[EL] Mueller indictment/Russian election-related activities

Fri Feb 16 10:50:08 PST 2018

Russian Operatives Raised Fake Voter Fraud Claims Against Democrats, Mimicking Claims of Trump and Members of Fraudulent Fraud Squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97555>
Posted on February 16, 2018 10:49 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97555> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

More from the indictment:<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97550>

[http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2018-02-16-at-10.48.03-AM.png]<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2018-02-16-at-10.48.03-AM.png>
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>Edit<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=97555&action=edit>

From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> on behalf of Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu>
Date: Friday, February 16, 2018 at 10:46 AM
To: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: [EL] Mueller indictment/Russian election-related activities

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://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>

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>
31<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=964559092260880384>
38 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559092260880384>
Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
48m<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559092260880384>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>

From the indictment (https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download …<https://t.co/JFEIwHoJL4>) pic.twitter.com/S5UAEkP7sF<https://t.co/S5UAEkP7sF>

[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>

Election-law related charges pic.twitter.com/wnoiq94HIi<https://t.co/wnoiq94HIi>
9:58 AM - Feb 16, 2018<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559573037101056>
[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559573037101056/photo/1>
13<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=964559573037101056>
22 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559573037101056>
Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
46m<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964559573037101056>
[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/964559092260880384>

Election-law related charges pic.twitter.com/wnoiq94HIi<https://t.co/wnoiq94HIi>

[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>

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>
[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/964560463294951424/photo/1>
9<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=964560463294951424>
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>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
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://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>
14<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=964562368540782592>
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://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>
5<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=964562882024292353>
See Rick Hasen's other Tweets<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
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And:
View image on Twitter<https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/964561472746672129/photo/1>
[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/964561472746672129/photo/1>

[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/77712921/greg_spic_normal.jpg]Greg Sargent<https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS>
✔@ThePlumLineGS<https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS>

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>
1,051<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=964561472746672129>
1,211 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/964561472746672129>
Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>

More to come.

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Rick Hasen
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UC Irvine School of Law
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