December 5, 2024

In the News

Reason: Eric Adams Gamed a New York Campaign Finance Scheme That Was Ripe for Corruption

By Joe Lancaster

....."The presumption" that publicly funded campaigns "have been an effective firewall against corrupting influences in the political process has little basis in fact," according to a 2013 study by the Center for Competitive Politics. Instead, such programs "favor corrupt incumbents against upstart challengers" and "facilitat[e] new and creative forms of corruption."

Campus Reform: Pro-Palestine speaker says his lecture was moved to online due to activists who consider him a Zionist 'traitor'

By Daisy Roser

.....In response to Alkhatib’s situation, President David Keating of the Institute for Free Speech told Campus Reform that, “We have a right to protest, and it can be an effective tactic. But those who gather to listen to a speaker have a right to hear the speech. People who interrupt the speech, incite violence, or prevent the event from continuing not only hurt their cause, they violate the rights of the speaker and audience.”

The Courts

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Defendant "Allegedly Provided Confidential Information About Dissident Saudi Twitter Users to a Close Associate Of [Saudi] Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman"

By Eugene Volokh

.....From U.S. v. Abouammo, decided today by Ninth Circuit Judges Daniel Bress and Kenneth Lee and District Judge Yvette Kane (M.D. Pa.):

Courthouse News: First Amendment case against San Francisco DA will finally proceed after setbacks

By Matt Simons

.....A controversial lawsuit against San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins will finally proceed after being dismissed twice in the past, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White, who denied the motion to dismiss, wrote that Jack Arne Friedman — a former investigator with the San Francisco District Attorney’s office that sued Jenkins for violating his free speech rights and retaliating against him for protected whistleblower activity — “has strengthened his pleadings since the court made this finding.”

The ex-investigator claims that Jenkins violated his First Amendment rights by subjecting him to a gag order and then using him as a “public scapegoat” for the unpopular decision not to prosecute a San Francisco police officer who killed a suspect.

Without his ability to speak out about impropriety behind the scenes, he claims, the district attorney was able to avoid political criticism.

Congress

FedScoop: Sen. Ted Cruz takes aim at foreign influence on AI policy

By Madison Alder

.....Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is seeking information from the Justice Department to assist with a probe into whether a U.K.-based artificial intelligence organization has complied with a statute governing influence in political activities. 

According to a letter sent Nov. 21 and released publicly Monday, Cruz asked the DOJ for information about whether the Centre for the Governance of Artificial Intelligence, a U.K.-based nonprofit, registered with the department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. FARA requires that certain foreign organizations disclose information about their operations if they’re involved in political or other activities. 

Cato: Stop Government Jawboning and Censorship Via Proxy Through Transparency: An Agenda for Policymakers

By David Inserra

.....Congress or the president, therefore, should require all government officials to record any oral or written request or suggestion to private actors to remove speech or deny services based on First Amendment-protected speech or activities. These reports would be collected by the Office of Management and Budget and disclosed to the public, subject to certain redactions for security or individuals’ privacy already found in the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act. Companies would notify individual customers that the government had requested the removal of their speech or denial of services. 

By making these requests public, this proposal does not punish government agents for merely communicating with or advising companies about potentially dangerous or false information, but it would limit secret and unconstitutional censorship attempts. 

FCC

Free Press: Trump's FCC Chairman Doesn't Know What Censorship Actually Is

By Jessica J. González

.....Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I published an Op-Ed in The Hill calling on anyone who cares about free speech — whether from inside or outside of government — to speak out against Carr’s plans to undermine it.

This got Carr’s attention, and he came after me and Free Press on X (where else?). I won’t dignify his misleading tweets with a link, but I do have a response.

Either Carr doesn’t understand what the First Amendment is for or what real censorship is, or he’s just lying to the American people — either of which is a big problem for someone who’s going to be America's top communications regulator.

The First Amendment exists to protect people from government censorship and intrusion. Brendan Carr wants to use the government’s power to shut down the speech of broadcasters who question and critique Trump. He wants to force private companies to carry the hate speech and violent threats of his far-right friends, yet he also wants the incoming administration to investigate journalists and fact checkers. He wants to make way for dangerous hoaxes all over the public airwaves. 

Donor Privacy

Cato Daily Podcast: Threats to Donor Privacy Persist

Hosted by Caleb O. Brown

.....Whether you’re a generous supporter of the Cato Institute or any other nonprofit, make no mistake: Threats to donor privacy and tax-advantaged giving are still out there, and are largely politically motivated. Luke Wachob and Peter Lipsett explain.

Online Speech Platforms

Washington Post (Tech Brief): Outraged? You’re more likely to share misinformation, study finds.

By Will Oremus

.....A report from the nonprofit Issue One, shared with the Tech Brief ahead of its publication Wednesday, finds that foreign governments managed to spread at least 160 false narratives in the United States in 2024 via social media, with Russia the leading purveyor. About half those narratives aimed to divide Americans on foreign policy issues, such as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, while the other half focused on domestic U.S. politics, often targeting Harris and President Joe Biden.

While foreign disinformation probably didn’t sway the election, the report finds, its aims were “broader and more insidious: to deepen polarization, erode trust in democratic institutions, and degrade social cohesion.” …

The report comes on the heels of academic research that identifies outrage as key to the spread of online falsehoods.

A study published last week in the journal Science found that if you want disinformation to go viral online, making people furious might be your best bet.

The States

Reuters: Calif bar considers campus protests in moral character review for lawyer licensing

By  Karen Sloan

.....Bar admission authorities in California will consider applicants’ participation in campus protests on an “individual basis” during the moral character process, following an internal review.

A State Bar of California working group, which took up the issue of whether and how the bar should continue to weigh applicants' participation in campus protests when determining if they have the moral character to become licensed attorneys, said that evaluators must be careful to exclude protected political speech or expression, according to a memo slated to be discussed by the state bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners on Friday.

City & State New York: CFB should not give another dime to Adams campaign

By Lincoln Restler and Bob Holden

.....The indictment against Mayor Eric Adams reveals an alleged pattern of illegal campaign finance practices and a stunning disregard for our campaign finance laws. All told, the mayor’s 2021 campaign received $10 million dollars in taxpayer funds, despite apparently orchestrating a sweeping conspiracy to raise illegal contributions in flagrant disregard of campaign finance laws. 

In particular, the indictment details several straw donor schemes in which the 2021 campaign allegedly assisted foreign donors and business people in funneling donations through U.S. residents to fraudulently secure more public matching funds. This highlights a broader issue with our campaign finance structure: the existence of loopholes that allow for foreign campaign funds to influence our elections. There is currently a bill before the City Council that aims to address this by closing these gaps, ensuring foreign funds cannot be used to circumvent campaign finance laws.