Newsletter:

Signalgate Scandal Fallout Continues
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The fallout from the Signalgate scandal and American Oversight’s legal actions against Trump administration officials for violations of public records laws continued this week, with new revelations about the use of nonofficial communication platforms and growing concerns about whether records are being preserved.

Following our lawsuit and successful motion for a court order for top officials to preserve their Signal messages, we expanded ([link removed]) our investigation ([link removed]) into the Trump administration’s misuse of auto-deleting messaging platforms for government business.
* New reporting ([link removed]) emerged this week that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz — who initiated the infamous autodeleting Signal group chat used to coordinate military attack plans in Yemen — had also set up at least 20 Signal group chats to communicate with Cabinet members about other sensitive national-security issues.
* As we had previously noted ([link removed]) in our motion for the preservation order, “Defendants’ use of a non-classified commercial application even for such life-and-death matters as planning a military operation leads to the inevitable inference that Defendants must have used Signal to conduct other official government business.”
* On Monday, agency representatives of the defendants — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State and acting Archivist Marco Rubio — submitted declarations ([link removed]) regarding their efforts to preserve records. Visit our website for more information about those declarations and our response.

As it turns out, it’s not just Signal that has been used for government work. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported ([link removed]) that Waltz and his staff had also used personal Gmail accounts to conduct official business.
* The news is alarming because of the obvious security implications. But it also raises concerns, as with Signal, about whether government records are being properly preserved. Here’s why that matters. ([link removed])
* These questionable practices appear to continue the first Trump administration’s pattern ([link removed]) of committing serious records-related transgressions.
* We filed new FOIA requests ([link removed]) for the release of Gmail communications between Waltz or his staff and Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, Bessent, and Rubio.

The outrage over Signalgate and the heightened scrutiny on the Trump administration’s record-keeping thanks to our legal actions have reached other parts of the administration as well, beyond Waltz and the National Security Council.

On Wednesday, in our federal records lawsuit against DOGE, a judge ordered ([link removed]) DOGE to preserve all records that could be responsive to our FOIA requests and rejected its arguments that it had taken enough steps to fulfill its records retention obligations.
* Last week, as the Signalgate scandal was unfolding and one day after our motion for the preservation order, the White House unveiled a newly created records retention policy ([link removed]) instructing DOGE employees to retain their Signal messages.
* The policy, dated March 25, tells DOGE employees they must “capture and transmit” onto their work devices records of any work-related messages received on personal devices, including through Signal. It also states that “disabling auto-delete features on any such messaging services will help with retention and compliance,” though it stops short of requiring employees to do so.

On Thursday, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced ([link removed]) that his office will review Hegseth’s use of Signal, including his compliance with records retention requirements.
* The issue of Signal’s autodelete function — and what that means for record preservation and accountability — is central to our recent lawsuit ([link removed]) against Hegseth and other members of the now-infamous Signalgate group chat.

American Oversight Urges AG Bondi to Defend the Rule of Law
We joined more than 4,000 legal professionals and groups from across the political spectrum this week to urge Attorney General Pam Bondi to defend the rule of law ([link removed]) and condemn President Trump’s attacks on lawyers and the legal profession.
* The letter — organized by Democracy Forward in partnership with the Society for the Rule of Law Institute, Public Citizen, and American Civil Liberties Union — asks Bondi to reject political attacks on attorneys and law firms and outlines several examples of the administration’s attacks.
* On March 22, Trump issued an executive memo ([link removed]) targeting lawyers who represent clients suing the federal government. The memo authorizes ([link removed]) the attorney general and the secretary of homeland security to sanction law firms that file lawsuits considered “frivolous” and orders Bondi to recommend revoking lawyers’ contracts and security clearances if they file lawsuits against the administration that she deems “unreasonable” or “vexatious.”
* The letter to Bondi reads in part, “It is your responsibility, as the lawyer ultimately entrusted with the representation of the United States in legal matters, to oppose attacks on the legal profession, on judges, and on the rule of law and to ensure that the Department of Justice uses its full power to protect the legal profession and equal justice under law for all people.”

