[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/24/18

Fri Aug 24 08:39:08 PDT 2018

“Trump, Cohen and campaign finance: Who’s right and what you need to know about elections, money”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100827>
Posted on August 24, 2018 8:34 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100827> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Fredreka Schouten<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/23/trumps-claims-michael-cohen-guilty-pleas-and-obama-fact-checked/1072399002/> for USA Today.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

Duncan Hunter Blames Wife for Campaign Finance Chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100825>
Posted on August 24, 2018 8:29 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100825> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Real stand up guy.<https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/23/politics/duncan-hunter-wife-margaret-campaign-finances/index.html>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

” Elections board takes less than a minute to reject proposal to close 7 of 9 polling places in majority-black county”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100823>
Posted on August 24, 2018 8:27 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100823> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN:<https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/us/randolph-county-polling-closures-vote/index.html>

In a meeting that lasted less than 60 seconds, a Georgia board of elections voted down a plan Friday to close seven of a majority-black county’s nine polling places ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Critics had said the plan to consolidate polling places in Randolph County, Georgia, was a brazen attempt to suppress the black vote in Georgia’s governor race, which pits former Georgia House minority leader Stacey Abrams, who is black, against Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is white.
The vote came amid widespread national criticism and days after the county terminated its contract with Mike Malone, the consultant who made the recommendation. Malone had argued that closing the polling stations would save the county money, and that some of the sites suggested for closure did not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Ohio Supreme Court throws out Melanie Leneghan’s lawsuit challenging Troy Balderson’s 12th District victory”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100821>
Posted on August 24, 2018 8:25 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100821> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.<https://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2018/08/ohio_supreme_court_throws_out.html>
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Posted in recounts<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>

“Trump says Michael Cohen didn’t commit crimes. He’s wrong.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100819>
Posted on August 24, 2018 8:23 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100819> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Very nice explainer<https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/outlook/2018/08/24/trump-says-michael-cohen-didnt-commit-crimes-hes-wrong/> from Trevor Potter in WaPo.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Did Trump break laws with hush-money payments? Here’s what legal experts are saying”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100817>
Posted on August 24, 2018 8:22 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100817> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Good CBC roundup<https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-fox-interview-election-law-experts-weigh-in-1.4797126> of opinion.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Those payments to women were unseemly. That doesn’t mean they were illegal.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100815>
Posted on August 24, 2018 8:20 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100815> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Brad Smith writes for WaPo<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/those-payments-to-mistresses-were-unseemly-that-doesnt-mean-they-were-illegal/2018/08/22/634acdf4-a63b-11e8-8fac-12e98c13528d_story.html?utm_term=.c8fd58f3fc64>.

See also this piece at Reason<https://reason.com/archives/2018/08/23/trumps-campaign-finance-catch-22>.

I disagree with Brad, for reasons I’ve given most recently in this Slate piece<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/08/michael-cohen-paid-stormy-daniels-only-after-the-access-hollywood-tape-emerged-thats-big.html> from last week and my ELB Podcast with Bob Bauer<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100797>.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Manhattan D.A. Eyes Criminal Charges Against Trump Organization”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100813>
Posted on August 23, 2018 6:58 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100813> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/nyregion/trump-organization-criminal-charges-vance.html>

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is considering pursuing criminal charges against the Trump Organization and two senior company officials in connection with Michael D. Cohen’s hush money payment to an adult film actress, according to two officials with knowledge of the matter.

A state investigation would center on how the company accounted for its reimbursement to Mr. Cohen for the $130,000 he paid to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, who has said she had an affair with President Trump, the officials said.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“BREAKING: Elections consultant fired over proposal to close Georgia precincts”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100811>
Posted on August 23, 2018 6:57 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100811> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AJC:<https://politics.myajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/elections-consultant-fired-over-proposal-close-georgia-precincts/Hr6FBBXRJo6fVFixRur1mO/>

The elections consultant who proposed closing most voting locations in a majority African-American rural Georgia county has been fired ahead of a vote Friday on consolidating precincts<https://politics.myajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/kemp-distances-himself-from-proposed-georgia-precinct-closures/wcj3zGLK0TL53qCRnFWm4H/>.

