A recount in a rural Pennsylvania county has failed to appease some of the diehard election deniers who had clamored for it. 

News Roundup: Election Denial in Pennsylvania, Government Transparency in Texas
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More than two years and two months after the 2020 election, a ballot recount ([link removed]) in a rural Pennsylvania county has failed to appease ([link removed]) some of the diehard election deniers who had clamored for it.

Last week’s recount, which took three days and hundreds of work hours, produced numbers nearly identical to those reported after the election. “The results of Lycoming County’s hand recount — like earlier recounts of the 2020 election in Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona — revealed no evidence of fraud,” wrote the New York Times ([link removed]) . “Did that quell the doubts of election deniers, who had circulated a petition claiming there was a likelihood of ‘rampant fraud’ in Lycoming in 2020? It did not.”

A volunteer from the group Audit the Vote PA told the Times, “We’re not done.” That group is part of a network of activists and election-denial groups in states across the country, and we’ve been investigating ([link removed]) how that network is working to erode trust in our democracy. Because while several election deniers lost high-profile statewide races last election, the effort to undermine faith in our elections is as alive as ever:
* Votebeat reported ([link removed]) on how the “Stop the Steal” movement is employing new tactics, such as forcing recounts without providing evidence of issues, to “drag out” 2022 midterm results. In Texas’ Harris County, more than a dozen ([link removed]) losing Republican candidates have contested the results, pointing to issues like polling places having run out of ballot paper.
* The Advocate newspaper reported ([link removed]) on a “growing movement” of election-fraud alarmism in Louisiana. Some of those pushing the conspiracy theories are linked to prominent election denier and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — who earlier this month met with ([link removed]) Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.
* Conspiracy theories drove a defeated candidate ([link removed]) in New Mexico to orchestrate shootings ([link removed]) of Democratic officials. No one was hurt.
* Two bills in the Texas House ([link removed]) seek to expand Attorney General Ken Paxton’s power to prosecute election crimes, including by allowing Paxton’s office to appoint special prosecutors to such cases. In 2021, we found that Paxton’s $2.2 million-budgeted “election integrity” unit had closed just three cases ([link removed]) that year.
* Adherents to voter-fraud myths are vying to chair their states’ Republican Party, including in Michigan ([link removed]) and Colorado ([link removed]) .


Texas Lawsuit

We were in court this week in our ongoing lawsuit seeking the release of public records from top Texas officials. In the case, Attorney General Paxton’s and Gov. Greg Abbott’s offices are advancing arguments that would significantly limit the public’s access to Texas government documents.
* Among the records sought in the lawsuit are email communications with gun industry lobbyists following the Uvalde shooting as well as emails sent by Paxton around the Jan. 6 insurrection.
* In an attempt to dismiss the suit, Paxton and Abbott argued that by responding to American Oversight’s requests, they have fulfilled their obligations under the state’s public records law and are thus shielded from being sued.
* But as we argue, the offices’ responses to our requests — which include implausible claims that certain records don’t exist or are entirely protected by exemptions — raise significant questions about whether those responses are in fact complete as required by law. Read more here. ([link removed])

Other Stories We're Following

Jan. 6 Investigations
* What the Jan. 6 probe found out about social media, but didn’t report (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* John Eastman is unbowed as investigations proliferate (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Revealed: Who visited the Trump White House before Jan. 6 (Politico ([link removed]) )
* GOP congressman linked to Jan. 6 probe assigned to House committee investigating Biden (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* New details emerge of meeting between Proud Boys and Oath Keepers (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Three active-duty Marines who work in intelligence arrested for alleged participation in Jan. 6 riot (Military.com ([link removed]) )


Voting Rights
* Arizona lawmaker seeks to outlaw mail voting and make other election changes (Arizona Daily Star ([link removed]) )
* Ohio Republicans quietly enact ‘alarming’ new voting restrictions (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* A Georgia Republican brags that voter suppression helped them in 2022 (Nation ([link removed]) )
* Democrats call on Senate leader to remove Republican elections commissioner Spindell over comments on Milwaukee voting (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* Right-wing group pours millions in ‘dark money’ into U.S. voter suppression bid (Guardian ([link removed]) )


Trump Administration Accountability
* Trump sold his DC hotel. GOP spending disappeared. (CREW ([link removed]) )
* McCarthy says he’s willing to look at expunging a Trump impeachment (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Trump’s business took in at least $81,000 from election-denying candidates for secretary of state (Forbes ([link removed]) )


In the States
* ‘Noncitizen’ will now be listed on Ohio IDs. Advocates worry that will endanger immigrants (Ohio Capital Journal ([link removed]) )
* How dark money groups led Ohio to redefine gas as ‘green energy’ (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Ariz. Gov. Hobbs' budget proposal would eliminate Border Strike Force (Arizona Republic ([link removed]) )
* DeSantis’ administration tells universities to detail spending on transgender care (Miami Herald ([link removed]) )
* DeSantis wants to permanently ban Covid vaccine, mask requirements for Florida workers (Miami Herald ([link removed]) )
* Florida blocks high school African American studies class (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Texas prisoners continue hunger strike in protest against solitary confinement (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* Watchdog seeks harsher penalties in wake of abuse at Illinois mental health center (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* A sheriff in Louisiana has been destroying records of deputies’ alleged misconduct for years (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* The fringe ideology of ‘constitutional sheriffs’ is attracting believers within Texas law enforcement (Texas Tribune ([link removed]) )
* ‘The most important election nobody’s ever heard of’ (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Indiana bill would force schools to tell parents about students’ pronouns, gender identities (Indiana Capital Chronicle ([link removed]) )


National News
* Websites selling abortion pills are sharing sensitive data with Google (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* Book challenges may have ‘chilling effects’ on new LGBTQ books in school libraries, study finds (Chalkbeat ([link removed]) )
* Right-wing Trump allies win seats on oversight, reflecting GOP priorities (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Supreme Court says it hasn’t identified person who leaked draft abortion opinion (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Dark money group linked to Leonard Leo is dissolved (Politico ([link removed]) )

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