OnPolitics: After Roe v. Wade was overturned, donations to abortion groups surged – USA TODAY

Posted: August 23, 2022 at 12:00 am

Happy Monday, OnPolitics readers!

Primary races in Florida and New York are happening tomorrow. Here's what you need to know.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is one ofthe top Republican names among potential presidential contenders in 2024. But first he must win reelection, and Democrats would love to thwart those White House ambitions, even as the Sunshine State has drifted toward the GOP in recent years.

Floridians will also set the table for their Senate race, where Orlando-areaRep. Val Demings is expected to prevail as the Democratic nominee to challenge Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

New test of voter laws: Floridians will cast their primary ballots under new voting restrictions a judge once said were designed to target Black voters, the first such federal election under the new law.

Voting rights advocates say the new rules make it harder to request and turn in absentee ballots and register voters as well as making it easier to challenge votes once cast. But supporters say the new rules are needed to combat voter fraud, which has not been proven to be an issue in the state.

The other races to watch on Tuesday take place in New York, where Democrats have a few intraparty clashes, with incumbents battling each other because of the state legislatures redistricting process.

It's Amy with today's top stories out of Washington.

There were whispers in the spring that the future of Roe v. Wade was in jeopardy. Weeks later, a draft of the forthcoming Dobbs decision was leaked. By June, the Supreme Court had overturned the ruling that had established a constitutional right to abortion since 1973.

Donations began to pour into the coffers of abortion rights organizations. And for some anti-abortion nonprofits too.

We were raising more than we had the previous year," said Nikki Madsen, executive director of Abortion Care Network, a national association for abortion clinics based in Washington D.C. But a significant portion has come in since the leak.

The Abortion Care Network is just one organization that is part of a larger trend of increasing donations following the Supreme Courts ruling.

While both sidessaw an uptick in donations, abortion rights groupssaw the bulk of donations, according to an analysis by Open Secrets and USA TODAY. The findings showed that overall contributions to top abortion rights organizations more than tripled. But contributions under $200 increased for both abortion rights and anti-abortion groups.

Which groups gained the most? In total, the top abortion rights organizations, including Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, saw an increase in overall contributions jumpfrom $630,000 to roughly $2.3million in a three-month period ending in June.

Anti-abortion groupsalso saw a small bump in donations. In a combined total, overall contributions increased from around $34,000 in April to around $86,000 in June.

Donald Trump has blasted the Aug. 8 search of his Florida estate by questioning the justification for the unprecedented action at a former presidents home, criticizing how the FBI carried it out and questioning what was taken from Mar-a-Lago.

The latest:Trump's lawyers are seeking to halt the continued review of classified documents seized from the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this monthuntil a special master can be appointed to ensure that unrelated or privileged material is shielded from scrutiny, according to court documents filed Monday.

Since the search at Mar-a-Lago, Trump has made a number of statements through social media posts on his website Truth Social and through public statements that often lack context and facts that rebut his own allegations.

What was said: Trump said there's 'no way' to justify search, but search warrant cites Espionage Act and other crimes

Context: U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart signed off on the FBI search warrant by finding probable cause the FBI would find evidence that three potential crimes were committed: improper handling of defense documents, obstruction of justice and possible violations of the Espionage Act.

Judges review warrants as a check on investigators who are required to present evidence they've already gathered to demonstrate what more evidence they hope to collect in a search. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects people from unreasonable searches, requires a description of the place to be searched and the items expected to be seized.

What was said: Trump said protected documents were taken, but courts have rejected his privilege claims

Context: The Justice Department hasnt revealed what documents were seized in the search, other than to say the materials included 11 sets of secret and top secret records. A subsequent court filing called some of the records highly classified.

Federal judges have rejected previous claims of attorney-client and executive privilege in investigations of Trump because the documents with attorneys didn't deal with actual trial preparation and because the investigations outweighed his claim to keep communications with aides confidential.

President Joe Biden waived Trumps claims of executive privilege for the House committee investigating the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, when it sought documents from the National Archives and Records Administration. When Trump tried to block the release in federal court, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Bidens waiver outweighed Trumps claim. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case, ruling the investigation was more important than the claim of executive privilege.

Read more claims from Trump that are lacking or missing some context here.

Dr. Anthony Fauci announced today that he intends to retire from government service in December "to pursue the next chapter" of his career. Find out more about his next steps here. -- Amy

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OnPolitics: After Roe v. Wade was overturned, donations to abortion groups surged - USA TODAY

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