[EL] Trump and retaliation

Wed Feb 24 09:38:55 PST 2016

I had a question based on the Politico story. We’ve discussed at length on this listserv the issue of private retaliation against political donors based on information gleaned from disclosure requirements. We have not discussed much the concept of government retaliation against political and ideological opponents based on the same or similar information the government mandates that people supply to it, although that was certainly a facet to the IRS scandal and the Wisconsin debacle.

Recalling the old Nixonian “enemies list” and the prospect of Donald Trump—a famously litigious and retaliatory private figure—in charge of the IRS and the Justice Department, I was curious if (i) pro-regulation commenters see the possibility of the government using such information to target and harass political or ideological enemies as a problem, and (ii) what steps people have proposed to try to prevent this from happening in an environment where much political activity must be reported to the government. Outside of Rick’s book, I cannot seeing pro-regulation writings that address this argument, so I am curious as to whether, or to what extent, this has been addressed.

Thanks in advance for any references.

Bill

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rick Hasen
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 7:26 AM
To: law-election at UCI.edu
Subject: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/24/16

“Judge revises proposed court schedule in NC redistricting case”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80280>
Posted on February 24, 2016 7:18 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80280> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The latest<http://www.greensboro.com/news/judge-revises-proposed-court-schedule-in-nc-redistricting-case/article_1ead121a-67a1-54c0-a7eb-4232df1d9268.html#.Vs2R0cZuGgE.twitter> from NC.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80280&action=edit>
“Election Protection 2016: #ProtectOURVOTE”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80278>
Posted on February 24, 2016 7:17 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80278> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Lawyers’ Committee<https://lawyerscommittee.org/publication/ep2016_brief1/>:

This 2016 presidential election year is like no other in recent history. At the onset, some voters face unprecedented challenges, while others benefit from recently enacted election reforms. This brief explores some of those challenges and reforms – and outlines the Election Protection coalition’s role  in educating, engaging, and empowering voters in 2016.

To view the brief online, please click here. <https://lawyerscommittee.org/ep2016_brief1/>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80278&action=edit>
“Texas court clears ex-Gov. Rick Perry of 2nd felony charge”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80275>
Posted on February 24, 2016 7:16 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80275> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP<http://bigstory.ap.org/728a841f10894fbfbc86a997a40e7943>:

Texas’ highest criminal court tossed the second and final felony charge against former Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday, likely ending a case the Republican says helped sink his short-lived 2016 presidential bid.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the abuse-of-power charge, which was filed after Perry threatened — and then carried out — a veto of state funding for a group of public corruption prosecutors after the Democratic head of the unit refused to resign.

See my 2014 post, Rick Perry and the Criminalization of Politics<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=64361>.
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80275&action=edit>
“Ghost Ships: Out Of The Race, Still On The Ballot”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80273>
Posted on February 24, 2016 7:09 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80273> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A ChapinBlog<http://editions.lib.umn.edu/electionacademy/2016/02/24/ghost-ships-out-of-the-race-still-on-the-ballot/>.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80273&action=edit>
“Maine’s public campaign finance system could run out of money”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80271>
Posted on February 24, 2016 7:07 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80271> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Maine News Online reports<http://mainenewsonline.com/content/16027139-maine-s-public-campaign-finance-system-could-run-out-money>.
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“Trump Wins Nevada Amid Hijinks, Confusion and Voter Fraud Allegations”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80269>
Posted on February 24, 2016 7:02 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80269> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Vice News reports.<https://news.vice.com/article/hijinks-confusion-and-allegations-of-voter-fraud-dominate-republican-caucuses-in-nevada>

Caucuses are antidemocratic and run by amateurs. It’s time to kill the caucuses.<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/02/congress_should_kill_the_republican_and_democratic_state_caucuses_and_mandate_primaries_instead_.html>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80269&action=edit>
CPI Interviews Incoming EAC Chair Tom Hicks<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80267>
Posted on February 24, 2016 7:01 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80267> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Interesting interview<http://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/02/24/19341/meet-nations-new-election-integrity-watchman>, touching on issues including voter fraud and voter suppression.

But no mention of the current raging controversy over Kansas. etc. id requirements and the ongoing litigation<http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/02/judge-voters-proof-of-citizenship-219694>.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election Assistance Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80267&action=edit>
“Mega-donors shy away from fight with Trump”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80265>
Posted on February 24, 2016 6:47 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80265> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Pity the billionaires<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/donald-trump-megadonors-219690> who are afraid of a bully.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80265&action=edit>
“Did Crossroads GPS ‘Bamboozle’ the IRS?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80263>
Posted on February 24, 2016 6:45 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80263> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Barnaby Zall blogs.<http://www.campaignfreedom.org/2016/02/23/did-crossroads-gps-bamboozle-the-irs/>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law and election law<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80263&action=edit>
Trump Voters, the South, and Slavery<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80261>
Posted on February 23, 2016 9:11 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80261> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Lynn Vavreck<http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/upshot/measuring-donald-trumps-supporters-for-intolerance.html?_r=0> for NYT’s The UpShot:

According to P.P.P., 70 percent of Mr. Trump’s voters in South Carolina wish the Confederate battle flag were still flying on their statehouse grounds. (It was removed last summer less than a month after a mass shooting at a black church in Charleston.) The polling firm says that 38 percent of them wish the South had won the Civil War. Only a quarter of Mr. Rubio’s supporters share that wish, and even fewer of Mr. Kasich’s and Mr. Carson’s do.

