[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/2/19

[Rick Hasen]

“Barr personally asked foreign officials to aid inquiry into CIA, FBI activities in 2016”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107551>
Posted on October 1, 2019 9:35 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107551> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Washington Post:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/attorney-general-barr-personally-asked-foreign-officials-to-aid-inquiry-into-cia-fbi-activities-in-2016/2019/09/30/d50cd5c4-e3a5-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html>

Attorney General William P. Barr has held private meetings overseas with foreign intelligence officials seeking their help in a Justice Department inquiry that President Trump hopes will discredit U.S. intelligence agencies’ examination of possible connections between Russia and members of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter.
Barr’s personal involvement is likely to stoke further criticism from Democrats pursuing impeachment that he is helping the Trump administration use executive branch powers to augment investigations aimed primarily at the president’s adversaries.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“With Sanctions on Russians, U.S. Warns Against Foreign Election Meddling”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107549>
Posted on October 1, 2019 9:30 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107549> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/us/politics/us-russia-sanctions-election-meddling.html>

The United States issued new economic sanctions on Monday against seven Russians linked to an internet troll factory in what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a warning to foreigners who seek to interfere in American elections.

The penalties were announced as Congress is investigating whether President Trump tried to enlist Ukraine’s leader in a political smear campaign against one of his top Democratic challengers in 2020, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“RNC solicited money for Trump’s reelection with forms that look a lot like the official census”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107547>
Posted on October 1, 2019 9:26 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107547> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/30/rnc-solicited-money-trumps-reelection-with-forms-that-look-lot-like-official-census/>

Officials in Montana are warning residents for the second time this year about surveys sent by the Republican National Committee that mimic the look of federal census forms, with the goal of soliciting money for President Trump’s reelection campaign.

The mailers are labeled “2019 Congressional District Census” and inform recipients that they’ve been “selected to represent Voters” in Bozeman, Mont. The accompanying literature makes repeated requests for donations, urging recipients to send at least $15 to “help pay for the costs of processing [the] Census Document” if they are unable to afford an amount in the requested range of $25 to $1,000.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Idaho Law Review Election Law Symposium: Call for Papers<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107545>
Posted on October 1, 2019 9:17 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107545> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Idaho Law Review is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for a special symposium volume entitled “Democracy Evolved: The Future of American Elections.”

In 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified, formally prohibiting vote denial on the basis of race. In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting vote denial on the basis of sex. In the 1960s, the Supreme Court established the one-person-one-vote-principle and Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act. In 2000, the Supreme Court decided the presidential election in Bush v. Gore. In 2016, the country experienced one of the most controversial and polarizing elections in modern history. On the eve of the 2020 election, we examine American democracy and ask: where are we now, and where might we be – 4 years, 20 years, 50 years, 100 years, or even 150 years from now?

We invite submissions that engage this thought-experiment in a short essay, 5 to 15 manuscript pages in length. Your submission can focus on any aspect of the American electoral system and adopt any time horizon. Our goal is to facilitate a robust discussion addressing a range of issues concerning national, state, and local elections and reflecting a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum. We encourage authors to “think big” and offer bold new visions of electoral rules and institutions that illuminate the national debate at this critical moment in the evolution of American democracy.

We plan to publish a rich collection of essays in our symposium volume and invite some authors to present their essays at our live symposium on Friday, April 3, 2020 at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho.

If you are interested in participating, please submit a one-page abstract of your proposed essay to Sydney Sears, Chief Symposium Editor, sear8303 at vandals.uidaho.edu<mailto:sear8303 at vandals.uidaho.edu>, and Audrey Thorne, Symposium Editor, thor9144 at vandals.uidaho.edu<mailto:thor9144 at vandals.uidaho.edu> as soon as possible, but no later than November 20, 2019.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Watchdog Allowed to Sue on Donor Disclosure After FEC Won’t Act”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107543>
Posted on October 1, 2019 6:31 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107543> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg:<https://about.bgov.com/news/watchdog-allowed-to-sue-on-donor-disclosure-after-fec-wont-act/>

A federal judge eased the way for watchdog groups to bypass a gridlocked Federal Election Commission in a decision allowing a lawsuit seeking to unmask secret donors to a major Republican campaign spending organization.

Federal District Judge Christopher Cooper said<http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/CITIZENSFORRESPONSIBILITYANDETHICSINWASHINGTONvAMERICANACTIONNETW?doc_id=X1Q6O4IL7782> the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) can pursue an unusual “citizen suit” against the nonprofit American Action Network (AAN). The self-described “action tank” has spent tens of millions of dollars aiding Republican congressional candidates but never has revealed any of its donors.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


Iowa: “Judge upholds voter ID, strikes parts of 2017 voting law”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107541>
Posted on October 1, 2019 6:22 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107541> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<http://www.startribune.com/judge-strikes-down-much-of-2017-iowa-voting-reform-law/561874682/>

An Iowa judge has upheld voter ID as allowable under the Iowa Constitution but struck down as unconstitutional portions of a 2017 voting reform law challenged by a Hispanic civil rights group and an Iowa State University student.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Federal District Court Enjoins California Requirement that Presidential Primary Candidates Release Tax Returns, Finding Measure Likely Unconstitutional and Preempted by Federal Law<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107539>
Posted on October 1, 2019 6:04 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107539> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can find the court’s rather cursory discussion of the issues in this opinion<https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.caed.359272/gov.uscourts.caed.359272.33.0.pdf> (via BAN<http://ballot-access.org/2019/10/01/u-s-district-court-judge-explains-why-he-enjoined-the-california-tax-returns-ballot-law-on-september-19/>). I expect this will now go on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, which could well reverse, and to the Supreme Court, which I expect would be likely to agree with the district court. (This measure is clearly aimed at Trump, though it applies to all candidates.)
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


