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This week, the Washington Post obtained an internal Republican National Committee report that calls for building up “election integrity” activities in every state — a sign of the hold that debunked claims of widespread voter fraud still have on the right.
“The report suggests building a massive new party organization involving state-level ‘election integrity officers’ and intensive new training models for poll workers and observers,” wrote the Post.
- The report acknowledges that mistrust contributed to a drop in turnout, but “instead of combating misinformation,” it “encourages the recruitment of staff and volunteers to monitor elections and the development of more aggressive legal strategies to ‘hold election officials accountable for violating the law.’”
One of the report’s co-authors was Thomas Lane, who reportedly worked on Trump’s fake elector scheme and was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee — and, as suggested by records we obtained, played an operational role in the Arizona Senate’s partisan election “audit” in 2021.
- Those records, which include messages exchanged between Lane and Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, are only a few of the thousands of pages of documents released in response to our litigation that would not have seen the light of day had rules adopted last week by the Arizona Legislature been in place in 2021.
- Those rules shift the Legislature’s retention policy to a default standard of deleting emails after 90 days. In the state Senate, messages sent or received on personal devices — even regarding official government business — are shielded from the public. Read more about those changes, and our statement on why they’re an egregious attempt to evade accountability, here.
- The Arizona Republic reports that Cyber Ninjas continues to keep many public records from the “audit” hidden from the public “without apparent legal justification.”
In Wisconsin, the Associated Press’ Scott Bauer obtained audio from two days after the 2020 election showing that Trump’s campaign knew they had lost, but “pivoted to allegations of widespread fraud that were ultimately debunked — repeatedly — by elections officials and the courts.”
- Bill Lueders, the president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, wrote about the still-increasing costs of the partisan inquiry into the 2020 election led by Michael Gableman. “All of this could have been avoided if Speaker Vos and [the Office of Special Counsel] had simply followed the law” by preserving and providing records from their investigation, American Oversight’s Heather Sawyer stated.
Election denial continues to be a theme in several state legislatures as new sessions start up across the country. “Lawmakers have already filed hundreds of bills that could, yet again, overhaul the running of elections,” reports Votebeat. “In Texas and Arizona … state lawmakers kicked off their sessions by providing platforms to election conspiracy theorists who made wide-ranging allegations of fraud without providing evidence.” Here are other stories:
- Election officials ready themselves for the next wave of Trump followers (Politico)
- Far-right project that pushed election lies expands mission as Trump ramps up 2024 campaign (Guardian)
- Election-denying lawmakers hold key election oversight roles (Associated Press)
- Kari Lake posting of voter signatures sparks call for investigation (Arizona Republic)
Court Wins
CREW Lawsuit
On Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled in favor of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in a lawsuit seeking the release of Bureau of Prisons records related to the procurement of lethal injection drugs. The court found that BOP had not justified its withholding of information in the documents as “commercial” and “confidential” information. American Oversight had submitted an amicus brief in that lawsuit. Read more here.
ACLU Lawsuit
In 2021, we joined in an amicus brief filed by the American Immigration Council in support of the ACLU in a lawsuit in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was withholding A-numbers from immigration data for privacy reasons, but refusing to substitute them with unique identifiers that would make the data interpretable. The court ruled that ICE’s refusal violated the Freedom of Information Act’s broad disclosure policy.
On the Records
Trump’s DOJ Pressure Campaign
Following his election loss, Donald Trump had plotted to oust acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and replace him with Jeffrey Clark, a loyalist willing to corruptly use the Justice Department to bolster baseless claims of widespread fraud. We obtained records showing a senior DOJ official’s handwritten notes on an email rejecting Clark’s scheme to falsely tell state officials that the department was investigating “significant concerns” that could change 2020 election results.
- On Dec. 28, 2020, acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue emailed Clark and rejected his proposal. This email was already public, but the version released to us in response to our lawsuit includes a handwritten note: “This letter was opposed by A/AG + OLC. Discussed with POTUS on January 3, 2021, and he rejected AAG Clark’s idea to send it.”
- On Clark’s draft letter to Georgia state officials, a note says, “Draft Letter from Jeff Clark. Rejected by OAG, ODAG + OLC.”
