[EL] menendez story

Sun Feb 17 12:37:34 PST 2013

Further confirmation, if we needed it, that we do not all think alike, even when presented with the same text. Though I may be focusing a bit more than you are on the subtext.

Sent from my iPad

Robert K. Kelner
Covington & Burling LLP
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 662-5503
rkelner at cov.com<mailto:rkelner at cov.com>

On Feb 17, 2013, at 3:31 PM, "Rick Hasen" <rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>> wrote:

Interesting---because I read the thrust to be exactly the focus on the anonymous emailer, and the question whether or not the emailer is tied to the NPLC.  In response to my tweeting about the NYT story, an official at the NPLC said the Times story was "a lie" and "pure fiction:"

https://twitter.com/TomTomJAnderson/status/302925779946328064
https://twitter.com/TomTomJAnderson/status/302928627186679809

That's what I think makes the story newsworthy.

I also think it is newsworthy what Melanie Sloan of CREW says at the end of the article, where she says:

“The increased scrutiny on Menendez’s relations with Dr. Melgen was well deserved and has highlighted some clearly improper conduct by Menendez on Melgen’s behalf,” Ms. Sloan said. “But it’s been a long, strange trip.”
Note also how Fred has been attacking OFA relentlessly.

So while I think it is fair to characterize both CREW and the campaign finance reform community as going after Republicans more frequently, that may be because Republicans generally  are more willing to push the envelope on campaign finance rules---perhaps out of a belief that many of those rules are unconstitutional or unfair.  Maybe there's a bias towards Democrats among some of these groups.  But I've never seen any evidence that CREW or other groups like that have  used tactics like that used in the Menendez case.

In any case, I think the headline is the fake "Peter Williams."

Rick

On 2/17/13 12:17 PM, Kelner, Robert wrote:

I wouldn't know.  But in any event, I do not take that to be the thrust of the NYT's article, which was essentially that the Menendez story was ferreted out and propagated by a Republican group. And yes, I do think that the investigative efforts that appear to have been carried out here by a Republican group were very much like the efforts that CREW and Fred and others on the Left undertake, which sometimes culminate in their filing complaints.  I haven't yet had the opportunity to take discovery concerning the particulars of CREW's full range of activities and modus operandi, but we'll see what we find when I eventually do.

Sent from my iPad

Robert K. Kelner
Covington & Burling LLP
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 662-5503
rkelner at cov.com<mailto:rkelner at cov.com>

On Feb 17, 2013, at 3:06 PM, "Rick Hasen" <rhasen at law.uci.edu><mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

Have there been instances of Dems sending out opposition research on
Republican elected officials through a fake email persona?  Or are you
comparing that conduct to when CLC and Fred Wertheimer file a complaint
with the FEC?

On 2/17/13 11:43 AM, Rick Hasen wrote:

If anyone else responds to Rob, please use this subject line for a
thread rather than the ELB generic subject line.
On 2/17/13 11:36 AM, Kelner, Robert wrote:

Regarding the NYT piece on Menendez, which Rick highlights fairly as
a must read, the most peculiar thing about the article is why it was
written at all.  For years now, Democratic Party aligned groups,
including CREW and several others, have spent millions investigating
Republicans and cranking out, in assembly line fashion, complaints to
the FEC, to DOJ, and to the House and Senate Ethics Committees.
These efforts have rarely been featured (in the Times, perhaps never)
as being themselves the story. The only thing that is new about the
story behind the Menendez story is that apparently this time the
agitprop started with a Republican group.

Rob

Sent from my iPad

Robert K. Kelner
Covington & Burling LLP
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 662-5503
rkelner at cov.com<mailto:rkelner at cov.com><mailto:rkelner at cov.com><mailto:rkelner at cov.com>

On Feb 17, 2013, at 2:17 PM, "Rick Hasen"
<rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu><mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu><mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>> wrote:

Question of the Day<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47399><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47399>
Posted on February 17, 2013 11:13
am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47399><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47399> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

How do those who hate super PACs but love gun control feel about how
influential Mike Bloomberg has been in a contested congressional race
in Illinois? Political Wire
says<http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/02/17/hutchinson_drops_out_after_withering_attacks_from_bloomberg.html><http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/02/17/hutchinson_drops_out_after_withering_attacks_from_bloomberg.html>
some one reason a candidate is dropping out is the huge Bloomberg
money. And the money could further influence the outcome of the race.

My view is that this spending
<http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/opinion/hasen-super-pacs/index.html><http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/opinion/hasen-super-pacs/index.html>
is dangerous whether it comes from the left or the right.

