Tweet

American Oversight

3 Mar, 10 tweets, 5 min read

For many Americans, March marks a full year since the Covid-19 pandemic upended daily life.

Over the past year, we’ve submitted 1,000+ records requests to investigate government response to the pandemic. Here’s a timeline of our efforts:
americanoversight.org/one-year-of-co…

March 2020: We received records from Illinois and Washington state that showed the frustration and confusion of state officials regarding the White House’s poor coordination in March 2020.
americanoversight.org/weve-all-given…

We received records that provide more information about how the Bureau of Prisons missed key early opportunities to mitigate Covid-19’s spread within its facilities a year ago.
americanoversight.org/bureau-of-pris…

April 2020: We obtained documents showing that the week before Trump signed an executive order allowing meatpacking plants to stay open, industry representatives had provided the administration with a very similar draft order.
americanoversight.org/emails-reveal-…

May 2020: According to documents we obtained, USPS had plans in April to distribute 650 million masks nationwide. The Washington Post reported that the White House had scrapped the plan.
americanoversight.org/new-post-offic…

June 2020: According to records we obtained regarding an indoor Trump campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., local health officials had estimated that up to nine initial deaths would occur as a direct result of the June event.
americanoversight.org/tulsa-health-o…

July: We sued the Commerce Dept. and the Census Bureau for records related to the pandemic’s impact on the implementation of the 2020 census. The lawsuit came amid reports that the Census Bureau planned to end its outreach a month earlier than planned.

September 2020: In early September, the CDC directed states to prepare to distribute a vaccine in early November — a directive that Nevada health officials said caused “a lot of confusion,” according to records released to us.
americanoversight.org/nevada-health-…

December 2020: We obtained a spreadsheet from the Office of Special Counsel indicating that 142 whistleblower complaints related to the coronavirus had been filed between March and November.
americanoversight.org/document/osc-s…

This is just a snapshot of the requests we’ve filed and records we’ve received as part of our investigation into federal and state responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Learn more about our ongoing efforts here:
americanoversight.org/one-year-of-co…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @weareoversight

American Oversight

@weareoversight

4 Mar

This is a big deal: Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao misused her office – including to support her family's shipping business — an internal watchdog report found. The Trump Justice Department chose not to pursue the a criminal investigation. nytimes.com/2021/03/03/us/…

We investigated Chao's extensive conflicts of interest — and we uncovered records showing, among other things, a private photo session at the transportation department headquarters with employees of Chao's family shipping business. americanoversight.org/elaine-chao-ca…

We also obtained and analyzed Chao's calendars and top aide's emails — revealing a pattern of special treatment for requests from Kentucky, which her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, represents. americanoversight.org/emails-reveal-…

Read 7 tweets

American Oversight

@weareoversight

3 Mar

Department of Homeland Security records show real-time reactions to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The records also include briefings from the days following the attack.
americanoversight.org/document/fps-c…

@washingtonpost

Earlier today, the @washingtonpost reported on these internal reports from DHS’s Federal Protective Service, which the Post also obtained via #FOIA. The records show FPS warned of potential violence the day before.
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

We also received DHS communications via #FOIA that show how FPS officials reacted to the attack. The emails include photographs and real-time updates.

Read 4 tweets

American Oversight

@weareoversight

3 Mar

Today, two Senate committees are investigating security failures before the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. The public deserves answers about what went wrong — including the lengthy delay in deploying the National Guard.
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

The security failures are important, but Jan. 6 was more than a miscommunication about security; it was a planned and coordinated attack aimed at overturning an election.

Those responsible for planning and instigating it need to be held accountable.

This also wasn’t the first time in recent years that violent extremists sought to disrupt the democratic process, and the threat is far from over.

Read 14 tweets

American Oversight

@weareoversight

2 Mar

New: We obtained copies of phony electoral vote certificates from seven states that were submitted to Congress — part of a failed attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
americanoversight.org/american-overs…

The fake electoral certificates were assembled by Trump supporters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin who sought to replace valid presidential electors with bogus slates of pro-Trump electors.

The documents also show the names and signatures of the individuals who supported the effort to overturn the will of the people in their state. None of the certificates contains any indication that they list illegitimate slates of electors not chosen by those states' voters.

Read 4 tweets

American Oversight

@weareoversight

2 Mar

Voting rights have been increasingly under attack in the last decade. These efforts often aim to prevent people of color from voting.

This week, the Supreme Court is taking up a case that could undermine the remaining key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

The Voting Rights Act is the nation’s most effective defense against racially discriminatory voting policies, and it has countered discrimination and removed voting barriers across the country for decades.

But in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, ruling in Shelby County v. Holder that states and localities with a history of voter discrimination no longer had to obtain DOJ approval to change voting procedures.

Read 7 tweets

American Oversight

@weareoversight

1 Mar

ICYMI: We’re challenging excessive redactions of #USPS chief DeJoy’s calendar.

USPS’s shifting arguments for hiding DeJoy’s calendars from #FOIA requests threaten to create blanket exemptions for practically any USPS records.
americanoversight.org/american-overs…

On Friday, we submitted a brief challenging an argument from USPS that was used to justify the near-complete redaction of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s calendars. We’ve been fighting for these records for months, but USPS continues to obscure the documents.

In July 2020, we FOIA’d DeJoy’s calendars to investigate the undermining of USPS.

But in August, USPS rejected our FOIA, saying the “calendar maintained on a USPS computer” was for DeJoy's personal use and the entries ”are not agency records subject to the FOIA.”

Read 9 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!