[EL] FBI intervention in election?

[Rick Hasen]

 From my look a few years back at Edwards, DeLay, Stevens, etc., I do 
believe it is FBI policy not to announce investigations of politicians 
just before an election.  But it does not appear that's what's going on 
here.  The current controversy traces back to this Oct 22 report on the 
Argus Leader 
<http://www.argusleader.com/story/davidmontgomery/2014/10/22/fbi-eb5-investigation-active/17731237/>, 
in which the FBI did not announce a new investigation but confirmed that 
a year and a half investigation is still ongoing. The article includes 
the following: " The investigation is politically charged. U.S. Senate 
candidate Mike Rounds has been attacked for his handling of South 
Dakota's EB-5 program as governor -- though Rounds has said he hasn't 
been questioned by law enforcement despite his willingness to do so, and 
doesn't believe he's a target of the investigation."

That's not to say that there might not be a political motivation behind 
announcing that the investigation of the EB5 program is ongoing. But it 
is different from announcing that a politician is the target of a new 
(or ongoing) investigation.


On 10/31/14, 9:28 PM, Scarberry, Mark wrote:
> I hope there is nothing to this, but speaking of "paths to tyranny" 
> there is an accusation that the FBI has breached protocol in a manner 
> that quite foreseeably could affect a senate race. See 
> http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/10/fbi-announces-investigation-of-gop-senate-candidate-days-before-election/ 
> (via Instapundit), linking to 
> http://www.nationalreview.com/article/391377/october-surprise-south-dakota-ryan-lovelace.
>
> People who remember what happened to Ted Stevens and Tom Delay (not 
> one of my favorites), and who see what is happening to Scott Walker, 
> and who think there really was a problem at the IRS, may be somewhat 
> willing to consider this accusation against the FBI seriously.
>
> Perhaps someone on the list can shed light on this matter. For all of 
> our sakes, I hope that the FBI has not acted improperly.
>
> Mark
>
> Mark S. Scarberry
> Pepperdine University School of Law
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Oct 31, 2014, at 2:48 PM, "Dale Eisman" <DEisman at commoncause.org 
> <mailto:DEisman at commoncause.org>> wrote:
>
>> Speaking of Halloween, Mr. Barr apparently has donned his Straw Man 
>> suit for the holiday.
>>
>> I daresay that no one on this list wants to deprive anyone of their 
>> freedom of speech or association and that everyone believes in self 
>> government and the free exchange of ideas.  And surely no one wants 
>> to give government the power to decide who is elected or who wields 
>> power.
>>
>> There are many paths to tyranny. Let me suggest that one of those 
>> is the apportionment of political power based on wealth. The Steyers, 
>> Kochs, et al are welcome to participate in our democracy, but let us 
>> insist on a level playing field for everyone.
>>
>
>
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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
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org

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