News Roundup: Bringing Transparency to Wisconsin Secret Impeachment Panel

After nearly a month of keeping key facts about his secret impeachment panel hidden from the public, this week Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos faced a steady stream of information finally coming to light — thanks in large part to American Oversight’s work.

Vos had announced back in mid-September that he’d convened a panel of former state Supreme Court justices to advise him on the potential impeachment of Justice Janet Protasiewicz, but he had refused to name all the members or inform the public about their meetings and work. But this week, the people of Wisconsin finally learned who all was on the panel, and also that two of its members had recommended against impeachment.

• In September, American Oversight filed a lawsuit alleging that the panel was a violation of the state’s Open Meetings Law, which requires that governmental bodies provide notice of meetings and hold them in open session. We also filed public records requests for related communications and documents.
• Until this week, former Justice David Prosser had been the only known member of the three-person panel. During a hearing in our lawsuit, he said that they had met to discuss the issue but refused to name the other members.

On Monday, American Oversight obtained records from Prosser in response to our request to the secret panel. The documents indicated former Justice Patience Roggensack was also involved — and they also included an Oct. 6 letter from Prosser to Vos in which Prosser advised against impeachment.

• “To impeach a justice solely to delay a case or cases will be viewed as unreasonable partisan politics,” Prosser wrote.
• The release of Prosser’s opinion appeared to be a setback for Vos’ effort to remove Protasiewicz for her refusal to recuse herself from redistricting-related cases. “Republican lawmakers in this political battleground state appear to be easing off” the impeachment effort, the Washington Post reported.

Then on Tuesday, Vos revealed in court filings in American Oversight’s lawsuit the names of the other two members.

• In a declaration accompanying a brief opposing our motion for a temporary restraining order on any further secret meetings, Vos named Roggensack, as well as former Justice Jon Wilcox, who in September had told the Associated Press that he was not on the panel. 
• On Wednesday, Wilcox told the Associated Press, “I do not favor impeachment.”
• Vos has now said that he would instead be looking at how Protasiewicz rules on redistricting, signaling that he likely would not seek impeachment based on her decision not to recuse. 

“But for American Overisight’s quick work to seek records and challenge Speaker Vos’s plan to proceed in secret, the Wisconsin people still would not know who Speaker Vos had tasked for his advisory panel, and Justice Prosser’s opinion against impeachment might not have seen the light of day either,” said Heather Sawyer, American Oversight’s executive director.

• The next hearing in our open meetings lawsuit is scheduled for next Thursday, Oct. 19.

On the Records

EEOC Commissioner’s Communications with Anti-Abortion Groups
Records we obtained, reported on by Politico, show that Andrea Lucas, a commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, solicited comments directly from prominent anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ groups regarding the EEOC’s enforcement plans.

• Last year, Bloomberg Law had reported that Lucas had used “commissioner charges” — a process that allows EEOC members to start a discrimination investigation without a majority vote — to investigate companies’ abortion travel policies.
• The documents we obtained show that Lucas asked the right-wing Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to comment on the EEOC’s intended law enforcement priorities. She also requested input from the Family Research Council, another influential religious right-wing organization.
• “It’s important to shed light on public officials who are speaking with groups at the center of that nationwide effort to roll back protections” for LGBTQ and abortion rights, Heather Sawyer told Politico.
• ADF has played a major role in the wave of abortion restrictions and anti-LGBTQ measures. Recently, we wrote about documents we obtained showing Florida leaders’ meetings with ADF and other right-wing groups. And you can learn more about our ongoing investigation into threats to abortion rights here.

Other Stories We’re Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

• ‘Alive and well’: Election deniers linger in statewide, presidential elections (USA Today)
• Mike Lindell’s lawyers say he owes ‘millions’ in fees (New York Times)
• MyPillow goes dark: Mike Lindell pauses TV ads amid financial struggles (Daily Beast)
• Judge in Cochise County dismisses election lawsuit related to jail tax (Arizona Republic)
• Jim Jordan repeatedly pushed false stolen election rhetoric in lead-up to January 6 (CNN)
• Push to hand count ballots throws a Texas county’s election administration into chaos (Votebeat)

Voting Rights

• North Carolina Republicans enact voting changes that weaken governor’s ability to oversee elections (Associated Press)
• North Carolina Republicans override governor’s veto on key election law (Washington Post)
• How Florida’s sluggish voter registration process sent ex-prisoners back to jail (The Appeal)
• Alabama is creating its own voter database. Experts aren’t sure that’s wise. (News from the States)
• Miyares orders group to stop sending misleading election fliers in Va. (Washington Post)
• Warner, Kaine urge DOJ to probe Gov. Youngkin’s ‘purge’ of voter rolls (Washington Post)
• National anti-gerrymandering group gives Ohio redistricting failing grade (Ohio Capital Journal)
• Supreme Court seems inclined to reinstate disputed South Carolina map (Washington Post)
• ‘It keeps me up at night’: Michigan officials struggle to carry out citizen-led voting changes for 2024 (NBC News)

