“Thousands of pro-Trump bots are attacking DeSantis, Haley”

March 12, 2023, 9:33 amcheap speechRick Hasen

AP: Over the past 11 months, someone created thousands of fake, automated Twitter accounts — perhaps hundreds of thousands of them — to offer a stream of praise for Donald Trump. Besides posting adoring words about the former president, the… Continue reading

“Pence says ‘history will hold Donald Trump accountable’ for Jan. 6th”

March 12, 2023, 9:21 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: In a speech Saturday night, former vice president Mike Pence delivered what amounted to his strongest rebuke of Donald Trump, criticizing the former president for his role in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 attack on the United States… Continue reading

“Colorado GOP selects combative, election-denying new leader”

March 12, 2023, 9:16 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

AP: The Colorado Republican Party on Saturday selected a combative former state representative who promised to be a “wartime” leader as its new chairman, joining several other state GOPs this year that have elected far-right figures and election conspiracy theorists… Continue reading

“‘Loser laws’ block defeated primary candidates from third-party win”

March 11, 2023, 12:51 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Torchinsky on Smerconish/CNN.

“Kari Lake Is Considering Senate Run, Making Some Republicans Nervous”

March 11, 2023, 11:16 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WSJ: Kari Lake is still contesting the result of the Arizona governor race she lost. But she is now turning her attention to the state’s 2024 Senate contest, setting the stage for a political bounceback while worrying some Republicans who… Continue reading

“Trump in growing legal and political peril ahead of 2024”

March 11, 2023, 7:46 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: Yet for Trump — who since entering politics in 2015 has proved to have more lives than even the luckiest of felines — the latest developments could also prove little more than distractions that don’t fundamentally undermine his support… Continue reading

“Meet the ‘Ghost’ Woman Fox Relied on for Voter Fraud Claims”

March 10, 2023, 1:26 pmfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Daily Beast: A voting machine company’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News has rocked the conservative media giant, exposing rifts between its journalists and the star hosts and executives more concerned with mollifying pro-Trump viewers than accurately reporting that the… Continue reading

“Document obtained by Issue One reveals new financial information about nonprofit peddling election conspiracies”

March 10, 2023, 9:00 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Michael Beckel: A nonprofit launched by several prominent election deniers just a few months after the January 6th attack on our democracy raised $7.7 million in 2021, with much of the money coming from anonymous wealthy donors, according to a … Continue reading

Should NYC Prosecutors Go After Trump for Crimes Tangentially Related to Campaign Finance Crimes? Reasons for Caution and Reasons to Save Prosecution for More Serious Crimes

March 10, 2023, 7:48 amchicaneryRick Hasen

Reports circulated yesterday that the Manhattan District Attorney is considering indicting Donald Trump for state law crimes related to falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. To turn this from a misdemeanor to… Continue reading

“No Rest Between Censuses for Congressional Mapmakers; What used to be a once-a-decade redistricting fight between political parties is now in perpetual motion, and up to 29 seats in 14 states are already at risk of being redrawn.”

March 10, 2023, 7:25 amredistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: For just about all of the nation’s history, politicians would fight over redistricting for a short period after each once-a-decade census, then forget about congressional maps until the next reapportionment. Now, a string of lawsuits and in-the-works state referendums… Continue reading

“Election chief says she is evaluating Alaska’s membership in voter fraud system”

March 10, 2023, 7:21 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

ADN reports.

“Crisis and Disconnect: Electoral legitimacy and Proposals for Election Reform”

March 10, 2023, 7:14 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Brad Smith has written this article for the U Pa Journal of Constitutional Law. From the Introduction: There is a crisis in American elections. A large and apparently growing percentage of Americans are simply unwilling to accept that an election… Continue reading

(Despicable) Quote of the Day

March 10, 2023, 7:06 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Donald Trump:

“Election Subversion and the Writ of Mandamus”

March 10, 2023, 1:17 amUncategorizedDerek Muller

I’m pleased to share this draft now up on SSRN. Comments welcome! The piece is called “Election Subversion and the Writ of Mandamus.” Here’s the abstract: Election subversion threatens democratic self-governance. Recently, we have seen election officials try to… Continue reading