An email released this week in response to our lawsuit shows the National Archives raised concerns about Trump records in May 2021...


** News Roundup: The Mar-a-Lago Files
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“The original correspondence between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un were not transferred to us,” an official at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) wrote to representatives of former President Donald Trump in May 2021, adding that it was “absolutely necessary that we obtain and account for all original Presidential records.”

That email ([link removed]) was publicly released by NARA this week in response to a lawsuit brought by American Oversight and records requests filed by other organizations. While some of the contents of the message had been previously reported, the full email had not been seen by the public until now. See more from CNN here ([link removed]) .
* American Oversight sued NARA in May ([link removed]) for failing to comply with public records requests for documents related to the agency’s January 2022 repossession of 15 boxes of items from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
* In a cover letter to American Oversight, NARA also confirmed that the agency is withholding more than 1,000 pages ([link removed]) of additional records for reasons related to ongoing law enforcement investigations. Meanwhile, the Justice Department reportedly believes that Trump still has not returned all of the government documents ([link removed]) he took when he left office.

New Lawsuit: Investigating Kushner and Mnuchin’s Saudi-Backed Funds
In early 2021, two of the most senior members of the Trump administration — Jared Kushner and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — launched private equity funds ([link removed]) backed in part by billions of dollars in investment from senior members of the Saudi government. Now, American Oversight is going to court to learn whether Kushner and Mnuchin may have used their influential government positions to lay the groundwork for their private business dealings.
* Our new lawsuit ([link removed]) asks a judge to order the release of records related to three international trips taken by Kushner or Mnuchin in the waning months of the Trump administration, including travel to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.
* Following reporting earlier this year by the New York Times ([link removed]) , questions have been swirling about the funds launched by Kushner and Mnuchin and any potential links to a government-backed fund that they had reportedly discussed with Middle Eastern government officials.
* A congressional committee is also investigating ([link removed]) the matter, and our litigation will help ensure that the public gets the full story of what happened.

Exposing the Election Conspiracy Network
While Kushner and Mnuchin were flying around the world in December 2020 and January 2021, other members of the Trump orbit — both in the government and on the outside — were hard at work trying to illegally overturn Trump’s defeat. That loose network of extremists, conspiracy theorists, politicians, and donors that coalesced two years ago around Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” has continued working to undermine public confidence in elections. See how we’re tracking and exposing this network ([link removed]) .
* Through our investigations and public records requests across the country, American Oversight has found that many of the same names we saw in the Arizona “audit” or Wisconsin’s partisan election review have been involved in similar efforts in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Georgia, and elsewhere. See our latest analysis of records we uncovered from the Cyber Ninjas-led review in Arizona ([link removed]) , including extensive contacts with election deniers around the country.
* This week, we also published an in-depth report ([link removed]) on our findings from our investigation of the Wisconsin Assembly’s partisan review of the 2020 election led by conservative attorney Michael Gableman. As a judge in one of our public records lawsuits said, Gableman’s review found “absolutely no evidence” of voter fraud.


Other Stories We're Following

The January 6 Investigation
* Jan 6 committee announces October 13 public hearing (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Oath Keepers acted on Jan. 6 to overthrow government and fight Biden's presidency "by any means necessary," prosecutors say (CBS News ([link removed]) )
* Arizona GOP Chair pleaded the Fifth, Jan. 6 committee attorney says (Politico ([link removed]) )
* ​Sen. Ron Johnson acknowledges texting with Trump attorney on Jan 6 (NBC News ([link removed]) )​
* Far-right group launches effort to get jobs for insurrectionists (Arizona Mirror ([link removed]) )

Threats to Elections
* U.S. warns of security threats ahead of midterm elections (Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* Election officials confront a new problem: Whether they can trust their own poll workers (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Armed Fringe Groups Are Gearing Up to ‘Protect’ Midterm Ballot Dropboxes (Vice ([link removed]) )
* A majority of GOP nominees — 299 in all — deny the 2020 election results (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* They legitimized the myth of a stolen election — and reaped the rewards (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Conspiracy theorists flood the election process, set sights on monitoring ballot drop boxes (Michigan Advance ([link removed]) )
* Experts alarmed by GOP secretary of state candidate’s conspiracy theorizing in NM (Source New Mexico ([link removed]) )
* How election conspiracies cast a shadow over GOP, WA midterms (Seattle Times ([link removed]) )
* Death by a thousand cuts’: Georgia’s new voting restrictions threaten midterm election (The Guardian ([link removed]) )



Audits, Recounts, and Other Sham Investigations
* Supreme Court allows defamation lawsuit against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to proceed (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Ohio to hire election investigators to tackle 'crisis of confidence' (Columbus Dispatch ([link removed]) )
* Nevada county's plans to hand-count early ballots challenged (WHEC/Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Man behind sketchy Pennsylvania voting machine ‘audit’ has ties to failed Arizona recount (Daily Beast ([link removed]) )
* As legal fees keep mounting, Gableman review costs public more than $1.5 million (WKOW ([link removed]) )



Covid-19 Response Oversight
* Biden’s Operation Warp Speed revival stumbles out of the gate (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Biden vaccine mandate for health workers survives Supreme Court appeal (Bloomberg ([link removed]) )
* CDC ends daily reporting of COVID case and death data, in shift to weekly updates (CBS News ([link removed]) )​
* The great pandemic swindle: Feds botched review of billions in suspect PPP loans (Project on Government Oversight ([link removed]) )
* Oklahoma GOP ties federal covid funds for hospital to ending gender-affirming care (Washington Post ([link removed]) )

Mar-a-Lago Documents and Trump Accountability
* National Archives alerted lawyers for Trump about missing letters with North Korean leader in May 2021 (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents included pardons, White House emails, legal bills (Bloomberg ([link removed]) )
* Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene in Mar-a-Lago documents case (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Trump lawyer Alex Cannon declined in February to say all documents returned (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* In Trump White House, classified records routinely mishandled, aides say (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* ‘Defund the SEC’ becomes a rallying cry on Trump’s social media site (New York Times ([link removed]) )

In the States
* Racist busing rides again (Texas Observer ([link removed]) )
* The Story Behind DeSantis’s Migrant Flights to Martha’s Vineyard (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Supreme Court leans toward Alabama in voting rights dispute (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Judge upholds ruling barring clerks from fixing errors on absentee ballots in Wisconsin (Wisconsin State Journal ([link removed]) )
* Federal judge curtails protections for LGBTQ workers, trans kids in response to Texas lawsuit (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Another National Guard soldier working Operation Lone Star dies by suspected suicide (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* Missouri leaders promise transparency. But open records are often cloaked in secrecy. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch ([link removed]) )
* New Hampshire National Guard to deploy to US-Mexico border (WMUR ([link removed]) )
* Youngkin, attorney general expect schools to follow transgender policies (Virginia Mercury ([link removed]) )



National News
* Biden to pardon all federal offenses of simple marijuana possession in first major steps toward decriminalization (CNN ([link removed]) )
* 66 clinics across 15 states have stopped offering abortions post-Roe (Politico ([link removed]) )


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Thank you again for following our latest news. We are grateful for your support and for helping us hold government accountable.

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