News Roundup: Stifling Dissent
* Trump's Food Box Letters 
* Investigations of the Secret Service 

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The Big Story

On Monday — just one day before a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the killing of George Floyd — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a restrictive bill ([link removed]) designed to suppress the kinds of racial justice protests that ignited across the nation last summer following Floyd’s murder.

Of course, DeSantis referred to the new law as “anti-riot” rather than anti-protest, despite the fact that the protests last summer were, according to Washington Post research, overwhelmingly peaceful. The new Florida law creates tools for authorities to prosecute and punish protesters. It increases penalties for crimes committed during protests, such as property damage, creates new felony offenses, and denies defendants bail until they’ve appeared in court.

Florida isn’t alone. On Wednesday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed ([link removed]) a law that increases penalties for protesters who block roadways while providing immunity to drivers who unintentionally kill or injure protesters while attempting to flee. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported ([link removed]) on the wave of similar legislation cropping up in multiple states; according to Elly Page of the Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Republican legislators in 34 states have introduced 81 anti-protest bills this year, leaving civil rights advocates deeply concerned about the threat such measures pose to protest and free-speech rights. We’ve been investigating ([link removed]) these anti-democratic proposals.

Meanwhile, in Texas, state legislators with an eye on the public outcry over Georgia’s recent voter-suppression law have put forward measures, such as financial penalties ([link removed]) and bans on receiving state government grants ([link removed]) , aimed at punishing companies that publicly oppose Texas’ proposed voting restrictions. Similar restrictions are endangering voting rights in multiple states ([link removed]) , all under the guise of preventing the nonexistent threat of widespread voter fraud.

In no state is the fraud boogeyman having a bigger week than in Arizona, where the state Senate began ([link removed]) its partisan audit of the Maricopa County 2020 election results. The recount of the county's 2.1 million ballots (which have been recounted and verified already) is occurring under a cloud of questions about its funding ([link removed]) (including private donations from proponents ([link removed]) of the stolen-election myth); about its ([link removed]) management ([link removed]) (the firm hired to conduct the audit was founded by a "Stop the Steal"
promoter); and about its transparency ([link removed]) .

We launched our own investigation of the Arizona audit earlier this month, sending public records requests seeking answers from key legislators and others involved in the effort. Keep an eye on our website ([link removed]) for updates. Here are some recent headlines related to voting rights in the states:
* How Wisconsin Republicans’ voting law proposals make it harder for people with disabilities to vote (WUWM Milwaukee ([link removed]) )

* GOP Arizona state senator rejects controversial voting bill pending election audit (NPR ([link removed]) )
* New limits on drop boxes, mail ballots ready for final Florida House and Senate votes (Sarasota Herald-Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Montana Democrats sue over bills tightening voter ID, ending Election Day registration (KTVH Helena ([link removed]) )
* Why have Texas’ restrictive voter bills received less corporate pushback than the ones in Georgia? (Texas Monthly ([link removed]) )

* Georgia faith leaders urge boycott of Home Depot over voting law (New York Times ([link removed]) )

On the Records

Trump's Food Box Letters
Before the election, the Trump administration came under fire for requiring that self-congratulatory letters signed by President Trump be included in pandemic food aid boxes. The idea for the letters, which also contained basic Covid-19 guidelines, came from Ivanka Trump. We and the Union of Concerned Scientists just obtained emails ([link removed]) , however, showing that the idea to include the health guidelines didn't originate with the president's daughter, providing further evidence of the letters' politicized aims.

Investigations of the Secret Service
The Washington Post reported ([link removed]) that the DHS inspector general declined to pursue investigations into the Secret Service during the Trump administration, including proposals to look into the spread of the coronavirus within the agency and the use of force on peaceful protesters near the White House last June.

We've been conducting our own investigations of both those issues: Last summer, the Secret Service told us it had no records ([link removed]) of assessments regarding how the former president's frequent travel (especially to large campaign events) impacted agents' safety, and rejected our request for records of how many officers had contracted Covid-19. We also obtained documents showing the agency requested ([link removed]) a Black Hawk helicopter with "fast rope" commandos during last summer's protests.

Stories We're Following

The Biden administration faces a new wave of hacks compromising dozens of government agencies and companies (Washington Post ([link removed]) )

Biden administration releases billions in relief for Puerto Rico, removes ‘onerous’ restrictions (Miami Herald ([link removed]) )

Weekend shootings in Texas and Wisconsin add to tally of U.S. gun deaths (NPR ([link removed]) )

Founding member of Oath Keepers set to enter first guilty plea in Jan. 6 Capitol breach (Washington Post ([link removed]) )

The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts (Yahoo News ([link removed]) )

Want public records? ‘So sue me’ seems to be Florida’s attitude, First Amendment experts say (Tallahassee Democrat ([link removed]) )

Post-riot effort to tackle extremism in the military largely overlooks veterans (Washington Post ([link removed]) )

Pompeos violated rules on use of State Department resources, IG finds (Politico ([link removed]) )

Cuomo faces inquiry over use of state resources for pandemic book (New York Times ([link removed]) )

CBP releases video from Predator drone deployed over George Floyd protests (Gizmodo ([link removed]) )

Justice Dept. restores use of consent decrees for police abuses (New York Times ([link removed]) )

After a disrupted census, Congress tries again to extend deadlines for results (NPR ([link removed]) )

Immigration
* ICE, CBP to stop using ‘illegal alien’ and ‘assimilation’ under new Biden administration order (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* After outcry, White House says Biden will lift refugee cap in May (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Unaccompanied migrant children spend weeks in government custody, even when their U.S.-based parents are eager to claim them (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* How Trump’s DHS cozied up to the allegedly fraudulent We Build the Wall gambit (Talking Points Memo ([link removed]) )


The Coronavirus Pandemic
* U.S. regulators cite shortcomings after inspecting a Baltimore plant where J&J doses were ruined (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Trump’s former aides say he whiffed on vaccination legacy (Politico ([link removed]) )
* All federal inmates to be offered vaccine by mid-May, BOP director says (NPR ([link removed]) )

* Unused vaccines are piling up across the U.S. as some regions resist (Bloomberg ([link removed]) )
* Trump administration awarded a firm $1.3 billion to make Covid vaccine syringes. Where are the syringes? (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Worker sues Wisconsin food plant, saying he contracted Covid-19 there and passed it to his wife. She later died of the disease. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* An ‘insane’ Covid lockdown two miles from the Capitol, with no end in sight (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Dozens of local jails in Florida have started offering inmates the Covid-19 vaccine but not all are following suit (WFTS Tampa Bay ([link removed]) )
* Inmates sent home amid pandemic may have to return under Trump-era policy (Washington Post ([link removed]) )

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