** News Roundup: More Bogus Audits, Trump’s Covid-19 Postcards, and the Costs of ‘Operation Lone Star’
------------------------------------------------------------
* Trump White House Removed Mask-Wearing Guidance from Postcards
* The Cost of Abbott’s ‘Operation Lone Star’
* The Pandemic and Cruises
[link removed]
The Big Story
As we wrote last week, it did not matter that the sham “audit” of votes cast in Maricopa County repeated what had already been confirmed by actual independent audits — that Joe Biden defeated Trump. The election review’s primary outcome was in keeping conspiracy theories and lies about voter fraud alive for the multiple months it dragged on.
Proof of its success in fueling the Big Lie came on Thursday, the night before it presented its flawed and misleading ([link removed]) final report. Within hours ([link removed]) of Donald Trump sending a public letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott demanding a “Forensic Audit of the 2020 Election,” the Texas secretary of state’s office put out a statement saying the office had already begun a review of votes in four large counties, three of which went to Biden in 2020.
In the days that followed, county officials ([link removed]) told news outlets ([link removed]) they hadn’t received any requests for election materials from the secretary of state, and it wasn’t until Tuesday night that the office provided more information ([link removed]) about the scope of the effort.
While officials in Texas and elsewhere defend the continued re-litigation of what was a safe and secure election, recent months have shown that those who firmly believe, without evidence, that widespread voter fraud played a role in the 2020 election will not be appeased. Arizona’s partisan review is a case in point:
* This week, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich directed Maricopa County to retain records and the Senate to share evidence from the “audit” so that his office can investigate “some serious questions regarding the 2020 election.” As the Arizona Republic wrote ([link removed]) , Brnovich “did not say specifically what those questions were, nor provide details about the direction of his office’s investigation.”
* State Sen. Sonny Borrelli said the report by lead “audit” contractor Cyber Ninjas indicates that the 2020 election results should be “nullified.” ([link removed])
* State Rep. Mark Finchem said that an audit of Pima County ([link removed]) , Ariz., was now needed.
“Significant parts of the right treated the completion of the Arizona review as a vindication — offering a fresh canard to justify an accelerated push for new voting limits and measures to give Republican state lawmakers greater control over elections,” wrote the New York Times ([link removed]) . “The Arizona review, and similar partisan election investigations around the country, are one spear in a multipronged effort by Mr. Trump and his allies to dispute the outcome of the 2020 race and to overhaul future American elections.”
The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on the Arizona Senate’s partisan review on Oct. 7 ([link removed]) , and has requested the testimony of Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan. And on Thursday, we published a review of new documents released ([link removed]) in response to our litigation for “audit” records. Some headlines from other states:
* A Colorado elections supervisor embraced conspiracy theories. Officials say she has become an insider threat. (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Pennsylvania’s top prosecutor sues to block subpoenas issued as part of Senate GOP election investigation (Pennsylvania Capital-Star ([link removed]) )
* Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says election officials should be ‘lawyered up’ as partisan review of 2020 ramps up (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
On the Records
Trump White House Removed Mask-Wearing Guidance from Postcards
In March 2020, the White House prepared to send postcards with Covid-19-related public health guidelines to households across the United States. But records obtained by American Oversight ([link removed]) show that as the country grappled with a nationwide shortage of masks — and a White House that would soon make mask-wearing a dangerously politicized exercise — guidelines about face coverings were omitted from the final mailer.
The Cost of Abbott’s ‘Operation Lone Star’
The Washington Post wrote ([link removed]) about Texas Gov. Abbott’s aggressive immigration enforcement actions this year, dubbed Operation Lone Star, and the hundreds of people ([link removed]) held for weeks without charges as the justice system became overwhelmed. The story cites documents released to American Oversight by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which said that the operation’s weekly overtime, travel, and fuel costs totaled more than $2.3 million.
The Pandemic and Cruises
We obtained records from 2020 that shed more light on the cruise industry’s response to the pandemic. Among them are an email from Norwegian Cruise Lines President Frank Del Rio, in which he expresses frustration with changes in the CDC’s travel warning system, saying the CDC was “kicking us while we’re down.” Read more here. ([link removed])
Withheld EPA Report on Formaldehyde
The EPA used a FOIA exemption for “deliberative” information to withhold a report on formaldehyde’s cancer risks from the organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. A former EPA official ([link removed]) has now said the report was in fact finalized. We previously obtained documents ([link removed]) showing EPA employees’ reactions to the withheld report, with one scientist lamenting that it was “squashed like a bug.”
Other Stories We're Following
The Coronavirus Pandemic
* Messy, incomplete U.S. data hobbles pandemic response (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Covid is killing rural Americans at twice the rate of urbanites (Kaiser Health News ([link removed]) )
* Network of right-wing health care providers is making millions of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, hacked data reveals (Intercept ([link removed]) )
* Pfizer vaccine for kids may not be available until November (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Alabama governor defends plan to use Covid relief funds to build new prisons (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Pill to treat Covid-19 cuts the risk of death by half, says Merck, which will seek its emergency authorization (CNN ([link removed]) )
National News
* Trump’s Mar-a-Lago buddies tried to get the VA to sell access to veterans’ medical records (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* DHS issues new arrest and deportation guidelines to immigration agents (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Protected too late: U.S. officials report more than 20 extinctions (New York Times ([link removed]) )
Jan. 6 and the Big Lie
* Panel subpoenas 11 in Capitol riot inquiry, eyeing Jan. 6 rally planners (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Trump plans to sue to keep White House records on Capitol attack secret (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* ‘No major incidents of illegal activity’: DHS told Pentagon as pro-Trump mob breached Capitol (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Covert Postal Service unit probed Jan. 6 social media (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Election fraud, QAnon, Jan. 6: Far-right extremists in Germany read from a pro-Trump script (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
In the States
* As daughter sought state license, South Dakota Gov. Noem summoned agency head (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* In a California desert, sheriff’s deputies settle schoolyard disputes. Black teens bear the brunt. (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* DeSantis hikes surgeon general salary by 72%, as other Florida agency heads get increases, too (South Florida Sun Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* In Texas, corrupt politicians face little accountability (Texas Observer ([link removed]) )
* Texas governor to Border Patrol agents under investigation: ‘I will hire you’ (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Michigan GOP initiative to restrict voting access gets approval to gather signatures (Michigan Advance ([link removed]) )
* GOP to massively step up 2022 poll watching efforts in Michigan and across U.S. (Detroit Free Press ([link removed]) )
* Georgia lawmakers back on summer beach convention circuit (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
Redistricting
* Lawsuit: Alabama congressional map ‘racially gerrymandered’ (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Texas appears to be paying a secretive Republican political operative $120,000 annually to work behind the scenes on redistricting (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* ‘Snakes, tentacles and dragons’: GOP boosts incumbents with new Texas congressional map (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Voting rights groups sue Ohio over redistricting map (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Kemp calls special session to redraw Georgia’s political maps (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Wisconsin Republicans have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a redistricting case (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
Donate to American Oversight ([link removed])
Thank you again for following our latest news. We are grateful for your support and for helping us hold government accountable.
============================================================
** Share ([link removed])
** Share ([link removed])
** Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Famericanoversight%2Fnews-roundupmiracle-drugs-and-trumps-alternate-reality-19503755)
** Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Famericanoversight%2Fnews-roundupmiracle-drugs-and-trumps-alternate-reality-19503755)
American Oversight
1030 15th Street NW
Suite B255
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
** unsubscribe ([link removed])
