“Special counsel focuses on Trump fundraising off false election claims”

April 12, 2023, 7:12 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Federal prosecutors probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have in recent weeks sought a wide range of documents related to fundraising after the 2020 election, looking to determine if former president Donald Trump or… Continue reading

“Trump Says He Won’t Drop Presidential Bid if Criminally Convicted”

April 12, 2023, 7:58 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump said Tuesday that he would continue campaigning for the White House even if convicted of a crime. In his first national media interview since pleading not guilty last week to 34 felony charges related… Continue reading

“NEWS: DNC cuts ties with Dem super lawyer Elias”

April 12, 2023, 7:29 amelection law bizRick Hasen

Punchbowl: The Democratic National Committee is parting ways with Democratic super lawyer Marc Elias, multiple sources told us Tuesday. The DNC and Elias had a number of strategic disagreements, according to sources familiar with the internal deliberations. Elias has represented the DNC since 2009.… Continue reading

“The Republican Strategists Who Have Carefully Planned All of This”

April 12, 2023, 7:26 ampolitical polarizationRick Hasen

Tom Edsall NYT column: Republican leaders are now adopting increasingly autocratic measures, using the police powers of government to impose moralized regulations, turning private citizens into enforcement officers and expelling defiant elected Democrats just as county Republican parties, particularly in… Continue reading

“These state officials praised ERIC for years before suddenly pulling out of the program”

April 11, 2023, 5:57 pmchicanery, election administration, voter registrationRick Hasen

Jessica Huseman for Votebeat: When newly elected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off a series of election security reforms in 2019, he said, “protecting the integrity of Florida’s elections” was one of his “top priorities.” In addition to giving $2… Continue reading

AALS Conference on Defending Democracy

April 11, 2023, 1:55 pmelection subversion risk, pedagogy, votingJustin Levitt

The Association of American Law Schools has announced a virtual Conference on Defending Democracy, May 4 from 11am-4pm ET: The Conference will consist of three panels focusing on the following topics: 1) the State of the Union three years… Continue reading

ELB Podcast Episode 4:7: Sarah Longwell: Election Denialism and the Future of the Republican Party

April 11, 2023, 1:32 pmELB Podcast, election subversion riskRick Hasen

New ELB Podcast: How do Republican voters think about Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen 2020 election? What are voters’ attitudes towards authoritarianism and the rule of law? How will election denialism play out in the 2024 Republican presidential… Continue reading

Some lessons from the Maricopa printer report

April 11, 2023, 1:26 pmelection administration, election subversion riskJustin Levitt

To me, there were four truly remarkable features of the Maricopa report Rick blogged here. First is how thorough, matter-of-fact, and by-the-books the report seems to be. The overwhelming feel from the report is that It’s not a crazy-train… Continue reading

My New One at Slate with Dahlia Lithwick: “The Effort to Suppress the Vote Is Spreading to the Republican Mainstream”

April 11, 2023, 7:26 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

I have written this piece with Dahlia Lithwick for Slate. It begins: It’s bad enough when a trio of voter suppression groups led by charlatans gets together at an annual secret conference sponsored in part by a group created by … Continue reading

“Expelled Democratic Lawmaker Is Sworn Back in to Tennessee House”

April 11, 2023, 7:23 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: Justin Jones, one of the two Black Democrats expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives for leading a gun control protest on the House floor, was sworn back in to his seat on Monday in a swift rebuke to… Continue reading

“Small Potatoes? Not at All”

April 11, 2023, 7:06 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Jerry Goldfeder: A hush-money payment is obviously not as significant as scheming to find 11,780 votes, conjuring up fake electors, or inciting a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol, but campaign finance laws are just as essential to the integrity… Continue reading

“Trump Ignores Deadline for Personal Financial Disclosure to F.E.C.”

April 10, 2023, 5:49 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump has a minor addition to his mounting pile of legal challenges after he failed to meet the deadline to disclose his personal financial holdings. But the threatened initial penalty — a meager $200 —… Continue reading

“Printer glitches in Ariz. election not due to malfeasance, review finds”

April 10, 2023, 4:00 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: The combination of heavier paper and longer ballots was responsible for problems tabulating votes at dozens of polling places in Maricopa County, Ariz., during last November’s midterm elections, according to a report released Monday. The report was prepared… Continue reading

“Erosion, Backsliding, or Abuse: Three Metaphors for Democratic Decline”

April 10, 2023, 3:55 pmcheap speechRick Hasen

Thomas Keck review essay in Law & Social Inquiry reviewing these three books: Rosalind Dixon and David Landau, Abusive Constitutional Borrowing: Legal Globalization and the Subversion of Liberal Democracy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021). Stephen M. Feldman, Pack the Court:… Continue reading