[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/16/17

Sun Oct 15 19:51:22 PDT 2017

“Menendez Trial May Hinge on a New Definition of Bribery”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95468>
Posted on October 15, 2017 7:47 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95468> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/15/nyregion/menendez-trial-may-hinge-on-a-new-definition-of-bribery.html?hpw&rref=nyregion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well>
The defense is scheduled to begin its case on Monday, but first Judge William H. Walls is expected to rule on a motion to dismiss it, a motion that he hinted he was considering during arguments <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/nyregion/menendez-corruption-trial-mcdonnell-ruling.html> in court about the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the corruption conviction of Bob McDonnell, a former governor of Virginia.
In fact, the McDonnell decision has loomed over prosecutors throughout the Menendez trial, and Judge Walls suggested that he was leaning toward interpreting the ruling as invalidating a theory of bribery, known as “stream of benefits,” that is central to the government’s case.
The Supreme Court’s decision also set a high bar for what constitutes the kind of act an elected official must perform to have an exchange qualify as bribery — setting up meetings for constituents or making a phone call on behalf of a constituent no longer qualifies.
But in a narrative spun out in tedious, often repetitive, fashion over six weeks of testimony in the federal courthouse in Newark, prosecutors laid out the many ways that Mr. Menendez had helped Dr. Melgen whenever he ran into trouble.
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Posted in bribery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>

“Trump campaign legal bills topped $1 million last quarter”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95466>
Posted on October 15, 2017 7:29 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95466> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-campaign-legal-bills-topped-1-million-last-quarter/2017/10/15/4930d9b8-b1d6-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html?utm_term=.e3e7f9831029>
President Trump’s reelection committee spent more than $1 million on legal bills last quarter as investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election pressed on through the summer, according to a disclosure filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission.
The filing shows the committee’s “legal consulting” expenditures came to $1.1 million between July and September, including $802,185 paid to the law firm Jones Day, which has represented the campaign. Another $267,000 was paid to attorneys representing the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., in the Russia investigations.
Since the beginning of the year, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have spent $2.4 million on legal fees — and the bills appear to be mounting. The latest FEC reports show that the campaign spent more on legal bills over the past three months than it did during the first and second quarters of this year combined.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“How the Supreme Court Can Soothe U.S. Political Strife: Curbing gerrymandering would encourage politicians to reach across the partisan aisle.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95464>
Posted on October 15, 2017 7:21 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95464> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Al Hunt <https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-10-15/how-the-supreme-court-can-soothe-u-s-political-strife> for Bloomberg View.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“Donald Trump campaign ramps up 2020 re-election fundraising”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95462>
Posted on October 15, 2017 7:16 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95462> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
CPI:<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/10/15/21208/donald-trump-campaign-ramps-2020-re-election-fundraising>
New financial disclosures President Donald Trump’s re-election committee filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission tell a story of two Trump campaigns.
On one end, Trump, both by choice and circumstance, remains tethered to his 2016 presidential election effort. A federal investigation is probing whether he or his political aides colluded with Russians, and Trump himself frequently skewers his Democratic foil, Hillary Clinton, as if he didn’t defeat her in November. Trump’s campaign committee this summer spent more than $1 million on legal bills, disclosures show — much ostensibly stemming from the Russia controversy.
All the while, Trump is racing forward with unprecedented haste to win re-election in 2020. He’s conducting campaign rallies and raising millions of dollars in cash despite no one of stature — save, perhaps, for Rep. John Delaney<http://www.businessinsider.com/john-delaney-trumps-first-2020-challenger-2017-8>, D-Md. — yet running against him.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Black Lawmakers Hold a Particular Grievance With Facebook: Racial Exploitation”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95460>
Posted on October 15, 2017 11:28 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95460> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/14/us/politics/black-lawmakers-russia-facebook-racial-division.html?action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront>
 For more than an hour, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s high-profile chief operating officer<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/technology/sheryl-sandberg-facebook-ads.html?_r=0>, sheepishly pledged to “do better” — over and over — as stern-faced members of the Congressional Black Caucus grilled her on Thursday about Russian ads aimed at exploiting racial divisions during last year’s election.
For black lawmakers, it was a chance to vent — at the outrage they felt toward Russian intelligence and its efforts to foment racial unrest in the country<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/technology/russia-election-facebook-ads-rage.html>; at the frustration they felt toward three separate congressional investigations into Russian interference that have plodded on and yielded little; and at Facebook itself, which has been long on promises and short on action<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/business/facebook-russia.html>.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Trump voter fraud commission researcher arrested on child pornography charges”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95458>
Posted on October 15, 2017 11:16 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95458> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/14/trump-voter-fraud-commission-researcher-arrested-on-child-pornography-charges/?hpid=hp_regional-hp-cards_rhp-card-politics%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.7e5e1186d384>:
 Maryland man arrested this week after authorities said they found child pornography on his cellphone worked for President Trump’s voter fraud commission, according to a senior administration official.
Ronald Williams II, 37, of Suitland, was a researcher for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.
<https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman>
 Follow<https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/822587126478962688/cPpiM1Wi_bigger.jpg]Jessica Huseman <https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman>
✔@JessicaHuseman<https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman>
Spoke to a commissioner. He didnt know about this guy. I didnt either—my requests for a staff list have been ignored https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/14/trump-voter-fraud-commission-researcher-arrested-on-child-pornography-charges/?utm_term=.670a4cb2d35a …<https://t.co/ml7lf27kqX>
7:30 AM - Oct 15, 2017<https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman/status/919571244604973056>
<https://t.co/ml7lf27kqX>
[hoto published for Trump voter fraud commission researcher arrested on child por]<https://t.co/ml7lf27kqX>
Trump voter fraud commission researcher arrested on child pornography charges<https://t.co/ml7lf27kqX>
Ronald Williams II, 37, of Suitland, was a researcher for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.<https://t.co/ml7lf27kqX>
washingtonpost.com<https://t.co/ml7lf27kqX>

