Speaker 1: And now it's time for our daily Bloomberg labbrare for
Speaker 1: exploring legal issues in the news. And Today Bloomberg lawho
Speaker 1: Student Grosso and Greg Stuart discuss a victory for President
Speaker 1: Trump's Voter Fraud Commission after a federal judge cleared the
Speaker 1: way for the panel to gather personal data on voters.
Speaker 1: They speak with David Becker, founder and executive director of
Speaker 1: the Center for Election Innovation and Research, and Hans von Spakovsky,
Speaker 1: manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at the Heritage
Speaker 1: Foundation and a member of President Trump's Advisory Commission on
Speaker 1: Election Integrity. David, how did the judge reach her decision,
Speaker 1: particularly regarding the infringement of privacy rights? Well, I think, UM,
Speaker 1: some of the statements made by UM by the commission
Speaker 1: UH confirmed that this is just a request that UH
Speaker 1: there were some options that UM I think they might
Speaker 1: have been storing the information in a way that at
Speaker 1: least the judge seemed satisfied UH might be might sufficiently
Speaker 1: protect privacy rights. I think there's still some questions out
Speaker 1: there with regard to that. I think that given that
Speaker 1: it was just a request, given that some of this
Speaker 1: information was public, what she found at this point was
Speaker 1: there wasn't enough evidence to grant a temporary restraining extraining
Speaker 1: order or a preliminary injunction, and found that at least
Speaker 1: at this point the plaintiffs were not likely to um
Speaker 1: to win on the merits. I think, you know. One
Speaker 1: of the things that was was was heavily stressed in
Speaker 1: her opinion though, was that this is only a request,
Speaker 1: that there is not a demand for information. And then
Speaker 1: there's another question which will have to answer um at
Speaker 1: some point, which is is this information going to be
Speaker 1: any of any use at all to determine anything related
Speaker 1: to election integrity? And so let me just ask you
Speaker 1: to start with the practical implications. What what does this opinion,
Speaker 1: this decision from Judge Clarke Telly give the Commission that
Speaker 1: it might not not have had beforehand. Well, it was
Speaker 1: an obviously obviously logical decision because if you look at
Speaker 1: the letter that was sent out by the Commission, uh,
Speaker 1: they asked for publicly available information. So the idea that
Speaker 1: somehow there was going to be some huge invasion of
Speaker 1: privacy is just not true. All of the states provide
Speaker 1: this very same information. For example, I mean, if you
Speaker 1: go to the website of the State Election Board of Virginia,
Speaker 1: and remember Terry mccaullus, the governor, was one of the
Speaker 1: people that was outraged at this. You'll find that they
Speaker 1: have a couple of pages where they talk about how
Speaker 1: uh they provide information registered voters, list um voting history,
Speaker 1: to political parties, candidates, uh, nonprofit organizations, members of the public.
Speaker 1: So all the commission was asking for was the same
Speaker 1: kind of publicly available information that these states already provide
Speaker 1: basically to anyone who walks in the door. That's David Becker,
Speaker 1: founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, and
Speaker 1: Hans von spakov Ski, manager of the Election Law Reform
Speaker 1: Initiative at the Heritage Foundation and a member of President
Speaker 1: Trump's Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Is spoke with Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Law host doom Grasso and Greg's store. You can listen
Speaker 1: to Bloomberg Law weekdays at one pm Wall Street Time
Speaker 1: here on Bloomberg Radio. And among the top legal stories
Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Law, Celgene has agreed to pay two hundred
Speaker 1: eighty million dollars to settle a whistle blower fraud lawsuit
Speaker 1: a former employees as the company used illegal claims desern
Speaker 1: its cancer drugs into blockbuster sellers. Celgene denies the allegations,
Speaker 1: and that's this morning's Bloomberg Law Brie. If you can
Speaker 1: find more illegal news at Bloomberg law dot com and
Speaker 1: Bloomberg BNA dot com. Attorneys will find exceptional legal research
Speaker 1: and business development tools there as well. Visit Bloomberg Law
Speaker 1: dot com and Bloomberg Bena dot com for more information