[EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/17/17

Thu Nov 16 22:01:16 PST 2017

“Election officials move closer to placing new rules on Facebook and Google”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96042>
Posted on November 16, 2017 9:59 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96042> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Washington Post:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/11/16/election-officials-move-closer-to-placing-new-rules-on-facebook-and-google/?utm_term=.1a9ae09a020e>
The Federal Election Commission moved a step closer to placing tighter regulations on Internet ads published on major Web platforms, marking a significant shift for an agency beset by partisan dysfunction and another sign that regulators are seeking to thwart foreign meddling in U.S. elections.
All five members of the commission voted Thursday to start a rulemaking process to require disclaimers for small, character-limited political ads that run online on places such as Facebook, Google and Twitter….
While the entire commission agreed that the process leading to new rules should begin, there was disagreement over when tech companies and experts should be invited to offer detailed input. Vice chair Caroline Hunter, a Republican, flashed frustration when asked by Democratic Commissioner Ellen Weintraub to explain why the commission shouldn’t hold a hearing on the matter sooner rather than later. “I don’t know how I can be any more clear,” Hunter said. She insisted that the commission should take time to digest the more than 100,000 comments it received from the public on Internet ad regulations, as well as material gleaned from three recent congressional hearings, where officials from Facebook, Google and Twitter testified.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“Corruption Case Against Senator Menendez Ends in Mistrial”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96040>
Posted on November 16, 2017 9:51 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96040> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/nyregion/senator-robert-menendez-corruption.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news>
The federal corruption trial of Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey ended in a mistrial on Thursday after jurors said they were unable to reach a verdict, leaving Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, free to return to Congress but injecting uncertainty as he faces re-election next year and his party faces a difficult battle to retake the Senate.
After interviewing jurors individually in his chambers, Judge William H. Walls emerged to tell the court that, after nine weeks of testimony, the jury was deadlocked and that, as a result, “there is no alternative but to declare a mistrial.”
One juror told reporters that 10 of the 12 jurors supported finding Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, not guilty, saying that prosecutors had not made the case that the favors and gifts exchanged between the senator and a wealthy eye doctor went beyond what good friends do for each other….
The indictment against Mr. Menendez and Dr. Melgen was handed down in 2015, a year before the Supreme Court decision significantly limited the official acts a politician could be convicted of in a bribery case.
The McDonnell decision loomed throughout the trial with Judge Walls at one point referring to it as “you know what,” and hinting that he may have granted a motion to dismiss the case based on the high court’s definition of bribery.
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Posted in bribery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>

“If Roy Moore pulls off Senate win, expelling him is no slam dunk for McConnell”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96038>
Posted on November 16, 2017 8:08 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96038> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Joshua Spivak<https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/16/if-roy-moore-wins-senate-race-expulsion-may-be-long-shot-commentary.html> for CNBC.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Donald Trump Jr.’s Messages With WikiLeaks Point to Campaign-Finance Violations”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96036>
Posted on November 16, 2017 7:59 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96036> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bob Bauer<https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/donald-trump-jrs-messages-with-wikileaks-point-to-campaign-finance-violations/545903/> in The Atlantic:
The prohibition has a broad sweep. It disallows contributions, donations, or “anything of value” provided by a foreign national to sway an election. It also bars a campaign from offering “substantial assistance” to a foreign national engaged in spending on American races. Trump Jr.’s messages not only powerfully support the case that the Trump campaign violated these rules, but they also compound the campaign’s vulnerability to “aiding and abetting” liability under the general criminal laws for assisting a foreign national in violating this spending ban.
The exchanges show how the campaign, in this instance through Trump Jr.’s activities, provided specific support and encouragement to WikiLeaks, which by then had effectively partnered with Russia to attack Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and promote Donald Trump’s. Russia devoted resources to hacking Democratic emails; WikiLeaks funded their distribution. In public and private communications, the campaign endorsed and facilitated their actions.
At this point, Bob sees something that Paul Ryan of Common Cause and I don’t yet see in relation to Wikileaks.<https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/donald-trump-jr-wikileaks/545894/?utm_source=twb>
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Seattle’s Democracy Vouchers Reduce the Power of Big Money and Expand Political Participation”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96034>
Posted on November 16, 2017 7:45 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96034> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Every Voice:<http://www.everyvoice.org/press-release/report-seattle-democracy-vouchers-success>
Seattle’s Democracy Voucher Program is achieving its intended goals by generating historic numbers of new and small donors, diversifying the makeup of campaign supporters to better reflect the people of Seattle, and limiting the reliance on big money in local elections, according to an initial analysis of the new system in this year’s city elections by the Seattle-based Win/Win Network and national money-in-politics group Every Voice Center.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

Alabama Governor Nixes Election Do-Over if Strange Resigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96032>
Posted on November 16, 2017 7:51 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96032> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
I wrote last nigh<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96022>t how a do-over in the Senate race should Sen. Strange resign likely violates the 17th amendment.
Now Alabama’s governor has thrown cold water<http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/mitch_mcconnell_mulls_having_l.html> on the idea;
“The election date is set for Dec. 12. Were he to resign I would simply appoint somebody to fill the remaining time until we have the election on Dec. 12,” she said.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

--
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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