NARA Records Related to Documents Recovered from Mar-a-Lago
Last year, we sued the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration for records related to the recovery of 15 boxes of Trump White House materials from Mar-a-Lago. NARA released more records this week, but is withholding more than 1,000 pages of records.
- The records include responses from NARA to letters from Trump’s lawyer. NARA noted that Trump’s representatives requested NARA delay disclosing to the FBI the records NARA sought from Mar-a-Lago.
- The documents also include emails between NARA and members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
- Read more about our investigation into the classified documents recovered by NARA from Mar-a-Lago here.
Other Stories We're Following
Jan. 6 Investigations
- Bias and human error played parts in F.B.I.’s Jan. 6 failure, documents suggest (New York Times)
- Court blocks DOJ review of Scott Perry’s phone in Jan. 6 probe (Washington Post)
- 'New Years Revolution': What the Proud Boys said on Parler ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot (USA Today)
- Jan. 6 investigator says FBI could have done more to repel Capitol mob had they acted on intel (NBC News)
Voting Rights
- Local election officials in Florida call for scrapping new ID rules for mail voting (NPR)
- Voters could tip Wisconsin Supreme Court left on abortion, gerrymandering (Washington Post)
- A police stop is enough to make someone less likely to vote (Bolts)
- Florida eyes more changes to voting laws ahead of 2024 (Politico)
Trump Administration Accountability
- William Barr says he didn’t overstep in Durham probe of Mueller investigation (Los Angeles Times)
- Barr pressed Durham to find flaws in the Russia investigation. It didn’t go well (New York Times)
Immigration
- Judge dismisses public records lawsuit over Florida migrant flights (Tampa Bay Times)
- Republican-led states ask judge to shut down DACA program for immigrant "Dreamers" (CBS News)
- Border event with lawmakers to feature speakers connected to QAnon, hate group (Arizona Mirror)
- Gov. Greg Abbott hires ‘border czar’ to accelerate wall construction (Texas Tribune)
- California fines detention center operator $100,000 over immigrants’ working conditions (Los Angeles Times)
In the States
- Judge says Texas Attorney General Paxton must face ethics lawsuit (Reuters)
- DeSantis builds conservative resume with new $114B-plus budget (Politico)
- DeSantis rolls out sweeping criminal justice package (Politico)
- A billionaire’s luxury development fuels fight over Texas hill country (Bloomberg)
- DeSantis claims executive privilege, but it’s not in Florida Constitution or law (Miami Herald)
- Judge says Texas Attorney General Paxton must face ethics lawsuit (Reuters)
- Inside a U.S. neo-Nazi homeschool network with thousands of members (Vice News)
National News
- Dems raise alarms about Capitol security ahead of State of the Union (Axios)
- The College Board strips down its AP curriculum for African American Studies (New York Times)
- Biden clears the way for Alaska oil project (New York Times)
- Abortion foes: 2024 GOP hopefuls must back federal limits (Associated Press)
- Black Americans are much more likely to face tax audits, study finds (New York Times)
- EPA may have dealt final ‘nail in the coffin’ to Alaska’s Pebble Mine (Washington Post)
- National Archives asks former presidents and vice presidents to check for classified and presidential documents (CNN)
- This group is sharpening the GOP attack on ‘woke’ Wall Street (Washington Post)
- Biden administration plans to end Covid public health emergency in May (New York Times)
- $5.4 billion in Covid aid may have gone to firms using suspect Social Security numbers (Washington Post)
Attacks on Civil Rights
- Medical care for teens with gender dysphoria would be a felony under Idaho legislation (Idaho Capital Sun)
- Utah's governor has signed a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth (NPR)
- 20 attorneys general warn Walgreens, CVS over abortion pills (Associated Press)
- Atlanta shooting part of alarming U.S. crackdown on environmental defenders (Guardian)
- DeSantis is appointing new medical board members while slamming gender-affirming care for youth (Florida Phoenix)
- DeSantis targets ‘ideological’ programs in proposed university changes (Politico)
- Florida athletes may soon be required to submit their menstrual history to schools (Miami Herald)
Government Transparency
- Fee exceptions for journalists proposed for Colorado public records law (Colorado Newsline)
- Fairfax CA Steve Descano uses an app that deletes messages. Is he breaking the law? (7News)
- Nearly half of all sheriffs in Louisiana are violating public records laws (ProPublica)
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