[EL] ELB News and Commentary 3/8/17

Wed Mar 8 09:20:14 PST 2017

“A Conspiracy A Month? Trump Calls For 2 Investigations — With No Evidence”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91518>
Posted on March 8, 2017 9:01 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91518> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NPR:<http://www.npr.org/2017/03/08/518987077/a-conspiracy-a-month-trump-calls-for-2-investigations-with-no-evidence?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=politics&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170308>
This isn’t the first time Trump has blasted out such uncorroborated claims on Twitter, in national interviews and elsewhere — and gone on to ask for an investigation into them. It’s not even the first of his 6 1/2-week presidency. (Remember those 3 million to 5 million he said he believes voted illegally, costing him the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton? She just so happened to beat him in that count by about 3 million votes. Trump has asked Vice President Pence to take it up. More on that below.)…
Trump’s claims culminated in him tweeting that he was going to be “asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and … even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!”
After Gregg Phillips with the conservative group VoteStand went on CNN<http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/27/politics/gregg-phillips-voter-fraud-donald-trump-cnntv/> claiming he had names of the 3 million people who voted illegally — but then refused to produce such a list — Trump tweeted out praise for him and said he was looking forward to seeing the results.
The president later said in a Fox News interview last month<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/05/trump-says-pence-to-lead-voter-registration-fraud-probe-leaves-door-open-on-scrapping-iran-deal.html> that he was going to tap Pence to investigate voter-fraud claims. Over a month later, Trump has not signed any executive order calling for an investigation or commission to do so.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91518&title=%E2%80%9CA%20Conspiracy%20A%20Month%3F%20Trump%20Calls%20For%202%20Investigations%20%E2%80%94%20With%20No%20Evidence%E2%80%9D>
Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Breaking down barriers for black Terrebonne Parish voters”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91516>
Posted on March 8, 2017 8:22 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91516> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Marc Morial has written<http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2017/03/terrebonne_parish_voting_right.html> this oped for Nola.com.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91516&title=%E2%80%9CBreaking%20down%20barriers%20for%20black%20Terrebonne%20Parish%20voters%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

“The Worst $1 Million Trump Ever Saved”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91514>
Posted on March 8, 2017 8:10 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91514> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy:<https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/worst-1-million-trump-ever-saved>
Now there’s news from Politico<http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-ethics-white-house-235586> that the Trump team decided to forego ethics training for senior White House staff, Cabinet nominees and other political appointees. Apparently, the training was a casualty of when Vice President Mike Pence took over the transition from Chris Christie. Perhaps Pence did not believe the training was worth its $1 million price.
But if any administration needed some ethics training, it’s clearly one where the president, his chief of staff (Rence Priebus<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reince_Priebus>), and his chief strategist (Steven Bannon<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bannon>), have no government experience. And although White House Counsel Donald McGahn<file:///C:/Users/lyonsj/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Word/Spelliscy.Column.LyonsEdit.3.6.17305783510835443505/Donald%20F.%20McGahn> once was a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, he has no White House experience. While their ethics specialist, Deputy White House Counsel Stefan Passantino, has provided ethics training to House members, <https://www.rnla.org/bio/BioDetail.asp?MemberID=1687> he also has no government or White House experience. Since the White House skipped the training, here are a few pointers.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91514&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Worst%20%241%20Million%20Trump%20Ever%20Saved%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“GOP commissioner: Trump poised to revamp election agency”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91512>
Posted on March 7, 2017 1:25 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91512> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Illuminating video interview<http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/322700-gop-commissioner-trump-poised-to-revamp-election-agency#.WL8XJLHk_sA.twitter> with FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman.
I earlier interviewed the commissioner for the ELB Podcast<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=81239>.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91512&title=%E2%80%9CGOP%20commissioner%3A%20Trump%20poised%20to%20revamp%20election%20agency%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“Internet Politics–Is the Problem the Politics or the Internet?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91510>
Posted on March 7, 2017 7:55 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91510> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer blogs.<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2017/03/internet-politics-problem-politics-internet/>

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91510&title=%E2%80%9CInternet%20Politics%E2%80%93Is%20the%20Problem%20the%20Politics%20or%20the%20Internet%3F%E2%80%9D>
Posted in social media and social protests<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>

