The Paper Trail: August 6, 2024

Delivered Tuesdays and Fridays, The Paper Trail is a curated collection of the government news you need to know. Sign up to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox.

The Paper Trail

Top stories for August 6, 2024

Secret Service’s tech flaws helped gunman evade detection at Trump rally: Technologies that might have prevented the shooting failed because they were improperly deployed or because the Secret Service chose not to use them, giving a 20-year-old gunman an advantage over a $3 billion agency. (Eric Lipton and David A. Fahrenthold, New York Times)

FDIC leaders let anti-harassment initiatives falter: An inspector general review found the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation still hasn’t implemented an effective sexual harassment prevention program. “As a result, the FDIC is experiencing an environment of distrust, and many employees do not feel comfortable reporting sexual harassment at the FDIC,” according to the IG. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

Biden’s efforts to assist transgender students are unraveling: A new regulation updates a federal anti-discrimination law to bolster protections for transgender and pregnant students. But nearly half of the states haven’t implemented the new rule due to pending legal challenges, and other states aren’t sure how to. (Bianca Quilantan, Politico)

EPA oversight of drinking water infrastructure spending by states: Newly obtained EPA documents show the challenges states face directing federal drinking water infrastructure funds to disadvantaged communities. (Nick Schwellenbach, Project On Government Oversight)

The federal judiciary has improved its policies against workplace misconduct, but not at all levels: The GAO found that while the judiciary has taken steps to address workplace misconduct, there are gaps at the circuit level, as well as in measuring effectiveness and data reporting. (Carten Cordell, Government Executive)

IRS program to assist poor taxpayers rarely picks up the phone: Local offices for an IRS program that provides free help to taxpayers who are experiencing financial hardship rarely pick up their phones, according to a new watchdog report. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

Israel-Hamas War

For college students arrested protesting the war in Gaza, the fallout was only beginning: Some 3,200 people were arrested this spring during the wave of pro-Palestinian protests at campuses around the country. Many of those arrested face continued legal limbo and uncertainty in their academic careers. (Namu Sampath et al., Associated Press)

Supreme Court Ethics

Justice Thomas failed to reveal more private flights, senator says: According to a letter Sen. Ron Wyden sent to real estate billionaire Harlan Crow’s lawyer, Clarence Thomas failed to publicly disclose a round trip he and his wife took between Hawaii and New Zealand in November 2010 on Crow’s private jet. Wyden also cited reports that the justice had accompanied Crow to Greece, Russia, and the Baltics but failed to disclose those trips. (Abbie VanSickle, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Gorsuch on Biden Supreme Court proposals: “Be careful”: (Josh Gerstein, Politico)

Insurrection

Inspector general issues report on Secret Service’s handling of Jan. 6 attack: In its long-awaited findings on the Secret Service’s handling of the insurrection, the DHS inspector general found the agency “did not anticipate” the level of violence that occurred that day. The IG also found the Secret Service didn’t adequately sweep the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, where a pipe bomb had been placed the night before. (Maria Sacchetti and Jacqueline Alemany, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Judge orders U.S. to return spear, helmet to “QAnon Shaman” (Tom Jackman, Washington Post)

Secretaries of state urge Musk to fix AI chatbot spreading false election info: Five secretaries of state sent an open letter to Elon Musk on Monday urging him to immediately implement changes to X’s AI chatbot Grok, after it shared with millions of users false information about ballot deadlines. States are grappling with an onslaught of AI-driven election misinformation. (Sarah Ellison and Amy Gardner, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: X suspends “White Dudes for Harris” account after massive fundraiser (Trisha Thadani, Will Oremus, and Eva Dou, Washington Post)

Dobbs Aftermath

States have spent nearly $500 million on anti-abortion counseling centers since fall of Roe: States that ban or restrict abortion have flooded anti-abortion counseling centers with nearly $500 million in taxpayer funding since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (Jessica Kegu, CBS News)

Police Misconduct

Four years later, IG report says Barr did not order Lafayette Square cleared: A Justice Department inspector general review concluded that the police response during the 2020 racial justice protests in the park near the White House was hampered by miscommunication, poor leadership, and unprepared law enforcement officers. The IG also found that then-Attorney General William Barr didn’t personally order protesters cleared from the park, despite the agency’s claim at the time that he did. (Perry Stein, Washington Post)

New Louisiana law serves as a warning to bystanders who film police: stay away or face arrest: Louisiana is the fourth state to enact a “police buffer law” which allows police to order people to keep a certain distance away from officers in the line of duty. Journalists say the law will make it harder to document instances of excessive force. (Richard A. Webster, ProPublica)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Military jobs with high deployment pace, blast exposure correlated with higher suicide rates, data shows: Between 2011 and 2021, the jobs with the highest suicide rates were armored and amphibious vehicle crew members, infantry, combat engineers, explosive ordnance disposal and divers, combat operations control troops, and artillerymen assigned to gun and rocket units. (Davis Winkie, Military.com)

Analysis: How the defense industry price gouges the Pentagon: Congress doesn’t yet have the tools it needs to investigate and root out defense contractor fleecing of the government. (Julia Gledhill, The National Interest)

Business and Finance

FTC to probe stubbornly high grocery prices: FTC Chair Lina Khan vowed to “shed light on why it is that prices and profits remain so high, even as costs appear to have come down.” (Tara Suter, The Hill)

