Category Archives: campaigns

NAACP, with New President, to Switch to 501c4 to Become More Political

AP: Johnson has been the face of the NAACP since then as the organization has refocused its work on supporting its local chapters and tried to retool in the face of rising organizations like Black Lives Matter. Currently as a… Continue reading

“Financial disclosure shows unusual campaign setup for Pence chief of staff”

October 20, 2017, 5:01 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Nick Ayers, a senior adviser to Pence during the presidential race and now his chief of staff, joined the 2016 team as a volunteer and never took a dime in salary from the Trump-Pence campaign even as he crisscrossed… Continue reading

“Facebook and Google Helped Anti-Refugee Campaign in Swing States”

October 20, 2017, 10:00 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Bloomberg: In the final weeks of the 2016 election campaign, voters in swing states including Nevada and North Carolina saw ads appear in their Facebook feeds and on Google websites touting a pair of controversial faux-tourism videos, showing France and… Continue reading

“Trump Campaign Staffers Pushed Russian Propaganda Days Before the Election”

October 18, 2017, 7:22 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Daily Beast: Some of the Trump campaign’s most prominent names and supporters, including Trump’s campaign manager, digital director and son, pushed tweets from professional trolls paid by the Russian government in the heat of the 2016 election campaign. The Twitter… Continue reading

“Efforts to pry loose Trump tax returns hit a wall”

October 16, 2017, 11:48 amballot access, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Efforts to pry loose President Donald Trump’s tax returns at the state level have hit a wall, stalling in statehouses across the country including in California, a hotbed of anti-Trump resistance. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation late Sunday… Continue reading

“Trump campaign legal bills topped $1 million last quarter”

October 15, 2017, 7:29 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: President Trump’s reelection committee spent more than $1 million on legal bills last quarter as investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election pressed on through the summer, according to a disclosure filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission.… Continue reading

“Donald Trump campaign ramps up 2020 re-election fundraising”

October 15, 2017, 7:16 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

CPI: New financial disclosures President Donald Trump’s re-election committee filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission tell a story of two Trump campaigns. On one end, Trump, both by choice and circumstance, remains tethered to his 2016 presidential election effort.… Continue reading

“Black Lawmakers Hold a Particular Grievance With Facebook: Racial Exploitation”

October 15, 2017, 11:28 amcampaignsRick Hasen

NYT: For more than an hour, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s high-profile chief operating officer, sheepishly pledged to “do better” — over and over — as stern-faced members of the Congressional Black Caucus grilled her on Thursday about Russian ads aimed… Continue reading

“Google, Facebook putting an early mark on political advertising bills”

October 13, 2017, 7:34 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Google and Facebook are looking to make an early imprint on legislation being drafted in the House and Senate that would force them and other online networks to disclose information about the buyers of political ads. Lobbyists from the… Continue reading

“Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg just hinted that Russian-bought ads could be fair game”

October 13, 2017, 6:56 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Business Insider: Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told Axios’ Mike Allen on Thursday that the company would not have removed the political ads purchased by accounts operating out of Russia if they had been posted by real people rather… Continue reading

“We Asked Facebook 12 Questions About the Election, and Got 5 Answers”

October 11, 2017, 8:37 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT. One of the questions Facebook did not answer: 12.Your advertiser website lists “success stories” of political campaigns that have used Facebook advertising to increase turnout and win elections. Knowing that Facebook could be used to influence election results, why… Continue reading