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47399&title=Question%20of%20the%20Day&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47399&title=Question%20of%20the%20Day&description=>

Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
Comments Off
More SCOTUSBlog on Shelby County<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47397><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47397>
Posted on February 17, 2013 11:09
am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47397><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47397> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Zachary
Price<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holder-the-voting-rights-act-doesnt-need-to-treat-states-equally/><http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holder-the-voting-rights-act-doesnt-need-to-treat-states-equally/>

Hans von
Spakovsky<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holder-the-shelby-county-section-5-showdown/><http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holder-the-shelby-county-section-5-showdown/>

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47397&title=More%20SCOTUSBlog%20on%20Shelby%20County&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47397&title=More%20SCOTUSBlog%20on%20Shelby%20County&description=>

Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, Voting
Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off
“Virginia looks to toughen voter laws as Maryland does the
opposite”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47394><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47394>
Posted on February 17, 2013 11:03
am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47394><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47394> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Washington Examiner
reports<http://washingtonexaminer.com/virginia-looks-to-toughen-voter-laws-as-maryland-does-the-opposite/article/2521743><http://washingtonexaminer.com/virginia-looks-to-toughen-voter-laws-as-maryland-does-the-opposite/article/2521743>.

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47394&title=%E2%80%9CVirginia%20looks%20to%20toughen%20voter%20laws%20as%20Maryland%20does%20the%20opposite%E2%80%9D&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47394&title=%E2%80%9CVirginia%20looks%20to%20toughen%20voter%20laws%20as%20Maryland%20does%20the%20opposite%E2%80%9D&description=>

Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
| Comments Off
Democracy Now! Talks Bauer-Ginsberg Commission with NAACP’s Ben
Jealous<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47391><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47391>
Posted on February 17, 2013 11:00
am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47391><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47391> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Watch<http://t.co/Z9GmsUqz><http://t.co/Z9GmsUqz>.

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47391&title=Democracy%20Now%21%20Talks%20Bauer-Ginsberg%20Commission%20with%20NAACP%E2%80%99s%20Ben%20Jealous&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47391&title=Democracy%20Now%21%20Talks%20Bauer-Ginsberg%20Commission%20with%20NAACP%E2%80%99s%20Ben%20Jealous&description=>

Posted in election
administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting
Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off
“Texas redistricting appeal likely on hold at Supreme
Court”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47388><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47388>
Posted on February 16, 2013 8:56
pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47388><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47388> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The San Antonio Express-News
reports.<http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Texas-redistricting-appeal-likely-on-hold-at-4284883.php><http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Texas-redistricting-appeal-likely-on-hold-at-4284883.php>

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47388&title=%E2%80%9CTexas%20redistricting%20appeal%20likely%20on%20hold%20at%20Supreme%20Court%E2%80%9D&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47388&title=%E2%80%9CTexas%20redistricting%20appeal%20likely%20on%20hold%20at%20Supreme%20Court%E2%80%9D&description=>

Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme
Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, Voting Rights
Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off
A Peek at the Race Which Will Determine Partisan Balance of Wisconsin
Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47385><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47385>
Posted on February 16, 2013 6:58
pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47385><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47385> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/supreme-court-fracas-in-2011-figures-in-race-gh8q1jv-191549361.html><http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/supreme-court-fracas-in-2011-figures-in-race-gh8q1jv-191549361.html>
on round 1 of a two-round race:

[The incumbent Justice] Roggensack has had the fundraising
advantage<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/campaign-reports-show-supreme-court-candidate-raised-no-money-se8nvcn-190722751.html><http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/campaign-reports-show-supreme-court-candidate-raised-no-money-se8nvcn-190722751.html>
in the race, raising more than $235,000 through early February.
Fallone has raised about $80,000. Megna – who once said he planned to
donate $100,000 of his own money to his campaign – has put in just
$10,000 and decided at the beginning of the year not to ask others
for money, saying he would ramp up his campaign if he makes it
through the primary.

Roggensack is the only candidate with an
ad<http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/190080581.html><http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/190080581.html> on television.
Her campaign is also being boosted by a spot run by the conservative
Wisconsin Club for
Growth<http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/190293471.html><http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/190293471.html>. The other
candidates are not getting help from outside groups.

In an unusual move for a court race, Megna early in the campaign
declared himself a
Democrat<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/supreme-court-candidate-declares-himself-a-democrat-opponent-of-voter-id-jt7uq72-182569621.html><http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/supreme-court-candidate-declares-himself-a-democrat-opponent-of-voter-id-jt7uq72-182569621.html>
and announced he supports gay rights and limits on guns. He said the
other candidates should state their partisan leanings and spell out
their stances on issues.

