Last October, an explosive report revealed that One America News (OAN) – the Trump-approved, ultra-conservative cable “news” network – exists largely thanks to AT&T. [1] Not only was AT&T responsible for 90% of OAN’s revenue – but AT&T executives allegedly approached OAN’s founder and encouraged him to start the network, saying the company wanted to add a Fox News competitor to its collection. In response to these revelations, more than 120,000 Common Cause members signed a petition urging AT&T to cut ties with One America News (OAN). And now, AT&T has announced that it will DROP OAN from its DirecTV platform when its contract expires this spring. This decision will drastically limit OAN’s reach, and with it, its ability to spread dangerous disinformation about the integrity of our elections – lies that incited a deadly attack at our Capitol last January and hundreds of anti-voter bills in states. This is a major victory in our fight against election disinformation – but more must be done. AT&T has, through a number of financial entanglements and quid pro quo agreements, been instrumental in OAN’s success. Now, the company must publicly commit to terminating their relationship altogether. AT&T is clearly listening to consumers. If you agree that the company should cut all financial and business ties with One America News, add your name today. 1) https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-oneamerica-att/

The New York Grand Jury has voted to indict Donald Trump of crimes related to paying hush money to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. On top of that, he was found guilty in a civil case against E. Jean Carroll, and he's just been indicted by a federal court for his theft of federal documents. Trump and his team are also likely to face indictments in Georgia for their attempts to manipulate the state’s 2020 election results, and Trump is also under investigation by the Department of Justice for his role in inciting the deadly January 6 insurrection, as well as for covering up his possession of highly classified documents. Donald Trump has a decades-long history of criminality and corruption, and for too long he has been allowed to skate by without legal consequences for his actions. Enough is enough. We will never stop fighting to make our claims of "justice for all" a reality: he will be punished for all of his crimes, and we will see to it that his co-conspirators are as well, from Marjorie Taylor Greene to Jair Bolsonaro. Join over 350,000 MoveOn members and sign the petition now demanding for the Department of Justice to move forward with charging Trump as well—because nobody is above the law.

New reports expose how Trump may have repeatedly broken the law during his presidency. These violations could be punishable by fines or imprisonment – or perhaps even disqualify him from holding public office again. According to his former staffers, Trump had a habit of indiscriminately tearing up documents – like “briefings and schedules, articles and letters, memos both sensitive and mundane.” [1] This may be a violation of the Presidential Records Act, which was enacted after Richard Nixon’s presidency to prevent another Watergate-style cover-up. If the Department of Justice investigates Trump’s actions and determines that he broke this law, he could face serious legal consequences. As one of the ex-president’s former staffers put it: “[Trump] didn’t want a record of anything. He never stopped ripping things up.” Another senior official noted that he and other White House staffers were regularly told to put torn-up documents into “burn bags” to be destroyed. Later, teams would have to dump the bags out and put pieces back together like a jigsaw puzzle to figure out what needed to be saved. The Presidential Records Act was passed specifically to prevent this kind of dangerous behavior. But thanks to Trump’s blatant disregard for the law, we will never have a full record of his presidency. Add your name if you agree that the Justice Department needs to investigate Trump’s document destruction – and that if he violated the law, he must be held accountable. 1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/05/trump-ripping-documents/

Our kids deserve the opportunity to be taught American history in its entirety – not just history about white Americans. The extremist GOP doesn’t get to take away our right to teach students about complex histories. We can all play a part in fighting back against white supremacy and misinformation in our schools by sending a clear message to school boards, principals and superintendents that our children should be taught accurately about the history of this nation.

We need to make our voices heard to members of the Arizona Legislature that loaded, concealed guns don't belong on our college campuses. The Senate bill is moving and could be voted on very soon on the floor. Please sign this petition and share with friends. We will deliver all signatures to lawmakers in Phoenix. Thanks for all you do. Andy Pelosi The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus

This special treatment for elite universities began when Congress passed a law allowing schools with “need-blind” admissions — meaning students’ ability to pay is not factored into their applications — to collaborate on the formulas used to determine the level of aid. In theory, this law was intended to prevent discrimination against college applicants on the basis of wealth. But in practice, eliminating price competition among 28 of the wealthiest universities in the US may have enabled those schools to cut financial aid packages without fear of losing applicants to competing schools. The policy may have led to exclusion of low income applicants, and may be driving the skyrocketing tuition costs the US has seen over the past 30 years. Since 1990, public university tuition has nearly tripled — perhaps because other schools set tuition relative to elite colleges. The DOJ must investigate the 28 member universities of the ‘568 Presidents’ Group’ for potential discrimination on the basis of income and for possibly overcharging students on financial aid hundreds of millions of dollars in total over the past 18 years!

Even if Democrats nominate and confirm the progressive Black woman Supreme Court justice this country needs, the far right will retain its supermajority on the court… and continue trumping the public interest and eroding our basic rights in the years to come. But the situation isn’t futile. Congress can pass legislation to rebalance the Supreme Court now, before Republicans have the chance to secure a Congressional majority in the midterms. It’s constitutional, it’s happened before, and it’s the only way to disrupt the dangerous path we’re on. Unless Congress acts now, before Republicans have the chance to secure a congressional majority in the midterms, the Supreme Court will keep handing down pro-business decisions for years to come.

