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Hans von Spakovsky
| Hans von Spakovsky | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | Heritage Foundation |
| Role: | Senior Legal Fellow |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Expertise: | Campaign finance and civil rights law |
| Education: | •Massachusetts Institute of Technology •Vanderbilt University School of Law |
Hans von Spakovsky is a senior legal fellow and manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at the Heritage Foundation. He was previously a member of the Federal Election Commission. Prior to that, von Spakovsky worked in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he provided guidance on the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.[1]
Biography
Von Spakovsky graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981 and obtained his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1984. Von Spakovsky spent his early legal career in the insurance industry, where he advocated for changes to the torts system and on issues related to civil justice. He joined the U.S. Department of Justice under President George W. Bush (R), serving as counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights. He served two years as a member of the Federal Election Commission.[1]
Von Spakovsky joined the Heritage Foundation in 2008, initially as manager of the group's Civil Justice Reform Initiative, responsible for studying "how plaintiffs’ attorneys and activists attempt to manipulate the courts for their own ends—at the expense of the public." President Donald Trump (R) appointed von Spakovsky to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in 2017.[1]
As of September 2025, von Spakovsky managed the Heritage Foundation's Election Law Reform Initiative, researching and analyzing campaign finance and voter identification laws, federal government enforcement of voting laws, election administration procedures, and allegations of election fraud and voter fraud. He was also the host of the Case in Point podcast.[1]
Work and activities
John Doe investigations
Von Spakovsky was an early and outspoken critic of the investigations. Shortly after the details of John Doe II came to light, von Spakovsky stated that "Wisconsin should be embarrassed, embarrassed that it is involved in an effort that makes the Alien and Sedition acts mild by comparison."[2]
He later spoke out against Wisconsin's John Doe law after a federal lawsuit was filed by targets John Doe II targets Eric O'Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth (WCFG) against the prosecutors overseeing the investigation. Von Spakovsky called the law "one of the most un-American laws I have ever seen."[3] Von Spakovsky was one of five former Federal Election Commission (FEC) members who filed an amicus brief in support of O'Keefe and the WCFG.[4][5]
In the course of another campaign finance lawsuit, a federal judge ruled the law John Doe was based upon to be unconstitutional; von Spakovsky praised the ruling and expressed his dismay with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB).[6]
Notable endorsements
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Affliations
As of September 2025, von Spakovsky was a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Heritage Foundation, "Hans A. von Spakovsky," accessed September 8, 2025
- ↑ Wisconsin Watchdog, "‘Dangerous’ game: Former FEC official blasts Democrats’ secret investigation of conservative groups" November 21, 2013
- ↑ Wisconsin Watchdog, "Civil rights expert: John Doe law is ‘un-American,’ like something from ‘Nazi Germany’," April 21, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Watchdog, "First Amendment big guns back targets of John Doe probe," September 4, 2014
- ↑ IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT, "Brief of Former Members of the Federal Election Commission Lee Ann Elliott, David Mason, Hans von Spakovsky, and Darryl Wold as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellees," September 2, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Watchdog, "First Amendment expert: Wisconsin ought to be ’embarrassed’ by John Doe," February 16, 2015
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