** News Roundup: Sham Wisconsin Election Investigation Has Rough Couple Weeks
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* American Oversight Lawsuits
* Win for Transparency
* Questionable Pandemic Loan

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The Big Story

The partisan election investigation currently underway in Wisconsin has had a bumpy couple of weeks, thanks to a series of missteps by the attorney leading the review and confusion surrounding recent subpoenas issued to various county and city officials.

The Subpoenas: Two weeks ago, attorney Michael Gableman issued subpoenas for all election materials as well as testimony from several mayors and election clerks. The requests were criticized for their broad scope, and confusion deepened after Gableman backed off some of the demands thenchanged direction again late last week ([link removed]) , saying in a radio interview that officials would still have to be interviewed. And then just this week,news reports ([link removed]) indicated that ([link removed]) none of the election officials would sit for interviews.
* According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, many of the records sought by Gableman hadalready been made public ([link removed]) and provided to the Wisconsin Assembly's Elections Committee. "It is not clear why Gableman is asking for those records, given that he is supposed to be working with the committee,"the newspaper reported ([link removed]) .


American Oversight Lawsuits: What has not been made public, however, are records from Gableman's investigation itself. Last week, we sued the Wisconsin Assembly and Speaker Robin Vos, who ordered the review under pressure from former President Trump and those pushing baseless allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
* Within hours of our filing suit, aWisconsin judge ordered Vos and the Assembly ([link removed]) to "immediately" release the records or show cause for why they have failed to do so.
* See below for news about our latest win for transparency in Arizona.


Coordination (or Lack Thereof) with Assembly Committee: Gableman is ostensibly working with the Elections Committee, which was authorized by the Assembly to conduct the sham investigation (and which approved the $680,000 in taxpayer money being spent on it). But the chair of the Elections Committee, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen — who has long pushed for an election "audit" in the same vein as the Arizona Senate's bungled and conspiracy-tinged operation — isnot pleased with Gableman's work ([link removed]) :
* Brandtjen said that her committee had not approved the subpoenas, and she objected to Gableman's offer of immunity to mayors in return for their cooperation. (Gableman's role is not that of a prosecutor. And, of course, no evidence has been presented that any crimes were committed.)


Gableman's Troubling Statements: Last week,Gableman drew criticism ([link removed]) for comparing the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to Joseph Goebbels. This came just days afterGableman said ([link removed]) that he does not have "a comprehensive understanding or even any understanding of how elections work."
* That self-proclaimed lack of understanding did not stop him fromreleasing a video last weekend ([link removed]) in which he claimed that election laws might have been broken by state and local officials. He did not provide evidence or further explanation.


Arizona, Michigan and Texas: Doug Logan, the CEO of the Arizona Senate's inexperienced lead "audit" contractor Cyber Ninjas, said hewould not conduct ([link removed]) any more recounts because of the attacks he's received from supporters of the Big Lie, who are angry that the election review found that Biden had won Maricopa County. Those same voices continue to push efforts to undermine the 2020 election in multiple states.
* A few hundred Trump supportersrallied in Lansing ([link removed]) this week for a "forensic audit" of Michigan's election results.
* We're investigating ([link removed]) the "audit," announced recently by the Texas secretary of state, of four counties. A Trump-supported bill in the Texas Legislature that would make it easier for officials to demand election reviews could cost taxpayerstens of millions of dollars ([link removed]) .


Win for Transparency: On Thursday, the Superior Court of Maricopa County rejected the Arizona Senate’s blanket use ([link removed]) of legislative privilege to withhold “audit” records. The court wrote that “the stakes could not be higher, and transparency … substantially outweighs any concern regarding chilling future legislative deliberations.” Read more here. ([link removed])

Here are some election- and voting-related headlines from across the country:
* Colorado county clerk who embraced conspiracy theories is barred from overseeing elections (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Georgia ballot inspection case dismissed after no fraud found (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Internal audit finds 10 fixes needed in Fulton elections department (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Trump won the county in a landslide. His supporters still hounded the elections administrator until she resigned. (ProPublica and the Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Michigan Republicans replace local election officials in 'unprecedented' trend (Detroit News ([link removed]) )


On the Records

Questionable Pandemic Loan
Citing supporting documents obtained by American Oversight ([link removed]) , the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis last week released new evidence that the Trump White House may have played a direct role in helping a trucking company secure a CARES Act loan meant for businesses deemed critical to national security. The records show White House officials communicating with former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about the loan, which has been the subject of significant scrutiny.

