THE WEEKLY REVEAL
Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022
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Hello! In this issue:
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Part 2 of our investigation into America’s Indian boarding schools.
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In attacks on democracy: A federal judge has ordered a Trump attorney to turn over eight documents that had been protected under attorney-client privilege.
- Planet Aid pays $1.9 million to settle a six-year libel lawsuit.
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THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
Buried Secrets: America’s Indian Boarding Schools Part 2
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As the U.S. tries to come to terms with the legacy of Indian boarding schools, we visit one Catholic school in South Dakota that is trying to bring truth and healing to the Native community at the Pine Ridge Reservation.
But building trust is not easy, especially because former students and their descendants do not have access to key records about tribal funds, lands and children who died there years ago. And they don’t have access because the Catholic Church won’t give it to them.
On the next Reveal, can truth and healing come without accountability?
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🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
RELATED
🎧 Buried Secrets: America’s Indian Boarding Schools Part 1 (Reveal)
📄 Red Cloud takes the lead in uncovering boarding school past (ICT)
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REVEAL EXPLAINS
Your Guide to the Attack on Democracy
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Emails show Trump knew his numbers in a voter fraud lawsuit in Georgia were inaccurate, judge says. This week, federal Judge David Carter ordered John Eastman, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, to turn over eight documents that had been protected under attorney-client privilege. Carter said the documents wouldn’t be protected because they relate to a crime or a potential crime – something known as the “crime-fraud exception.” (NBC News)
Who is John Eastman? A Trump lawyer and then-law professor at Chapman University in Orange County, California, he wrote the plan designed to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election, which eventually led to the Jan. 6 riots. He continues to make his case, traveling to Wisconsin earlier this year to try to get the Legislature to decertify the 2020 election results. His election meddling didn’t start in 2020, however. In fact, while the 2000 presidential election results were being litigated, Eastman traveled to the Florida Legislature and made an argument that became en vogue in the last election: He told the Legislature it could send whoever it wanted to the Electoral College.
Who is David Carter? He’s the federal judge who made news earlier this year when he said it was “more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.” He’s reviewing whether Eastman’s emails should be turned over to the House of Representatives’ Jan. 6 committee.
A personal glimpse of the effects of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to root out perceived voter fraud. Nineteen Floridians are facing up to five years in prison after being accused by DeSantis’ new Office of Election Crimes and Security of violating state law.
“They’re going to pay the price,” the governor said at an August press conference touting his alleged crackdown on voter fraud. But it wasn’t until this week, in never-before-seen police body camera footage obtained by the Tampa Bay Times/Herald, that the public saw the outrage and confusion of those who were arrested. “Voter fraud? Y’all said anybody with a felony could vote,” Tony Patterson said as he was escorted in handcuffs. “Voter fraud? I voted, but I ain’t commit no fraud,” Romona Oliver said as she was arrested in her driveway on her way to work.
While a 2018 state constitutional amendment restored the right to vote to many felons, it excluded “people convicted of murder or felony sex offenses to automatically be able to vote after they complete their sentence,” the Times writes. And there has been confusion about who is eligible to vote as the state’s voter registration forms offer no clarity.
There was also this headline about a new poll from The New York Times: Voters See Democracy in Peril, but Saving It Isn’t a Priority
🗣️ Want to suggest a story or topic explainer for our next issue? Is there a specific democracy issue you want us to curate reporting around? Do you have a question about a certain state and its election? Anything goes. Email us at [email protected].
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FROM OUR LEGAL TEAM
Planet Aid’s Six-Year Libel Lawsuit Is Now Over
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Planet Aid paid $1.925 million and released all its claims against Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting and two of its reporters, according to a filing made in federal court in San Francisco this week. The settlement officially ends the six-year libel suit.
Our 18-month investigation looked into questions about U.S. government funds given to Planet Aid for aid in southern Africa, including Malawi, as well as the organization’s ties to an alleged cult. Our reporting, alongside a British Broadcasting Corp. radio program based on our reporting, led the British government to cut off funding to Planet Aid’s Malawi subcontractor and launched a probe into suspected foreign aid fraud. Planet Aid sued in 2016, challenging our reporting as libelous and engaging in years of expensive discovery, including over a dozen formal discovery disputes.
“Today, nonprofit newsrooms are increasingly filling in the gap of an already decimated news landscape. These frivolous lawsuits increasingly brought against nonprofit newsrooms throughout the country could be a serious blow for democracy,” said D. Victoria Baranetsky, general counsel at Reveal. “While fighting the Planet Aid case cost millions of dollars in legal fees and thousands of hours of staff time, persevering through it was a necessary insurance for the future of journalism.”
Read the full update.
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Journalists! We know keeping track of proposed state legislation is a daunting task, but help is on the way.
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• Catch the team behind our After Ayotzinapa podcast series in San Francisco on Oct. 26.
• Our new documentary feature film, “The Grab,” is being screened at the Philadelphia Film Festival on Oct. 30, the Denver Film Festival on Nov. 4 and 5, and DOC NYC on Nov. 13 and 14. If you’re outside these cities, DOC NYC has tickets available to watch the film online Nov. 14-27.
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This issue of The Weekly Reveal was written by Kassie Navarro and Andrew Donohue and copy edited by Nikki Frick. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend. Have some thoughts? Drop us a line with feedback or ideas!
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