Investigations Update: State Pandemic Responses, Space Command Headquarters Location, and Trump's Refusal to Concede
In this email:
* State Officials’ Communications Related to Herd Immunity
* Space Command Headquarters Location
* State Department Cables on Capitol Attack and Election

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In the nearly one month since the Biden administration took over the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, new details of the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis have continued to surface, including the fact that the former president’s own case of Covid-19 was more severe ([link removed]) than reported at the time. And last week, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis renewed its investigation into political interference ([link removed]) in the pandemic response following the release of emails from a former Trump political appointee criticized for meddling at science agencies.

Meanwhile, we continue to file records requests with federal agencies and state governments as part of our ongoing effort to shed light on the pandemic response across the country. Here’s what we requested this week:
* Trump’s Promotion of Covid-19 Treatments: Former President Donald Trump aggressively promoted controversial ([link removed]) and unproven ([link removed]) treatments for Covid-19 while in office. In particular, his lauding of ([link removed]) the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine raised questions about the political ([link removed]) motivations ([link removed];) behind his administration’s public health decisions. We sent a FOIA
request ([link removed]) to the Department of Defense for directives from the White House concerning the acquisition of drugs, medications, and other potential coronavirus treatments.
* State Officials’ Communications Related to Herd Immunity: We filed several requests ([link removed]) for communications sent by officials in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Wyoming that contain terms related to “herd immunity ([link removed]) ” — when a population acquires protection from an infectious disease because of vaccinations or prior infections.
* Oklahoma Travel During Pandemic: We sent a records request ([link removed]) to the office of Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt for communications about tourism, holiday travel, and the spread of Covid-19 following a campaign ([link removed]) (which included a video ([link removed]) featuring Stitt himself) to promote tourism in the state.


Space Command Headquarters Location
Following a competitive lobbying campaign among several cities, then-Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett announced ([link removed]) on Jan. 13 that Huntsville, Ala., had been chosen as the location for U.S. Space Command headquarters. Reports ([link removed]) soon surfaced that Trump may have interfered in the bidding process and that Huntsville was picked to gain the support of Alabama lawmakers during his most recent impeachment trial. We submitted a FOIA request ([link removed]) to the Air Force for related communications.

State Department Cables on Capitol Attack and Election
The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol shocked world leaders and foreign diplomats, with some expressing grave concern ([link removed]) over the event. To learn more about the international community’s response to the Jan. 6 attack and to Trump’s refusal to concede the election, we sent a FOIA request ([link removed]) to the State Department for all cables ([link removed]) about the attack and Trump’s subsequent impeachment.

Former USAGM Offical’s Communications
Following her departure as chief of staff of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Emily Newman was listed as an attorney ([link removed](sc.Default)) on a Michigan lawsuit that sought to overturn the state’s presidential election results. Recent reporting also indicates that Newman was present ([link removed].) at a contentious Dec. 18 White House meeting in which officials discussed extreme measures for continuing Trump’s attempts to challenge the election. We sent a FOIA request ([link removed]) to USAGM for Newman’s communications about the election or with individuals associated with the former president’s anti-democratic efforts.
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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