American Oversight Profile picture
Oct 27, 2021 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Last December, Texas’ attorney general announced he was suing four states in a desperate attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

Lawyers in the Florida AG’s office called it “bats--t insane” and “weird," records we obtained show.
tampabay.com/news/florida-p…
The next day, Florida’s attorney general joined 16 other Republican attorneys general signing a brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the Texas lawsuit.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, alleging that pandemic-related changes to election procedures amounted to widespread fraud.
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
The suit was thrown out by the Supreme Court within days, but not before it drew support from at least 125 Republican members of the House of Representatives, Donald Trump, and the attorneys general of 17 other states, including Florida AG Ashley Moody.
But behind the scenes, lawyers working for Florida’s solicitor general criticized the lawsuit.

On Dec. 8, Senior Deputy SG Christopher Baum wrote, “Batshit insane, which is why Kyle [Texas’ solicitor general] is not on it.”
americanoversight.org/document/flori…
Baum later wrote, “I bet this royally pisses off the Republican SGs currently arguing that the Court’s original jurisdiction is mandatory. Because this is Exhibit A for why the Court does not want to go down that road.“
Deputy AG James Percival asked, “What’s the theory for how one state has standing to allege Bush v. Gore violations against another state[?]”

“Because,” Baum replied.
Chief Deputy SG Jeffrey DeSousa asked, “have they asked Florida to join?”

Baum replied, “Someone will draft an amicus and ask us to do so,” adding that another lawyer pointed out that the Texas lawsuit could have been “Paxton’s request for a pardon.”
We obtained these records as part of our investigation into Paxton’s lawsuit and the attempt by Trump allies to overturn the election. Learn more about our ongoing investigation here:
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

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More from @weareoversight

May 30
The Trump admin. has taken aim at public education. But the far-right incursion into public schools has been happening at the state level for years — especially in Florida.

Here’s what we’ve uncovered about the harmful effects of Gov. DeSantis’ education policies.
In 2022, Florida adopted a slew of laws upending public education by mandating reviews of books for prohibited content, allowing parents greater ability to challenge classroom lessons, and barring instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for certain grade levels.
These laws have left educators and others uncertain and confused, unleashing a chilling effect that has made teachers’ jobs harder and limited what children can learn.
Read 12 tweets
Mar 21
The public’s right to know is under unprecedented threat. For years, we’ve remained steadfast in our commitment to exposing the truth and protecting public access to information so that the people can hold government accountable.
americanoversight.org/celebrating-am…
Since last year’s Sunshine Week, we have had several victories for transparency at both the national and state level.

In May, an appeals court ruled in our favor in a years-old case regarding the release of records about 2017 efforts to weaken the ACA.
americanoversight.org/democracy-forw…Image
The ruling made clear that agencies couldn’t use what is known as the “consultant corollary” to evade public disclosure of records when supposed “consultants” (in this case, Congress) have their own interests at stake when it comes to agency decision-making.
Read 11 tweets
Nov 21, 2024
We’re pleased that our lawsuit for records from the federal investigation of Matt Gaetz was a key part of the public pressure that led to his decision to withdraw from attorney general consideration.
americanoversight.org/statement-from…
Gaetz’s withdrawal is a clear indication that public demand for information and a transparent process will remain a powerful force for holding leaders accountable. Through our litigation, we will continue to demand answers about the alleged conduct of Mr. Gaetz.
Earlier this week, we filed a motion for preliminary injunction in our ongoing lawsuit for the release of interview records, known as “302s,” from the FBI’s investigation of Gaetz for serious criminal allegations, including sex trafficking of a minor.
documentcloud.org/documents/2534…
Read 4 tweets
Oct 11, 2024
We recently launched an investigation into efforts to undermine direct democracy and sabotage abortion access ballot measures, which will be considered by voters in ten states this November. #FoiaFriday
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Since 2022, 7 states have protected abortion rights through ballot initiatives.

In November, 10 states will have initiatives related to abortion rights on their ballots: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.
In addition to a litany of lawsuits from conservative activists challenging the qualifying status of abortion-related ballot measures, legislators in many states have proposed laws that would change the requirements for ballot initiatives to make passage more difficult.
Read 12 tweets
Sep 9, 2024
Records we obtained from Missouri show how state Sen. Mike Moon — a staunchly anti-abortion rights legislator — has sought to subvert the state’s measure related to abortion rights by trying to amend the ballot initiative process.
americanoversight.org/document/recor…
Earlier this year, 380,000 Missourians signed a petition to put an abortion rights constitutional amendment on the ballot. In response, conservatives in the state pushed a bill that would have made it much harder to pass any constitutional amendment via a ballot initiative.
The documents show that Moon’s policy director directly tied Moon’s support for adding a concurrent majority measure to initiative petitions to his desire to defeat the measure. His chief of staff suggested collaborating with an anti-abortion rights group to defeat the amendment.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 5, 2024
Floridians will vote in November on a ballot measure that would overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban.

Conservative lawmakers and interest groups have been working to make it harder for the measure and citizen initiatives like it to pass.
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Republican officials drafted a financial statement to accompany the measure. The statement argues that the measure’s passage would lead to fewer births, which would hurt the state’s growth and revenue over time.
nbcmiami.com/news/local/fin…
The financial statement speculates that the measure’s passage would result in expensive litigation.

Abortion rights groups have filed lawsuits to prevent this language from appearing on the ballot.
Read 5 tweets

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