Nick Surgey

Trump’s pick to oversee public lands withdraws after criticism of Jan. 6 riot surfaces Kathleen Sgamma, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management nominee, wrote in 2021 that she was “disgusted” by the Jan. 6 attack, an investigative group had just disclosed.

It comes after the investigative group Documented on Tuesday released a 2021 letter in which Sgamma wrote that she was “disgusted” by Trump “spreading misinformation” about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

@eenews.bsky.social is reporting Sgamma withdrew because of the memo: "She withdrew her confirmation due to revelations about that post, said a person familiar with the move who was granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters." www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

🚨 Kathleen Sgamma just withdrew her nomination to lead BLM—right before her Senate hearing. Did the recently unearthed memo exposing her past criticism of Trump's election denial play a role?

🧵7/ Environmental groups strongly oppose Sgamma. Taylor McKinnon @publiccarbon.bsky.social of @biologicaldiversity.org called her appointment "an unmitigated disaster," citing her "breathtaking disdain" for protecting public lands.

🧵6/ An archived snapshot from Feb. 2021 shows Sgamma’s old account had 4,360 tweets and followed 797 accounts. Her new one, started Sept. 2023, now has just 146 visible tweets and follows only 276 accounts.

X X

🧵5/ Sgamma appears to have changed the name of her old Twitter account, then created a new one in Sept. 2023 using the old handle. Her old account appears to now be here: x.com/Wallstmemest...

🧵4/ I went to Sgamma’s current Twitter account to see what else she might have said about Trump after Jan. 6, but found nothing from before September 2023...

🧵3/ At BLM, Sgamma would oversee 246 million acres of public land. She previously argued the West suffers from "too much federal ownership," raising alarm she'll seek large-scale privatization benefiting oil & gas firms. Via
@jamesctobias.bsky.social & @chrisdangelo.bsky.social

🧵2/ In that Jan 7, 2021 memo to WEA members, Sgamma wrote Trump "discredited all the good work" he'd done on judicial appointments by pushing false election claims. Now she's nominated to join Trump’s team, fully backing his "energy dominance" agenda, expected to massively expand drilling.

🧵1/ Kathleen Sgamma, Trump’s pick to run the Bureau of Land Management, wrote in 2021 she was "disgusted" by Trump's role "spreading misinformation" on Jan. 6, accusing him of "dishonoring the vote of the People," per a memo to oil execs obtained by @documented.net. Her Senate hearing is Thursday.

Help support Documented's investigations in to threats to our democracy. Give a few dollars if you can, or share this with others who might be able to...

buymeacoffee.com/documented

Has it actually been removed?

Musk-linked group offered $5m for proof of voter fraud – and came up with nothing Fair Election Fund has yet to reveal evidence of voter fraud despite deep-pocketed backers – and has now gone silent

"Musk-Linked Group Offered $5m for Proof of Voter Fraud – and Came up With Nothing" Check out this great new investigative piece by my colleagues @emmasteiner.bsky.social and @brendanfischer.bsky.social for the @us.theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This seems to be an attempt to attack lawyers providing immigration advice, along with orgs that would make referrals to law firms.

Model State Statute: Concealing, Harboring, and Shielding Aliens Section 1. Definitions. (a) The term “alien” means any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States.

www.heritage.org/model-legisl...

The Heritage Foundation - the lead org behind Project 2025 - is promoting a new state model bill that would criminalize orgs providing legal or financial assistance to people without legal status to be in the US. Under the act, any org found guilty would lose all state and city licenses to operate.

Last week @allinwithchris.bsky.social cited @propublica.org and @documented.net's reporting that revealed Russ Vought promised donors in a private speech to put civil servants "in trauma," a plan that's clearly already underway.

The Most-Read ProPublica Stories of 2024 As the 2024 election dominated headlines, our readers spent time with stories about health care, abortion rights, immigration and President-elect Donald Trump.

Documented partnered with @propublica.org on multiple investigations last year. We were happy to see some featured on their most read stories of 2024, including our reporting on Ziklag and Project 2025's training videos. Find the full list, with many great pieces, here: bit.ly/3Pvndcx

Utilities partnering with RGA for a fundraiser for Donald Trump's inauguration next month. Someone send me one of those $7,500 koozies!

documented.net/swamp-dollar...

‘Mama bears are rising up’: the rightwing Christian entrepreneur aiming for a takeover of local US government Jenny Donnelly, multi-level marketer turned rising star on the Christian right, wants to fight against LGBTQ+ inclusion and abortion rights

With support from a secretive network of Christian nationalist donors known as Ziklag, Jenny Donnelly and her "mama bears" are organizing prayer hubs to rally against LGBTQ+ inclusion.

NEW: from @aliceraeherman.bsky.social + @us.theguardian.com + @documented.bsky.social here:

Kudos to @documented.bsky.social for their tremendous work here (and elsewhere!)

How billionaire Charles Koch’s network won a 40-year war to curb regulation A seismic Supreme Court ruling on Chevron deference ushered in a new era of diminished federal power. The next Trump administration hopes to capitalize on it.

Documented research featured in this important new WPost story about the Koch network's 40-year effort to dismantle the regulatory state. I am quoted in the piece talking about the State Policy Network, an important recipient of Koch funding in this effort. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Long-form investigations on the climate crisis have never been more important.

Here's a non-exhaustive list of investigative journalists who cover climate. Tell us who to add. go.bsky.app/5Wp1U58

Suggests bringing in private companies to run more public functions, although is a little vague on specifics. Then pivots to talking about how "liberals are not big on celebrating America," then mentions Elon Musk for about the tenth time in this speech.

The American Legislative Exchange Council is holding its winter meeting in DC this week. In front of a large crowd of state legislators, Newt Gingrich is suggesting all states create a DOGE to massively cut state public spending.

The Hidden Danger of the Supreme Court’s New Trans Rights Case The Supreme Court hears arguments on Wednesday in Skrmetti v. U.S.

Tomorrow’s Supreme Court case obviously has huge stakes for transgender Americans. But it also affects all our rights—because the big question is really whether the constitutional guarantee of gender equality can survive this conservative supermajority. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are set to meet privately with Republican members of the House and Senate next week to discuss their plans to slash federal spending (ie cuts to social spending). Invitation obtained by documented.bsky.social

Reposting this about the junior and senior democracy research positions we are hiring for. We have a fantastic team and we are doubling down on exposing threats to democracy under Trump. Please share with anyone who might be a good fit. Documented.net/work-with-us

What’s Scariest About Donald Trump’s Cabinet Given controversial picks like RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, and (new Cameo star) Matt Gaetz—along with the Elon-and-Vivek show—one might overlook Russell Vought, a low-key  appointee who coul...

I wrote about the handful of Trump cabinet appointees that keep me up at night

www.vanityfair.com/news/story/d...