** News Roundup: Efforts to Overturn 2020 Are Not Over
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* The Coronavirus Pandemic
* Trump Administration Pre-Election Trips
* Trump Administration Political Control Over Fauci Media Appearances 

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American Oversight’s fight for records from various election reviews isn’t just about transparency — it’s also about exposing the blatantly partisan and dangerously anti-democratic motivations behind those sham investigations.

Because as the news this week bears out, those same efforts to reverse the 2020 election results have still, a year and half later, not dissipated.
* On Monday, ABC News reported ([link removed]) that during a meeting with Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos just last month, Trump-allied attorney John Eastman ([link removed]) pressured Vos to take the (legally impossible) action of decertifying Wisconsin’s 2020 election results.
* Recently, a federal judge had ordered Eastman ([link removed]) — the author of legal memos outlining a scheme that had called for former Vice President Pence to reject the 2020 electors from several states — to turn over documents to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
* Also present at the meeting was election-denier and activist Jefferson Davis, who has worked closely with those involved in the partisan election investigation being led by Michael Gableman in Wisconsin.
* While Vos has repeated that “decertification” is not on the table, Gableman himself ([link removed]) has recommended that lawmakers consider the extreme (and again, legally impossible) measure.


Previously deleted ([link removed]) records that were recently released by Vos’ office in response to American Oversight’s litigation include communications with ([link removed]) prominent supporters of the stolen-election lie, as well as records related to Gableman’s contract extensions.
* Late last week ([link removed]) , two days after those records had been released, Vos’ counsel filed a motion asking the court to keep the documents private — yet another attempt to delay and avoid transparency.
* On Tuesday, American Oversight filed a brief ([link removed]) opposing Vos’ ([link removed]) meritless and flawed motion.
* In another lawsuit, American Oversight obtained documents ([link removed]) that include previously unseen subcontract agreements between Gableman’s Office of Special Counsel and various individuals involved in the probe.


Among the seemingly countless conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election are those concerning various baseless claims about voting machines. American Oversight recently obtained records ([link removed]) revealing that in the weeks after the election, Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem, a Trump ally, asked federal cybersecurity officials to audit voting machines in his home state.
* Another email shows Phil Waldron ([link removed]) , a prominent Big Lie supporter who assisted in Trump allies’ efforts to overturn the election, reached out to the top lawyer at DHS in late December 2020 to share a memorandum.
* In reporting on the documents, Politico wrote ([link removed]) that the emails “show Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his allies’ attempts to get the federal government to help them reverse election results went even broader than previously known.”


The Coronavirus Pandemic

Last week’s high-profile “Gridiron Dinner,” ([link removed]) now deemed a superspreader event that resulted in more than 70 people testing positive for Covid-19, mirrors the climbing case numbers in other parts of the country, particularly in the Northeast ([link removed]) . As of writing, case counts nationwide are rising. The national daily average ([link removed]) for hospitalizations is just under 14,700 ([link removed]) , and deaths are at about 500 ([link removed]) a day.
* The Biden administration extended the mask mandate ([link removed]) for public transportation and air travel until May 3.
* Pfizer says it has developed an effective booster shot for children ages 5 to 11 ([link removed]) .
* During an event at Harvard, former CDC Director Robert Redfield condemned other former directors ([link removed]) for publicly criticizing the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic, saying the criticism increased public distrust of the government.


As home tests become more available and public testing sites close due to lack of funding, many experts say that the current rise in cases is significantly undercounted ([link removed]) . There are also gaps in hospitalization data, in part because of changing metrics: For example, New Hampshire’s ([link removed]) health department has shifted to only reporting Covid-19 hospitalizations of those taking certain drug therapies.
* Philadelphia ([link removed]) is the first big city to reinstate an indoor mask mandate in response to rising cases. While other cities have not followed suit, some college campuses ([link removed]) are also bringing back their indoor mask mandates.
* Big cities like Manhattan are being forced to adapt as more companies shift to remote-first work ([link removed]) , workers spend less on businesses near their offices, and the real estate tax base declines.
* Records show that California cities spent large sums of pandemic relief money from the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan on law enforcement ([link removed]) .



