** News Roundup: Michigan Fake Electors Face Criminal Charges
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On Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel brought felony charges ([link removed]) , including election law forgery, against the 16 “alternate” electors who had signed fake certificates in a bid to disrupt the congressional certification of election results on Jan. 6, 2021 — and overturn former President Trump’s loss.

The charges are the first time charges have been brought against any of the fake electors, including those from six other swing states in which Trump supporters submitted forged certificates. But Nessel’s investigation isn’t the only one focused on the issue:
* The U.S. Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation is also examining the fake-electors scheme. Special Counsel Jack Smith has reportedly given limited immunity ([link removed]) to at least two of the fake electors in return for testimony.
* In Georgia’s Fulton County, District Attorney Fani Willis, who is investigating Trump’s election interference in that state, has agreed to ([link removed]) immunity deals with at least eight fake electors.
* Kris Mayes, Arizona’s attorney general, has also escalated her investigation ([link removed]) into the plot to overturn the state’s election results.


American Oversight first obtained copies of the forged certificates ([link removed]) in the spring of 2021, and continued to uncover evidence ([link removed]) of how several fake electors have continued to be involved in efforts to undermine trust in U.S. democracy, including by playing key roles in sham election investigations.
* More recently, we obtained emails from early 2021 in which the National Archives and Records Administration told state officials that they had received the fake certificates. The emails provide a window into how state leaders, including in Michigan, were notified about the scheme.
* “For your awareness, we received today unofficial certificates from the Republican electors who were not appointed by the Governor,” a NARA official wrote to the Michigan governor’s chief counsel and the director of the state’s elections bureau on Jan. 8, 2021. Read more here. ([link removed])


On Tuesday, Trump said that he’d received a letter from the Justice Department ([link removed]) telling him he is a target of the special counsel investigation. “The target letter and potential indictment further ensnare Trump in unprecedented legal peril,” wrote the Washington Post. Here are recent headlines related to investigations into efforts to overturn the 2020 election:
* Potential Trump charges include civil rights law used in voting fraud cases (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Georgia Supreme Court rejects Trump effort to quash investigation (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Legal bills mount for Georgia Republican Party in Trump investigation (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Former Arizona governor contacted by special counsel in Jan. 6 probe (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Wisconsin's top elections official interviewed as part of federal Jan. 6 investigation (Wisconsin Public Radio ([link removed]) )
* Special counsel subpoenas security footage from Atlanta stadium that served as polling place in 2020 election (CNN ([link removed]) )

On the Records

Cleta Mitchell’s Emails with Trump Administration’s Ken Cuccinelli
We obtained emails from July 2019 in which conservative lawyer Cleta Mitchell — whose election-denial and voter-suppression efforts have recently drawn scrutiny ([link removed]) — gave legal advice about financial disclosures to Trump administration DHS appointee Ken Cuccinelli.
* In an email ([link removed]) conversation with an ethics official at USCIS, Cuccinelli said he wanted Mitchell to look over his financial disclosure before submitting. After receiving a deadline extension, Cuccinelli forwarded the exchange to Mitchell.
* Mitchell resigned from the firm Foley & Lardner following news of her participation in Trump’s January 2021 call ([link removed]) pressuring Georgia election officials to overturn his loss in the state.
* This April, she urged ([link removed]) Republican donors to work together to limit access to voting by mail and on college campuses. We released a statement ([link removed]) on Mitchell’s anti-voting agenda, and recently published records ([link removed]) showing her using her position on the Elections Assistance Commission board of advisers to disparage absentee voting.


Ongoing Investigations into Justice Clarence Thomas’s Political Ties
Virginia Solicitor General Andrew Ferguson previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In May, we filed a public records request ([link removed]) with the Virginia attorney general’s office for Ferguson’s communications with Thomas and his wife, Ginni Thomas.
* The office told us it is withholding one record ([link removed]) responsive to our request under an exemption ([link removed]) for correspondence of the attorney general: “The subject matter of the withheld record is a correspondence from a constituent requesting a phone call with the governor.”
* We requested these records as part of our ongoing investigation into Clarence and Ginni Thomas’ political connections and potential related ethics concerns. Learn more about our ongoing investigation here ([link removed]) .


