[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/19/21

Mon Jan 18 20:34:27 PST 2021

“FBI investigating whether Capitol assault suspect tried to sell Pelosi computer to Russian intelligence service”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120544>
Posted on January 18, 2021 8:14 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120544> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

ABC News<https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-investigating-capitol-assault-suspect-sell-pelosi-computer/story?id=75323956>:

The FBI is investigating whether<https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-holding-confederate-flag-latest-capitol-siege-arrests/story?id=75256246> a woman who allegedly participated in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol stole a computer or hard drive from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the intention of selling it to Russia’s intelligence service.

According to an FBI criminal complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Sunday, a witness called the FBI with a tip<https://abcnews.go.com/US/capitol-rioter-allegedly-posted-pelosis-office-instagram-arrested/story?id=75324078> that a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, woman, Riley June Williams, is seen in a video published by ITV, a British broadcasting network, depicting Williams’ presence in the Capitol during the riot.

The witness told the FBI he or she was formerly a romantic partner of Williams. The witness claimed to have spoken to friends of Williams who allegedly showed the witness a video of Williams “taking a laptop or hard drive from Pelosi’s office,” according to the complaint.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Biden to ban special bonuses for appointees, expand lobbying prohibitions in new ethics rules”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120542>
Posted on January 18, 2021 7:58 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120542> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-ethics-administration/2021/01/18/56a9a97a-59bd-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_politics>

President-elect Joe Biden will ban his senior presidential appointees from accepting special bonuses akin to “golden parachutes” from former employers for joining the government, while putting in place other expanded revolving-door restrictions in his first days in office.

The new ethics rules, which were described by transition officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the draft executive order is not public, will in some ways go beyond the guidelines for senior appointees that were put in place by the Trump and Obama administrations.

The biggest shift is the new rule that will ban incoming officials from receiving compensation from their previous employer for taking a government job, a practice that has been a flash point for government reform advocates and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Under the Biden program, appointees would still be able to accelerate vesting for compensation they have already earned.

For departing administration employees, the Biden rules create a prohibition on lobbying the administration for at least the length of Biden’s term and add a one-year restriction on assisting lobbying efforts.

That is an effort to crack down on lucrative “shadow lobbying” jobs, in which former officials go to work at law firms to help guide lobbyists without making contact with government officials themselves.
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Posted in lobbying<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

“QAnon adherents discussed posing as National Guard to try to infiltrate inauguration, according to FBI intelligence briefing”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120540>
Posted on January 18, 2021 7:47 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120540> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-warning-inauguration-qanon/2021/01/18/293284b6-59c8-11eb-b8bd-ee36b1cd18bf_story.html>

The FBI privately warned law enforcement agencies Monday that far-right extremists have discussed posing as National Guard members in Washington and others have reviewed maps of vulnerable spots in the city — signs of potential efforts to disrupt Wednesday’s inauguration, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Washington Post.

The document, a summary of threats that the FBI identified in a Monday intelligence briefing, warned that both “lone wolves” and adherents of the QAnon extremist ideology, some of whom joined in the violent siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6, have indicated they plan to come to Washington for President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.

The FBI also said it had observed people downloading and sharing maps of sensitive locations in Washington and discussing how those facilities could be used to interfere in security during the inauguration.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Dominion Voting Systems threatens to sue Mike Lindell, MyPillow C.E.O., over false claims”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120538>
Posted on January 18, 2021 12:28 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120538> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/us/mike-lindell-mypillow-dominion-voting.html>

Officials with Dominion Voting Systems has sent Mike Lindell, the C.E.O. of MyPillow, a legal letter warning of pending litigation over his baseless claims of widespread fraud involving their machines.

“You have positioned yourself as a prominent leader of the ongoing misinformation campaign,” the letter said, referring to his continued false claims that their systems were rigged by someone to effect the outcome.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Trump’s Census Director To Quit After Trying To Rush Out ‘Indefensible’ Report”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120536>
Posted on January 18, 2021 12:25 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120536> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Hansi Lo Wang<https://www.npr.org/2021/01/18/957302276/trumps-census-director-to-quit-after-trying-to-rush-out-indefensible-report> for NPR:

The Trump-appointed director of the U.S. Census Bureau is stepping down close to a week after whistleblower complaints about his role in attempting to rush out an incomplete data report about noncitizens<https://www.npr.org/2021/01/12/956199064/trumps-census-director-is-trying-to-rush-out-data-on-noncitizens-watchdog-says> became public.

In an internal email announcement on Monday, Steven Dillingham said he is retiring from the bureau on Wednesday, more than 11 months before his term expires at the end of this year<https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/2331>, according to a Census Bureau employee who spoke to NPR and asked not to be named for fear of retaliation at work.

The bureau’s public information office has not responded to NPR’s request for comment about Dillingham’s plans, which were first reported by Talking Points Memo.
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Posted in census litigation<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=125>

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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