New details about what legal risk officials were prepared to take and what laws they may have violated on their way to creating a “constitutional crisis”
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The Big Story

February 09, 2025 · View in browser

In today’s newsletter: Why Monday will be a crucial moment for USAID; abortion access is still blocked in Missouri despite a state referendum; a gun owner’s concerns about the industry’s privacy practices; and more from our newsroom.

In Breaking USAID, the Trump Administration May Have Broken the Law

ProPublica’s reporting provides new details about what legal risk officials were prepared to take and what laws they may have violated on their way to creating a “constitutional crisis.”

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The Follow-Up

 

Abortion Access Is Still Being Blocked in Missouri

Missouri abortion protest signs

ProPublica Midwest reporter Jeremy Kohler has been reporting on Missouri’s referendum on abortion rights, both in the lead-up to the 2024 election and in the months since then. Here’s a brief timeline of our findings: 

  • August 2024: Missouri Outlawed Abortion, and Now It’s Funding an Anti-Abortion Group That Works in Other States

  • October 2024: Opponents of Missouri Abortion Rights Amendment Turn to Anti-Trans Messaging and Misinformation

  • December 2024: Missouri Voters Enshrined Abortion Rights. GOP Lawmakers Are Already Working to Roll Them Back

  • February 2025: Three Months After Missouri Voted to Make Abortion Legal, Access Is Still Being Blocked

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Quoted

 
 

“I like the idea that they’re pro-gun advocates. I don’t like the idea that they’re getting information, possibly illegally, to forward their agenda.”

 

— Arthur Douglas, a firearms owner whose personal information was collected in a database compiled by the gun industry’s chief lobbying group to help friendly politicians win elections. Douglas is one of millions of people whose sensitive personal information was compiled over two decades by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, working with some of America’s most iconic gun-makers and retailers. 

At least part of the database was transferred to the now-disgraced political firm Cambridge Analytica, which turbocharged the information it had on potential voters, matching people in the database with far-reaching and intimate details about them that it drew from other sources. While the NSSF declined to comment for this story, it previously said its data collection activities are and always have been legal.

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More from the newsroom

 

The Department of Education Told Employees to End Support for Transgender Students

First Came the Warning Signs. Then a Teen Opened Fire on a Nashville School.

The Elite Lawyers Working for Elon Musk’s DOGE Include Former Supreme Court Clerks

Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Expected to Examine Another Treasury System Next Week

Four Years in a Day

 
 
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