On the Records

Trump Administration Pre-Election Trips
In the weeks leading up to the 2020 election, multiple Trump administration officials took taxpayer-funded trips to swing states that were criticized for potentially violating the Hatch Act. Documents ([link removed]) obtained by American Oversight from the Department of the Interior indicate that the agency spent more than $4,000 on former Secretary David Bernhardt’s trips to Arizona, Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, Colorado, and New Mexico in September and October 2020.
* Previously, we obtained records showing that trips taken by acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf ([link removed]) around the same time cost more than $220,000, and trips taken by ([link removed]) former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and former Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia totaled nearly $60,000.


Trump Administration Political Control Over Fauci Media Appearances
Records we obtained ([link removed]) appear to further support reports that Dr. Anthony Fauci had been directed to “stand down” and to cancel television appearances during the early weeks of the pandemic. For example, in March 2020, a Fox Business employee sent a request for the director of the National Institutes of Health “to talk during our 8 PM ET hour.” Katie Miller, then Pence’s press secretary, told an HHS aide: “No to Fauci. Trying to get someone else.” Read more on Twitter ([link removed]) .
Other Stories We're Following

Voting Rights and Election Administration
* Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoes string of Republican bills meant to change how elections are run (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* Wisconsin Supreme Court hears arguments in drop box lawsuit (Wisconsin Public Radio ([link removed]) )
* With Biden’s voting rights push stalled, Georgia activists regroup (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Arizona House votes to delay controversial new citizenship election law (Associated Press ([link removed]) )


The Jan. 6 Investigation
* ‘We need ammo. We need fraud examples. We need it this weekend.’ What the Meadows texts reveal about how two Trump congressional allies lobbied the White House to overturn the election (CNN ([link removed]) )
* In conference call before riot, a plea to ‘descend on the Capitol’ (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Pro-Trump rally planner is cooperating in Justice Dept.’s Jan. 6 inquiry (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Proud Boys leader admits plan to storm Capitol, will testify against others (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Two Trump White House lawyers meet with Jan. 6 investigators (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Jan. 6 panel presses Stephen Miller on whether Trump sought to incite crowd (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* January 6 committee to soon receive new documents from National Archives (CNN ([link removed]) )
* ‘I had to do something to gain his respect’: January 6 defendant testifies he believed Trump sent him to attack on U.S. Capitol (CNN ([link removed]) )


Election Reviews and the Big Lie
* Ousted Macomb County GOP chair: ‘Now, we can go after these people’ (Detroit News ([link removed]) )
* The dominant theme at Colorado Republicans’ state assembly: election conspiracies (Colorado Sun ([link removed]) )
* Firm involved in Gableman election probe files complaints with Wisconsin Elections Commission (Wisconsin State Journal ([link removed]) )


National News
* First bus carrying migrants arrives in Washington, D.C., from Texas under Abbott’s new controversial plan (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* McKinsey opened a door in its firewall between pharma clients and regulators (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* DOJ rebuffs Democrats’ request for inventory of Trump’s boxes (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Before giving billions to Jared Kushner, Saudi investment fund had big doubts (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* How the FDA's food division fails to regulate health and safety hazards (Politico ([link removed]) )
* U.S. Park Police, Secret Service agree to change policies to settle Black Lives Matter, protesters’ lawsuits (USA Today ([link removed]) )
* Mark Zuckerberg ends election grants (New York Times ([link removed]) )


In the States
* South Dakota attorney general Jason Ravnsborg impeached over fatal crash (CBS News ([link removed]) )
* Oklahoma governor signs near-total ban on abortion into law (CNN ([link removed]) )
* DeSantis to push through new Florida map that will bring big GOP gains (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Kansas Gov. Kelly signs ‘sanctuary city’ bill, dealing harsh blow to immigration activists (KCUR Kansas City ([link removed]) )
* New York lieutenant governor resigns after being charged with bribery, fraud (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press sue, accusing Youngkin of violating FOIA law (Virginian-Pilot ([link removed]) )
* White House, truckers blast Texas as inspections snarl Mexico traffic (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Arizona Democrats ask Brnovich to investigate redistricting that helped 3 GOP incumbents (Arizona Republic ([link removed]) )
* With DeSantis’ signature, Florida bans most abortions after 15 weeks (Miami Herald ([link removed]) )

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