[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/20/17

Thu Jan 19 20:35:22 PST 2017

“Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90570>
Posted on January 19, 2017 8:33 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90570> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html?ref=politics>
American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump?inline=nyt-per>, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, current and former senior American officials said.
The continuing counterintelligence investigation means that Mr. Trump will take the oath of office on Friday with his associates under investigation and after the intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government had worked to help elect him. As president, Mr. Trump will oversee those agencies and have the authority to redirect or stop at least some of these efforts.
It is not clear whether the intercepted communications had anything to do with Mr. Trump’s campaign, or Mr. Trump himself. It is also unclear whether the inquiry has anything to do with an investigation into the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computers and other attempts to disrupt the elections in November. The American government has concluded that the Russian government was responsible for a broad computer hacking campaign, including the operation against the D.N.C….
Representatives of the agencies involved declined to comment. Of the half-dozen current and former officials who confirmed the existence of the investigations, some said they were providing information because they feared the new administration would obstruct their efforts. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the cases.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“What happens now to Justice Dept.’s civil rights enforcement?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90568>
Posted on January 19, 2017 8:21 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90568> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/19/what-happens-now-to-justice-dept-s-civil-rights-enforcement/?utm_term=.f0d50ade3681>
We spoke with Gupta on Wednesday morning, the last day in her fifth-floor Justice Department office, where pictures of Robert F. Kennedy and Frederick Douglass hung over her desk. The conversation started with the fight to protect voting rights, an issue with long roots in American racism, as Obama indicated in his last news conference as president on Wednesday afternoon.
We shouldn’t be shy discussing that “ugly history,” he told reporters.
“The reason that we are the only country among advanced democracies that makes it harder to vote is it traces directly back to Jim Crow and the legacy of slavery,” Obama added. “And it became sort of acceptable to restrict the franchise. And that’s not who we are. That shouldn’t be who we are. That’s not when America works best.”
But that is the way America works, especially after the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision that largely emasculated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
That ruling “dealt the Department of Justice a pretty devastating blow,” Gupta said. “It took away a critically important tool that we had to ensure that voting changes big and small were thoroughly evaluated in jurisdictions that had a history of discrimination. … We can’t stop discriminatory laws before they go into effect anymore.”
But even with the Supreme Court-imposed obstacle, the civil rights division scored limited victories. One federal court decision nailed the racist intent of voting restrictions, as cited in the agency’s exit memo<https://www.documentcloud.org/search/Account:3738-joe-davidson>: “In July 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down a North Carolina law that the court described in its ruling as one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history with provisions that ‘target African Americans with almost surgical precision.’”
“We need to continue to ask ourselves why we are making it harder and not easier for people to vote, especially in light of the lack of any real evidence that voter fraud exists,” Gupta said.
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Posted in Department of Justice<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Voter feared fraud, Elections Department blames human error”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90566>
Posted on January 19, 2017 8:18 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90566> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Yup<http://www.kvia.com/news/el-paso/voter-feared-fraud-elections-department-blames-human-error/279950033>. This happens more often than you’d think.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

#SCOTUS Does Not Act Yet in TX or NC Election Cases<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90564>
Posted on January 19, 2017 8:13 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90564> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Although the Court granted cert. in two cases<http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/01/court-adds-two-cases-merits-docket/> today, no word yet on the Texas redistricting case (now up<https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docketfiles/16-393.htm> at three conferences) or the North Carolina racial gerrymandering case. There was a chance the Court could have acted on this today given recent Court order stopping the 2017 special elections in North Carolina ordered by the lower court pending resolution of this appeal.
The most likely thing to happen with the North Carolina case is for it to be held for Bethune-Hill (from Va.) and McCrory v. Harris (another NC racial gerrymandering case) to be resolved first this term.
Who knows what will happen with the Texas voter id case?  I’d guess if conservatives were confident they’d have a fifth Justice by the time it is heard, they’ll vote to hear it.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

