As the nation anticipates a potential indictment of former President Trump for his efforts to overturn a free and fair election, a major component of that effort — the fake electors plot — has been in the spotlight again.

That scheme involved Trump supporters in seven swing states (which Trump lost) signing their names to forged certificates in which they falsely said they were their respective states’ valid electors. This week, Slate published a backgrounder on the fake electors plot, from its inception and the unsuccessful campaign to get Vice President Pence on board to the spring 2021 publishing of the certificates by American Oversight.  

• Last week’s announcement that Michigan’s 16 fake electors are facing criminal charges has led to renewed scrutiny on the fake electors in other states and those who have supported them.

Of course, an indictment of Trump for his role in seeking to overturn his 2020 loss wouldn’t be the only one he faces. On Thursday, the former president was charged with new crimes related to his alleged mishandling of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago, and the resort’s property manager was also named as a defendant. 

Here are recent headlines related to the federal Trump investigations:

• Trump’s legal team meets with special counsel as federal indictment looms (CNN)

• Special counsel scrutinizing Trump 2020 meeting where he praised US election security protections (CNN)
• Special counsel received documents from Giuliani team that tried to find fraud after 2020 election (CNN)
• Kemp, Ga. governor, contacted by Trump special counsel in 2020 probe (Washington Post)
• Trump grand jury hears testimony from aide who was with him on Jan. 6 (NBC News)
• Wisconsin’s top elections official interviewed as part of federal Jan. 6 investigation (Wisconsin Public Radio) 

On the Records

Florida Textbook Revisions
According to a new report from the Washington Post that cites documents uncovered by American Oversight, the wave of far-right education measures have left textbook companies struggling with declining sales and a lack of clear guidance on how to apply the new restrictions.

• In one email that was highlighted by the Post, an executive from McGraw Hill asked the Florida Department of Education about a requirement that social studies materials include unedited primary source documents. “What does ‘unedited’ mean?” the executive asked, outlining concerns with the unclear requirement.
• Another set of emails shows an executive from Accelerate Learning repeatedly seeking more information about why one of the company’s courses had not been included on the department’s recommended list. “We worked really hard … to follow the guidance we were given from the DOE every step of the way so it surprises me that someone found that we specifically mentioned culturally relevant teaching.”
• “Culturally responsive teaching” was one of the “special topics” textbook reviewers were looking for, though as another publisher wrote in a letter to the education department, those topics were not well-defined.

The documents also contain previously unseen examples of how in the absence of clear guidance, lessons in math textbooks were changed to remove references to different cultures.

• The exchanges with Accelerate reveal that after not having been “given specific examples,” the company conducted its own review of courses that had been flagged for “culturally responsive teaching,” identifying three examples in which they highlighted different cultures.
• For example, one lesson that explained the global history of coffee and tea to introduce adding and subtracting decimal numbers was replaced with a passage about working in an animal hospital. You can see those changes here. 
• Read more here about our lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education for records related to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ sweeping education changes 

New Emails Related to Trump’s Infamous Ukraine Call
On July 25, 2019, in the now-infamous call that led to his first impeachment, former President Trump repeatedly asked Ukrainian President Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden. We recently obtained emails sent by State Department officials that day regarding the call.

• In one email, T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, a senior State Department official, wrote to U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, “Thanks for all you did to make the Ukraine call happen!” 
• In another email, Brechbuhl wrote to Sondland, “[Secretary of State Mike Pompeo] told me we should work to get that scheduled.” What this refers to is redacted.

Other Stories We’re Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

• Hand-counting ballots is less accurate, more expensive, and takes longer (Votebeat)
• Before Jan. 6, Mark Meadows joked about Trump’s election claims (Washington Post)
• Rudy Giuliani concedes he made false statements against two Georgia election workers (NPR)
• Wisconsin’s election office in limbo after GOP tries to force out its director (Bolts)
• Republican promoters of election fraud falsehoods approve ballot hand-counts (Guardian) 

Voting Rights

• Tennessee toughens voting rules for people with felony convictions (The Guardian)
• Alabama Republicans refuse to draw a second Black congressional district in defiance of Supreme Court (NBC News)
• A Mississippi law limits who can help mail-in voters. A federal court struck it down (NPR)
• 16 states made it harder to vote this year. But 26 made it easier. (FiveThirtyEight)
• Virginia says governor weighs circumstances of crimes in deciding on restoring felons’ voting rights (Associated Press) 

In the States

• Texas A&M suspended professor accused of criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in lecture (Texas Tribune)
• Arkansas libraries revise policies in anticipation of law on ‘obscene’ content taking effect (Arkansas Advocate)
• School board in Missouri, now controlled by conservatives, revokes anti-racism resolution (Associated Press)
• States siphoned millions in infrastructure law climate, emissions funds (Washington Post) 
• Mississippi remains an outlier in jailing people with serious mental illness without charges (ProPublica)
• Texas charges prisoners 50% more for water as heat wave continues (Texas Public Radio)
• New law shields DeSantis’ use of state vehicles to campaign (Orlando Sentinel) 

National News

• Conservative legal activist rebuffs Democratic request for information on fishing trip with Justice Samuel Alito (CNN)
• ‘Active club’ hate groups are growing in the U.S. — and making themselves seen (NPR) 
• Trump needed $225 million. A little-known bank came to the rescue. (Washington Post)

LGBTQ Rights

• Families of transgender children and advocacy groups sue to block a Missouri law banning most gender-affirming care for minors (CNN)
• Laws banning gender-affirming treatments can block trans youth from receiving other care (Stateline)
• Booksellers sue over Texas law requiring them to rate books for appropriateness (Texas Tribune)
• Transgender patients sue the hospital that provided their records to Tennessee’s attorney general (Associated Press)

Abortion and Reproductive Rights

• Florida abortions top 38,000 in the first half of 2023 as 6-week ban case hearing looms (Pensacola News Journal)
• Ohio abortion clinics continue to help out-of-state patients as bans are put in place (Ohio Capital Journal)
• Operation Save America anti-abortion event offers mixed messages of calls to violence (Georgia Recorder)
• Anti-abortion pregnancy centers sue Vermont (Vermont Public)
• GOP looks to spending fights for wins on abortion, trans care, contraception (Politico)
• Maternal deaths are expected to rise under abortion bans, but the increase may be hard to measure (ProPublica)

Government Transparency and Public Records Law

• New Missouri laws could limit access to police records, public college investments (Kansas City Star)
• Minnesota agency’s plan to delete emails after a year stirs criticism from open records advocates (Associated Press)
• San Jose sued over public records — again (San José Spotlight) 

Immigration

• Number of migrant families with kids crossing U.S. border nearly triples in two months (NBC News)
• Justice Department sues Texas after Gov. Abbott refuses to remove floating barrier (NPR)
• Border Patrol caging migrants outside in deadly Arizona heatwave (Intercept)
• Critics question taxpayers’ footing the bill for Nebraska State Patrol border missions (Nebraska Examiner)
• Gov Abbott’s policing of Texas border pushes limit of state power (New York Times)
• Texas troopers purchased Israeli phone-tracking software for ‘border emergency’ (Intercept)
• Facing sex discrimination claims, Texas begins jailing migrant women under border crackdown (Texas Tribune)