Newsletter: A Second Trump Administration and the Threat to Our Democracy
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The election of Donald Trump — a twice-impeached former president facing multiple criminal charges, who four years ago tried to overturn a free and fair election — is a severe blow to our democracy.

We know from his first administration what a Trump presidency means: unprecedented self-dealing and brazen ethical violations, disdain for both the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power, the trampling of civil rights and the dismantling of regulatory protections, and frequent racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic attacks on people of color, immigrants and marginalized groups.

During and after his time in the White House, he has taken no pains to mask his authoritarian ambitions and dictatorial impulses, from his politicization of the U.S. Justice Department and threats to use the military ([link removed]) against his enemies to his alarming claims of immunity from criminal prosecution and fixation on political loyalty ([link removed]) among federal workers ([link removed]) . And he has frequently signaled contempt for transparency ([link removed]) , having shielded from disclosure White House visitor logs
([link removed]) , made employees sign non-disclosure agreements ([link removed]) , and sued to block financial disclosures ([link removed]) .

Notably, the election denial movement largely went quiet ([link removed]) with its false claims of fraud once it became clear that its preferred candidate would win the election. But as the Washington Post reported, experts have “cautioned that election denial is not dead, pointing to the dozens of candidates for Congress as well as local office who won on Tuesday and who have questioned Trump’s defeat in 2020.”

Those same anti-democratic forces are abundant as Trump looks to move back into the White House. American Oversight is prepared to fight the corruption and abuses of power that he has promised, and we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold the incoming administration accountable to the people. As we learn more about how he plans to unleash the promises in Agenda 47 ([link removed]) and Project 2025 ([link removed]) — and about who will be helping him to do so — we stand with the pro-democracy movement and the American people as we prepare to aggressively defend the public’s right to hold its leaders accountable.

On the Records

Youngkin’s Executive Order Targeting Noncitizens
In August, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order ([link removed]) that included measures requiring the state Department of Motor Vehicles to create daily lists of non-citizen transactions to share with the state Department of Elections.
* We obtained ([link removed]) records from the elections department related to the implementation of this executive order. The records include an agreement between the department and the Virginia DMV regarding data about citizenship.


Voter Registration Using True the Vote’s IV3 App in Florida
IV3, an app developed by voter-fraud alarmist group True the Vote, enables users to submit voter registration challenges to local election offices. The group has claimed ([link removed]) that thousands of people have used IV3 to contest hundreds of thousands of registrations across the country.
* Records ([link removed]) we obtained, reported on by Wired ([link removed]) , show that in May, an “anonymous tipster” calling themselves Totes Legit Votes used IV3 to challenge the registrations of 5,000 people in Florida.
* The documents show Florida Elections Director Maria Matthews forwarded the challenges to county elections directors and directed them to review the challenges.

Other Stories We're Following

National and State News
* Wave of racist texts after election prompts FBI’s scrutiny (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* DOJ moving to wind down Trump criminal cases before he takes office (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Judge hits pause on Trump's election interference criminal case (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Who might make up Trump’s Cabinet (Politico ([link removed]) )
* For Trump and Republicans in Congress, ‘everything is in play’ on tax cuts (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* The Bureau of Prisons under a Trump administration (Forbes ([link removed]) )
* Newsom moves quickly to counter Trump in California (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* The Haitians of Springfield, a Trump campaign target, brace for his presidency (Washington Post ([link removed]) )


Election Denial and Voting Rights
* Judge rejects Fulton election board member’s demand for more documents (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Formatting errors prompt false claims of voter fraud in Michigan (MLive ([link removed]) )
* Bomb threats disrupted what was otherwise relatively smooth voting on Election Day (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Virginia’s top elections official says no additional voters were removed from the rolls after Oct. 15 (Virginia Mercury ([link removed]) )
* Noncitizen voting bans pass in state ballot measures, despite lack of evidence (MSNBC ([link removed]) )
* Election skeptics are ahead in county races across Arizona (Arizona Republic ([link removed]) )
* N.C. election officials, GOP leaders revealed to have close ties to key election denial group (Facing South ([link removed]) )


Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* The next Trump administration’s crackdown on abortion will be swift, brutal, and nationwide (Slate ([link removed]) )
* Abortion rights advocates win in 7 states and clear way to overturn Missouri ban but lose in 3 (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Voters overwhelmingly chose to protect abortion — even when they didn’t choose Harris (Intercept ([link removed]) )


LGBTQ+ Rights
* LGBTQ+ hotlines experience influx in crisis calls amid 2024 presidential election (USA Today ([link removed]) )
* What Project 2025 could mean for LGBTQ+ Americans (Axios ([link removed]) )
* How ‘wildly successful’ anti-trans ads fired up Texas voters for Republicans (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )


Threats to Education
* Trump's push to expand choice, nix the ed. dept. takes on new momentum (Education Week ([link removed]) )
* Who could be Donald Trump's next education secretary? (Education Week ([link removed]) )
* Superintendent Walters prepares Oklahoma schools for elimination of US Department of Education (KOSU ([link removed]) )


Border and Immigration
* Trump allies, private sector quietly prepare for mass detention of immigrants (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Texas will be on the ‘front lines’ of mass deportation (Texas Observer ([link removed]) )
* Judge tosses out Biden program for undocumented spouses (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* ICE has been lying about its racial data collection, advocacy organizations find (Prism ([link removed]) )
* Arizona voters approve state-level immigration enforcement (Arizona Luminaria ([link removed]) )


Government Transparency and Public Records Law
* Trump’s reelection puts us in uncharted territory over secrecy. Now what? (Freedom of the Press Foundation ([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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