I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: The news of Thursday’s indictments of two associates of Rudy Giuliani’s, who according to their lawyer (and former Trump lawyer) John Dowd, assisted Giuliani “in connection with his representation of President Trump” shows that foreign … Continue reading
Category Archives: campaigns
Timely exploration by Tim Mooney at NPQ. … Continue reading
WaPo: Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2015 had no pollster, rapid-response team or fundraiser. A bare-bones staff fueled by pizza and energy drinks toiled in a makeshift office at Trump Tower. His opponents vastly outspent him — and lost.But as … Continue reading
Yahoo: With deepfake technology producing realistically modified digital content at a steeply increasing rate, California’s governor Gavin Newsom is taking a series of legal steps to avoid such technology from damaging the state’s political integrity and protect residents from having their faces placed … Continue reading
Marketplace: Most of us can identify a standard commercial and we usually know someone is trying to sell us something. But what happens when the “product” is a political candidate and the “ad” is a tweet, or Facebook post?In her … Continue reading
CNN: The federal government warned state election officials Thursday it suspects Russia may focus on voter suppression as a means to interfere in the 2020 presidential election.The joint FBI and Department of Homeland Security document, obtained by CNN and marked … Continue reading
You can find the court’s rather cursory discussion of the issues in this opinion (via BAN). I expect this will now go on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, which could well reverse, and to the Supreme Court, which I expect … Continue reading
Watch. … Continue reading
WSJ: National Rifle Association funds paid for lodging and travel of Russian nationals throughout 2015 and 2016, as part of a relationship that allowed foreign actors looking to influence the U.S. election, including now-convicted Maria Butina, to infiltrate the gun-rights … Continue reading
Peter Baker news analysis in the NYT. … Continue reading
Press release. … Continue reading
NYT: President Trump acknowledged on Sunday that he raised corruption accusations against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. during a phone call with Ukraine’s leader, a stunning admission as pressure mounted on Democrats to impeach Mr. Trump over allegations … Continue reading
Judd Legum: The “I Love America” Facebook page boasts 1.1 million fans, with viral content that reaches more Facebook users than some of the largest media outlets in the United States. A typical post is a celebration of the U.S. … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: President Donald Trump may well have committed a new campaign finance crime if he, as reported, pressured Ukraine into providing dirt on a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and … Continue reading
Axios: Small-dollar political donations have exploded this campaign cycle, thanks in large part to technology that makes it possible for candidates to target potential donors with cheap ads and easy-to-use online donation platforms.Why it matters: A surge in fundraising for contributions … Continue reading
LAT: A federal judge ordered a temporary injunction Thursday against California’s first-in-the-nation law requiring candidates to disclose their tax returns for a spot on the presidential primary ballot, an early victory for President Trump but a decision that will undoubtedly … Continue reading
ProPublica: In one of the first Justice Department cases of its kind, Maryland political consultant Kelley Rogers pleaded guilty to wire fraud on Tuesday for operating multiple fraudulent political action committees that raised money from donors for conservative causes but kept much … Continue reading
Seattle Times: What Yang’s talking about was Initiative 122, which Seattle voters approved in 2015 as an experiment in public financing of elections. Through a property tax it gives every Seattle voter $100 worth of “democracy vouchers” to give to candidates. … Continue reading
WaPo: Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a new plan Monday to tackle corruption in Washington, part of the Democratic presidential candidate’s ongoing promises to enact “big structural change” if elected.Warren’s wide-ranging new proposal seeks to dramatically limit the influence of federal … Continue reading
WSJ: U.S. national-security officials traveled to Silicon Valley last week to forge deeper ties with big tech companies in hopes of better protecting the 2020 election from foreign intervention. It didn’t go entirely as planned.At the meeting organized by Facebook Inc. at its … Continue reading
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports. … Continue reading
Troubling trend detailed by CPI. … Continue reading
I found this part especially interesting (my emphasis): “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, you think he’s a 21st-century Steve Jobs,” says a Republican consultant who knows Parscale. “He’s not an asshole. He’s kind of a huckster. But … Continue reading
Derek Muller has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: States are considering legislation that would exclude presidential candidates from appearing on the ballot if they fail to disclose their tax returns. These proposals exceed the state’s power … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading
