[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/23/18

Thu Aug 23 07:40:47 PDT 2018

“FACT CHECK: Trump’s Misguided Defense Of Cohen Payments”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100795>
Posted on August 23, 2018 7:35 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100795> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Peter Overby<https://www.npr.org/2018/08/23/640878259/fact-check-trumps-misguided-defense-of-cohen-payments> for NPR.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

Federal Court Rejects Dallas County, Texas Voting Rights Act Claim Brought by Anglo Republicans Claiming Voting Discrimination<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100792>
Posted on August 23, 2018 7:32 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100792> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can read the opinion at this link<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Dallas-Opinion.pdf>.
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Posted in Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

“DNC says suspected hack attempt turned out to be a security test”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100790>
Posted on August 23, 2018 7:30 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100790> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/dnc-says-suspected-hack-attempt-turned-out-to-be-a-security-test/2018/08/23/7fecef50-a6d1-11e8-97ce-cc9042272f07_story.html?utm_term=.9931c40a64ed>

Whoops.

What the Democratic National Committee this week thought was an attempted hack of its valuable voter file turned out to be a security test organized by a state party, unbeknownst to the national organization.

The committee on Tuesday alerted the FBI to a fake online portal it thought had been set up as an elaborate attempt to trick DNC staff into giving up their log-in credentials — through a hacker technique known as “phishing” — as a way to gain access to the party’s VoteBuilder database.

On Thursday morning, DNC Chief Security Officer Bob Lord reversed course. “We, along with the partners who reported the [fake] site, now believe it was built by a third party as part of a simulated phishing test on VoteBuilder,” he said in a statement.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“The Campaign Finance Case Against Donald Trump is a Strong One: Just Ask John Edwards’ Prosecutors”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100788>
Posted on August 23, 2018 7:18 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100788> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Paul Ryan<https://www.justsecurity.org/60415/prosecuting-trump-easier-prosecuting-john-edwards-campaign-finance-law-violations/> for Just Security.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“‘Dark money’ boosts Democratic super PAC that’s battling ‘corrupt campaign finance system’”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100786>
Posted on August 23, 2018 7:16 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100786> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CPI:<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2018/08/23/22132/dark-money-boosts-democratic-super-pac-s-battling-corrupt-campaign-finance-system>

BlackPAC<http://www.blackpac.com/> — an upstart super PAC that’s raised millions to support Democrats — has received a new infusion of “dark money” to fuel its 2018 midterm election efforts, according to new federal filings<http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/929/201808209120015929/201808209120015929.pdf>.

BlackPAC received $100,000 in July from Propel Capital Network LLC, by far its largest contributor last month, federal documents indicate. The Delaware-registered<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4780376-Delaware-Propel.html>, New York-based<https://appext20.dos.ny.gov/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_token=42FCD85C0CBB2E70AE5C5CC5DC7139DC6C77903C1028A789C308B972CCA1C5D5648F5F2F652321536AF095D7C7EDE873&p_nameid=6E101D5564B786EE&p_corpid=872562C1C643BECF&p_captcha=19875&p_captcha_check=42FCD85C0CBB2E70AE5C5CC5DC7139DC6C77903C1028A789C308B972CCA1C5D5EFA86EEE8D15D582EF9493CBDBFA6D72&p_entity_name=propel%20capital%20network&p_name_type=A&p_search_type=BEGINS&p_srch_results_page=0> limited liability company does not publicly disclose its funding sources.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

Is a David Pecker Plea Deal Next?<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100784>
Posted on August 22, 2018 6:53 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100784> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I‘ve been talking to a lot of reporters<https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2018-08-22/relationship-between-trump-enquirer-goes-beyond-headlines> today about whether AMI/National Enquirer and its leaders could be liable for campaign finance violations, given their role in paying money to keep Trump mistresses quiet. I explained that the issue is complicated in part because of the role of the National Enquirer as a (no doubt mostly disreputable) news organization, and there are certain exemptions from campaign finance laws for news organizations so that they can continue in the journalistic functions. We would not want FOX News having on Trump during the campaign for an interview or a NYT endorsement of Hillary Clinton on its editorial page to count as an in-kind corporate contribution.

But the government’s information on Cohen seems to implicate folks at AMI for engaging in criminal campaign finance activity—it is hard to believe that “catch and kill” (paying for a story so as to have it not run anywhere) is a legitimate journalistic function. So there’s got to be some exposure there.

So I was struck<https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-michael-cohen-agreed-to-plead-guiltyand-implicate-the-president-1534987372> in the WSJ’s tick-tock of the Cohen decision to plead guilty with this line:

Adding to the pressure, David Pecker, the chairman of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, provided prosecutors with details about payments Mr. Cohen arranged with women who alleged sexual encounters with President Trump, including Mr. Trump’s knowledge of the deals.

Pecker is cooperating with prosecutors, likely to save his own skin. Will he be charged with an offense? Given his involvement as detailed in the Cohen documents, it seems like he could be charged. It may not come till after the election, but I expect a plea deal to come.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Relationship Between Trump, Enquirer Goes Beyond Headlines”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100782>
Posted on August 22, 2018 6:46 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100782> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2018-08-22/relationship-between-trump-enquirer-goes-beyond-headlines>

The plea deal reached by Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen has laid bare a relationship between the president and the publisher of the National Enquirer that goes well beyond the tabloid’s screaming headlines.

Besides detailing the tabloid’s involvement in payoffs to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to keep quiet about alleged affairs with Trump, court papers showed how David Pecker, a longtime friend of the president and head of Enquirer parent company American Media Inc., offered to help Trump stave off negative stories during the 2016 campaign.

Court papers say that Pecker “offered to help deal with negative stories about (Trump’s) relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided.”

The accusations threaten Pecker’s company, American Media Inc., both legally and in the court of public opinion.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“When Is an Offense Impeachable? Look to the Framers for the Answer”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100780>
Posted on August 22, 2018 6:42 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100780> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Adam Liptak for the NYT.<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/us/politics/offense-impeachable-constitution.html>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Why Michael Cohen Agreed to Plead Guilty—And Implicate the President”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100778>
Posted on August 22, 2018 6:34 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100778> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important WSJ account.<https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-michael-cohen-agreed-to-plead-guiltyand-implicate-the-president-1534987372>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Cohen charges: Federal investigation implicates others close to Trump”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100776>
Posted on August 22, 2018 4:42 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100776> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

USA Today reports. <https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/22/michael-cohen-charges-implicate-others-close-donald-trump/1068284002/>
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Just What Was Lara Trump Up to?”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100774>
Posted on August 22, 2018 4:28 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100774> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy blogs. <https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/just-what-was-lara-trump>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://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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