Subject: Gerrymandering Queens
They're at it again. In conjunction with Agenda 47 and Project 2025, we bring you Gov Ops.

Judd Legum @JuddLegum
1. Buried in North Carolina's 600+ page budget is a little-noticed provision that creates a secret police force, controlled by Republicans, with extraordinary powers.
2. The budget grants the Gov Ops Committee the right to seize 'any document or system of record' from anyone who works in or w/state & local government. This includes contractors or any entity that directly or indirectly receives state funds, including charities and colleges.
3. It gets worse. Gov Ops staff will be authorized to enter 'any building or facility' owned or leased by a state or non-state entity without a judicial warrant. This includes private homes, if it includes a home office of a contractor. (The Gezpacho!)
4. Alarmingly, public employees under investigation will be required to keep all communication and requests 'confidential.' They cannot alert their supervisor of the investigation nor consult with legal counsel. (WTF?) Those who refuse to cooperate face jail time and fines of up to 1K.
5. Gov Ops is dominated by Republicans and pursues partisan investigations. It is co-chaired by Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R). Gov Ops launched an inquiry into diversity training programs at the University of North Carolina earlier this year.
6. Berger and Moore claim this is all about oversight and transparency. But a separate provision of the budget <vb>allows them to reject any public records requests concerning the operation of Gov Ops. Shades of Gezpacho!
7. This is part of a broader effort to restrict public access to public records. The budget also repeals a law that required 'communications regarding redistricting' be made publicly available when new legislative maps were adopted.
8. North Carolina is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. In 2022, a gerrymandering trial exposed a top Republican redistricting official for using 'secret maps to help draft the state's redistricting plan.'
https://popular.info/p/north-c...

Media Bias: Overall, we rate Popular Information Left Biased based on story selection and editorial content that routinely favors liberal causes. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record.

Ad Fontes Media rates Popular Information in the Strong Left category of bias and as Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting in terms of reliability. Popular Information is an online blog and newsletter focusing on 'news for people who give a damn.' It was founded in 2018 by Judd Legum, a journalist and lawyer who previously launched the news website Think Progress, which ended in 2019.