Megna’s positions didn’t do anything to win him support from
high-profile Democrats or their allies. That backing instead went to
Fallone, who has received the endorsements of the Wisconsin Education
Association Council and other labor groups, former U.S. Sen. Russ
Feingold and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

Meanwhile, Roggensack, 72, of Madison, has gotten financial support
from Republican Party campaign committees and the endorsement of the
anti-abortion group Wisconsin Right to Life.

Despite their partisan support, Roggensack and Fallone have rejected
Megna’s call to state their political views. They both say it is
essential for justices to be viewed as impartial.

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47385&title=A%20Peek%20at%20the%20Race%20Which%20Will%20Determine%20Partisan%20Balance%20of%20Wisconsin%20Supreme%20Court&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47385&title=A%20Peek%20at%20the%20Race%20Which%20Will%20Determine%20Partisan%20Balance%20of%20Wisconsin%20Supreme%20Court&description=>

Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, judicial
elections<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19> | Comments Off
The Backstory on Allegations Against Sen.
Menendez<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47379><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47379>
Posted on February 16, 2013 3:35
pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47379><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47379> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/nyregion/partisan-push-led-to-troubling-revelations-about-senator-menendez.html?pagewanted=1&hp><http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/nyregion/partisan-push-led-to-troubling-revelations-about-senator-menendez.html?pagewanted=1&hp>
NYT report.

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47379&title=The%20Backstory%20on%20Allegations%20Against%20Sen.%20Menendez&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47379&title=The%20Backstory%20on%20Allegations%20Against%20Sen.%20Menendez&description=>

Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, ethics
investigations<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42> | Comments Off
“Congress’s committee chairman push to reassert their
power”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47376><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47376>
Posted on February 16, 2013 3:12
pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47376><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47376> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important, extensive WaPo report:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congresss-committee-chairman-push-to-reassert-their-power/2013/02/16/2acb7770-6a6a-11e2-af53-7b2b2a7510a8_story.html><http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congresss-committee-chairman-push-to-reassert-their-power/2013/02/16/2acb7770-6a6a-11e2-af53-7b2b2a7510a8_story.html>

The overarching demand is for “regular order.” which is congressional
speak for how things are supposed to work — at least how things used
to work. Their hopes are straight out of the old Schoolhouse Rock
“I’m Just a Bill” anthem<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0><http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0>,
where bills start in subcommittees and move to full committees and
competing versions are passed by each chamber, leading to a
conference committee to iron out the differences. A final version
gets approved and sent to the president for his signature.

That process, already withering away over the last decade, broke down
completely in the 112th Congress. Senior aides could not point to a
single significant bill introduced in the past two years that moved
along those old procedural tracks. The Senate, intended as the more
prudent, less fractious house, set a modern record for futility in
2011 and 2012 by holding just 486 votes
<http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_112_1.htm><http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_112_1.htm>
— about 175 fewer roll calls than a normal two-year session.

Instead of producing legislation the old-fashioned way, Republicans
and President Obama jousted over a series of deadlines — expiring
funding for federal agencies, exhausting Treasury’s borrowing
authority, expiring tax cuts — that led to a recurring series of
crises that left Congress deeply unpopular.

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47376&title=%E2%80%9CCongress%E2%80%99s%20committee%20chairman%20push%20to%20reassert%20their%20power%E2%80%9D&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47376&title=%E2%80%9CCongress%E2%80%99s%20committee%20chairman%20push%20to%20reassert%20their%20power%E2%80%9D&description=>

Posted in legislation and
legislatures<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, political
parties<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, political
polarization<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68> | Comments Off
“Data Mining is New Lobbying Gold”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47373><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47373>
Posted on February 16, 2013 1:37
pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47373><http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47373> by Rick
Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3><http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Byron Tau for
Politico<http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/data-mining-takes-lobbying-to-a-whole-new-place-87717.html><http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/data-mining-takes-lobbying-to-a-whole-new-place-87717.html>:

A congressman gets an earful from his neighbor after church about a
tax bill. A senator suddenly finds old high school classmates calling
her about an upcoming vote on a small business bill.

Those meetings may not be coincidences.

The same social data-mining ability and concept — that voters are
more likely to consider new ideas from people they know and trust —
that helped power President Barack Obama’s unprecedented field
operation is coming to K Street.

<share_save_171_16.png><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47373&title=%E2%80%9CData%20Mining%20is%20New%20Lobbying%20Gold%E2%80%9D&description=><http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D47373&title=%E2%80%9CData%20Mining%20is%20New%20Lobbying%20Gold%E2%80%9D&description=>

Posted in legislation and
legislatures<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>,
lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>, social media and social
protests<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58><http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58> | Comments Off

--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu><mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu><mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org

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--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org

--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org