[EL] ELB News and Commentary 7/10/17

Mon Jul 10 08:50:00 PDT 2017

Must-read Bauer: "Open Door to Moscow? New Facts in the Potential Criminal Case of Trump Campaign Coordination with Russia"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93721>
Posted on July 10, 2017 8:45 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93721> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Following up on my earlier post <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93701> about whether Trump Jr.'s revelations of the meeting with a Russian operative who was offering dirt on Hillary Clinton could violate the law on soliciting foreign contributions, Bob Bauer has this must-read:<https://www.justsecurity.org/42956/open-door-moscow-facts-potential-criminal-case-trump-campaign-coordination-russia/>

Of course, it should go without saying that we will have a reliable grasp on the evidence only when the facts are developed and tested through the legal system. There are a host of questions still to be answered about the reported Trump campaign contacts. But the most recent press accounts are especially significant because they include specific statements on the record conceding the Trump campaign's expressed interest in what the Russians could provide.  Those statements show intent-a clear-cut willingness to have Russian support-and they reveal specific actions undertaken to obtain it....

This new and remarkable information adds considerably to the potential criminal violation of the federal law that prohibits "substantial assistance" to foreign nationals seeking to influence a federal election. Now we have, as part of the public record, specific and private actions to establish intent to provide this assistance. Donald Trump can't very well sustain his position that in calling for the Russians to find the missing email, he was merely joking<http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/26/politics/trump-clinton-russia-hacking-email-joking/index.html>. His campaign was furthering behind closed doors the objective that the candidate was "jokingly" professing. If confirmed and further developed in the Mueller investigation, these facts also bolster the campaign's exposure to "aiding and abetting" liability for a campaign finance violation.

There are two additional grounds for that criminal liability: the campaign's "coordination" with Russian foreign national sources, as a result of which it received an illegal contribution, and its "solicitation" of this illegal contribution, each of which independently violate the law.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

Live Webcast at 1:30 PM Eastern Today: 7th Annual UCI Law Supreme Court Term in Review Event<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93719>
Posted on July 10, 2017 8:26 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93719> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
7th Annual Supreme Court Term in Review

Monday, July 10, 2017, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Irvine Barclay Theatre (Map<http://www.thebarclay.org/irvine-barclay-theatre.asp?n=plan-your-visit&n1=directions>)

Livestream here ><http://livestream.com/accounts/867536/events/7511201>

This exciting and entertaining program reviews the Supreme Court's key cases decided in the October 2016 term, with an all-star panel of Supreme Court practitioners, journalists, and academics.

Panelists
·         Erwin Chemerinsky<https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/erwin-chemerinsky/>, Dean and Professor of Law, UC Berkeley Law School, Founding Dean, UCI Law
·         Hon. Alex Kozinski<https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/kozinski-alex>, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
·         Hon. Leondra R. Kruger<http://www.courts.ca.gov/33016.htm>, Supreme Court of California
·         Leah Litman<http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/litman/index.html>, UCI Law
·         Greg Stohr<https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/ABoe0szR3_0/greg-stohr>, Bloomberg
·         Moderated by Rick Hasen<http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/index.html>, UCI Law

Viewers may submit questions via Twitter (@UCILaw<http://twitter.com/ucilaw> or @rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>), using the hash tag #ucilawscotus at the end of your question.
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Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

"With 2018 election looming, Texas back in court over political maps"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93717>
Posted on July 10, 2017 8:23 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93717> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Texas Tribune<https://www.texastribune.org/2017/07/10/2018-election-looming-texas-back-court-over-political-maps/> on the latest trial, starting today, in the never-ending Texas redistricting case.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

Michael Wines on Tensions at Annual Meeting of Secretaries of State over Pence-Kobach<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93715>
Posted on July 10, 2017 8:21 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93715> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/voter-fraud-secretary-of-state.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront>

Republicans scrambled to distance themselves from the letter's call for private data like birthdates and partial Social Security<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/social_security_us/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> numbers without impugning their president's claim or his commission. But giving the claim credibility placed them in the awkward position of saying either that other secretaries had overlooked millions of illegal votes, or that they had found them and lied about it.

Asked at a news conference on Friday whether Mr. Trump's assertion of millions of illegal votes was credible, one of the Democratic secretaries of state on the White House panel, Matthew Dunlap of Maine, said that he "would be stunned to see a number anywhere near that." He noted that he had failed to find a single verifiable case of fraud in his 11 years on the job.