Forbes: The irony will not be lost on anyone—Russia has just accused both Facebook and Google of “illegal” and “unacceptable” election interference during a poll in the country. And, no, you didn’t read that wrong.The “facts,” the country’s communications regulator … Continue reading
Quite a read. In January, the Wall Street Journal reported that in 2014 and 2015, Michael Cohen hired Gauger’s side business, RedFinch LLC, to rig online polls in Donald Trump’s favor while he considered a run for the presidency. Gauger’s work consisted of writing … Continue reading
WaPo: Federal law enforcement officials huddled with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter on Wednesday to discuss election security ahead of the 2020 presidential race, according to several U.S. and industry sources, amid heightened concerns that social-media sites are still vulnerable … Continue reading
Tony Gaughan has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming in Eugene Mazo and Michael Dimino (eds.), The Best Candidate: Presidential Nomination in Polarized Times (2020)). Here is the abstract: There is no doubt that the American people object to the high cost … Continue reading
Bob Egelko for the SF Chronicle: Forty-seven years ago, California’s voters opened the state’s presidential primaries to all nationally recognized candidates. That ballot measure could determine the fate of a new state law requiring President Trump and his competitors to release … Continue reading
WaPo: Russia’s Twitter campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election in Maryland began in June 2015, 17 months before Election Day, when the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency opened an account it called @BaltimoreOnline and began tweeting about local news … Continue reading
David Ettinger on the Cal. Supreme Court’s case on the California tax return law. … Continue reading
Axios: As political ad spending for 2020 ramps up, Facebook is tightening its rules to make sure that groups running political or issue ads are legitimate and aren’t gaming the system.Why it matters: With some high-profile examples of such evasion already … Continue reading
Roll Call: House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal used his government-funded official Facebook page to air campaign advertisements, Facebook Ad Library shows, potentially running afoul of House Ethics rules that prohibit campaign business on House official resources.In Neal’s official Facebook … Continue reading
NYT: Each day, in an office outside Phoenix, a team of young writers and editors curates reality.In the America presented on their news and opinion website, WesternJournal.com, tradition-minded patriots face ceaseless assault by anti-Christian bigots, diseased migrants and race hustlers concocting hate crimes. Danger and … Continue reading
Axios reports. … Continue reading
Jeffrey Broxmeyer for Public Seminar. … Continue reading
BBC: Canada’s election watchdog has warned environmentalists that saying climate change is real could break the law.The issue arose because one party running in October’s election denies climate change is a threat.That has led Elections Canada to warn groups that … Continue reading
Portland Press Herald: Maine television station WGME, Channel 13, has again been swept up in a national media ethics controversy after its corporate parent apparently directed it to publish and publicize a news story on its website that promotes President … Continue reading
David Primo NYT oped: One of the largest single disclosures of small-donor information in American history took place on July 31. On that day, the names, addresses, occupations and employers of at least 2.3 million people who contributed money to … Continue reading
Mark Murray: The lesson here: Being a billionaire with a big email list matters more than any previous debate performance — or campaign work on the ground in the early states. https://t.co/R8Z14kvUZO— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) August 13, 2019 … Continue reading
Bill Kristol: We can't count on Trump for election security. And Mitch McConnell is blocking the Senate from even considering bipartisan election security legislation. Enough. This ad from @ForTheRuleOfLaw is on the air in DC and KY. pic.twitter.com/RdbmIcRaNy— Bill Kristol … Continue reading
Axios reports. … Continue reading
WaPo: About a fifth of donors have given to more than one Democratic presidential nominee in the first six months of this year, pointing to the difficulty candidates face distinguishing themselves among those giving small amounts at a time.That revelation … Continue reading
Politico: A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that the Democratic National Committee filed against the Trump campaign, the Russian government, WikiLeaks and various Trump campaign officials over alleged involvement in the hacking of Democratic Party email accounts during the … Continue reading
David Graham for The Atlantic. … Continue reading
WaPo: Among New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s donors to his presidential campaign is a vice president of a leading pharmaceutical company. The senior vice president of Comcast who oversees the company’s lobbying efforts hosted a fundraiser for former vice president Joe … Continue reading
Release. … Continue reading
WaPo: A network of out-of-state political consultants, secret donors and activists with close ties to President Trump is behind an effort to change the Florida constitution to explicitly state that only citizens may vote in elections, a measure that would … Continue reading
Florida gonna Florida. … Continue reading