Here’s a look at the investigations our team has been pursuing through records requests and Freedom of Information Act litigation in the last week.

Investigations Update: 'Burrowing In,' Voter Fraud Task Forces, and Federal Law Enforcement
In this email:
* Political Appointees Moving to Permanent Positions
* The Designation of ‘Antifa’ as a Terrorist Group
* State-Level Fraud Task Forces and Voter Intimidation

[link removed]

Here’s a look at the investigations our team has been pursuing through public records requests in the last week:

Political Appointees Moving to Permanent Positions: With each potential administration come new worries over “burrowing in” — in which political appointees are converted to career status — and the potential for those appointees to stymie the efforts of the next administration. In February 2018, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) made changes ([link removed]) to its guidance on how political appointees can convert to permanent positions, requiring political appointees to gain OPM permission if seeking a career civil service position. This month, the White House installed a partisan loyalist as the new head of OPM, and we launched our investigation ([link removed]) into burrowing, filing FOIA requests
([link removed]) with multiple agencies for records reflecting requests made under the new guidance, and for the ethics documents of appointees moving to a career status position.

Federal Response to Portland Protests: Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is sending ([link removed]) more federal agents to Portland, Ore., as concerns ([link removed]) rise over the excessive use of force against protesters. Law enforcement has sometimes responded to demonstrators with violence ([link removed]) , including using rubber bullets and pepper spray, prompting both the Oregon attorney general and the ACLU of Oregon to sue ([link removed]) the federal government for alleged civil rights violations. We filed records requests with the Portland mayor’s office, police bureau, and Independent Police Review
Division, as well as with the Oregon Governor’s Office, for related communications with various federal agencies. We also filed FOIA requests with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice for whistleblower complaints ([link removed]) about federal agents’ conduct in Portland, and for Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf’s communications ([link removed]) with the Portland Police Association, in light of reports that he met ([link removed]) with the group on July 16.

The Designation of ‘Antifa’ as a Terrorist Group: In May, President Donald Trump announced ([link removed]) on Twitter that he intended to designate “antifa” as a terrorist organization. The same day, Attorney General William Barr issued a statement against the “violence instigated and carried out by Antifa ([link removed]) .” Questions have since been raised about how the administration would carry out this designation, since antifa — short for anti-fascist — is generally ([link removed]) considered ([link removed]) to be a term describing a set of political beliefs, rather than a single organization. We filed a FOIA request
([link removed]) with the Justice Department for records, including directives, memos, and analysis, regarding the designation of domestic anti-fascist movements as terrorist organizations.

Coronavirus Testing and Prevention in Detention Centers and Jails: People held in correctional facilities and immigration detention centers are particularly vulnerable ([link removed]) to contracting Covid-19 because of close quarters and limited access to adequate health care. We filed a FOIA request ([link removed]) with DHS for data reflecting the number of minors who have been tested for Covid-19 within agency-run detention centers. We also sent records requests ([link removed]) to the New York State governor’s office and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for records related to the handling of the Covid-19 outbreak in the state’s
correctional facilities.

Coronavirus-Related Abortion Ban in Oklahoma: In March, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order related to mitigating the spread of Covid-19 that included a temporary ban on “any type of abortion services ([link removed]) ” except in cases of serious health risks to the pregnant woman. Stitt attempted to extend the temporary ban in April, but the move was struck down ([link removed]) by a federal court. We filed records requests ([link removed]) with the governor’s office and the Oklahoma attorney general for communications about the temporary ban.

Pandemic Aid to North Korea: New reporting indicates that in March, Trump sent a letter ([link removed]) to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, offering assistance in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. At that time, the Trump administration was simultaneously downplaying ([link removed]) the threat of the disease to the American public. We filed FOIA requests ([link removed]) with multiple federal agencies for records about the plans to assist North Korea.

UnitedHealth Contract for Disbursement of CARES Act Funds: In April, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded a contract to UnitedHealth Group, a large insurance company, to dispense $30 billion in CARES Act recovery funds to health-care providers across the country. Criticism has since been raised ([link removed]) over UnitedHealth’s ties to White House official Stephen Parente, who played a significant role in making decisions about the disbursement of recovery funds. We filed FOIA requests ([link removed]) with HHS for high-ranking officials’ communications with UnitedHealth, and for senior officials’ recent calendar entries.

CARES Act Funds for State Election Preparation: State governments have received recovery funds from a $400 million program intended to help them prepare for the 2020 election. We sent requests ([link removed]) to Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Wisconsin for records showing how they are distributing these funds.

U.S. Secret Service Health Measures: According to recent news reports, several U.S. Secret Service officers have fallen ill with Covid-19 after traveling for Trump campaign events or preparing for official visits. In June, dozens of officers were told to self-quarantine after two service members who worked Trump’s infamous Tulsa rally tested positive ([link removed]) . And in early July, it was reported that eight officers remained in a Phoenix hotel ([link removed]) after coming down with coronavirus-like symptoms while preparing for a visit from Vice President Mike Pence to Arizona (a trip he canceled). We filed FOIA requests ([link removed]) to the Secret Service for
data and assessments regarding efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among officers.

Trump’s Latest Census Gambit: Last week, Trump issued a memo ([link removed]) to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census tally that is used to determine congressional district apportionment — a move now being challenged as unconstitutional in multiple lawsuits. As part of our investigation ([link removed]) into political interference in the 2020 census, we filed FOIA requests ([link removed]) to the Justice Department for any legal analysis regarding this change in policy.

State-Level Fraud Task Forces and Voter Intimidation: As the president and his allies continue to make unsupported claims about increased use of absentee ballots leading to dangerous levels of voter fraud, multiple states have created task forces purportedly to deal with the alleged threat. We’re investigating how those task forces may use such concerns to discourage democratic participation, and filed requests ([link removed]) in multiple states for related records and communications. We also asked state offices in Arizona, Florida, and Wisconsin for records regarding the recruitment of poll watchers ([link removed]) .

Former ICE Prosecutor Is Now Chief Immigration Judge: Earlier this month, Tracy Short was appointed chief immigration judge in the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Previously, Short worked as a prosecutor at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leading his predecessor ([link removed]) to raise concerns about risks to the office’s impartiality. We filed FOIA requests for Short’s communications ([link removed]) with White House official Stephen Miller and for memos or directives ([link removed]) signed by Short.

Department of Defense Appointments: News reporting indicates that the Trump administration is working ([link removed]) to place Trump loyalists in political appointments. Some examples of these efforts are the recent, controversial nominations of Ezra Cohen-Watnick, Michael Cutrone, and Anthony Tata to high-ranking positions at the Pentagon. We filed several ([link removed]) FOIA ([link removed]) requests ([link removed]) to the Defense Department for those appointees’ communications and calendars.

To find out more about our work, you can follow us on Twitter at @WeAreOversight ([link removed]) and @ojocorrupcion ([link removed]) , or like us on Facebook ([link removed]) . If you are able, please consider supporting our work with a contribution here ([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 the administration accountable.

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