[EL] Mueller indictment/Russian election-related activities
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Fri Feb 16 10:45:28 PST 2018
New Federal Indictment of 13 Russians from Special Counsel Mueller Says, Among Other Things, That Russians Violated Federal Election Law Through Political Ads
Posted on February 16, 2018 10:05 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97550> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here’s the indictment,<https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download> and a few snippets I’ve posted on Twitter:
View image on Twitter<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559092260880384/photo/1>
[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559092260880384/photo/1>
<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559092260880384>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
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From the indictment (https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download …<https://t.co/JFEIwHoJL4>)
9:56 AM - Feb 16, 2018<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559092260880384>
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31<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=964559092260880384>
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38 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559092260880384>
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48m<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559092260880384>
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From the indictment (https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download …<https://t.co/JFEIwHoJL4>) pic.twitter.com/S5UAEkP7sF<https://t.co/S5UAEkP7sF>
<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559573037101056>
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Election-law related charges pic.twitter.com/wnoiq94HIi<https://t.co/wnoiq94HIi>
9:58 AM - Feb 16, 2018<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559573037101056>
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22 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559573037101056>
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46m<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559573037101056>
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Replying to @rickhasen<https://twitter.com/_/status/964559092260880384>
Election-law related charges pic.twitter.com/wnoiq94HIi<https://t.co/wnoiq94HIi>
<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964560463294951424>
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Yet only some of these ads would count as "express advocacy" under FECA (I explore whether the law covers other foreign spending (such as "Hillary is a Satan", listed below) in this paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3017598 …<https://t.co/FGs5KDpx3w>) pic.twitter.com/36i1JQHpGq<https://t.co/36i1JQHpGq>
10:01 AM - Feb 16, 2018<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964560463294951424>
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9<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=964560463294951424>
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See Rick Hasen's other Tweets<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
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42m<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964560463294951424>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
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Replying to @rickhasen<https://twitter.com/_/status/964559573037101056>
Yet only some of these ads would count as "express advocacy" under FECA (I explore whether the law covers other foreign spending (such as "Hillary is a Satan", listed below) in this paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3017598 …<https://t.co/FGs5KDpx3w>) pic.twitter.com/36i1JQHpGq<https://t.co/36i1JQHpGq>
<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964562368540782592>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
In other words, some of this alleged Russian election activity, thanks to the way federal campaign finance law is written and thanks to how Supreme Court has interpreted first amendment, may not be illegal under current law. That's even if the intention was to influence election
10:09 AM - Feb 16, 2018<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964562368540782592>
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16 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964562368540782592>
Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
35m<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964562368540782592>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
Replying to @rickhasen<https://twitter.com/_/status/964560463294951424>
In other words, some of this alleged Russian election activity, thanks to the way federal campaign finance law is written and thanks to how Supreme Court has interpreted first amendment, may not be illegal under current law. That's even if the intention was to influence election
<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964562882024292353>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
And yet "free speech" community has been arguing against passage of "Honest Ads Act" & other measures which would make this conduct illegal by 2018 elections. They say it will squelch too much of Americans' speech (and some say nothing objectionable about foreign interference)
10:11 AM - Feb 16, 2018<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964562882024292353>
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And:
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Jesus. Mueller's indictment says the accused Russians tried to suppress minority turnout:
10:05 AM - Feb 16, 2018<https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/964561472746672129>
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More to come.
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--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
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rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
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