[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/20/21

[Rick Hasen]

My New LA Times Oped: “Election law can’t protect democracy if our representatives are lawless”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120584>
Posted on January 20, 2021 7:29 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120584> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have written this oped<https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-01-20/election-2020-election-lawlessness> for the LA Times. A snippet:

It took the civic virtue of about a dozen Republicans who had some control over the election process to resist Trump’s and his supporters’ incessant entreaties to overturn the will of the people. The president tried to get Georgia’s secretary of state to manufacture 11,780 Trump votes. He pushed state and local canvassing boards to reject election results. He and his allies brought frivolous lawsuits. As Barton Gellman recently explained<https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/01/how-close-did-us-come-successful-coup/617709/> in the Atlantic, had those virtuous Republicans not resisted Trump’s efforts, we could have had a full-on constitutional crisis, with Congress enabled to vote for sham alternative slates of electors.

These events demonstrate the limits of law in preventing democratic decay. As questions surfaced — could Rudy Giuliani’s claims lead to Pennsylvania’s election results being overturned? What happens if a Republican legislature tries to appoint alternative electors but the Democratic governor objects? Does the vice president have the power to block the presentation of electoral college votes to Congress? — I sought answers taking the law seriously and literally, and I reassured worried citizens that election law offered protections for a free and fair contest.

But the events of Jan. 6 show that at some point we may move outside the realm of law and into the realm of brute power politics and even violence. Had the vice president been killed or the speaker of the House held hostage, niceties about federal jurisdiction, how to handle competing slates of electors, and the precise meaning of the Electoral Count Act would have gone out the window. The actions of the Republicans who rejected valid electoral college votes make me think that if the GOP had held a House majority, they would have ignored the rules and law.

When people fail to obey the law, the law obviously cannot act as a constraint on their behavior. I and others have proposed the legal steps that Congress and states should take to make election law clearer and to remove all forms of discretion to manipulate election results, but these proposals are meaningless if political actors do not abide by legal rules

If the problem is no longer the shape of the law, but lawlessness itself, our democratic system is in serious jeopardy. The Republican Party is going to have to figure out how to expel the Trumpian elements of the party, something very difficult to do when they make up a majority of Republicans in the House and in many state legislatures as well. Pressure coming from the business community and from society at large will help, but it may not be enough.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


McConnell Pushes Democrats to Give Up Filibuster Reform As Part of Power Sharing Arrangement in 50-50 Senate<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120582>
Posted on January 20, 2021 7:27 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120582> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-uncertainty-mcconnell-schumer/2021/01/19/5a643bae-5a6a-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html>

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made his most definitive break yet with President Trump<https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/mcconnell-says-trump-provoked-the-capitol-mob/2021/01/19/8b839beb-6b8c-4f30-ad7c-50c8cacc3921_video.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_1> on Tuesday while the leader of the incoming Democratic majority laid out an ambitious agenda for the opening weeks of the Biden administration, signaling a dizzying changing of the guard in Washington.

McConnell (R-Ky.) for the first time directly blamed Trump for the lethal Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. “The mob was fed lies,” he said in his final floor speech closing out six years as majority leader. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) outlined a rapid-fire agenda for the coming weeks that includes confirming Biden’s Cabinet nominees<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-cabinet-confirmations/2021/01/07/a5e99198-4fbe-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_4>, approving trillions in additional pandemic aid <https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/01/15/biden-stimulus-gop/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4> and barring Trump from holding office<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-senate-trial-length/2021/01/15/6bf5ba5a-5759-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_4> — despite an uncertain road map in the 50-50 Senate, which is struggling even to adopt its basic rules.

Schumer is set to move from minority leader to majority leader<https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/schumer-poised-to-realize-dream-of-senate-control--but-with-a-razor-thin-edge/2021/01/06/10bc1e00-4fd8-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_7> on Wednesday, when the Senate meets shortly after the inauguration of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris, who will tip the chamber toward Democrats with her tie-breaking vote.

“The next several months will be very, very busy and a very consequential period for the United States Senate,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Let us begin our work in earnest.”

