In a Feb. 2019 email, Trump DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Trump HHS Sec. Alex Azar that DHS forecasted “an extraordinarily demanding and challenging time for our Departments” due to increasing numbers of unaccompanied migrant children in government custody.
“Given the gravity of the current situation, the status quo of responding to increased numbers as they occur is not a sustainable model for addressing the upcoming challenges,” she wrote. americanoversight.org/document/ice-e…
Children who are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security are transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). ORR is under the Health and Human Services Department, which Azar led.
Nielsen noted that a plan to add 650 beds at the Homestead Facility in Florida would not be enough: “The number of beds coming on line will not provide placements for the current UAC waiting at the border, let alone address the continuing high levels of daily apprehensions.”
Nielsen told Azar that “any path forward must also include mechanisms to manage the current and projected flow as well as proactive efforts to increase bed space in either permanent or temporary influx facilities.”
This letter shows the Trump administration’s struggle to house and adequately care for unaccompanied minors. Learn more about our ongoing investigation here: americanoversight.org/investigation/…
And to learn more about Nielsen’s involvement in the family-separation policy, read this thread:
We continue to obtain records that show the Arizona “audit” aimed to undermine faith in the 2020 presidential election. Here’s what we learned from some of the latest records we obtained through litigation. #FoiaFriday americanoversight.org/more-evidence-…
A May exchange between Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and state Sen. Vince Leach provides yet another piece of evidence that Senate officials undertook the “audit” with predetermined conclusions in mind — specifically, the discovery of (non-existent) widespread fraud.
After Fann sent a text lamenting the lack of support for the “audit” in the media and from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Leach texted, “Ahh, but it will be great when it is shown they both were on the wrong side of the truth.” Fann replied, “Praying.”
We obtained emails sent by Jeff Sessions, Trump’s first attorney general, regarding the Trump administration’s family-separation policy. Sessions praised the policy’s results and discussed religious justifications for the harsh policy. americanoversight.org/in-emails-jeff…
In June 2018 — two months after Sessions announced the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy — former Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein forwarded Sessions an email
that indicated a decline in U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehensions of undocumented people at the border.
“Thanks,” Sessions responded. “I’m very interested in this. Keep on it. Every decline in entry’s is huge reducing those who got past border too. With the decline and continued prosecution numbers the percentage goes up and we are in virtuous cycle.”
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos hired retired state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to oversee an investigation of the state’s election results. This week, Gableman said he does not understand how elections work. jsonline.com/story/news/pol…
In late August, the price tag for the investigation ballooned to nearly $680,000, and news reports indicated that Reince Priebus, who had led the state’s Republican Party before serving as RNC chair & then Trump’s chief of staff, was involved in conversations about its planning.
NEW: We’re launching an investigation into Texas’ election “audit.” In Sept., the Texas secretary of state’s office announced a “full forensic audit” of the 2020 election — just hours after former President Trump publicly asked Gov. Greg Abbott to do so. americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Trump’s demand for the investigation in Texas came nearly a year after he won the state by a 5.6 percent margin. The “audit” will focus on results in Dallas, Harris, Tarrant, and Collin counties, all of which except Collin were won by Joe Biden.
We submitted 14 new records requests that ask for the release of communications from the secretary of state, governor, and attorney general’s offices as well as the elections departments & county commissioners in Dallas, Harris, Tarrant, & Collin counties concerning this "audit."
“Hope with all the efforts we will [be] able to make AZ ruby red again,” an Arizona Republican who is identified as “audit personnel” in records we’ve obtained, texted a top “audit” official in May. americanoversight.org/new-arizona-au…
New Arizona “audit” documents released last night in response to our ongoing litigation provide more instances of partisanship in the state’s ballot review. americanoversight.org/new-arizona-au…
In a July text message, a different person also identified as audit personnel forwarded a statement from Trump, who praised the state legislators who had called for the election to be decertified. documentcloud.org/documents/2107…
New Arizona ‘audit’ documents released last night in response to our ongoing litigation include emails and texts of top officials running partisan ballot review, and they provide yet more evidence of its anti-democratic origins. americanoversight.org/new-arizona-au…
The records reveal a U.S. Election Assistance Commission member’s early support for the “audit.” On Jan. 28, 2021, Arizona Sen. Warren Peterson told Senate President Karen Fann that Christy McCormick, an EAC member, was willing to be mentioned in a press release.
The EAC is the federal agency tasked with helping states administer secure elections.
“So won’t she [McCormick] be in deep dodo [sic] for saying this public[ly]?” Fann asked. “Nope, it’s a fact,” Petersen replied.