Incoming DOJ Deputy Assistant AG for Civil Rights Worked Defending Redistricting Plans<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90559>
Posted on January 19, 2017 7:28 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90559> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
David Lat lists<http://abovethelaw.com/2017/01/jones-day-in-the-white-house-the-biglaw-firm-fills-top-jobs-in-the-trump-administration/?rf=1> a number of Jones Day lawyers going to work for the Trump administration. Among those listed is attorney John M. Gore<http://www.jonesday.com/jmgore/> to be the deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights in the DOJ.
According to Gore’s bio, his has been “actively involved in legislative redistricting litigation.” Under experience, the following redistricting-related cases are listed:
Hempstead’s Town Council redistricting plan is successfully defended against voters’ preliminary injunction action<http://www.jonesday.com/experiencepractices/ExperienceDetail.aspx?experienceid=29669>
Jones Day successfully defended the Town Council of the Town of Hempstead, New York, and the Town of Hempstead, New York, in a preliminary injunction action seeking a court imposed redistricting plan.
New York Senate successfully defends redistricting plan against voters’ preliminary injunction action<http://www.jonesday.com/experiencepractices/ExperienceDetail.aspx?experienceid=29072>
Jones Day successfully defended New York Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos, Chairman of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (“LATFOR”) Senator Michael F. Nozzolio, and LATFOR member Welquis R. Lopez in a preliminary injunction action seeking a court-imposed redistricting plan.
President of Florida Senate obtains preclearance from Department of Justice for redistricting plan<http://www.jonesday.com/experiencepractices/ExperienceDetail.aspx?experienceid=29070>
Jones Day successfully represented President of the Florida Senate Mike Haridopolos in preclearance proceedings before the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
New York Senate obtains preclearance from Department of Justice for redistricting plan<http://www.jonesday.com/experiencepractices/ExperienceDetail.aspx?experienceid=29082>
Jones Day successfully represented New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos in preclearance proceedings before the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
South Carolina state legislative redistricting plan survives voters’ claims of Equal Protection Clause and Voting Rights Act violations<http://www.jonesday.com/experiencepractices/ExperienceDetail.aspx?experienceid=29056>
Jones Day represented Glenn F. McConnell, the President Pro Tempore of the South Carolina State Senate, in a three-judge federal district court case challenging the Senate districts under the Equal Protection Clause and Voting Rights Act.
Senate Majority Leader Skelos wins on appeal in suit challenging the constitutionality of New York’s Senate redistricting plan<http://www.jonesday.com/experiencepractices/ExperienceDetail.aspx?experienceid=29076>
Jones Day successfully defended Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos before the trial court and on appeal, in a suit challenging the constitutionality of New York’s redistricting plan for the state Senate.
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Posted in Department of Justice<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>

“Harvard Ash Center Appoints Miles Rapoport, Longtime Democracy Advocate, as Senior Fellow”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90557>
Posted on January 19, 2017 2:39 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90557> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release.<http://ash.harvard.edu/news/harvard-ash-center-appoints-miles-rapoport-longtime-democracy-advocate-senior-fellow>
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Posted in election law biz<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>

“OSCE Observers Release Report On November 8 US Election”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90555>
Posted on January 19, 2017 7:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90555> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
A ChapinBlog.<http://editions.lib.umn.edu/electionacademy/2017/01/19/osce-observers-release-report-on-november-8-election/>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Under Trump, Approach to Civil Rights Law Is Likely to Change Definitively”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90553>
Posted on January 19, 2017 7:31 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90553> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/civil-rights-justice-department-donald-trump.html?ref=politics&_r=0>
Few areas of federal policy are likely to change so definitively. President-elect Donald Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump?inline=nyt-per>’s nominee to be attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, opposes not only the Justice Department’s specific policies on civil rights but its entire approach. While liberal Democrats have criticized Mr. Sessions’s views on specific issues like gay marriage and voting, the larger difference is how differently the Trump administration will view the government’s role in those areas.
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Posted in Department of Justice<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>

“Emoluments: Trump’s Coming Ethics Trouble”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90551>
Posted on January 19, 2017 7:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90551> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Painter, Tribe, Eisen, and Matz in the Atlantic.<https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/trumps-ethics-train-wreck/513446/>

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Posted in conflict of interest laws<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>

“With morale in tatters, Federal Election Commission eyes changes”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90549>
Posted on January 19, 2017 7:22 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90549> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
CPI:<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/01/19/20599/morale-tatters-federal-election-commission-eyes-changes>
Federal Election Commission leaders — dogged by abysmal staff morale<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/07/26/20006/report-fec-leaders-managers-share-blame-horrid-morale> and a top manager improperly obtaining employees’ confidential critiques<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/11/08/20436/fec-inspector-general-says-top-agency-official-duped-her-releasing-confidential> — are considering changes to how the agency operates in a bid to restore staff trust.
Chief among them: the creation of a new “ombudsman” office dedicated to investigating and resolving staff complaints and internal conflicts, according to an internal proposal<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3360673-MoraleDraft.html> written by the agency’s chairman and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity<http://www.publicintegrity.org/politics>.
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Posted in election law biz<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“FBI, 5 other agencies probe possible covert Kremlin aid to Trump”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90547>
Posted on January 19, 2017 7:21 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90547> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
McClatchy:<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article127231799.html>
Investigators are examining how money may have moved from the Kremlin to covertly help Trump win, the two sources said. One of the allegations involves whether a system for routinely paying thousands of Russian-American pensioners may have been used to pay some email hackers in the United States or to supply money to intermediaries who would then pay the hackers, the two sources said.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

--
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
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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