** News Roundup: The Frightening Road Ahead
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* The Supreme Court
* Efforts to Undermine Democracy
* The Coronavirus Pandemic

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The Supreme Court
Americans are reeling from the revelation of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, penned by Justice Samuel Alito. While the Senate plans to vote on codifying abortion rights ([link removed]) into law and several state ([link removed]) governments have ([link removed]) vowed to protect abortion rights, some ([link removed]) states ([link removed]) this week looked to new severe restrictions.
* More than a dozen states have already passed “trigger” laws ([link removed]) that would ban most abortions if Roe is overturned, and low-income pregnant people and people of color who already face significant barriers to abortion access ([link removed]) will remain disproportionately affected ([link removed]) .
* Opponents of abortion rights in state legislatures will likely seek ways to prevent residents from going to other states ([link removed]) to end pregnancies, and the Washington Post reports ([link removed]) that state efforts to police the shipment of abortion medication by mail “will probably become another front in the battle over abortion rights.”


Efforts to Undermine Democracy
It’s now been a year and a half since the 2020 election, and calls for the results to be overturned are still dangerously numerous. Those calls have been fed by the parade of partisan election investigations, despite officials’ professions that those investigations were meant merely to verify the results.
* A recently released audio recording reveals ([link removed]) that in March, Arizona Senate President Karen Fann — who claimed that the “audit” of Maricopa County’s election was undertaken to improve future elections — said that if the state attorney general verifies the review’s results ([link removed]) and finds the election “uncertifiable,” then he will need to take the matter to court.
* Meanwhile, in our lawsuit for the release of records from the “audit,” the Arizona Senate’s ongoing and losing battle to conceal those records from the public has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands ([link removed]) . This coming Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court will hear the Senate’s appeal of lower court rulings that rejected the Senate’s broad use of legislative privilege to withhold related records.


This week came another victory in one of our lawsuits ([link removed]) for records from the election inquiry in Wisconsin, with a judge ordering the State Assembly and Speaker Robin Vos not to delete records from the early states of the review.
* “I’m frankly amazed that I have to say don’t destroy records that are subject to an open records request or order that to occur,” said Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn ([link removed]) .
* Last month, another judge in a separate lawsuit ordered the Office of Special Counsel ([link removed]) , the office headed by Michael Gableman that’s conducting the investigation, not to delete or destroy records that could be responsive to requests we’d filed.
* Gableman spoke at a rally ([link removed]) last weekend with election deniers and some of Vos’ most vocal critics, including those pursuing the legally impossible idea of decertifying the election, saying that attendees needed to “do what’s necessary to support the people who see it our way.”


Here are other stories we’re reading about the Big Lie and election administration from around the country:
* U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman helped schedule Antrim lawsuit forensic team (Traverse City Record-Eagle ([link removed]) )
* Lehigh County DA to monitor ballot drop-off boxes for violators (Pennsylvania Capital-Star ([link removed]) )
* Gaping holes in the claim of 2K ballot ‘mules’ (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* New Hampshire secretary of state’s pick for voter confidence commission draws criticism (New Hampshire Bulletin ([link removed]) )
* Lehigh County DA to monitor ballot drop-off boxes for violators (Pennsylvania Capital-Star ([link removed]) )
* Election-system hard drive copies turned over to Colorado secretary of state (Colorado Newsline ([link removed]) )


The Coronavirus Pandemic
This week, NBC News reported the tragic statistic that the United States has surpassed 1 million deaths ([link removed]) from Covid, 27 months after the start of the pandemic. The World Health Organization estimates that globally, 15 million deaths ([link removed]) were related to Covid-19, not only as a direct result of infection but also from overburdened health systems that were unable to treat other patients in need — indirect deaths that are not reflected in the U.S. toll.
* The CDC purchased location data from millions of phones ([link removed]) to analyze compliance with pandemic curfews, track visits to schools, and observe the effectiveness of policies in the Navajo Nation, according to documents obtained by Vice.
* Trump appointees repeatedly blocked the CDC ([link removed]) from providing public health briefings to the public, former Director Robert Redfield said during a hearing last week before the House coronavirus subcommittee.
* As rising housing costs burden renters, homeowners have gained $6 trillion in home equity ([link removed]) over the course of the pandemic.


The spread of a new subvariant ([link removed]) has driven up case counts across the country. Nationwide, hospitalizations are at a daily average of more than 17,000 ([link removed]█=storyline_menu_recirc&action=click&pgtype=LegacyCollection&variant=show&is_new=false) .
* Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely ([link removed]) than white Americans to report being at least somewhat worried about Covid-19 infection, according to a recent Associated Press poll. People of color were also more likely to support mask mandates on airplanes and public transportation.
* The FDA plans to review and decide whether to authorize vaccines for children under 5 ([link removed]) in June.
* The FDA also limited the use ([link removed]) of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine because of rare blood clot risks.
* Nasal spray vaccines ([link removed]) could be easier to administer and more effective at combating new variants.
* Some positive cases have emerged ([link removed]) from last week’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
* More than 40 percent of Chicago Police Department employees ([link removed]) applied for an exemption to the city’s vaccine mandate, making up more than half of all city workers who received exemptions.

Other Stories We're Following

In the States
* Texas school board candidates adopt ‘Southlake playbook,’ targeting race and sexuality (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Oklahoma stakes out new battleground on LGBTQ rights: Birth certificates (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Abbott says Texas could ‘resurrect’ SCOTUS case requiring states to educate all kids (Austin American-Statesman ([link removed]) )
* Abbott redirects $500 million from other agencies for border mission (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* South Dakota ethics board grinds forward on Noem complaints (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Facing Friday deadline, Ohio Redistricting Commission adjourns without plans to draw maps (Cincinnati Enquirer ([link removed]) )
* Dangerous New Mexico wildfire menaces history city (Reuters ([link removed]) )
* Florida reveals why it rejected math books over critical race theory (Politico ([link removed]) )


National News
* The next frontier for the anti-abortion movement: A nationwide ban (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* They built the wall. Problems remain after founder’s guilty plea (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* The border wall Trump called unclimbable is taking a grim toll (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Biden administration expands use of Title 42 after moving to end it (San Diego Tribune ([link removed]) )


The Jan. 6 Investigation
* Three more House Republicans reject Jan. 6 committee request to testify voluntarily (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Ivanka Trump talked to January 6 committee about what was happening inside the White House that day, panel chairman says (CNN ([link removed]) )
* ‘Elephant in the room’: Police grapple with charges against officers in Jan. 6 Capitol attack (USA Today ([link removed]) )
* Facebook provided warning to FBI before January 6, GAO report reveals (Just Security ([link removed]) )
* Judge rejects RNC bid to block email, fundraising data from Jan. 6 panel (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Oath Keepers leader sought to ask Trump to unleash his militia (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* New audio: McCarthy said 25th Amendment ‘takes too long’ (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Donald Trump Jr. appears before Jan. 6 committee, latest family member to meet with House panel (USA Today ([link removed]) )
* Evidence mounts of GOP involvement in Trump election schemes (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Giuliani withdraws from interview with Jan. 6 committee (ABC News ([link removed]) )


Trump Accountability
* Trump organizations agree to pay $750,000 to settle lawsuit with District (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Former Pentagon chief Mark Esper says Trump wanted to shoot protesters (Axios ([link removed]) )
* DHS watchdog says Trump’s acting DHS secretary changed intel report on Russian interference in 2020 election (CBS News ([link removed]) )

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