Nationally, the YouGov data show a similar trend: Nearly 20 percent of Mr. Trump’s voters disagreed with the freeing of slaves in Southern states after the Civil War. Only 5 percent of Mr. Rubio’s voters share this view.

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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80261&action=edit>
“Campaign finance activists try to explain Jeb Bush’s $130 million fail”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80259>
Posted on February 23, 2016 9:09 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80259> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Benjy Sarlin reports for MSNBC.<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/campaign-finance-activists-try-explain-jeb-bushs-130-million-fail>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80259&action=edit>
“Campaign-Finance Crusader Lawrence Lessig Thinks We Have a Lot to Learn from Donald Trump”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80257>
Posted on February 23, 2016 5:44 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80257> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Vanity Fair interview.<http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/02/bernie-sanders-campaign-finance-lawrence-lessig>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80257&action=edit>
The Fight to Vote: New Book by Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80255>
Posted on February 23, 2016 5:30 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80255> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

This looks<https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/fight-vote> timely and important:

Michael Waldman, author of The Second Amendment: A Biography<http://www.amazon.com/Second-Amendment-Biography-Michael-Waldman/dp/1476747458/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454358766&sr=1-2> and President of the Brennan Center for Justice, is a leading law scholar and public policy activist. In his new book, THE FIGHT TO VOTE<http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Vote-Michael-Waldman/dp/1501116487/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454358766&sr=1-1> (Simon & Schuster; Hardcover; Feb 23, 2016; $28), Waldman takes a succinct and comprehensive look at a crucial American struggle: the drive to define and defend government based on “the consent of the governed.” There is no other book like it – a current, readable history of voting rights in the United States. Waldman traces the full story from the Founders’ debates to today’s challenges: a wave of restrictive voting laws, partisan gerrymanders, and the flood of campaign money unleashed by Citizens United

As we enter the 2016 elections, Waldman’s book is a needed reminder that voting rights have never been — and are still not — a guarantee. Waldman emphasizes that the fight to vote has been at the center of American politics since the nation’s founding: “It didn’t start at Selma,” he notes. From the beginning, and at every step along the way, as Americans sought the right to vote, others have fought to stop them.  Raucous debates over how to expand democracy have always been a part of American politics. We continue to see the issue come up this year: Hillary Clinton has shown a high-profile embrace of democracy reform, advocating for universal, automatic voter registration; Bernie Sanders rails against Super-PACs and wealthy campaign donors that obstruct popular representation; Donald Trump boasts about his independently financed campaign — but warns about voter fraud.

In THE FIGHT TO VOTE, Waldman addresses these hot button issues while providing a much needed context of the history behind voting rights and the varied attempts to expand (and limit) those rights over the years. Various groups and individuals have affected election laws in America since the nation was founded. As Waldman writes, “Through their stories, this book focuses on key moments, turning points when controversy eventually yielded a lurch forward — or when the country actually moved backward.  I believe we are at such an inflection point today.”

BUY ON AMAZON<http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Vote-Michael-Waldman/dp/1501116487/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454358766&sr=1-1>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80255&action=edit>
Video Interview with GoverningWorks on Plutocrats United<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80253>
Posted on February 23, 2016 5:27 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80253> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Watch<https://www.governingworks.org/2016/02/gworks-interviews-richard-l-hasen.html>.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Plutocrats United<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80253&action=edit>
“Judge won’t block proof-of-citizenship for new voters”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80249>
Posted on February 23, 2016 5:21 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80249> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Josh Gerstein<http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/02/judge-voters-proof-of-citizenship-219694>:

A federal judge has turned down a request to block a federal official’s move allowing three states to enforce proof-of-citizenship requirements for people attempting to register as voters.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon declined to issue the temporary restraining order civil rights and voting rights groups sought<http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/02/voting-rights-citizenship-proof-219642> to block approval of changes the states of Alabama, Kansas and Georgia obtained recently to a federal form that can be used in lieu of state voter registration applications.

“Given that the registration deadlines for the Alabama and Georgia primaries and for the Kansas Republican Caucus had already passed at the time this TRO motion was filed…and that the effects of [the federal] actions on the ongoing registration process for the Kansas Democratic Caucus and plaintiffs’ rights and efforts thereto are uncertain at best, plaintiffs have not demonstrated they will suffer irreparable harm before the hearing on their Motion for a Preliminary Injunction,” Leon wrote in a four-page order issued Tuesday afternoon<http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000153-1045-d7cd-af53-18ff0e630000>.

Check out the exclamation point in Judge Leon’s footnote on page 4.
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4th Circuit Rejects Equal Protection Challenge to PAC Requirements<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80247>
Posted on February 23, 2016 11:31 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80247> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

STOP REID v. FEC.<http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/151455.P.pdf>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=80247&action=edit>
“Mending the Legislative Process”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80245>
Posted on February 23, 2016 11:31 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80245> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Interesting new symposium issue in The Theory and Practice of Legislation.

You can read Ittai Bar Siman Tov’s substantive introduction to the symposium at this free-access link<http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/U4ETiY9Hs5ewhvXzSEUu/full>.

Looks great!
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“Former GOP spokeswoman is first appointee to new ethics commission”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80243>
Posted on February 23, 2016 10:57 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=80243> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News from Wisconsin<http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/former-gop-spokeswoman-is-first-appointee-to-new-ethics-commission/article_f8714a25-b6c1-59cb-a3ff-c664b882dcaa.html> on what’s replacing the irreplaceable GAB.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

--

Rick Hasen

Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science

UC Irvine School of Law

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949.824.0495 - fax

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http://electionlawblog.org

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