In the States

• Missouri asks Supreme Court to revive state law barring local police from helping to enforce federal gun laws (CNN)
• Dan Patrick says PAC leader’s meeting with white supremacist was a “blunder,” but will keep group’s $3 million contribution (Texas Tribune)
• Ark. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to face GOP-led audit over $19K lectern (Washington Post)
• Inmate deaths raise questions about temperatures in Oklahoma prisons (Oklahoma Watch)

LGBTQ Rights

• Wisconsin GOP to vote on banning youth transgender surgery, barring transgender girls from sports (Associated Press)
• Transgender restrictions pass Assembly with GOP votes, get hearing in Senate (Wisconsin Examiner)
• Full appeals court will hear Arkansas AG’s request to reverse ruling on transgender care for minors (Arkansas Advocate)
• Federal judge in Oklahoma clears the way for a ban on medical care for transgender young people (Associated Press)
• Sex education classes often don’t include LGBTQ+ students. New restrictions could make it worse (Associated Press)
• ‘A mess’: Nebraska gender-affirming care in disarray as new restrictions puzzle providers (The Hill)

Abortion and Reproductive Rights

• In quick reversal, Ninth Circuit will reconsider Idaho abortion case (Idaho Capital Sun)
• Missouri’s strict abortion ban could change. Even a GOP-led group thinks it should. (NPR)
• Florida’s Republican attorney general will oppose putting abortion rights amendment on 2024 ballot (Associated Press)
• Conservatives target Ohio to end their losing streak on abortion votes (Politico)
• Abortion rights are on a winning streak at the ballot box. Ohio could test that. (19th News)
• Judge’s order cancels event that would have blocked sole entrance to a Kansas abortion clinic (Associated Press)
• Report: Abortion declined significantly in North Carolina in first month after new restrictions (Associated Press)
• Abortion opponents are trying to deter people from traveling out of state for care (19th News)
• Abortion bans complicate medical training, risk worsening OB/GYN shortages (Washington Post)

Threats to Education

• Okla. board moves forward with nation’s first religious charter school (Washington Post)
• Texas schools chief took over Houston district, but has let underperforming charter networks expand (Texas Tribune)
• Book bans in Texas spread as new state law takes effect (Texas Tribune)
• Is Pennridge secretly banning books? This dad went to court to find out. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Guns are seized in U.S. schools each day. The numbers are soaring. (Washington Post)
• With Moms for Liberty endorsement, ‘Science of Reading’ faces more political controversy (Education Week)
• Moms for Liberty meets its match: Parents in this swing suburban district are fighting back (Salon)
• Despite Ohio State Board of Education President canceling meeting, 11 members met anyway (Ohio Capital Journal)
• New College of Florida dropout rate spikes, retention rate falls amid DeSantis’ transition (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

Government Transparency and Public Records Law

• NC treasurer bucks Republican legislative leaders on their public records exemption (Raleigh News & Observer)
• Florida settles Covid-19 public records lawsuit, agrees to release weekly data on its website again (Orlando Sentinel)
• Missouri attorney general vows to complete 2022 public records requests by end of this year (Missouri Independent)
• Emails support whistleblower’s claim that Arkansas governor altered public records, attorney says (Arkansas Advocate)
• New Jersey’s high court weighs whether prosecutors’ group is a public agency (New Jersey Monitor)

Immigration

• Texas private company paid $75 million in 1 year to bus migrants out of state, report shows (KTRK)
• Texas Senate committee moves quickly to advance immigration and border legislation (Texas Public Radio)
• Justice Department won’t charge border patrol agents who killed Native American man (Intercept)

Trump Accountability

• Is Mar-a-Lago worth $1 billion? Trump’s winter home valuations are at the core of his fraud trial (Associated Press)
• After years of exaggerating his business assets, Trump confronts them in court (Washington Post)
• A tantalizing detail in a new Trump legal filing (Washington Post)
• Donald Trump’s classified documents case gets new questions from judge and attorneys (NPR)
• Judge scolds prosecutors as she delays hearing for co-defendant in Trump classified documents case (Associated Press)
• Colorado judge strikes down Trump’s attempt to toss a lawsuit seeking to bar him from the ballot (Associated Press)

Jan. 6 Investigations

• Prosecution witness list grows in Trump Fulton election case (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Alex Jones, Ronna McDaniel potential witnesses in Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro’s Georgia trial (Associated Press)
• Facing big legal bills, defendants in Georgia Trump case seek donations (New York Times)
• Citing Trump’s social posts, special counsel asks for juror protections in election interference case (ABC News)