** News Roundup: Cochise County Charges
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This week, two officials from Cochise County, Ariz., were indicted ([link removed]) by a state grand jury after having refused to meet the legal deadline for certifying the state’s 2022 midterm election results.
* The Republican members of the Board of Supervisors, Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby, are charged with conspiring to delay ([link removed]) the counting of the 2022 votes and interfering with the Arizona secretary of state’s ability to complete the statewide canvass, according to the indictment ([link removed]) released Wednesday by the state’s attorney general. Judd and Crosby each face two Class 5 felonies ([link removed]) .
* Last year, Judd and Crosby voted against certifying ([link removed]) the results, citing disproven concerns about voting machines ([link removed]) and seeking instead to count the votes by hand ([link removed]) . The three-member board finally certified the results last December under a court order ([link removed]) .


Cochise County has become a hotbed for election denial in recent years, as officials there and elsewhere have promoted false claims about voter fraud and embraced conspiracy theories about voting machines ([link removed]) .
* The indictments — like charges this past summer against the fake electors in Michigan ([link removed]) , or the recent indictments of former President Trump and his co-conspirators — appear to signal a willingness to prosecute those who attempt to interfere with elections or undermine the will of the voters.
* American Oversight has filed several public records requests ([link removed]) seeking information about the board’s decision ([link removed]) to delay the certification as well as communications with election deniers ([link removed]) .
* Read more about our work in Arizona here ([link removed]) .


American Oversight Amicus Brief
This week, we joined several groups in filing an amicus brief ([link removed]) in support of a lawsuit brought by professors and a student at public universities in Florida who allege that racial animus drove the enactment of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE” Act.
* In October, a federal appeals court ruled that Florida legislators could withhold documents sought by the plaintiffs that could shed light on the creation of the law.
* The brief ([link removed]) calls on the 11th Circuit to grant a rehearing of the case with all 12 of the court’s judges (as opposed to the three-person panel that decided the case).
* The brief also argues that the panel’s unprecedented ruling will hinder the ability of citizens to redress intentional discrimination by legislative bodies.


We’ve been investigating the ongoing attacks on public education in Florida. Earlier this year, we filed a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Education ([link removed].) seeking the release of public records related to DeSantis’ harsh limits on classroom instruction of U.S. history, particularly regarding the country’s struggles with racial justice and civil rights.
* DeSantis’ office has also been chipping away at access to public records in Florida, having approved a number of new legal exemptions ([link removed]) designed to keep information hidden ([link removed]) and invoked a nonexistent executive privilege ([link removed]) to shield records.
* In July, American Oversight and other organizations filed an amicus brief ([link removed]) challenging DeSantis’ dubious assertion of executive privilege.


On the Records

Ongoing Election Subversion Investigations
Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who pleaded guilty in the Georgia election interference case after he was charged alongside Trump, reportedly ([link removed]) plans to meet with investigators in Nevada ([link removed]) and Arizona ([link removed]) , where officials are investigating the fake-electors scheme ([link removed]) in their respective states.
* A Nov. 18 memo that Chesebro — an architect of the plan to submit false electoral slates in several states that Trump lost — sent to a Trump campaign lawyer in Wisconsin is one of the earliest records ([link removed]) pointing to the hatching of the plot.
* We previously obtained emails ([link removed]) indicating that in the weeks after the 2020 election, legislative leaders in Arizona and Wisconsin sought legal advice about whether legislators had the power to alter the selection of electors after the election had taken place.
* We’ve obtained and published thousands of pages of public records that shed light on the effort to upend U.S. democracy after the 2020 election, including the fake-electors plot and Trump’s attempted interference in the Georgia recount. Explore what we’ve uncovered here ([link removed]) .

Other Stories We're Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy
* Colorado GOP without evidence alleges ‘systemic fraud’ and tells canvas boards not to certify November election (Colorado Newsline ([link removed]) )
* Mike Lindell’s conspiracy-fueled pillow company fights to survive his election obsession (Minnesota Reformer ([link removed]) )
* ‘The poison continues to spread’: Legal losses fail to quell election denial hotbed (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* 'Really worried': Meta decision allowing 2020 election-denial ads risks distrust, extremism, experts say (ABC News ([link removed]) )


