deep Dive into Donald Trump’s Campaign Fundraising Machine

February 18, 2019, 10:15 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Donald Trump created a permanent presidential campaign. Here’s how. – Center for Public Integrity Sidebar: https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/donald-trump-army-super-pacs-maga-nonprofits/ Inside Donald Trump’s army of super PACs and MAGA nonprofits – Center for Public Integrity Poll: https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/elections/center-for-public-i Center for Public Integrity/Ipsos poll: How should … Continue reading

“N.C. election officials will consider fate of congressional seat at Monday hearing”

February 17, 2019, 9:08 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

“Unqualified Ambassadors” (New Piece on Connection of Ambassadorships to Campaign Contributions)

February 15, 2019, 12:20 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Ryan Scoville has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Duke Law Journal). Here is the abstract: In making appointments to the office of ambassador, U.S. presidents often select political supporters from outside the ranks of the State Department’s professional diplomatic… Continue reading

“Democrats Swear off Big Money, but Will It Hurt Their 2020 White House Chances?”

February 14, 2019, 1:02 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Good Amanda Becker piece for Reuters: Legally, Super PACs are supposed to operate independently of candidates and cannot contribute to them directly. In reality, they often are run by donors close to the candidates and their campaigns.David Donnelly, president of… Continue reading

“‘It’s the metric, 100 percent.’ Democratic presidential hopefuls increasingly see small-dollar donations as a sign of viability.”

February 11, 2019, 8:59 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

“Updated: Small-Donor Matching Funds for New York State Elections: A Policy Analysis of the Potential Impact and Cost”

February 11, 2019, 4:26 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Updated Campaign Finance Institute report.

Today’s Must-Read: “‘Private Mossad for Hire: Inside a plot to influence American elections, starting with one small-town race.”

February 11, 2019, 7:18 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Adam Entous and Ronan Farrow in the New Yorker: Psy-Group’s larger ambition was to break into the U.S. election market. During the 2016 Presidential race, the company pitched members of Donald Trump’s campaign team on its ability to influence… Continue reading

“6 Days When 2020 Democratic Hopefuls Scored With Small Donors”

February 10, 2019, 4:54 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: In the 2020 race for the White House, small donors are expected to play a more significant role than ever before. With so many Democratic candidates running, and only so much money to go around, whom small donors… Continue reading

North Carolina Poll Worker Pleads Guilty to Advising Noncitizen to Register and Vote; DOJ Press Release Misleadingly Refers to Worker as a “Board of Elections Election Official”

February 8, 2019, 11:40 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

The DOJ press release headline refers to the worker as a “Board of Elections Election Official” but that seems incorrect. From an earlier HuffPost piece: The sole U.S. citizen facing charges ― Denslo Allen Paige, a 66-year-old Walmart worker… Continue reading

“NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre Targeted in Congressional Inquiry Into Illegal Campaign Coordination”

February 7, 2019, 12:35 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

The Trace: A joint congressional inquiry is demanding that National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre hand over internal documents showing whether the NRA made “illegal, excessive, and unreported in-kind donations” to the campaigns of Donald Trump and… Continue reading

Potentially Bad News for Trump and Trump Organization: SDNY Still Investigating Michael Cohen for Campaign Finance Crimes

February 7, 2019, 9:19 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Potentially a big deal here: “In particular, the Government represents that aspects of its investigation remains ongoing, including those pertaining to or arising from Cohen’s campaign finance crimes.”A bad sentence for Individual 1 and the Trump Org execs who… Continue reading

“Billionaires Flooded Republicans’ Coffers Just Before the Tax Cuts Passed”

February 7, 2019, 7:28 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Mother Jones: From the looks of it, GOP politicians got what they wanted, too. From the time the tax bill was first introduced on Nov. 2, 2017, until the end of the year, a 60-day period, dozens of billionaires and… Continue reading

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