{"id":1421152,"date":"2022-04-06T07:29:43","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T11:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1421152"},"modified":"2022-04-06T07:29:44","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T11:29:44","slug":"court-reinstates-louisiana-ags-lawsuit-against-zuckerbergs-election-meddling-group-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-reinstates-louisiana-ags-lawsuit-against-zuckerbergs-election-meddling-group-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Reinstates Louisiana AG\u2019s Lawsuit Against Zuckerberg\u2019s Election Meddling Group"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-reinstates-louisiana-ags-lawsuit-against-zuckerbergs-election-meddling-group-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1421152&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Last week, a Louisiana appellate court <a href=\"https:\/\/lailluminator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/21-0670opi.pdf\">reinstated<\/a> Attorney General Jeff Landry\u2019s lawsuit challenging Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s infiltration of the state election system with private \u201cZuck Bucks\u201d that flooded the country during the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit, <em>State of Louisiana v. Center for Tech and Civic Life<\/em>, originated in October 2020. That\u2019s when Louisiana, through Landry, sought a court order declaring that \u201cprivate contributions to local election officials and the election system in general are unlawful and contrary to Louisiana law.\u201d Landry\u2019s lawsuit followed attempts by the Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Life to dole out millions in targeted grants to election officials throughout the state.<\/p>\n<p>By the time Landry sued, more than 20 officials throughout the state had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theadvocate.com\/baton_rouge\/news\/politics\/elections\/article_76298478-b209-11ec-8153-abc1f8984d01.amp.html\">applied<\/a> for grants of nearly $8 million, but after the attorney general warned them the funds were illegal, most abandoned their efforts. Orleans and Calcasieu parishes, however, went on to accept more than $810,000 in funds for the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>While Landry succeeded in limiting the impact of the Zuckbucks in Louisiana to two parishes, his efforts to prevent what he called \u201cthe corrosive influence of outside money on Louisiana election officials\u201d initially failed when a state trial court dismissed his lawsuit against the Center for Tech and Civic Life and its partner organizations.<\/p>\n<p>In tossing the case, the trial judge held there was no legal basis to prevent \u201cregistrars of voters, clerks of court, or other local election officials from seeking and obtaining grant dollars to assist with the funding the necessary staff and equipment for the upcoming November 3, 2020 election.\u201d In reaching this conclusion, the trial court relied on Louisiana\u2019s constitution, specifically article 6, \u00a7 23.<\/p>\n<p>That provision authorizes \u201cpolitical subdivisions\u201d to \u201cacquire property for any public purpose,\u201d by among other things, \u201cdonation.\u201d The trial court then reasoned that because \u201cregistrar of voters and clerks of court are \u2018political subdivisions,\u2019\u201d \u201cthey are allowed to accept private donations,\u201d including to run elections. Accordingly, the trial court tossed the state\u2019s lawsuit and allowed the private funds to flow into the parish coffers.<\/p>\n<p>Landry appealed the dismissal of the state\u2019s challenge to the Zuckbuck scheme and last Wednesday the Louisiana appellate court reversed the lower court decision. In reversing the trial court and reinstating Landry\u2019s lawsuit against the Center for Tech and Civic Life and the other defendant organizations that assisted in distributing the Zuckbucks, the Louisiana appellate court analyzed controlling precedent to determine whether the clerks of court and the registrar of voters are \u201cpolitical subdivisions\u201d within the meaning of art. 6 \u00a7 23 of the Louisiana constitution.<\/p>\n<p>They are not, the appellate court concluded. \u201cRather it is clear that they are constitutional officers created by the State pursuant to our constitution,\u201d the appellate court continued, \u201cand both officers have only the powers, duties, and responsibilities as granted to them by law.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Because the clerks of court and registrar of voters to whom the Zuckbucks were to be distributed \u201care not creatures of local government,\u201d they may not \u201cacquire property\u201d by \u201cdonation\u201d under art. 6, \u00a7 23 of the state constitution, the court held. The Louisiana appellate court then reversed the dismissal of the case and returned it to the lower court for further proceedings on the state\u2019s challenge to the private funding of elections.<\/p>\n<p>In reversing the trial court decision, the appellate court did not declare the Zuckbuck funding of elections illegal but left that to the court below to decide. However, the appellate court\u2019s decision highlighted that \u201cthe Louisiana Constitution provides that the secretary of state is the \u2018chief election officer of the state,\u2019\u201d and that \u201che shall prepare and certify the ballots for all elections, promulgate all election returns, and administer the election laws, except those relating to voter registration and custody of voting machines.