Voting Rights
* Federal appeals court ruling threatens enforcement of the Voting Rights Act (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Cascade County Commission tables election canvass amidst ballot tally confusion (Daily Montanan ([link removed]) )
* Black North Carolina residents sue over Senate redistricting plan (NC Newsline ([link removed]) )
* Arizona county again rejects proposal to hand-count ballots in 2024 (Votebeat ([link removed]) )
* Ohio Supreme Court upholds new state legislative redistricting plan (Cleveland.com ([link removed]) )
* Challenge to Wisconsin election maps undergoes sharp questioning before state Supreme Court (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* Rightwing appeals court to consider Texas map in fresh threat to Voting Rights Act (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* Study: Kentuckians increasingly excluded from lawmaking process by fast-track maneuvers (Kentucky Lantern ([link removed]) )
* Thousands of fake Facebook accounts shut down by Meta were primed to polarize voters ahead of 2024 (Associated Press ([link removed]) )


In the States
* Investigation of NC Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls may continue (NC Newsline ([link removed]) )
* Timely donations to Gov. Lee spark rise of Tennessee charter operator with dubious ties (News from the States ([link removed]) )
* Pa. Supreme Court justices question GOP effort to impeach Philly DA Larry Krasner (News from the States ([link removed]) )
* More people are dying in Puerto Rico as its health-care system crumbles (Washington Post ([link removed]) )


LGBTQ Rights
* Teachers and students grapple with fears and confusion about new laws restricting pronoun use (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Arizona health officials and trans minors spar over sex markers on birth certificates (Arizona Mirror ([link removed]) )
* Nebraska health professionals raise concerns about proposed gender care regulations (Omaha World-Herald ([link removed]) )
* Nebraskans testify largely against gender care regulations, ask for looser restrictions (News from the States ([link removed]) )
* Missouri attorney general opposes proposed federal rule supporting LGBTQ foster kids (Missouri Independent ([link removed]) )


Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* Nevada judge rejects attempt to get abortion protections on 2024 ballot (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Abortion rights group proposes constitutional amendment to protect access (Montana Free Press ([link removed]) )
* Arkansas attorney general rejects wording of ballot measure seeking to repeal state’s abortion ban (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Proposed Arkansas ballot measure would make abortion access a constitutional right (Arkansas Advocate ([link removed]) )
* Texas Supreme Court to hear case Tuesday challenging state's near-total abortion ban (Austin American-Statesman ([link removed]) )
* Idaho asks Supreme Court to let abortion law that penalizes doctors to take full effect (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Idaho’s infant, mother death rate is rising, new report finds (Idaho Capital Sun ([link removed]) )
* Missouri Supreme Court won’t hear Jay Ashcroft’s appeal of abortion ballot summaries (Missouri Independent ([link removed]) )
* Ohio voters just passed abortion protections. When and how they take effect is before the courts (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Secretary of State Frank LaRose says abortion opponents helped craft ballot language to aid defeat of Issue 1 (Cleveland.com ([link removed]) )
* LGBTQ+ rights group sues over Iowa law banning school library books, gender identity discussion (Associated Press ([link removed]) )


Threats to Education
* Texas board rejects many science textbooks over climate change messaging (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Controversial PragerU videos gain educational foothold in a handful of states (Michigan Advance ([link removed]) )
* Wisconsin libraries would have to notify parents about the books their kids check out under GOP proposal (Wisconsin Public Radio ([link removed]) )


Government Transparency and Public Records Law
* Worries over secrecy grow as state officials shield records from the public (Stateline ([link removed]) )
* Arkansas declines to release police officer database, preventing public oversight of problem cops (Arkansas Advocate ([link removed]) )
* The NYPD is upgrading its radios. The public won’t be able to tune in. (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Missouri AG set to finally start work on public records requests submitted this year (Missouri Independent ([link removed]) )
* How one man's open records obsession sparked a fight over transparency and power in East Texas (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )


Immigration
* Border Patrol sending migrants to unofficial camps in California's desert, locals say (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Asylum in America, by the numbers (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Detained in the desert: Migrants stuck in camps in the extreme climate of the U.S.-Mexico border (Guardian ([link removed]) )


Trump Accountability
* Colorado Supreme Court schedules hearing in Trump 14th Amendment case (Colorado Newsline ([link removed]) )
* Details of Scott Perry’s role in Trump efforts to stay in power unsealed (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Deutsche Bank was keen to land a ‘whale’ of a client in Trump, documents at his fraud trial show (Associated Press ([link removed]) )


Jan. 6 Investigations
* In DC 2020 election case, Trump demands information on US government (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Judge rejects Trump’s House January 6 committee subpoena request, calling it a ‘fishing expedition’ (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Pence told Jan. 6 special counsel harrowing details about 2020 aftermath, warnings to Trump (ABC News ([link removed]) )
* Trump plans First Amendment defense to Fulton criminal charges (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Georgia prosecutors oppose plea deals for Trump, Meadows and Giuliani (Guardian ([link removed]) )

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Thank you again for following our latest news. We are grateful for your support and for helping us hold government accountable.

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