Amazon forced to recall 400,000 products that could kill, electrocute people: Amazon failed to adequately alert customers to serious risks — including death and electrocution — that the Consumer Product Safety Commission found with more than 400,000 products that third parties sold on its platform and which may still be in widespread use. (Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica)

State pension funds eye crypto investments, cheered on by lobbyists: Pension funds are exploring investments in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, a move that could expose millions of retirees to the wild ups and downs of a largely unregulated financial product. (Tony Romm, Washington Post)

Tech

DOJ, states win Google search antitrust case: A federal judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the online search and advertising markets. The ruling now sets up a thornier question to be decided in a separate trial: how to fix the problem. (Josh Sisco, Politico)

Low-income homes drop Internet service after Congress kills discount program: Congress’ failure to renew the broadband discount program is starting to result in disconnection of Internet service for many low-income Americans. (Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica)

DOJ sues TikTok, alleging “massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy”: The DOJ accused the video platform of illegally collecting data on millions of kids. (Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica)

Meta reaches $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over privacy violations: The parent company of Facebook and Instagram agreed to pay Texas $1.4 billion to settle allegations that it had illegally collected facial recognition information on millions of users. (Cecilia Kang, New York Times)

Infrastructure

More Americans are moving into flood and fire hot spots: More than 300,000 Americans moved to flood- or fire-prone counties last year, despite the growing threat posed by climate change — a continuation of a years-long trend of people disproportionately relocating to climate-vulnerable areas. (Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post)

Justice Department sues freight railroad to improve Amtrak service: The DOJ accused Norfolk Southern of flouting a federal law that gives Amtrak trains priority over freight trains, causing chronic delays on Amtrak’s route between New York City and New Orleans. (Daniel C. Vock, Government Executive)

Health Care

Nearly half of insured Americans get surprise expenses in medical bills, study finds: Americans often get hit with surprise medical expenses, but a new survey found a majority don’t contest billing errors or coverage denials — mostly because they don’t know they have the right to do so. (Kate Gibson, CBS News)

Number of Americans without health insurance rises in 2024, breaking streak of record-low figures: More than 8% of Americans (about 27 million people) didn’t have health insurance during the first months of 2024. Experts credit recent record low uninsured rates to pandemic-era changes to health insurance. (Alexander Tin, CBS News)

How much alcohol is too much for a driver?: The current national drunk-driving limit wasn’t established until 2000, when Congress passed a bill that required all states to set their blood-alcohol content limit at .08 in order to receive federal highway funds. Experts say the limit should be lowered to .05. (Dana G. Smith, New York Times)

ICYMI

Project 2025:

→ Project 2025 shakes up leadership after criticism from Democrats and Trump, but says work goes on

→ Project 2025 decried as racist. Some contributors have trail of racist writings, activity

→ The man behind Project 2025’s most radical plans

→ How Project 2025 would put U.S. elections at risk

→ Opinion: How to harden our defenses against an authoritarian president

Immigration and Border Security:

→ The truth about “migrant crime” during the Trump administration

→ Weaponizing immigration: Republican cash is tapping into a massive online network to demonize migrants as criminals

→ Immigrant investor visas, new projects imperiled by unpaid fees

Other News:

→ Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis agrees to cooperate in Arizona elector case

→ How the 9/11 plea deal came undone

→ Who are the two major hackers Russia just received in a prisoner swap?

→ Federal employees exposed to lead and bacteria in water due to delayed GSA response, IG says

→ DOJ finds Texas violated the civil rights of youth in detention centers

→ Nearly 1,000 Native children died at boarding schools, Interior Dept. finds

→ With voting under attack, Arizona schools don’t want to be polling locations

Upcoming Events

📌 Zoom Webinar: U.S. Supreme Court: Judicial Ethics & Recusal Forum. Ohio Fair Courts Alliance and Common Cause Ohio. Thursday, August 15, 7:00 p.m. ET

Hot Docs

🔥📃 DHS OIG: The Secret Service’s Preparation for, and Response to, the Events of January 6, 2021. OIG-24-42 (PDF)

🔥📃 DOJ OIG: A Review of the Department of Justice’s Response to Protest Activity and Civil Unrest in Washington, D.C. in Late May and Early June 2020. 24-085 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Federal Judiciary: Additional Actions Would Strengthen Efforts to Prevent and Address Workplace Misconduct. GAO-24-105638 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Human Trafficking: Agencies Need to Adopt a Systematic Approach to Manage Risks in Contracts. GAO-24-106973 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Thrift Savings Plan: Investment Board Needs to Greatly Improve Acquisition Management and Contractor Oversight. GAO-24-106319 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Critical Infrastructure Protection: EPA Urgently Needs a Strategy to Address Cybersecurity Risks to Water and Wastewater Systems. GAO-24-106744 (PDF)

🔥📃 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction: Quarterly Report to Congress. July 30, 2024 (PDF)

Nominations & Appointments

Nominations

• Anthony J. Brindisi - Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
• Thomas B. Chapman - Member, National Transportation Safety Board
• Tiffany R. Johnson - Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• Angela M. Kerwin - Ambassador, Brunei
• James Graham Lake - Judge, District of Columbia Superior Court
• Nicholas George Miranda - Judge, District of Columbia Superior Court
• Keli M. Neary - Judge, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
• Lisa M. Re - Inspector General, U.S. Department of Commerce
• Kristi Zuleika Lane Scott - Inspector General, National Security Agency