Ms. Lawson, the Indiana secretary of state and a Republican on the commission, gave a more contorted response. "They know they can't get by with it in Indiana," she said, but "I can't speak to what happens in other states." Asked whether she personally believed Mr. Trump's claim, she repeated her answer.
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Posted in The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

"States Push New Voter Requirements, Fueled by Trump"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93713>
Posted on July 10, 2017 8:06 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93713> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NBC News reports.<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/states-push-new-voter-requirements-fueled-trump-n780611>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

"The Voting Rights Agenda Must Include Felon Reenfranchisement"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93711>
Posted on July 10, 2017 8:04 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93711> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Nancy Leong<https://takecareblog.com/blog/the-voting-rights-agenda-must-include-felon-reenfranchisement> for Take Care.
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Posted in felon voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>

"Former Ohio official who accidentally released Social Security numbers is on Trump's voter fraud panel"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93709>
Posted on July 10, 2017 8:02 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93709> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LAT <http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-blackwell-voter-commission-20170709-story.html> on Ken Blackwell.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

"Klobuchar, Reed, Senators Demand that Presidential Advisory Commission Rescind Request for State Election Officials' Voter Roll Data"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93707>
Posted on July 10, 2017 8:00 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93707> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Release.<https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/7/klobuchar-reed-senators-demand-that-presidential-advisory-commission-rescind-request-for-state-election-officials-voter-roll-data>
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Posted in The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

NY: "Redistricting panel with diminished role lives on with $1.5 million budget"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93705>
Posted on July 10, 2017 7:58 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93705> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Times Union:<http://m.timesunion.com/local/article/Redistricting-panel-with-diminished-role-lives-on-11273528.php>

"It's a place for patronage and to allow the respective houses to stay on top of demographic changes," Dadey said. "They can know which seats to protect or where there are new opportunities."

Indeed, the minority parties have complained that they have little input in the program and receive no information from the task force. In 2012, after LATFOR's maps were introduced, Brooklyn Sen. Martin Dilan, the minority Senate Democrat on LATFOR, said at a hearing that "the entire process has been a farce, a sham, has been a waste of money."
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

"At Private Dinners, Pence Quietly Courts Big Donors and Corporate Executives"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93703>
Posted on July 10, 2017 7:56 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93703> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ken Vogel<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/politics/at-private-dinners-pence-quietly-courts-big-donors-and-corporate-executives.html?_r=1&referer=https://t.co/ZJWOJaHoQA> (now for the NYT):

Vice President Mike Pence has been courting scores of the country's most influential donors, corporate executives and conservative political leaders over the past several months in a series of private gatherings and one-on-one conversations.

The centerpiece of the effort is a string of dinners held every few weeks at the vice president's official residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory in Washington. Mr. Pence and his wife, Karen, have presided over at least four such soirées, and more are in the works. Each has drawn roughly 30 to 40 guests, including a mix of wealthy donors such as the Chicago hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin and the brokerage firm founder Charles Schwab, as well as Republican fund-raisers and executives from companies like Dow Chemical and the military contractor United Technologies.

The guests and their families collectively donated or helped raise millions of dollars to support the Trump-Pence ticket in 2016, and some are viewed in Republican finance circles as likely supporters for two new groups created to promote President Trump, Mr. Pence, their legislative agenda and congressional allies. The dinner guest lists were curated in part by two of Mr. Pence's closest advisers, who have also played important roles in starting the new political groups, America First Policies and America First Action. Mr. Pence has appeared at recent events outside his official residence with prospective donors to the groups.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Did Trump Jr.'s Meeting With Russian Lawyer After Being Promised Damaging Information on Clinton Violate Federal Law Against Soliciting Foreign Contributions?<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93701>
Posted on July 9, 2017 4:46 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93701> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/politics/trump-russia-kushner-manafort.html?_r=0>

President Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/hillary-rodham-clinton?inline=nyt-per> before agreeing to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, according to three advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it.

The meeting was also attended by his campaign chairman at the time, Paul J. Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Mr. Manafort and Mr. Kushner recently disclosed the meeting, though not its content, in confidential government documents described to The New York Times....

The meeting - at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, two weeks after Donald J. Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump?inline=nyt-per> clinched the Republican nomination<https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-nomination.html> - points to the central question in federal investigations of the Kremlin's meddling in the presidential election: whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. The accounts of the meeting represent the first public indication that at least some in the campaign were willing to accept Russian help....

It is unclear whether the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, actually produced the promised compromising information about Mrs. Clinton. But the people interviewed by The Times about the meeting said the expectation was that she would do so.

Worth rereading Bob Bauer<https://www.justsecurity.org/41593/hiding-plain-sight-federal-campaign-finance-law-trump-campaign-collusion-russia-trump/> on the prohibition<https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/11/110.20> on foreign nationals providing "anything of value" to campaigns and a bar against any person providing "substantial assistance" to the foreign national in so doing

But the law also bars solicitation of these things of value from foreign nationals: "No person shall knowingly solicit, accept, or receive from a foreign national any contribution or donation prohibited by paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section." The contribution again can be considered "anything of value."

This is worth further investigation.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

Interview with Me on NPR's Weekend Edition about Pence-Kobach, "What States Can And Can't Do With Voter Data"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93698>
Posted on July 9, 2017 9:45 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93698> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Listen here.<http://www.npr.org/2017/07/09/536263092/what-states-can-and-cant-do-with-voter-data>
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Posted in The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

--
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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