Significant obstacles threaten each of Schumer’s early goals: Republicans have thrown up early roadblocks to some of Biden’s key nominees, GOP fiscal concerns could make a bipartisan coronavirus<https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9> bill difficult to pass, and Trump’s impeachment trial threatens to consume the earliest days of the Senate Democratic majority.

Beyond that, Schumer and McConnell reached an impasse Tuesday in talks to set the operating rules of the equally divided Senate — making any action a challenge — as McConnell demanded that Democrats drop any notion of ending the legislative filibuster.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Democrats seek momentum for voting, political money overhaul”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120580>
Posted on January 20, 2021 7:23 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120580> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Roll Call:<https://rollcall.com/2021/01/19/democrats-seek-momentum-for-voting-political-money-overhaul/>

Senate Democrats, on the cusp of holding the slimmest possible majority in the chamber, signaled Tuesday a symbolic first order of business: a major overhaul of the nation’s voting, campaign finance and ethics laws.

The measure, dubbed HR 1 in the House and now christened in the Senate as S 1 to signify that it is a top priority, died in the GOP-controlled Senate last Congress. It could see the same fate again in the 117th Congress unless Democrats remove the 60-vote threshold to end filibusters on legislation, a change the party’s base eagerly wants but remains in doubt.

Advocates pushing for the overhaul said they were mobilizing anew to build public support in both chambers. House Democrats expect to take up the measure as soon as this month or next, congressional aides said, as it closely tracks the same bill in the last Congress.

Congressional Democrats, as well as representatives of outside groups pushing for passage of the package, said the overhaul would help shore up voters’ confidence in a democracy damaged by a violent attempted insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and after four years of corruption scandals and flouting of ethics norms during Donald Trump’s presidency.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Trump On His Way Out Pardons Corrupt Congressmen Rick Renzi and Randy “Duke” Cunningham<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120578>
Posted on January 20, 2021 7:19 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120578> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Quite the rogue’s gallery.<https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-regarding-executive-grants-clemency-012021/>
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“Trump Has Discussed Starting a New Political Party”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120576>
Posted on January 20, 2021 7:11 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120576> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WSJ:<https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-impeachment-biden-inauguration/card/90pPMzFPqr5fMzg1Bkbs>

President Trump has talked in recent days with associates about forming a new political party, according to people familiar with the matter, an effort to exert continued influence after he leaves the White House.

Mr. Trump discussed the matter with several aides and other people close to him last week, the people said. The president said he would want to call the new party the “Patriot Party,” the people said.

Mr. Trump has feuded in recent days with several Republican leaders including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who on Tuesday said Mr. Trump deserved blame<https://www.wsj.com/articles/mcconnell-says-trump-provoked-mob-that-attacked-capitol-11611079825?mod=hp_lead_pos1> for provoking the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Polls show Mr. Trump retains strong support among rank-and-file GOP voters.

The White House declined to comment.

It’s unclear how serious Mr. Trump is about starting a new party, which would require a significant investment of time and resources. The president has a large base of supporters, some of whom were not deeply involved in Republican politics prior to Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign.
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Posted in third parties<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=47>


“Hours before leaving office, Trump undoes one of the only measures he took to ‘drain the swamp’”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120574>
Posted on January 20, 2021 7:06 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120574> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-lobbying-executive-order/2021/01/20/4a2afd16-5ae9-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html>

President Trump rescinded an executive order early Wednesday morning that had limited federal administration officials from lobbying the government or working for foreign countries after they leave their posts, undoing one of the few measures he had instituted to fulfill his 2016 campaign promise to “drain the swamp.”

Trump had signed the now-reversed executive order <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-ethics-commitments-executive-branch-appointees/> with much fanfare in an Oval Office ceremony in January 2017.

“Most of the people standing behind me will not be able to go to work” after they leave government, Trump said <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/28/trumps-lobbying-ban-is-both-tougher-and-weaker-than-obamas-rules/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4> at the time, flanked by senior aides.

The order required executive branch appointees to sign a pledge that they would never work as registered foreign lobbyists, and it banned them from lobbying the federal agencies where they worked for five years after leaving the government.

Ethics experts at the time noted the order had loopholes — but still offered cautious praise for Trump’s attempt at halting the revolving door that allows government employees to use their positions to land lucrative jobs in the private sector.

