Here’s the indictment, and a few snippets I’ve posted on Twitter:
From the indictment (https://t.co/JFEIwHoJL4) pic.twitter.com/S5UAEkP7sF
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 16, 2018
Election-law related charges pic.twitter.com/wnoiq94HIi
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 16, 2018
Yet only some of these ads would count as "express advocacy" under FECA (I explore whether the law covers other foreign spending (such as "Hillary is a Satan", listed below) in this paper: https://t.co/FGs5KDpx3w) pic.twitter.com/36i1JQHpGq
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 16, 2018
In other words, some of this alleged Russian election activity, thanks to the way federal campaign finance law is written and thanks to how Supreme Court has interpreted first amendment, may not be illegal under current law. That's even if the intention was to influence election
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 16, 2018
And yet "free speech" community has been arguing against passage of "Honest Ads Act" & other measures which would make this conduct illegal by 2018 elections. They say it will squelch too much of Americans' speech (and some say nothing objectionable about foreign interference)
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 16, 2018
And:
Jesus. Mueller's indictment says the accused Russians tried to suppress minority turnout: pic.twitter.com/FCkicyOGRl
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) February 16, 2018
More to come.