Wow. DOJ filed a civil enforcement action against businessman and former RNC finance chair Steve Wynn, seeking to compel him to register as a foreign agent under FARA because he lobbied the Trump admin on behalf of China. justice.gov/opa/pr/justice… This is extraordinarily rare. The DOJ press release notes it's the first such civil enforcement FARA case in more than 30 years, and I'm pretty sure that's right.

Well, I'm off between gigs this week, but the White House just issued a new report on Native American voting rights and I have thoughts, so without further ado, a thread from someone who is bad at being a lady of leisure.

Here's the report: whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl… Unsurprisingly, it found what other reports on this subject (including an excellent one from @NDNrights a couple of years ago) found: Native American voters face obstacles most people in the country struggle to comprehend, including poverty, distance, a high rate of disability.

Gonna indulge in some of those personal news tweets: After 7+ years, today is my last day @publicintegrity. So grateful for good times, the wonderful colleagues (including many former, still cherished) and the many opportunities for important, surprising and groundbreaking work. My next move? A short break and then privileged to join @VotebeatUS as a story editor! I'll be working with @JessicaHuseman @chadAlorenz on a pub designed to cover all things elections and voter access with integrity, independence and clarity.

Dove deep, w/⁦@stphnfwlr⁩ ⁦@pratheekrebala⁩, into a battleground fight over polling places and voting right in Georgia. How far is too far for voters to travel? publicintegrity.org/politics/elect… @stphnfwlr @pratheekrebala Loved working with @npr and @gpbnews on this. Here's the NPR version. If you missed the audio on @npratc, give it a listen! npr.org/2022/01/26/107…

.@mcpli described Texas' argument that private parties can't sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as part of a "death by a thousand cuts" strategy to further limit the landmark voting law. 1/ publicintegrity.org/inside-publici… @mcpli Today, @srl smartly notes Florida is making a similar argument about Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act.

https://twitter.com/srl/status/1466464545808044036?s=20

@sophlin229 told me she was expecting to see similar arguments. Here we go. publicintegrity.org/inside-publici…

Academics found congressional Republican support for bills enforced by private lawsuits “exploded” beginning in 2010. The Texas abortion bill is the highest-profile example that uses it, but not the only one. publicintegrity.org/politics/texas… There are provisions of the Texas abortion law that @LibertyLouise said are "unlike any law with which I am familiar" in how they tip procedural elements towards plaintiffs. publicintegrity.org/politics/texas…

Since Sen. Manchin made voter ID part of his proposal for a compromise voting bill, there's been a lot of talk about Democrats changing their position on it.

It's made me think about the different times I've come across voter ID as an issue when reporting stories. So: thread! In North Dakota in 2018, a new law required voter IDs to have street addresses. That requirement was difficult for Native Americans because most reservation addresses were PO boxes only. They didn't have no street addresses.

apps.publicintegrity.org/abandoned-in-a…

Wow. And this exchange was while Cleta Mitchell was still at @FoleyandLardner

New FOIA docs to share! I just finished going through more than 700 pages of docs from @usps on election mail. Unfortunately, a lot of them looked like this: 1/ But there are interesting fragments to be gleaned! By August, A LOT of people at USPS (including the general counsel and outside consultants from Weber Shandwick) were on the "strike team" responding to questions from press and Congress on vote by mail. 2/
beta.documentcloud.org/documents/2046…

The Bannon indictment says money ran through a nonprofit he controlled, as well as a shell company. The use of such structures for opaque financial transactions just keeps popping up. justice.gov/usao-sdny/pres… With Bannon in the news, reupping some pieces from @publicintegrity archives. First up, I followed the $$ and the docs and laid out then-new details about his relationship with the megadonor Mercers in 2016: publicintegrity.org/politics/reclu…

100 days from the election, so time to highlight @publicintegrity ballot access coverage on forces shaping the 2020 election: sharp polling place consolidations falling heavily on voters of color, partisan power struggles, $$ shortages, VBM learning curves - and the pandemic. During this coronavirus-plagued primary season, some of the sharpest reductions in numbers of polling places — and longest lines — have come in cities home to many voters of color. @pratheekrebala data analysis showed the impact: publicintegrity.org/politics/elect…

ICYMI: Native American voters in North Dakota will be able to vote even if they don't have ID with a street address under a new legal settlement announced yesterday. publicintegrity.org/politics/votin… 1/ The settlement needs final approval, but would end years of litigation over North Dakota's voter ID requirements. It would require the state to distribute IDs on reservations and provide voters who don't have such IDs with a street address in time for their votes to count. 2/

BIG DISCLOSURE NEWS: Americans for Job Security, the "dark money" group that spent millions to influence elections in the wake of the Citizens United decision, is revealing its donors in the wake of a court case by @CREWcrew: docquery.fec.gov/pdf/335/201910… Donors to AJS on this list include big GOP donors Geoff Palmer, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Richard & Helen DeVos, Peter Thiel, Charles Schwab, Barbara McNair, Wayne Hughes, Andy Pudzer, Vincent & Linda McMahon, Steven Mnuchin.

Great scoop from ⁦@TMannWSJ⁩ and Brody Mullins: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao still owns Vulcan Materials shares she had vowed to divest. wsj.com/articles/trans… Worth nothing that this resembles ethics issues of two other Cabinet members. Commerce Sec Ross held Invesco stock he should have sold and made 7 figures off its increased value: publicintegrity.org/federal-politi… and publicintegrity.org/federal-politi…

Am told 3 people trying to vote at the courthouse in Fort Yates on Standing Rock were told no because their ID had an address saying “Avenue” instead of “Street.” @StandingRockST officials issued new IDs. #NDNativeVote Background on tribal efforts here: publicintegrity.org/2018/10/30/223… And for those watching the weather, I hear there’s snow on the Turtle Mountain reservation this morning.

1/The decision in the North Dakota voter identification case actually has a long legal backstory that's worth unpacking, because I am seeing a lot of questions on Twitter in the wake of today's decision (which we covered here) publicintegrity.org/2018/11/01/224…

https://twitter.com/BenSilva80/status/1058127619454054401

2/I wrote a story earlier this month that includes a lot of background, and links to earlier court documents for those interested. You can find it here. apps.publicintegrity.org/abandoned-in-a…

Since this story on barriers to the ballot box for Native Americans, reported from the Standing Rock reservation, was published last week, a lot has happened. Some updates below: apps.publicintegrity.org/abandoned-in-a… Four ND tribes, including @StandingRockST, say they will issue tribal documents that satisfy new ND voter ID requirements at the polls on Election Day.

“Why is it getting harder and harder for Native Americans to vote?" apps.publicintegrity.org/abandoned-in-a… When I began reporting this story on why voter turnout is low on the Standing Rock reservation, I didn't know the Supreme Court would decide the week of publication to allow a new voter identification law to go into force in North Dakota for the upcoming election.