News Roundup: Trump Indictment, Update from Wisconsin
[link removed]

Former President Donald Trump was indicted ([link removed]) on Thursday by the grand jury in Manhattan investigating hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign. Trump reportedly plans to turn himself in for arraignment on Tuesday.
* Trump and his allies are attempting to portray ([link removed]) that investigation and other criminal probes he’s facing as an example of the “weaponization of our system of justice” — something that he, of course, routinely sought to do as president through the politicization of the Justice Department, including by trying to use it to overturn ([link removed]) his 2020 election loss.
* A federal judge has ordered former Vice President Pence to testify ([link removed]) in the federal investigation of that corrupt effort to cling to power. Trump’s legal team has appealed ([link removed]) a separate court decision ordering former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and other Trump White House officials to testify.


Update from Wisconsin

On Thursday, American Oversight filed a brief urging the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to uphold circuit court decisions ordering the Assembly’s Office of Special Counsel — the office created to undertake the Assembly’s baseless and partisan investigation of the 2020 election — to produce related public records.
* OSC has asserted — and continues to assert on appeal, even after the records have been released pursuant to court order — that it can withhold all its records from the public.
* The rule the office urges the Court of Appeals to adopt would harm the Wisconsin public’s ability to understand OSC’s investigation and future special counsel investigations.
* American Oversight is represented by Democracy Forward and Pines Bach LLP; read our and Democracy Forward’s statements here ([link removed]) .


Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has repeatedly disparaged the judges who ruled against him and OSC in our lawsuits, and has pursued multiple appeals to avoid accountability.
* A new bill ([link removed]) in the Wisconsin Assembly would require that any lawsuits involving the Legislature be randomly assigned to one of the state’s 69 circuit courts. The bill is being pushed by Republican lawmakers who have claimed they have been treated unfairly by judges in Dane County, home of the state capital.
* The bill is being advanced for what amounts to perceived political gain, as judges in Dane County are, like other judges, obligated to make decisions free from personal or political biases — despite Vos’ and others’ efforts to delegitimize rulings that didn’t go in their favor.
* Read the Wisconsin State Journal’s report on the bill here ([link removed]) , which references our public records lawsuits.

On the Records

Cleta Mitchell’s Emails
In late 2021, Cleta Mitchell — a lawyer who less than a year before had played a role ([link removed]) in the effort to overturn the 2020 election — was given a seat on the advisory board of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
* We sued the EAC ([link removed]) last August for communications between select commissioners and election conspiracy theorists and voting-restriction activists, including Mitchell.
* The lawsuit and other requests led to the release of correspondence between Mitchell and right-wing groups in which she used unfounded claims of voter fraud to oppose expanded access to absentee voting during the pandemic.
* “[E]very crazy thing the left wants to do they will try to get done at this time, using the virus as the reason,” she wrote in March 2020. She also criticized a group dedicated to expanding voting rights as “a left-of-center organization that has diametrically opposite views about election law.” Read more here. ([link removed])


Florida Surgeon General’s 2021 Meetings with Covid Conspiracy Theorists
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s harmful and inaccurate claims about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines have drawn significant scrutiny, with the CDC and the FDA recently debunking ([link removed]) those claims in a formal letter.

We obtained communications from the fall of 2021 that show Ladapo setting up meetings with local Covid-19 conspiracy theorists, a month after he was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
* The editor of a conservative local news outlet, the Alachua Chronicle, complained to Ladapo about a possible local mask mandate in Gainesville, suggesting that Ladapo present to University of Florida doctors because “the mask cult is strong” in the UF system. Ladapo copied his staff and responded ([link removed]) , “let’s pls discuss how I can be helpful.”
* A writer and Covid conspiracy theorist asked ([link removed]) to set up an “informal public interview” with Ladapo to “address early treatments for C19, generics in particular." She shared an article she wrote about ivermectin that she claimed ([link removed]) caused Twitter to temporarily lock her out of her account. Ladapo directed his staff ([link removed]) to “help us find a time for all of us to talk soon.”