“Data Firm Says ‘Secret Sauce’ Aided Trump; Many Scoff”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91507>
Posted on March 6, 2017 9:35 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91507> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/cambridge-analytica.html?ref=politics>
Cambridge Analytica’s rise has rattled some of President Trump’s critics and privacy advocates, who warn of a blizzard of high-tech, Facebook-optimized propaganda<https://www.scout.ai/story/the-rise-of-the-weaponized-ai-propaganda-machine> aimed at the American public, controlled by the people behind the alt-right hub Breitbart News. Cambridge is principally owned by the billionaire Robert Mercer, a Trump backer and investor in Breitbart. Stephen K. Bannon, the former Breitbart chairman who is Mr. Trump’s senior White House counselor, served until last summer as vice president of Cambridge’s board.
But a dozen Republican consultants and former Trump campaign aides, along with current and former Cambridge employees, say the company’s ability to exploit personality profiles — “our secret sauce,” Mr. Nix once called it — is exaggerated.
Cambridge executives now concede that the company never used psychographics in the Trump campaign. The technology — prominently featured in the firm’s sales materials and in media reports<https://cambridgeanalytica.org/news> that cast Cambridge as a master of the dark campaign arts — remains unproved, according to former employees and Republicans familiar with the firm’s work.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91507&title=%E2%80%9CData%20Firm%20Says%20%E2%80%98Secret%20Sauce%E2%80%99%20Aided%20Trump%3B%20Many%20Scoff%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“States find little evidence of voter fraud in months after elections”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91505>
Posted on March 6, 2017 9:14 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91505> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Hill:<http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/322522-states-find-little-evidence-of-voter-fraud-in-months-after-election#.WL4isv33jYc.twitter>
Four months after Election Day, Republican and Democratic administrators have uncovered only a handful of instances of improper or illegal voting despite President Trump’s unfounded allegations of millions of fraudulent ballots.
Trump has claimed that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally on Election Day, costing him the popular vote. But numbers from around the country suggest that a few hundred people at most broke voting rules.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91505&title=%E2%80%9CStates%20find%20little%20evidence%20of%20voter%20fraud%20in%20months%20after%20elections%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

FEC Commissioner Weintraub Responds to OMB Query on Proposal to Abolish EAC [Corrected]<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91501>
Posted on March 6, 2017 2:20 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91501> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Letter:<http://www.fec.gov/members/weintraub/statements/2017-03_ELW_OMB_letter_re_EAC.pdf>
This bill would make our elections less safe, less secure, and less fair, and could reduce the faith of the American people in their elections’ results. In these unsettling times, surely public officials in all branches and at all levels should be pulling together to increase – not diminish – civic engagement and faith in government.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91501&title=FEC%20Commissioner%20Weintraub%20Responds%20to%20OMB%20Query%20on%20Proposal%20to%20Abolish%20EAC%20%5BCorrected%5D>
Posted in Election Assistance Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“Bondi’s silence is golden to backers of voting rights amendment”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91499>
Posted on March 6, 2017 2:15 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91499> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Miami Herald:<http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2017/03/bondis-silence-is-golden-for-supporters-of-voting-rights-amendment-.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter>
Attorney General Pam Bondi had nothing to say to the Florida Supreme Court Monday, and for people working to restore the right to vote to convicted felons, that was welcome news.
The court must decide whether a ballot initiative deals with only one subject and whether the title and summary that voters will see on the ballot fairly describes the amendment. This proposal, which could go before voters in 2018, would restore the voting rights of convicted felons after they have completed their sentences, including probation, and it would not apply to people convicted of sexual battery or murder.
Bondi’s solicitor general, Amit Agarwal, stood before Chief Justice Jorge Labarga, who had one simple question: “Is the attorney general taking a position?”
“No, your honor,” Agarwal replied. That left the hearing to Jon Mills, the former House speaker from Gainesville and UF law school dean, who defended the proposal and seemed to get a sympathetic ear from Justice Barbara Pariente, who observed: “This is really no different than what most other states have.”
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D91499&title=%E2%80%9CBondi%E2%80%99s%20silence%20is%20golden%20to%20backers%20of%20voting%20rights%20amendment%E2%80%9D>
Posted in felon voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>

--
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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