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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Wary of Hackers, States Move to Upgrade Voting Systems”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95456>
Posted on October 15, 2017 11:14 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95456> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Michael Wines <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/14/us/voting-russians-hacking-states-.html?mwrsm=Email> for the NYT:
State election officials, worried about the integrity of their voting systems, are pressing to make them more secure ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Reacting in large part to Russian efforts to hack the presidential election last year, a growing number of states are upgrading electoral databases and voting machines, and even adding cybersecurity experts to their election teams. The efforts — from both Democrats and Republicans — amount to the largest overhaul of the nation’s voting infrastructure since the contested presidential election in 2000 spelled an end to punch-card ballots and voting machines with mechanical levers.
One aim is to prepare for the 2018 and 2020 elections by upgrading and securing electoral databases and voting machines that were cutting-edge before Facebook and Twitter even existed. Another is to spot and defuse attempts to depress turnout and sway election results by targeting voters with false news reports and social media posts.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Ohio’s illegal voter purges shouldn’t be getting Trump Justice Department’s blessing: Vanita Gupta”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95454>
Posted on October 15, 2017 11:11 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95454> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Oped <http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/10/ohios_illegal_voter_purges_sho.html> in Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Ohio appealed the ruling, and in a troubling about-face, the Trump Justice Department reversed its earlier opposition to Ohio’s actions and decided to support the state’s continued efforts to purge voters.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights<https://civilrights.org/about-us/> proudly joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in submitting a “friend of the court” brief, arguing that the Supreme Court should be skeptical of DOJ’s new position, particularly given the length of time DOJ had opposed purge practices like Ohio’s.
The sudden shift in a longstanding position because of a change in political administrations validated the worst fears about the Trump administration.
It also raises real concerns about the politicization of the Justice Department’s historic role in protecting voting rights for all eligible voters. It could also have real consequences for the rights of thousands of Ohioans, and ultimately millions of Americans, to exercise their right to vote<http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/10/protecting_your_right_to_vote.html>.
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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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