The Supreme Court

Americans are reeling from the revelation of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, penned by Justice Samuel Alito. While the Senate plans to vote on codifying abortion rights into law and several state governments have vowed to protect abortion rights, some states this week looked to new severe restrictions.

• More than a dozen states have already passed “trigger” laws that would ban most abortions if Roe is overturned, and low-income pregnant people and people of color who already face significant barriers to abortion access will remain disproportionately affected.
• Opponents of abortion rights in state legislatures will likely seek ways to prevent residents from going to other states to end pregnancies, and the Washington Post reports that state efforts to police the shipment of abortion medication by mail “will probably become another front in the battle over abortion rights.”

Efforts to Undermine Democracy

It’s now been a year and a half since the 2020 election, and calls for the results to be overturned are still dangerously numerous. Those calls have been fed by the parade of partisan election investigations, despite officials’ professions that those investigations were meant merely to verify the results.

• A recently released audio recording reveals that in March, Arizona Senate President Karen Fann — who claimed that the “audit” of Maricopa County’s election was undertaken to improve future elections — said that if the state attorney general verifies the review’s results and finds the election “uncertifiable,” then he will need to take the matter to court.
• Meanwhile, in our lawsuit for the release of records from the “audit,” the Arizona Senate’s ongoing and losing battle to conceal those records from the public has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands. This coming Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court will hear the Senate’s appeal of lower court rulings that rejected the Senate’s broad use of legislative privilege to withhold related records.

This week came another victory in one of our lawsuits for records from the election inquiry in Wisconsin, with a judge ordering the State Assembly and Speaker Robin Vos not to delete records from the early months of the review.

• “I’m frankly amazed that I have to say don’t destroy records that are subject to an open records request or order that to occur,” said Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn. 
• Last month, another judge in a separate lawsuit ordered the Office of Special Counsel, the office headed by Michael Gableman that’s conducting the investigation, not to delete or destroy records that could be responsive to requests we’d filed.
• Gableman spoke at a rally last weekend with election deniers and some of Vos’ most vocal critics, including those pursuing the legally impossible idea of decertifying the election, saying that attendees needed to “do what’s necessary to support the people who see it our way.”

Here are other stories we’re reading about the Big Lie and election administration from around the country:

• U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman helped schedule Antrim lawsuit forensic team (Traverse City Record-Eagle)
• Lehigh County DA to monitor ballot drop-off boxes for violators (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Gaping holes in the claim of 2K ballot ‘mules’ (Associated Press)
• New Hampshire secretary of state’s pick for voter confidence commission draws criticism (New Hampshire Bulletin)
• Lehigh County DA to monitor ballot drop-off boxes for violators (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Election-system hard drive copies turned over to Colorado secretary of state (Colorado Newsline)

The Coronavirus Pandemic

This week, NBC News reported the tragic statistic that the United States has surpassed 1 million deaths from Covid, 27 months after the start of the pandemic. The World Health Organization estimates that globally, 15 million deaths were related to Covid-19, not only as a direct result of infection but also from overburdened health systems that were unable to treat other patients in need — indirect deaths that are not reflected in the U.S. toll.

• The CDC purchased location data from millions of phones to analyze compliance with pandemic curfews, track visits to schools, and observe the effectiveness of policies in the Navajo Nation, according to documents obtained by Vice.
• Trump appointees repeatedly blocked the CDC from providing public health briefings to the public, former Director Robert Redfield said duringa hearing last week before the House coronavirus subcommittee.
• As rising housing costs burden renters, homeowners have gained $6 trillion in home equity over the course of the pandemic.

The spread of a new subvariant has driven up case counts across the country. Nationwide, hospitalizations are at a daily average of more than 17,000. 

• Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely than white Americans to report being at least somewhat worried about Covid-19 infection, according to a recent Associated Press poll. People of color were also more likely to support mask mandates on airplanes and public transportation.
• The FDA plans to review and decide whether to authorize vaccines for children under 5 in June.
• The FDA also limited the use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine because of rare blood clot risks.
• Nasal spray vaccines could be easier to administer and more effective at combating new variants.
• Some positive cases have emerged from last week’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
• More than 40 percent of Chicago Police Department employees applied for an exemption to the city’s vaccine mandate, making up more than half of all city workers who received exemptions.

Other Stories We’re Following

In the States

• Texas school board candidates adopt ‘Southlake playbook,’ targeting race and sexuality (NBC News)
• Oklahoma stakes out new battleground on LGBTQ rights: Birth certificates (Washington Post)
• Abbott says Texas could ‘resurrect’ SCOTUS case requiring states to educate all kids (Austin American-Statesman)
• Abbott redirects $500 million from other agencies for border mission (Texas Tribune) 
• South Dakota ethics board grinds forward on Noem complaints (Associated Press)
• Facing Friday deadline, Ohio Redistricting Commission adjourns without plans to draw maps (Cincinnati Enquirer)
• Dangerous New Mexico wildfire menaces history city (Reuters)
• Florida reveals why it rejected math books over critical race theory (Politico)

National News

• The next frontier for the anti-abortion movement: A nationwide ban (Washington Post)
• They built the wall. Problems remain after founder’s guilty plea (ProPublica)
• The border wall Trump called unclimbable is taking a grim toll (Washington Post)
• Biden administration expands use of Title 42 after moving to end it (San Diego Tribune)

The Jan. 6 Investigation

• Three more House Republicans reject Jan. 6 committee request to testify voluntarily (NPR)
• Ivanka Trump talked to January 6 committee about what was happening inside the White House that day, panel chairman says (CNN)
• ‘Elephant in the room’: Police grapple with charges against officers in Jan. 6 Capitol attack (USA Today)
• Facebook provided warning to FBI before January 6, GAO report reveals (Just Security)
• Judge rejects RNC bid to block email, fundraising data from Jan. 6 panel (Washington Post)
• Oath Keepers leader sought to ask Trump to unleash his militia (New York Times)
• New audio: McCarthy said 25th Amendment ‘takes too long’ (CNN)
• Donald Trump Jr. appears before Jan. 6 committee, latest family member to meet with House panel (USA Today)
• Evidence mounts of GOP involvement in Trump election schemes (Associated Press)
• Giuliani withdraws from interview with Jan. 6 committee (ABC News)

Trump Accountability

• Trump organizations agree to pay $750,000 to settle lawsuit with District (Washington Post)
• Former Pentagon chief Mark Esper says Trump wanted to shoot protesters (Axios)
• DHS watchdog says Trump’s acting DHS secretary changed intel report on Russian interference in 2020 election (CBS News)