No explanation was given for why Trump chose to rescind the order. The White House released the directive<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-revocation-executive-order-13770/> at 1:08 a.m. on the day he will leave office. It had been signed Tuesday.
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Posted in lobbying<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>


“Please Don’t Follow This Money”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120572>
Posted on January 20, 2021 7:04 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120572> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/business/dealbook/supreme-court-dark-money.html>

A new Supreme Court case<https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-charles-koch-us-supreme-court-california-courts-0c61a138f17e1b5458b8fa4c602ac48c> is calling into question the sincerity of corporate America’s reckoning with political giving. Many companies and trade groups say they are re-evaluating political donations after the riot in the Capitol, demanding accountability for lawmakers who challenged the electoral count. But in a matter accepted for review by the high court a few days after the mayhem, some of those organizations had argued for a constitutional right to anonymous charitable donations, a position that would make accountability more difficult. (It’s known as “dark money<https://www.opensecrets.org/dark-money/basics>.”)

The case “nominally involves a tiny technical question” about the tax disclosures of charities’ major donors in California, wrote Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, in the National Law Journal<https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2021/01/12/credibility-crisis-dark-money-influence-could-soon-become-a-constitutional-right/>. But it “could lock in dark money influence as a constitutional right,” he added, and it comes as “the country faces a dark-money crisis as anonymous influence spreads malicious disinformation and corrupts and disrupts our politics.” More than 20 “friends of the court briefs<https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/friends-of-koch-backed-group-descend-on-supreme-court>” supporting donor anonymity were filed, including from business groups….
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Watch Archived Video of Ben Ginsberg, Pam Fessler and Me Discussing: “What Has to Change to Protect Our Vulnerable Election System”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120570>
Posted on January 20, 2021 7:02 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120570> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Great conversation yesterday accessible here<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO-z8MaOlzU>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“New Republican named to MI elections board that certified Biden win”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120568>
Posted on January 20, 2021 6:59 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120568> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michigan Public Radio<https://www.michiganradio.org/post/new-republican-named-mi-elections-board-certified-biden-win>:

There will be a new Republican serving on the bipartisan state board that certifies election results – most recently President-elect Joe Biden’s Michigan victory<https://www.michiganradio.org/post/michigan-s-16-electors-officially-cast-their-votes-biden-and-harris> last November. Governor Gretchen Whitmer – a Democrat – selected Tony Daunt from a list submitted by the Michigan Republican Party.

Daunt is the executive director of the Freedom Fund, a conservative foundation with ties to the DeVos family.

If confirmed, Daunt will replace Aaron Van Langevelde. He was not re-nominated to serve by the Michigan Republican Party, which submitted a list of three names for Whitmer to choose from.

It was Van Langevelde’s vote that allowed President-elect Joe Biden’s Michigan victory to be formalized.

“My conscience is clear, and I am confident that my decision is the right side of the law and history,” Van Langevelde said Monday in a statement after he was not re-nominated to the board. “Time will tell whether those who spread misinformation and overturn the election were wrong, and they should be held responsible for the chaos and confusion they have caused.”
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Michigan Journal of Gender and Law – Call for Papers<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120566>
Posted on January 20, 2021 6:54 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120566> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Michigan Journal of Gender & Law is seeking submissions for its Fall 2021 issue centered on the topic of gender and democratic processes. The Journal welcomes all submissions that deal with, for example, the role of gender in election processes, public discourse or parliament. More details on how to submit can be found in the call for papers. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis until April 8, 2021.

Details here<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/MJGL-Fall-2021-Call-for-Papers.pdf>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Steve Schwarzman, a Trump Adviser, Stays Loyal Till the End”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120560>
Posted on January 19, 2021 4:03 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120560> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

The NYT has broken a story that includes coverage of confidential meetings I’ve been involved in with the country’s business leaders since the election about what role they can play in supporting the stability of American democracy. I think the business community has a critical role to play and many business leaders have begun doing so. I’m not going to comment on the general accuracy of this story, other than to say that the story does quote me correctly:

Defending the President

On the morning of Nov. 6, 2020, Mr. Schwarzman joined about 25 chief executives, academics and others on a call to discuss the election results. Though votes were still being tallied, Joseph R. Biden Jr.<https://www.nytimes.com/article/inauguration-day.html> appeared to have won. Mr. Trump was challenging the results.

