Larry Norden

Pardon Industry Offers Rich Offenders a Path to Trump

NYT reports pardons going to the wealthy and politically connected who can pay $$ for insider lobbyists.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/u...

As @amostoh.bsky.social and I explain, the Pentagon's dispute with Anthropic should not distract from the broader crisis at hand: Congress's failure to regulate some of the riskiest uses of AI - namely, amplifying surveillance and automating the use of lethal force.

NEW: Clemency for Tina Peters would be unprecedented, based on my analysis of Gov Polis' 25 commutations. Peters hasn't shown remorse, taken accountability, or sought to restore harm. No Polis commutation was for a harsh sentence alone and Peters' would be the shortest by 30+ yrs

This is what happens when you effectively have no ethical rules at the top of government — virtually limitless opportunities for insider profiteering.

The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to decide when the nation goes to war. President Trump’s strikes on Iran are flatly unconstitutional. There’s been no deliberation, no vote, no clear justification. This is a flagrant abuse of executive power.

Experts raise questions and concerns about Pentagon’s threat to blacklist Anthropic amid AI spat Some warned that such a move would mark an extreme response that could have a chilling effect on the broader frontier AI industry.

Guardrails don’t undermine military AI. In fact, they're needed to improve the tech’s safety and reliability, says @amostoh.bsky.social defensescoop.com/2026/02/27/p...

Read the laughable legal memo behind the claim that Trump can declare a national voting emergency There are “four immediately obvious problems” with this, legal expert Liza Goitein said.

“Any attempt by this administration to seize or ban mail-in ballots or voting machines during an election would” violate federal laws prohibiting interference with elections, says @lizagoitein.bsky.social.

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

Today @washingtonpost.com reported activists are urging Trump to declare an emergency based on claims of Chinese interference in the 2020 election and use emergency powers to dramatically alter election rules. Trump has no power to run elections, even in an emergency. 🧵

How Election Officials Respond to Law Enforcement Requests for Access to Election Equipment and Materials Numerous laws and rules govern access to ballots, machines, and other sensitive election records.

Certain requests to election officials for access to voting machines and materials can be legitimate for transparency reasons, but others go far beyond what is legally authorized. We sort it out: bit.ly/4aciVCc

This affidavit was much weaker than I suspected. No allegations of intent. No allegations of election theft. No allegations of foreign interference. No allegations that the statute of limitations doesn't apply.

At worst, it alleges human error, during a pandemic, that didn't affect the outcome.

In Fulton County, there had been a mystery as to what the evidence that the magistrate used to find probable cause would it look like. Now there’s a new mystery: how in the world did the magistrate approve this bunch of recycled and discredited allegations to find probable cause?

If You Can Keep It: Donald Trump and election integrity There is no evidence to support Trump’s repeated, false claims of voter fraud in the last presidential election.

Election officials are "resolute in ensuring that their voters will be able to vote freely, and that there will be a fair election in 2026” amid the administration’s campaign to undermine elections, @larrynorden.bsky.social tells npr.org.

If You Can Keep It: Donald Trump and election integrity There is no evidence to support Trump’s repeated, false claims of voter fraud in the last presidential election.

On WAMU 885 / @npr.org : "If You Can Keep It: Donald Trump and #ElectionIntegrity" produced by Lauren Hamilton with guests @sethbluestein.bsky.social , @larrynorden.bsky.social, @nytnickc.bsky.social & @jessicahuseman.bsky.social:

the1a.org/segments/if-...

Election Officials in Communities of Color Face More Abuse As election deniers target mostly Black and Latino cities, election officials get caught in the middle.

This tactic has real consequences on the people who work in elections. Election officials working in jurisdictions that are majority-minority disproportionately report being threatened, harassed and abused. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

It's no accident that in reiterating his calls to "nationalize" elections, the president focused on Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta. A core tactic of the president and others seeking to undermine elections has been to target cities with lots of voters of color.

Warning Signs of Election Interference The Fulton County raid and other recent developments show how Trump and his allies are moving to discredit losses and control future elections.

"Trump lamented that he failed to activate the National Guard to seize voting machines in 2020. The Fulton raid should set alarm bells ringing about Trump’s willingness to abuse the power of his office to undermine free and fair elections in 2026 and 2028."
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

As it happens, last week NASS, the bipartisan organization for Secretaries of State (the chief election official in most states) reaffirmed that "the conduct of elections is primarily the responsibility of state and local election officials." The Constitution is clear. www.nass.org/node/2695

Few see unlimited campaign spending as a form of free speech New poll finds overwhelming cross-partisan concern about money in politics ahead of 50th anniversary of Buckley v. Valeo Supreme Court decision on campaign finance

www.ipsos.com/en-us/few-se...

Read Bondi’s Letter to Minnesota’s Governor Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Saturday that blamed him and other Democratic officials for allowing “lawlessness” in the state. It was not immediately clear ...

Yesterday, AG Pam Bondi sent a remarkable & telling letter to MN Governor Tim Walz in response to his plea that the administration stand down its mobilization of ICE in the wake of the violent killing of Alex Pretti. Bondi’s letter underscores clear abuses of power. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The lesson of the Powell statement and yesterday to me is get your side of the story out via video first, it matters so much in shaping public opinion.

Nine Solutions for Political Corruption A new era of anticorruption reform is long overdue.

Our government has entered a new and dangerous era of corruption, leading to a collapse in public trust. Our latest report outlines nine solutions to combat corruption, including a path to restoring campaign finance limits. bit.ly/4r62EnZ

For those worried about the use of AI to support rumors or outright falsehoods to justify efforts to undermine this fall’s elections, this is an ominous sign.

This week marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which ushered in a new era of political corruption. The Brennan Center has released a new paper outlining nine concrete solutions for reform: bit.ly/4jUFb6I

Worth it?

Trump’s AI Order Is More Bark than Bite While the executive order has created uncertainty for the many states that have passed artificial intelligence policies to protect their residents, its impact falls short of its menacing rhetoric.

The president can’t do much to stop states from enacting and enforcing AI safety laws — and courts and state governments should know this. bit.ly/3Y0drDI

Tech moguls close to Trump see the midterms as a path to long-term power As politicians in both parties raise concerns about the impacts of AI, political groups backed by tech investors and Meta plan to intervene in midterm races.

Tech investors signal that they plan to spend big in the 2026 midterms in both congressional and state legislative races.

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

The Authoritarian Stack How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Is Next

This is really well done and worth a read: www.authoritarian-stack.info

Money in Politics Roundup — October 2025 Our new recurring feature covers key stories from the world of campaign finance and influence buying, from the AI industry to super PAC support for a lame-duck president.

Trump's executive order to block states from protecting their citizens from AI will almost certainly fail in court. Why issue it? It may still have a chilling effect if states cave. And that would make some of the largest political spenders very happy. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com.

We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans.

washingtonpost.com/politics/int...