[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/13/17

Wed Sep 13 07:38:04 PDT 2017

“Kobach: ‘High Possibility’ Commission Won’t Make Any Recommendations”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94786>
Posted on September 13, 2017 7:34 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94786> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
TPM:<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kobach-high-possibility-commission-wont-make-recommendations>
There was no mention of the data request during the commission’s meeting, which included presentations about historical election turnout data, electronic voting systems and issues affecting public confidence in elections. But speaking to reporters afterward, commission vice chairman Kris Kobach emphasized that states are only being asked to send already-public information and called the Democrats’ criticism about voter suppression “bizarre.”
“The claim goes something like this: The commission will meet, then they’ll recommend things like photo ID or some other election security measure, then the states will adopt them. There’s your leap in logic. The commission does not have the ability to do a Jedi mind trick on a state legislature and force them to adopt anything,” said Kobach, the Republican secretary of state in Kansas.
“All the commission is doing is collecting data,” he added. “It may make recommendations, or I think at this point there’s a high possibility the commission makes no recommendations and they just say, ‘Here’s the data. States, do with it what you want.’”
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D94786&title=%E2%80%9CKobach%3A%20%E2%80%98High%20Possibility%E2%80%99%20Commission%20Won%E2%80%99t%20Make%20Any%20Recommendations%E2%80%9D>
Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“There’s Blood In The Water In Silicon Valley; The bad new politics of big tech”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94784>
Posted on September 13, 2017 7:30 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94784> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Today’s must-read<https://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/theres-blood-in-the-water-in-silicon-valley?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories&utm_term=.hb7v91DxP7#.my71nvQkRE> from Ben Smith.
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Posted in social media and social protests<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>

