CfA's July 31, 2020 Newsletter

Our Latest Work:

• Texas AG probing Facebook over biometric data: On Monday, Axios reported on a FOIA document acquired by TTP, which revealed an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton into Facebook for possibly illegally harvesting biometric data. (Read the Document) 
• EPA Chief of Staff Leaked Inspector General Report Summary to News Outlets: This week, CfA released a report revealing that in February 2018, former EPA chief of staff Ryan Jackson sent reporters an “OFFICIAL USE ONLY” summary of an EPA Inspector General investigation into allegations of wrongdoing at the Tar Creek Superfund site in Oklahoma. Four days later, the Tulsa World published an article about the report but said it “obtained a copy through a third party.”
  • Beyond the leak of the IG report, emails also show how EPA officials coordinated with outside allies to shape public opinion of Scott Pruitt’s management of the agency. (Report)
• IRS Complaint Against Ned Ryun and American Majority for Financial Impropriety: On Thursday, CfA filed a complaint with the IRS calling for an investigation into whether the 501(c)(3) nonprofit American Majority Inc (AM) and its related 501(c)(4), American Majority Action Inc (AMA), violated their tax exempt status and federal and state laws by spending more than 50 percent of expenses on political purposes, submitting inaccurate information to regulators, and executing inappropriate transactions with related parties. (Press Release, Letter)
  • Read Salon's write-up of CfA's complaint.

What We're Reading:

• Adding It Up: Investing in Sexual and Reproductive Health 2019: "Every dollar spent on contraceptive services beyond the current level would reduce the cost of pregnancy-related and newborn care by three dollars." (Guttmacher Institute, July 28)
• Trump Campaign ‘Laundering’ Campaign Finance Money, Election Watchdog Says: "A complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center asserts that the Trump campaign and its joint fundraising committee with the R.N.C., the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, have violated federal election reporting requirements." (Vice, July 28)
• The Facebook and Amazon Documents That Captivated the Hearing: "Committee members said the presentations, emails, and Facebook message exchanges showed how each of the so-called Big Four has used its power to crush smaller competitors and solidify its hold on our attention and our wallets." (Wired, July 29)

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