Timothy Snyder, a Yale professor who had written a book titled “On Tyranny,” likened Mr. Trump’s actions to a coup d’état.

To Mr. Schwarzman, the notion appeared absurd. “This has been a tough time,” he said, according to a participant who shared details from a transcript of the call. Both the media coverage and the polls had misled people, Mr. Schwarzman said, and as a result, “people generally are skeptical about what anyone’s telling them.”

He argued that the vote counts, which were continuing days after the election, had created a perception problem, especially in places where Mr. Trump appeared to have an early win only for a Biden victory to be declared later. His comments didn’t sit well with some attendees.

“It was 100 percent known in advance that this was exactly what would happen in a place like Pennsylvania,” replied Richard H. Pildes, a constitutional-law expert, according to the participant who had the transcript. Kenneth Frazier, the chief executive of Merck, added that Mr. Trump’s actions were undermining democracy and should be of great concern, recalled attendees.

After Mr. Schwarzman’s comments were leaked<https://www.ft.com/content/558f2a68-7d42-4702-b86d-fae5458b3e64> to The Financial Times, some Blackstone investors began raising questions, say employees briefed on the calls. Staff members of pension funds, which invest with Blackstone, had previously told the firm’s officials that they wished Mr. Schwarzman would stay away from politics. Now, one pension wanted to know more about what he had said to the other executives and why, and another complained that they didn’t like what they were reading, two Blackstone employees said.

Even as he found himself ensnared in controversy, Mr. Schwarzman declined to criticize the president. It took him until Nov. 16 — more than a week after the election was called by networks — to acknowledge the win<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/trump-s-biggest-backer-schwarzman-sees-biden-headed-for-victory?sref=bUXEuR9F> at an economic forum. (“It looks like Joe Biden,” he said.)

As Mr. Trump refused to concede, Mr. Schwarzman declined to sign a Nov. 23 letter<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/us/trump-economy-ny.html> in which more than 160 chief executives demanded a transition of power. Instead, he issued his own statement that “the country should move on,” adding that “I supported President Trump and the strong economic path he built.” (Jon Gray, Blackstone’s president and a big supporter of Mr. Biden, signed the group letter.)

Mr. Schwarzman also appears ready to move on. After the storming of the Capitol, he told colleagues that he thought the president should be removed. And he is now “ready,” he has said in recent prepared statements, to help Mr. Biden and his team.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Lincoln Project Will Back Democrats’ New Election Reform Project in the Senate<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120558>
Posted on January 19, 2021 9:46 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120558> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Greg Sargent<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/19/an-early-move-democrats-seeks-undo-an-ugly-part-trumps-legacy/> on Lincoln Project backing the For the People Act,<https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SIMPLE-SECTION-BY-SECTION_S.-11.pdf>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Matt Shugart Makes the Case for Proportional Representation in Congress to Save the Country from Authoritarian Wing of Republican Party<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120556>
Posted on January 19, 2021 9:41 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120556> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Shugart:<https://fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2021/01/19/emergency-electoral-reform-olpr-for-the-us-house/>

Because the constitutional emergency<https://fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2021/01/07/constitutional-emergency/> is likely too deep to just turn the page, small-d democrats face an emergency of another kind. The need to adopt proportional representation has never been greater. The country simply can’t afford the risk that the Republican Party does nothing fundamental to reform itself, and wins back the House in 2022. A change to some form of moderate proportional representation (PR) is essential.

Given the current balance of power in the House, the Republicans would need to flip only about seven seats in 2022. (There are currently three vacancies<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seniority_in_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives#Vacancies>.) With rare exceptions, presidents’ parties lose votes and seats in midterm elections. With the balance so tight, there is almost nothing to stop Republicans from winning back control of the House, other than perhaps if they descend into internal party chaos. They just might do that. They might even split. But I don’t like seeing the fate of the republic depend on Republicans finding yet another way to squander an easy electoral win that’s there for their taking.