FEC Commissioner Hunter Responds to FEC Chair Weintraub’s Attempt to Put Foreign Interference Draft in FEC Digest, Confirms FEC Foreign Contribution Ban (Without Opinion on Whether Opposition Research is a Thing of Value)<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107536>
Posted on October 1, 2019 5:50 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107536> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Statement:<https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/Commissioner_Hunter_Statement_Oct_1_2019.pdf>

Late last week, my colleague, Ellen Weintraub, unilaterally and without advance notice, made public a draft interpretative rule regarding the Act’s foreign national ban and placed it on the agenda for the open meeting of October 17, 2019. Approval of such a document, however, requires a quorum of four Commissioners, which we currently lack. Under these circumstances, a discussion in an open meeting without a quorum would be a useless and misleading exercise. I cannot participate in my colleague’s efforts to grandstand.

Despite erroneous press reports, we all agree that federal law clearly prohibits a foreign national from making a contribution, donation, expenditure, or disbursement in connection with a Federal, State, or local election, and no person may solicit such a contribution or donation from a foreign national. For decades, the Commission has enforced this ban, and I stand by my votes to do so.

But the Commission currently lacks a quorum to take official action on most substantive matters, and I object to actions that create the misimpression that the Commission can do more than is permissible under the circumstances.

My concerns about discussing in open meeting a proposal that cannot be adopted do no impair my colleague’s ability to speak on issues within the Commission’s jurisdiction (subject to the Act’s confidentiality requirement). Particularly with an issue as sensitive and troubling as foreign interference in American elections, however, it is crucial that Commissioners act prudently and judiciously.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>


“The Impact of Partisan Gerrymandering”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107534>
Posted on October 1, 2019 5:45 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107534> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Alex Tausanovitch<https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/news/2019/10/01/475166/impact-partisan-gerrymandering/> for CAP.
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


“Mark Meadows and the Undisclosed Dinosaur Property”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107532>
Posted on October 1, 2019 5:42 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107532> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

New Yorker:<https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/mark-meadows-and-the-undisclosed-dinosaur-property>

Three years ago, the North Carolina congressman Mark Meadows sold a hundred-and-thirty-four-acre property in Dinosaur, Colorado. The buyer was Answers in Genesis, a Christian nonprofit based in Kentucky, which was founded by the Australian creationist Ken Ham. Answers in Genesis is dedicated to promoting young-Earth creationism, which holds that the Earth was created in six days, several thousand years ago. According to documents related to the sale, Meadows was to be paid about two hundred thousand dollars for the property, in monthly installments, the last of which was paid last year.

Neither the sale nor any such payments are noted on Meadows’s congressional financial disclosures<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bZfjUtuIaSHcBbGgWj5k2Oe3W2bm4ln2/view?usp=sharing>, which he is required by law to file annually. Meadows is a founding member of the very conservative House Freedom Caucus and is one of the more prominent members of Congress; last year, Donald Trump<https://www.newyorker.com/tag/donald-trump> reportedly considered making him the White House chief of staff. Why didn’t Meadows disclose the property or the sale? The congressman declined to comment for this story. In August, the Charlotte Observer reported<https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article233998942.html> that Meadows—who, before becoming a congressman, was a successful real-estate developer—owned land in northeastern North Carolina that he had also failed to list on his disclosure reports. It’s possible that these nondisclosures reflect a pattern of ignoring congressional reporting rules.
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Posted in conflict of interest laws<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>


Don McGahn II and Bob Bauer In Keynote Conversation at George Mason Conference<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107527>
Posted on October 1, 2019 1:52 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107527> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

This Friday in D.C., former White House Counsels to Presidents Trump (Don McGahn) and Obama (Bob Bauer) will be jointly holding a public, keynote conversation as part of a George Mason Symposium titled “The Administration of Democracy.”

Perhaps fittingly, the event is being held right near the White House, at The Historic Decatur House. I”ll be participating on a panel devoted to “The Administration of Elections.”

Here is the full line-up for those in DC who might be interested:

Panel 1: The Administration of Federal Campaign Finance Laws
Richard J. Pierce, Jr., Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School
Trevor Potter, Founding President, Campaign Legal Center
Bradley A. Smith, Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law, Capital University Law School
Ciara C. Torres-Spelliscy, Professor of Law, Stetson University, College of Law

Panel 2: The Administration of Elections
Michael T. Morley, Assistant Professor, Florida State University, College of Law
Richard H. Pildes, Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University, School of Law
Jason Torchinsky, Partner, Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC

Panel 3: The Administration of the Census
The Honorable Ronald A. Cass, Dean Emeritus, Boston University School of Law; and President, Cass & Associates, PC
Allyson N. Ho, Co-Chair, Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Jesse Panuccio, Public Service Fellow, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, and former Acting
Associate Attorney General of the United States

Panel 4: The Democracy of Administration
Reeve T. Bull, Research Director, Administrative Conference of the United States
Maleka Momand, Chief Executive Officer, Esper
Russell L. Weaver, Professor of Law and Distinguished University Scholar, University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law

Panel 5: The IRS, Congress, and the President’s Tax Returns
Andy Grewal, Joseph F. Rosenfield Scholar and Professor of Law, The University of Iowa Law School
Kate Shaw, Professor of Law, and Co-Director, Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law,
Yeshiva University
Michael L. Stern, Director, Point of Order
Elizabeth B. Wydra, President, Constitutional Accountability Center
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--
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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