How can Americans properly investigate — and document — the Trump administration’s historic corruption and voluminous misdeeds? The Freedom of Information Act provides a big part of the answer, writes our executive director @AREvers in @just_security. justsecurity.org/74014/the-prom…
We should expect important disclosures in 2021 that can illuminate:
-the tragically bungled pandemic response
-voter suppression and conspiracy peddling
-Trump’s presidential profiteering and abuses of office
-immigration detention center abuse and family separation
The next administration can make a big difference by embracing transparency. A coalition of open government advocates and organizations recently proposed several key reforms the next administration can adopt to do exactly that. accountability2021.org
"Committing to FOIA will mark a return to good-faith governance and will provide the basic mechanics for accountability for government officials, no matter what administration they serve,” wrote Evers.
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Donald Trump’s presidency was defined by multiple financial conflicts of interest and unprecedented abuses of power. Here are some of the most important things we’ve uncovered about Trump’s actions in office — and what we’re still investigating. americanoversight.org/open-questions…
Trump’s Attacks on the Legitimacy of the Election: Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election began long before he lost it. Once it was clear that President-elect Biden had won, Trump made wildly unfounded allegations about the election being rigged.
We’ve been investigating state-level attacks on voting rights, including uncovering communications between state election officials and voting-restriction activists in Florida, Georgia, and Texas. americanoversight.org/state-and-loca…
In 2020, we’ve worked to investigate the Trump administration’s botched Covid-19 response, the politicization of government agencies, threats to voting rights, and more.
Ukraine and Election Interference: We uncovered records from OMB that included an email from a career Defense Department official, stating clearly that Trump was the reason for the holdup in congressionally authorized aid for Ukraine. americanoversight.org/final-decision…
Covid-19 Oversight Hub: We launched our hub which includes our library of public documents related to oversight of the coronavirus response, a tracker that follows Congressional and watchdog oversight efforts, and more. americanoversight.org/areas_of_inves…
Donald Trump’s presidency was defined by multiple financial conflicts of interest and unprecedented abuses of power. Here are some of the most important things we’ve uncovered about Trump’s actions in office — and what we’re still investigating. americanoversight.org/open-questions…
Abuse of Presidential Powers: From pardoning his political allies to pushing for an authoritarian response to nationwide racial justice protests, Trump’s penchant for using presidential powers for his own gain has been well documented. americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Documents we’ve uncovered have shed light on many of these instances, including Trump’s 2018 pardon of Scooter Libby, DOJ’s intervention in criminal cases against Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, and Trump’s post-impeachment purges. americanoversight.org/records-shed-l…
We obtained another production of DOJ communications that reveal more about Stephen Miller’s work with the Justice Department promoting anti-immigrant policies, including family separation. americanoversight.org/documents-show…
In April 2017, Miller emailed two DOJ officials: "Extremely positive reaction at [White House] to press activities from [Attorney General]. Double-up on it, & make the Long Island event a grand slam."
The “Long Island event” appears to reference a speech former AG Jeff Sessions gave April 28, 2017, in which Sessions promised to eradicate the MS-13 gang by cracking down on illegal immigration. nytimes.com/2017/04/28/nyr…
New: We sent letters to the inspectors general for DHS and the Army Corp of Engineers, calling for investigations into troubling practices related to contracts for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. americanoversight.org/american-overs…
The Trump admin. awarded border wall construction contracts to build on land it doesn’t own—so the federal government is paying tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a day in delay penalties.
We asked the IGs to investigate if the contracts constitute waste of taxpayer money.
The government is also using the costs caused by its cart-before-the-horse contracting approach to justify expediting the seizure of private land. Taxpayers and private landowners are being forced to bear the brunt of the government’s flawed strategy. propublica.org/article/texas-…
New: Nevada Health Dept. documents we uncovered highlight the confusion over CDC’s initial vaccine instructions this summer & fall.
The records include communications about proposed vaccine distribution plans and state officials’ reactions to those plans. americanoversight.org/nevada-health-…
The records include a handout from July 6 that listed 3 phases of vaccination, with the 1st phase beginning in October, & noted that the plan would be “constantly changing because it is not yet certain when a vaccine will become available & how it will be distributed to Nevada.”
The documents we uncovered also show that on Aug. 27, the CDC circulated vaccine planning documents, including “actions items for jurisdictions” that called for the creation of “internal planning and coordination teams” and “vaccine implementation committees.”