Other Stories We're Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy
* N.C. board removes election officials who refused to certify (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* State election officials at U.S. Senate hearing discuss threats to workers, call for funding (Arizona Mirror ([link removed]) )
* Texas may be about to scrap a voting security system it can’t replace (Votebeat Texas ([link removed]) )
* Florida left voter roll accuracy program, ERIC. Emails reveal value, spur questions (Palm Beach Post ([link removed]) )
* Here’s what Fox News was trying to hide in its Dominion lawsuit redactions (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Election conspiracy movement grinds on as 2024 approaches (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* 1,000 people have been charged for the Capitol riot. Here's where their cases stand. (NPR ([link removed]) )


Voting Rights
* Florida left voter roll accuracy program, ERIC. Emails reveal value, spur questions. (Palm Beach Post ([link removed]) )
* Two DeSantis election fraud cases end with guilty pleas in Hillsborough (Tampa Bay Times ([link removed]) )
* ‘Back to 1902’: Virginia governor revives lifetime ban on voting (Bolts ([link removed]) )
* Republicans face setbacks in push to tighten voting laws on college campuses (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* East Lansing to end rule on landlord giving tenants voting information (Detroit News ([link removed]) )


In the States
* Money managers raise alarms over anti-ESG crusade in GOP states (Bloomberg ([link removed]) )
* Kentucky legislature overrides veto of anti-trans bill despite LGBTQ+ youths' pleas (Louisville Courier Journal ([link removed]) )
* Indiana bill banning gender-affirming care for minors sent to governor (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Diversity initiatives within Missouri agencies run into GOP attack on 'woke' government (Missouri Independent ([link removed]) )
* North Carolina legislature makes it legal to buy a pistol without a permit (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Judge stepping down from Florida Supreme Court becoming Citizens general counsel (Tampa Bay Times ([link removed]) )
* DeSantis’ State Guard vision: planes, boats, police powers (Tampa Bay Times ([link removed]) )


Abortion Rights
* Florida legislators want to vastly expand state funds for anti-abortion pregnancy centers (Reveal News ([link removed]) )
* Six-week abortion ban in Florida headed for full Senate vote. Law would be one of strictest in the nation (South Florida Sun Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* Abortion laws prevent pregnant Texans from getting healthcare (Texas Observer ([link removed]) )
* N.C. House Republican files bill to ban abortions after conception with one exception (CBS 17 Raleigh ([link removed]) )
* Planned Parenthood vows legal action against Idaho’s abortion trafficking bill if passed (News From The States ([link removed]) )
* How abortion bans are impacting pregnant patients across the country (ProPublica ([link removed]) )


Attacks on Education
* Missouri House gives initial approval to $45.6 billion state budget that defunds libraries (KCUR Kansas City ([link removed]) )
* Schools forced to divert staff amid historic flood of records requests (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Removal of ‘Ruby Bridges’ film from Pinellas school sparks outrage (Tampa Bay Times ([link removed]) )
* Ohio higher-ed bill would require instructors to teach ‘both sides’ on climate change (Ohio Capital Journal ([link removed]) )
* Betsy DeVos put millions behind candidates with a goal: Public money for private schools (NBC News ([link removed]) )


National News
* Activist group led by Ginni Thomas received nearly $600,000 in anonymous donations (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Democrats reintroduce federal Trans Bill of Rights as GOP tries to advance restrictions (19th News ([link removed]) )
* Biden won’t veto Republican-led bill ending Covid emergency (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Court blocks Covid-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. government workers (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Plan to ‘cripple’ environmental- and social-related investing could cost taxpayers (Miami Herald ([link removed]) )
* Biden immigration plan could force asylum officers to break law, union warns (Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) )
* Texas GOP wants citizens to stop migrants. Critics say it’s a ‘vigilante death squads policy’ (Intercept ([link removed]) )

Donate to American Oversight ([link removed])
Thank you again for following our latest news. We are grateful for your support and for helping us hold government accountable.

============================================================
** Share ([link removed])
** Share ([link removed])
** Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Famericanoversight%2Fnews-roundupmiracle-drugs-and-trumps-alternate-reality-19504164)
** Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Famericanoversight%2Fnews-roundupmiracle-drugs-and-trumps-alternate-reality-19504164)
American Oversight
1030 15th Street NW
Suite B255
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
** unsubscribe ([link removed])