The dangers of gathering in public spaces during a pandemic, along with the regular challenges to attending town board meetings in person due to disability or conflicting work schedules continue to keep many residents from fully participating in local government. As both the technology and the volunteers exist to implement this change immediately, we request that the board sanction, announce and facilitate such an effort forthwith.

Dogs deserve better

The US government supports seven of nine dictatorships across the Middle East. Many of these dictators -- and other brutal governments -- hire lobbyists, public relations experts and advisors to help influence US politicians and shape the American mind. Here are some terrible examples: - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's former chief of staff Nadeam Elshami is now a lobbyist for Egypt's dictator. - Former Republican US senator Norm Coleman is a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia's dictatorship. His firm, Hogan Lovells, has received almost $14 million from the Saudi monarchy since 2014. - Former Republican Member of Congress Ed Royce is also now a lobbyist for Egypt's dictator. - And former Republican Member of Congress Howard “Buck” McKeon and his firm have made over $2 million from lobbying for Saudi Arabia’s dictatorship since 2016. These former elected officials and congressional staff earn vast amounts of money supporting the very dictators and oil monarchies that make life miserable for people across the planet. US representatives and senators must refuse to meet with lobbyists, advisors, and public relations experts who work for dictators or apartheid governments. SOURCES: 1) Middle East dictatorships backed by the U.S.: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman. 2) “Egypt assembles bipartisan lobbying team for post-Trump era,” Julian Pecquet, Middle East Eye, November 11, 2020, https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-assembles-bipartisan-lobbying-team-post-donald-trump-era 3) “Biden Should Stop Payment on U.S. Funds To Sisi's Egypt,” Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold, Common Dreams, February 12, 2021, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/02/12/biden-should-stop-payment-us-funds-sisis-egypt 4) “Norm Coleman: Former U.S. Senator Now Lobbyist and Agent for the Saudi Government,” Democracy for the Arab World Now, October 22, 2021, https://dawnmena.org/norm-coleman-former-u-s-senator-now-lobbyist-and-agent-for-the-saudi-government/ 5) “Egypt assembles bipartisan lobbying team for post-Trump era,” Julian Pecquet, Middle East Eye, November 11, 2020, https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-assembles-bipartisan-lobbying-team-post-donald-trump-era 6) “Buck McKeon and Firm Made Over $2 Million Lobbying for Saudi Government,” October 15, 2021, Democracy for the Arab World Now, https://dawnmena.org/buck-mckeon-and-firm-made-over-2-million-lobbying-for-saudi-government/

The IRS wants taxpayers to provide credit history and submit to facial recognition just to access their tax information online. They’ve hired a third party company called ID.me to verify user identity even though it’s common knowledge that facial recognition technology has racial and gender biases. Anyone who cares about privacy and racial justice should be up in arms. That’s why we’re pressuring President Biden to end the contract between the IRS and ID.me. Sign the petition: Demand President Biden end facial recognition at the IRS! ID.me’s verification process is so invasive that a technology reporter at Gizmodo felt “sufficiently creeped out” and refused to finish it.1 If ID.me is allowed to continue working with the IRS then every tax filer will have to give over personal information – like photo IDs and access to consumer credit reports – just to access their tax information online. But this gets much worse! The CEO at ID.me got caught lying to journalists about how it uses facial recognition2 and admitted that the company uses Amazon Rekognition, which is well known to have racial biases. The IRS already 1) has enough of our sensitive income information, and 2) is scarily underfunded. They shouldn’t be spending more of their resources on an untrustworthy third party vendor who wants to scoop up more of your information and subject you to racist facial recognition technology. The Treasury Department is already asking the IRS to reconsider this contract, but President Biden can end this private contract with the stroke of a pen. That’s why we’re taking the issue directly to him. Sign the petition: Demand President Biden end facial recognition at the IRS! Sources: 1. Gizmodo, “IRS Will Require Facial Recognition Scans to Access Your Taxes Online,” January 19, 2022. 2. Axios, “ID.me CEO apologizes for misstatements on IRS facial recognition,” January 27, 2022.

The health and safety of the Essex County Public School students, teachers and staff is of the utmost importance. Essex County Public Schools had to release students early on February 4, 2022, due to a staff shortage. Many teachers and staff members believe the learning environment is unsafe and do not want to put themselves at risk of contracting COVID-19. An Essex High School student was sent to the principal on February 3, 2022, after a teacher discovered a flyer organizing a student walkout. The flyer read, “Covid-19 is real. We lost too many lives," and asked students to walk out for 16 minutes in honor of the 16,412 people who lost their lives due COVID-19 in Virginia. A parent of a special needs student who is nonverbal and wheelchair bound, said she took her daughter out of school because of health and safety concerns. Signing this petition is important because we cannot allow elected officials to put the health and safety of our children and community at-risk. By prematurely ending COVID-19 mitigation strategies and protocols, the school district is unable to provide a safe environment for students to receive a free appropriate public education.