Other Stories We’re Following

Trump Administration Accountability
* Trump won’t rule out seeking a third term in the White House, tells NBC News ‘there are methods’ for doing so (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Trump fires NSC officials a day after far-right activist raises concerns to him about staff loyalty (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* In Oval Office meeting, far-right activist pushes Trump to fire national security staff (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Reports: White House ordered firing of 2 DOJ prosecutors (Axios ([link removed]) )
* RFK Jr.'s layoffs expected to gut worker safety agency NIOSH, officials say (CBS News ([link removed]) )
* HHS fires entire staff of program that helps low-income people afford heat and air conditioning (The Hill ([link removed]) )

DOGE
* DOGE staffer who shared Treasury data now has more access to government systems (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Is DOGE actually an agency? The answer could have major ramifications (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Trump's election order tees up DOGE for familiar voter file fight (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* DOGE gained access to sensitive data of migrant children, including reports of abuse (Guardian ([link removed]) )

Voting Rights
* Arizona counties are contacting 200,000 voters who haven't provided proof of citizenship (KJZZ ([link removed]) )
* Wisconsin voters approve referendum question, voter ID law now part of state constitution (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )

In the States
* Taxpayer-funded staffers for Ron DeSantis solicit lobbyist cash as his wife considers a 2026 run (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Texas’ AI-powered surveillance arsenal has ballooned. Proposed laws provide few guardrails. (Texas Observer ([link removed]) )
* Adams to skip New York City’s Democratic primary, run for reelection on nonpartisan line (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Johns Hopkins tells faculty not to ‘intervene’ in potential ICE detainments on campus (Baltimore Banner ([link removed]) )
* Bill to abolish Tennessee Human Rights Commission advances (Tennessee Lookout ([link removed]) )

National News
* Federal Reserve chief says Trump tariffs likely to raise inflation and slow US economic growth (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Police say ICE tactics are eroding public trust in local law enforcement (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Trump immigration order could cost Americans $3,000 per baby (Forbes ([link removed]) )
* ​​National Security Agency and Cyber Command chief Gen. Timothy Haugh ousted (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Representatives demand housing agency halt any cryptocurrency experiments (ProPublica ([link removed]) )

LGBTQ Rights
* Transgender patients and their health providers fear worsening discrimination (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* ‘I refuse to be unseen’: Trans rights advocates march in St. Louis amid Trump restrictions (St. Louis Public Radio ([link removed]) )
* In Washington, an afternoon of solidarity for trans rights (19th News ([link removed]) )

Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* Trump administration cuts some funds to Planned Parenthood (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Millions of women will lose access to contraception as a result of Trump aid cuts (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Alabama can’t prosecute groups who help women travel to get an abortion, federal judge says (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Ballot language for Missouri anti-abortion amendment doesn’t mention abortion ban (Missouri Independent ([link removed]) )
* Senate passes bill targeting abortion medication sent to West Virginia residents (West Virginia Watch ([link removed]) )
* Latest Wyoming abortion law challenge gets a hearing — and a new judge (WyoFile ([link removed]) )

Threats to Education
* Who loses when Trump cuts funding to universities? (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Trump administration ramps up threat to cut school funding over DEI (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Midwest schools face civil rights investigations. Trump’s Education Department cuts may end them (St. Louis Public Radio ([link removed]) )

Government Transparency and Public Records Law
* After promising transparency, RFK guts public records teams at HHS (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Kristi Noem refused to say who financed some of her travel. It was taxpayers who were on the hook (Associated Press ([link removed]) )

Immigration
* Inside ICE Air: Flight attendants on deportation planes say disaster is ‘only a matter of time’ (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* Judge blocks Trump from ending deportation protection for Venezuelans (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* U.S. has spent $40 million to jail about 400 migrants at Guantánamo (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* ICE can’t bring back man deported to El Salvador prison in error, agency says (Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* 'We were lied to': Two women the Trump administration tried to send to El Salvador prison speak out (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* District attorney lashes out at ICE for detaining suspect in Boston during a trial (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Some conservative voices raise alarm over Trump’s immigration tactics (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* ‘Detention Alley’: inside the ICE centers in the US south where foreign students and undocumented migrants languish (Guardian ([link removed]) )

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