Arkansas Deployment to Border
Two weeks ago, theWashington Post reported ([link removed]) on documents we obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety that revealed that Gov. Greg Abbott's border crackdown, in which multiple states deployed National Guard troops to the border, had a weekly cost of $2.3 million. Now, the Arkansas Department of the Military hassent us records ([link removed]) that show the political stunt has cost Arkansas taxpayers more than $115,000.

The Trump Administration and Unaccompanied Minors
In a February 2019 email, Trump DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar that her department foresaw "an extraordinarily demanding and challenging time" because of the increasing numbers of unaccompanied migrant children (UAC) held in government custody. Noting that a plan to add more beds to a facility run by HHS would not be enough, Nielsen wrote, "The number of beds coming on line will not provide placements for the current UAC waiting at the border, let alone address the continuing high levels of daily apprehensions."Read more here. ([link removed])

Other Stories We're Following

National News
* Private equity funds, sensing profit in tumult, are propping up oil (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* 20 state attorneys general sue over Postal Service slowdown (The Hill ([link removed]) )
* Biden administration orders halt to ICE raids at worksites (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* CIA funding arm gave encrypted app Wickr $1.6 million (Vice ([link removed]) )
* Prisons said it was Covid isolation. The incarcerated describe torture. (HuffPost ([link removed]) )


In the States
* Prompted by Abbott primary challenger, Texas agency removed webpage with suicide hotline, other resources for LGBTQ youth (Houston Chronicle ([link removed]) )
* Head of Louisiana Police says he would welcome a DOJ probe into racial profiling (NPR ([link removed]) )
* New ethics board thrust into South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem inquiry (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Most abortions in Texas are banned again after court ruling (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* 'Disturbing' imagery used in Arizona Department of Corrections training materials, patches (Arizona Republic ([link removed]) )
* Video footage amid unrest after George Floyd's death captures Minneapolis police discussing 'hunting people' (Washington Post ([link removed]) )


The Coronavirus Pandemic
* Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bans any Covid-19 vaccine mandates — including for private employers (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Racial bias skewed small-business relief lending, study says (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Merck says its new Covid pill reduces the risk of hospitalization, death by half for some patients (CNBC ([link removed]) )
* An FDA analysis suggests that J&J has not presented robust evidence for booster shots (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops have not yet complied with vaccine mandate as deadlines near (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Hundreds of police officers have died from Covid. Vaccines remain a hard sell. (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* U.S. to reopen Canada and Mexico borders for vaccinated visitors (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* How an online pharmacy sold millions worth of dubious Covid-19 drugs — while patients paid the price (Time ([link removed]) )
* FDA advisers endorse Moderna booster shot (Politico ([link removed]) )


Jan. 6 Capitol Attack
* Biden won't invoke executive privilege on Trump Jan. 6 docs (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Jan. 6 committee preparing to aggressively enforce subpoenas, may target former Trump DOJ official this week (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Capitol Police whistleblower delivers scathing rebuke to two of its senior leaders on Jan. 6 (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Arizona Senate liaison Ken Bennett headlining “audit” town halls with group that organized ‘Justice for J6’ rallies (Arizona Mirror ([link removed]) )
* Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Jeffrey Clark, former Justice Dept. official (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Jan. 6 investigators move to hold Bannon in contempt (Politico ([link removed]) )


Trump Accountability
* White tiger and cheetah furs: A mess of Trump gift exchanges (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Steven Mnuchin stepped in to prevent Ivanka Trump World Bank appointment (Intercept ([link removed]) )
* Insider is suing the Biden administration for secret Trump and Pence staffing records (Business Insider ([link removed]) )
* State Department investigating if Trump officials stole G7 gift bags meant for foreign leaders (Slate ([link removed]) )

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