Monthly Archives: June 2019

“Trump smashed months of FBI work to thwart election interference”

June 13, 2019, 8:05 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Politico: Nearly two years ago, FBI Director Chris Wray set up an office tasked solely with stopping the type of Russian interference efforts that infected the 2016 campaign.On Wednesday night, President Donald Trump undercut the whole operation in a matter… Continue reading

“Republican blocks bill requiring campaigns to alert FBI to foreign assistance”

June 13, 2019, 1:50 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Axios: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) blocked an effort by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to pass a bill via unanimous consent requiring campaigns to report any offers of foreign assistance to the FBI.“We are all for free and fair and honest… Continue reading

“Trump Is Urged to Fire Kellyanne Conway for Hatch Act Violations”

June 13, 2019, 1:49 pmconflict of interest laws, ethics investigationsRick Hasen

NYT: An independent government agency recommended on Thursday that President Trump fire Kellyanne Conway, his White House counselor, for repeated violations of an ethics law barring partisan politics from the federal workplace.In a letter accompanying a report to Mr. Trump… Continue reading

“Margaret Hunter admits guilt in campaign-finance scandal”

June 13, 2019, 1:46 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

San Diego Union-Tribune: Years of cavalier spending of her husband’s political contributions culminated in a guilty plea Thursday for Margaret Hunter, the wife of Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter who was co-indicted last year in a sweeping campaign-finance investigation.During a change-of-plea… Continue reading

“Cyber security concerns lead NC officials to delay approval of new voting machines”

June 13, 2019, 1:39 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

News and Observer: North Carolina election officials were supposed to certify new voting machines on Thursday for millions of voters to start using in 2020.But they declined to make any decisions, citing uncertainty over who owns the three companies that… Continue reading

“Brace for a Voter-Turnout Tsunami”

June 13, 2019, 12:03 pmvotingRick Hasen

Ron Brownstein for the Atlantic.

Listen to Michael Li and Me on Warren Olney’s “To the Point” Podcast (KCRW) Talking Census, Partisan Gerrymandering and SCOTUS

June 13, 2019, 11:48 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Listen here.

Kansas: “Democrats plan to try ranked-choice voting in 2020 primary to select Trump’s opponent”

June 13, 2019, 11:23 amalternative voting systems, primariesRick Hasen

Wichita Eagle reports.

DOJ Relents and Releases Additional Names (Charles Cooper and John Fund) Which Were Redacted on “Inflammatory” von Spakovsky Email About Pence-Kobach “Voter Fraud” Commission

June 13, 2019, 11:18 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Campaign Legal Center: After nearly two years of seeking to hide the names of individuals involved in an inflammatory email to Attorney General Sessions regarding the Pence-Kobach Commission, the Department of Justice has relented in light of a district… Continue reading

“Governor signs bill to change the way Oregon helps choose the president”

June 13, 2019, 11:09 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Oregon Live reports.

“Mitch McConnell is Making the 2020 Election Open Season for Hackers” (though much of this New Yorker article is about dysfunction or worse at the EAC)

June 12, 2019, 8:08 pmelection administration, Election Assistance Commission, The Voting Wars, voting technologyRick Hasen

Sue Halpern must-read.

Trump Says He Would Accept Foreign Government In-Kind Contributions of Opposition Research in the 2020 Elections, in Violation of American Law

June 12, 2019, 5:31 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Watch the clip: EXCLUSIVE: Pres. Trump tells @GStephanopoulos he wouldn't necessarily alert the FBI if approached by foreign figures with information on his 2020 opponent: "It’s not an interference. They have information. I think I’d take it." https://t.co/7gvoAViw9r pic.twitter.com/k5Yqd9YxdC… Continue reading

Breaking: Plaintiffs in Census Case Want #SCOTUS to Send Case Back to District Court for More Factfinding if Government Lied About Reason for Citizenship Question; Thoughts on What the Court Will Do

June 12, 2019, 5:19 pmcensus litigation, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Plaintiffs have filed this unusual motion in the Supreme Court asking for the Court to send the case back to the district court to engage in factfinding over whether government officials lied about why Secretary Ross decided to include the… Continue reading