The proposal to shutter seven of the county’s nine precincts before the Nov. 6 election appears unlikely to pass, said Randolph County Attorney Tommy Coleman.

Coleman fired the consultant, Mike Malone, in a letter dated Wednesday.

Malone’s recommendation to close precincts before the election for Georgia governor received widespread opposition<https://politics.myajc.com/blog/politics/kemp-critics-question-his-ties-proposed-poll-closures-randolph-county/tGurovLQr6PV327cfTGavN/> from voters and elected officials. Critics of the plan said it would have suppressed turnout in the governor’s race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“White House blocks bill that would protect elections”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100807>
Posted on August 23, 2018 6:55 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100807> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Yahoo:<https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-blocks-bill-protect-elections-173459278.html>

 A bill that would have significantly bolstered the nation’s defenses against electoral interference has been held up in the Senate<https://www.yahoo.com/news/topics/us-senate> at the behest of the White House, which opposed the proposed legislation, according to congressional sources.The Secure Elections Act<https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2261>, introduced by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., in December 2017, had co-sponsorship from two of the Senate’s most prominent liberals, Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as well as from conservative stalwart Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and consummate centrist Susan Collins, R-Me.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Lordy, There are Safes<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100805>
Posted on August 23, 2018 6:53 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100805> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://apnews.com/143be3c52d4746af8546ca6772754407/AP:-National-Enquirer-kept-safe-with-damaging-Trump-stories>

The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press.

The detail came as several media outlets reported on Thursday that federal prosecutors had granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“There’s a dark history to the campaign finance laws Michael Cohen broke — and that should worry Trump”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100803>
Posted on August 23, 2018 6:52 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100803> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy writes. <https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Why-the-US-has-the-campaign-finance-laws-that-13177483.php>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Will David Pecker Implicate Trump?<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100800>
Posted on August 23, 2018 10:07 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100800> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Yesterday I suggeste<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100784>d David Pecker might be next to take a plea deal, but it turns out he got something better: immunity<https://www.wsj.com/articles/pecker-granted-immunity-in-cohen-case-1535041976?mod=e2tw>. and it looks like he’s implicating the president (from the WSJ):

David Pecker, the chief executive of the company that publishes the National Enquirer, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors for providing information about Michael Cohen and Donald Trump in the criminal investigation into hush-money payments for two women during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.

In exchange for immunity, Mr. Pecker, CEO of American Media, Inc., has met with prosecutors and shared details about payments Mr. Cohen arranged in an effort to silence two women who alleged sexual encounters with Mr. Trump, including Mr. Trump’s knowledge of the deals, some of the people said. Prosecutors have indicated that Mr. Pecker won’t be criminally charged for his participation in the deals, the people said.

(Emphasis added)

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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

ELB Podcast, Season 2, Episode 2: Bob Bauer: Unpacking the Trump Campaign Finance Allegations, From Michael Cohen to Trump Tower<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100797>
Posted on August 23, 2018 9:58 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100797> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Does Michael Cohen’s guilty plea to campaign finance violations implicate the President in criminal campaign finance activity? What about the defenses that the President has raised to these charges? Did Trump or the Trump campaign violate the prohibition on soliciting foreign contributions with their summer 2016 meeting with Russian government operatives at Trump Tower?

On Season 2, Episode 2 of the ELB Podcast, we talk with Bob Bauer, former White House Counsel and former Obama campaign general counsel.

You can listen to the ELB Podcast Season 2, Episode 2 on Soundcloud<https://soundcloud.com/rick-hasen/elb-podcast-episode-22-bob-bauer-unpacking-the-trump-campaign-finance-violations> or subscribe at iTunes.<https://soundcloud.com/rick-hasen/elb-podcast-season-2-episode-1-dale-ho-from-the-trenches-of-the-voting-wars>
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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>, ELB Podcast<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=116>

--
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
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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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