Bob Bauer Calls on von Spakovsky to Resign from Pence-Kobach Sham Commission, and Has Questions About DOJ/AG Role<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94782>
Posted on September 13, 2017 7:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94782> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
MSMHL: <http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2017/09/pence-kobach-first-day-hearings-von-spakovsky-affair/>
The email was sent in February of this year. In June, President Trump appointed one of these Heritage experts, Hans Von Spakovsky, to the Commission. It turns out that Von Spakovsky also wrote the email, a fact now confirmed by Heritage<https://gizmodo.com/jeff-sessions-was-lobbied-to-exclude-democrats-from-tru-1804006784> but originally denied<https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1QbrqhaX0wwN244allhUk93ODg/view>by Von Spakovsky in response to an inquiry from ProPublica.
So the Administration chose to appoint to the Commission an individual who strongly objected to a bipartisan inquiry but also to a formal role for social scientists trained in data collection and dispassionate analysis. The story should not end there.
Von Spakovsky may now appreciate that his position on the Commission has become untenable and that he should resign. He has made clear that he’s open only to Commission “fact-finding” that supports his well-known beliefs about fraud. If he had imagined he could persuade anyone to the contrary, he must know that the email puts an end to any such hope. Remarkably, while praising Von Spakovsky’s expertise, Heritage’s statement confirming his authorship of the email takes pains to distance itself from the communication. Heritage emphasizes that “[T]he views expressed in the email are his [Von Spakovsky’s] own.”
It seems clear that someone so inflexibly committed to his position on voting fraud, and so contemptuous of opposing views, is a poor choice for membership on a fact-finding commission–even this one. Also, having misled the press about his authorship, Von Spakovsky has compounded the damage done to his viability as a Commissioner. His departure cannot salvage the Commission’s reputation or engender confidence in its mission– it is too late for that– but as a matter of form, it is inconceivable that he would stay in his current position.
But the Administration should also answer questions about the train of events from the Spakovsky email to his appointment to the Commission. Some obvious ones:
–Why did Von Spakovsky send this email to the Attorney General, and not to the White House?
–What role did the Attorney General or the Department of Justice play in the recommendation of appointment, or the appointment of Von Spakovsky?
–What response to the email did the Administration provide to Von Spakovsky, then or at the time of his appointment?
As for that last question: Von Spakovsky aggressively promoted to DOJ his view of how the Commission should operate. Did he join the Commission because he had reason to believe that even with a few of Democrats, the Commission would reliably function as he wished, toward the conclusion that he reached long ago?
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Posted in Department of Justice<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“The voting commission is a fraud itself. Shut it down.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94780>
Posted on September 13, 2017 7:23 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94780> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Jennifer Rubin <https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/09/13/the-voting-commission-is-a-fraud-itself-shut-it-down/?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.2c37363debaf> in WaPo:
Wait a minute. Yes, a partisan politician — did we mention he’s running for governor? — and lawyer who writes for an alt-right publication known for hyperbole, exaggeration and outright<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/08/20/breitbart-published-a-story-about-migrant-gang-members-using-a-photo-of-a-major-soccer-star/?utm_term=.50f648e7fcb7> falsehoods<http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/cleveland/news-site-uses-cavs-parade-photo-claiming-it-was-a-trump-rally/287543454> is simultaneously leading a commission that has set out to find the impossible, namely nonexistent evidence of large-scale voting fraud. In an outrage-filled administration, this ranks near the top of the list.
Kobach’s article was thoroughly debunked when it was revealed that the out-of-state voters were college students and others legally entitled to vote. “The fact that he continues to stand by his laughable Breitbart column after its clear errors were mentioned at the meeting tells you all you need to know about this sham effort,” says Rick Hasen, an election law guru.
Things went from bad to worse on Tuesday when a memo sent by email surfaced to Attorney General Jeff Sessions from Hans von Spakovsky, a controversial member of the panel, that objected to seating Democrats or mainstream Republicans on the commission<https://gizmodo.com/jeff-sessions-was-lobbied-to-exclude-democrats-from-tru-1804006784>. Von Spakovsky initially denied seeing the letter (let alone writing it) but was outed when his think tank, the Heritage Foundation, sought to distance itself from a blatantly partisan initiative.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Watchdog group wants Facebook to release Russian-sponsored ads”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94778>
Posted on September 13, 2017 7:21 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94778> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
CNBC:<https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/watchdog-group-wants-facebook-to-release-russian-sponsored-ads.html>
The Campaign Legal Center is urging Facebook<https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=FB> to release the content of political ads purchased by Russian nationals and displayed on Facebook, most notably during the 2016 presidential campaign cycle.
CNBC obtained an advance copy of a letter sent Tuesday to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg<https://www.cnbc.com/mark-zuckerberg/> from CLC President Trevor Potter. The nonprofit watchdog group accuses Facebook of having been “used as an accomplice in a foreign government’s effort to undermine democratic self governance in the United States.”
The letter urges Zuckerberg to release the ads and “allow the country to better understand the nature and extent of foreign interference with our democracy.”
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Trump nominates Texas lawyer Trey Trainor for Federal Election Commission”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94776>
Posted on September 13, 2017 7:19 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94776> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Texas Tribune<https://www.texastribune.org/2017/09/12/trump-nominates-texas-lawyer-trey-trainor-federal-election-commission/>:
President Donald Trump is nominating Trey Trainor, an Austin lawyer well known in Texas politics, to serve on the Federal Election Commission.
The White House announced Trainor’s appointment late Tuesday night. He must be confirmed by the Senate.
Trainor is a longtime attorney specializing in election law, campaign finance and ethics. He has served as the lawyer for the conservative group Empower Texans, representing it during its long-running battles with the Texas Ethics Commission.
Every Voice:
Reporters out of Trainor’s home state of Texas have been reporting some important details about Trainor. David Saleh Rauf of the San Antonio Express-News tweets<http://publicampaign.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d77d4a197583f647063d7317c&id=87c286ae88&e=014b0a7000> “He’s a mega advocate for campaign finance deregulation” and<http://publicampaign.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=d77d4a197583f647063d7317c&id=7a26a9a68d&e=014b0a7000> “one of Texas’ biggest defenders of dark money”. In summary<http://publicampaign.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=d77d4a197583f647063d7317c&id=ad4925614b&e=014b0a7000>: “Guy who has called for eliminating campaign finance regulators becomes one himself.” He also represented several groups<http://publicampaign.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d77d4a197583f647063d7317c&id=d751a76ac3&e=014b0a7000> at battle with the Texas Ethics Commission.
He was also called by the now White House counsel Don McGahn to see if he could help with some legal matters for the Republican National Convention<http://publicampaign.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d77d4a197583f647063d7317c&id=d094c608fe&e=014b0a7000>. Dave Levinthal of the Center for Public Integrity asks a good question:<http://publicampaign.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d77d4a197583f647063d7317c&id=a48fe991bc&e=014b0a7000> “this nomination raises obvious question: would Trainor recuse himself on matters before the FEC involving Trump/RNC?”
Moments after I suggested <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/907811936607158272> reporters look at Trainor’s interesting Twitter feed<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/907811936607158272>, Trainor made the tweets private<https://twitter.com/BlitheMDJD/status/907942323484372992>. (Some are archived<https://web.archive.org/web/20170212062456/https:/twitter.com/txelectionlaw>.)
This appears<https://twitter.com/davelevinthal/status/907930339242373121> to be for Commissioner Goodman’s seat, but there is some uncertainty and concern about the FEC losing a quorum.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

--
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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