\u201d The appellate court further stressed that \u201cthe secretary of state is also responsible for paying all election costs and expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This analysis supports Landry\u2019s argument in the underlying lawsuit that because Louisiana\u2019s election laws are \u201ccomprehensive and exclusive\u201d and provide for the state \u201cfunding of elections and election costs\u201d \u201cthe use of private money to fund elections in the State of Louisiana\u201d is illegal. But that will be a question for the lower court to determine on remand.<\/p>\n<p>First, though, there will be the discovery process, including depositions of the relevant players. Landry told The Federalist in a Monday interview that with the case reinstated he \u201clooks forward now to proceeding with the normal process of discovery.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Landry added that the situation today is much different than the one the state confronted when the lawsuit was originally filed. Since the election, there have been extremely troubling revelations about the approximately $350 million pumped into the election system by Zuckerberg\u2019s organization, Landry noted.<\/p>\n<p>While the attorney general spoke only generally about the problems, he noted two fundamental problems underlying the private funding of elections. First, money is flowing into the system \u201cin the darkness of night,\u201d Landry stressed. Second, the Zuckbucks were used to achieve a targeted disenfranchisement, with rural Louisianans treated less favorably than their fellow citizens living in populated areas.<\/p>\n<p>Details from other states confirm Landry\u2019s concerns. In Wisconsin, a retired election clerk in a large Wisconsin county <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/politics-policy\/elections\/sandy-juno-wisconsin-election-clerk-2020-election\">explained<\/a> how, behind closed doors, \u201cpolitical activists working for a group funded by Mark Zuckerberg money seized control\u00a0of the November elections in Green Bay and other cities, sidelining career experts and making last-minute changes that may have violated state law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, in other states, Zuckbucks <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/12\/the-2020-election-wasnt-stolen-it-was-bought-by-mark-zuckerberg\/\">created<\/a> \u201ca \u2018shadow\u2019 election system with a built-in structural bias,\u201d according to analyses conducted after the election. Post-election <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/12\/the-2020-election-wasnt-stolen-it-was-bought-by-mark-zuckerberg\/\">analyses<\/a> of the data likewise reveal the $350 million in funding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/center-for-tech-and-civic-life\/#ctcl-grant-analysis-by-state-2020\">disproportionately<\/a> favored Democrat-heavy areas \u2014 so much so that it could have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/12\/the-2020-election-wasnt-stolen-it-was-bought-by-mark-zuckerberg\/\">changed<\/a> the outcome of the election.<\/p>\n<p>Backlash against buying the election for Biden with Zuckbucks has prompted several states to pass laws expressly prohibiting the use of private funds for election purposes. As of March 2022, private funds are either restricted or banned in the running of elections in more than a dozen <a href=\"https:\/\/capitalresearch.org\/article\/states-banning-zuck-bucks\/\">states<\/a>. State legislatures in five additional states passed similar restrictions on outside funds, but those bills were vetoed by the governors \u2014 all of whom were Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is one of the five Democrats to <a href=\"https:\/\/capitalresearch.org\/article\/states-banning-zuck-bucks\/\">veto<\/a> a legislative ban on the private funding of elections. But with last week\u2019s appellate court decision reinstating Landry\u2019s challenge to the use of private funds in elections, the state may nonetheless prevail in its attempt to keep outside money from interfering in future elections.<\/p>\n<p>Before the case returns to the trial court, however, the Center for Tech and Civic Life may attempt to appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Federalist contacted an attorney for the group, asking if an appeal would be forthcoming, but our request for comment went unanswered.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Margot Cleveland is The Federalist&#8217;s senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. <\/p>\n<p>Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize\u2014the law school\u2019s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. <\/p>\n<p>As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, a Louisiana appellate court reinstated Attorney General Jeff Landry\u2019s lawsuit challenging Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s infiltration of the state election system with private \u201cZuck Bucks\u201d that flooded the country during<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1421152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1421152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1421152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1421152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1421152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}