Other Stories We're Following

Voting Rights and Threats to Democracy
* As push for hand-counting ballots continues in Arizona, Republican senators emphasize legality, not practicality (Votebeat ([link removed]) )
* Harris County voters could see more problems in 2024 if its elections office is abolished (Votebeat ([link removed]) )
* Alabama Republicans reject call for 2nd majority Black district, despite Supreme Court ruling (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Georgia plans to cancel registrations of 191,000 inactive voters (Atlanta Journal Constitution ([link removed]) )
* DeSantis, others sued over alleged ‘election police’ voter intimidation (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Galveston County’s redistricting plans go to trial next month, in a major test of the Voting Rights Act (Houston Public Media ([link removed]) )
* Texas Republican leaders want to improve elections in the state’s largest county. Their solution could backfire. (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Illegal voting maps were used in some states in 2022. This legal idea allowed them. (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Texas resigns from ERIC, a national program that keeps voter rolls updated (Votebeat ([link removed]) )


In the States
* 6 large donors fuel Ken Paxton’s post-impeachment campaign fundraising (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* State guard set up by DeSantis is being trained as personal militia, veterans say (Guardian ([link removed]) )


National News
* How Harlan Crow slashed his tax bill by taking Clarence Thomas on superyacht cruises (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* Influential activist Leonard Leo helped fund media campaign lionizing Clarence Thomas (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* The campaign against affirmative action shifts to corporate America (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Judge sets Trump classified-documents trial for next May (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Donald Trump loses bid for new trial in E. Jean Carroll abuse case (Reuters ([link removed]) )


LGBTQ Rights
* Virginia releases updated transgender student model policies (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* In a political era of “parental rights,” Texans raising trans kids say new law strips them of choice (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Ohio House Republicans introduce law to ban drag shows outside of adult entertainment venues (Ohio Capital Journal ([link removed]) )
* Louisiana bans gender-affirming care for trans youth despite governor's veto (Axios ([link removed]) )
* A decade of hate: How South Dakota's gender-affirming care ban affects these trans youth (Argus Leader ([link removed]) )
* Judge allows trans girls to compete on girls' school sports teams during Arizona lawsuit (Arizona Republic ([link removed]) )
* Florida targets pronouns, bathrooms in new statewide school rules (Politico ([link removed]) )


Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* Mississippi attorney general wants info on out-of-state abortions, gender affirming care (Mississippi Free Press ([link removed]) )
* Since ‘Dobbs’ ruling, Native people face a web of obstacles to reproductive care (Truthout ([link removed]) )
* Injunction blocks enforcement of new abortion restrictions in Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch ([link removed]) )
* Crisis pregnancy center failed to spot an ectopic pregnancy, threatening patient's life, lawsuit alleges (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Tearfully testifying against Texas’ abortion ban, three women describe medical care delayed (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Blue-state doctors launch abortion pill pipeline into states with bans (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Judge takes under advisement a request to block enforcement of new Nebraska abortion ban (Nebraska Examiner ([link removed]) )
* Tennessee AG asserts right to out-of-state abortion, transgender care medical records (Tennessee Lookout ([link removed]) )
* Missouri Supreme Court allows abortion ballot initiative to move ahead (New York Times ([link removed]) )


Threats to Education
* Florida schools struggle to apply new book law in which even Shakespeare is 'suspect' (Tallahassee Democrat ([link removed]) )
* Teachers strong-armed to get on board with Houston schools takeover (Texas Observer ([link removed]) )
* Arizona lawmakers form committee to investigate free speech at public universities (Arizona Republic ([link removed]) )
* ​Red-state education restrictions leave textbook publishers in a bind ​(Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* At New College of Florida, a ‘ridiculously high’ number of faculty are gone (Tampa Bay Times ([link removed]) )
* Conservatives are changing K-12 education, and one Christian college is at the center (NBC News ([link removed]) )


Government Transparency and Public Records Law
* New Missouri laws could limit access to police records, public college investments (Kansas City Star ([link removed]) )
* Judge's ruling keeps some Senate 'audit' texts, emails secret but could release others (AZ Central ([link removed]) )
* Minnesota agency’s plan to delete emails after a year stirs criticism from open records advocates (Associated Press ([link removed]) )


Immigration
* Texas troopers told to push children into Rio Grande, deny water to migrants, records say (Houston Chronicle ([link removed]) )
* Mexico files diplomatic complaint over Gov. Greg Abbott's floating border barriers (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Fourth bus carrying migrants from Texas arrives in Los Angeles (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Groups sue Florida over latest immigration law (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Border Patrol fails to assess medical needs for children with preexisting conditions, report says (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Court monitor: 8-year-old's death in Border Patrol custody caused by 'series of failures' (Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) )
* Democrats press Homeland Security on domestic extremism in workforce (Washington Post ([link removed]) )

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