I am not arguing for a change to PR only for the sake of the Democratic Party. In fact, my argument is that this is a way for Republicans to save their own party. The country needs functioning pro-democratic parties on both the center-left and the center-right. At the moment, it has such a party only on the center-left, and even that is a temporary ceasefire amidst a deepening internal division.
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Posted in alternative voting systems<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>


Republican on Gwinnett County (GA) Elections Board Wants to Make Voting Harder to Help Her Party<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120553>
Posted on January 19, 2021 9:38 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120553> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Oh my:<https://twitter.com/srl/status/1351582642135830529?s=20>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Big businesses say they are responsible, but too often they fuel conspiracy theories”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120551>
Posted on January 19, 2021 8:57 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120551> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michael Porter and Bruce Freed USA Today oped<https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/19/corporate-spending-boosted-assault-on-capital-column/4160114001/>:

U.S. corporations and their leaders are speaking out<https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/business/business-leaders-reactions-washington/index.html> forcefully about the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the need to transition quickly to the Biden era. However, they face a serious problem — their political spending in many cases conflicts with their calls and, in fact, played a role in the crisis.

Their problem is highlighted by the hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars that leading corporations and their trade associations contributed to some groups that funded the election of state attorneys general who tried to overturn the election, and to groups like the Rule of Law Defense Fund<http://conservativetransparency.org/org/rule-of-law-defense-fund/> that encouraged the Jan. 6 election protest.<https://documented.net/2021/01/republican-attorneys-general-dark-money-group-organized-protest-preceding-capitol-mob-attack/>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Lawmakers who objected to election results have been cut off from 20 of their 30 biggest corporate PAC donors”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120549>
Posted on January 19, 2021 8:55 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120549> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/01/19/gop-corporate-pac-funding/>

The 147 Republican lawmakers who opposed certification of the presidential election this month have lost the support of many of their largest corporate backers — but not all of them.

The Washington Post contacted the 30 companies that gave the most money to election-objecting lawmakers’ campaigns through political action committees. Two-thirds, or 20 of the firms, said they have pledged to suspend some or all payments from their PACs.

Meanwhile, 10 companies said only that they would review their political giving or did not commit to take any action as a result of this month’s events.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


How Misinformation Emerges and Spreads<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120547>
Posted on January 19, 2021 4:56 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120547> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

This is an illuminating story<https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/01/13/fact-checking-viral-post-impeachment-and-trumps-post-presidency-benefits/6654559002/> from the Austin American-Statesman about the spread of misinformation. The context is whether President Trump would lose his pension, travel stipend, and other benefits if convicted in the Senate trial. The false information here is that he would lose these benefits. The most interesting part of the story is the rationale from the person who spread the wrong information — see these comments:

The source of the screenshot in the posts is a Jan. 8 tweet from Ben Costiloe, a 57-year-old man who lives in Texas. He told PolitiFact that he copied the text from something he saw on Facebook.

“I looked at it, and they didn’t have any followers,” said Costiloe, whose own Twitter following has grown more than tenfold since publishing the post. “I thought about it and said, ‘Well, this isn’t completely true, but it could be true in a perfect world.’ So I threw it out there.”

“It could be true in a perfect world.” Think about that.

Here’s some more detail on how much this misinformation spread:

With only nine days until Inauguration Day, the Democrats’ move to impeach Trump is unlikely to result in his removal from office. But a viral social media post says it could have lasting effects on his future in public life.

The post, published by the liberal Facebook page The Other 98% on Jan. 9, outlined four potential consequences for Trump if the House votes to impeach him for a second time:

“For those wondering if it’s worth impeaching him this time, it means he:

Loses his 200k+ pension for the rest of his life

Loses his 1 million dollar/year travel allowance

Loses lifetime full Secret Service detail

Loses his ability to run in 2024.”

Celebrities like comedian Jim Gaffigan and advocacy organizations like the March for Science have shared the post to millions of followers.

The story goes on to correct the wrong information that was spread — because “it would be true in a perfect world” — including by talking to experts on these issues, such as Brian Kalt.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>




--
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>
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http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>



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