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No American is above the law, including former Presidents and their advisors. That point is hammered home today with the conviction of Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress after he defied subpoenas from the January 6th Committee.

Yesterday, Verizon Fios announced that it will drop far-right One America News Network (OANN) from its channel lineup when its current contract expires at the end of July. The move leaves the highly controversial outlet without a major carrier. OANN regularly feeds its viewers disinformation and conspiracy theories – including false and misleading information about the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of the 2020 election, and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.

Donald Trump blatantly violated his oath of office and fanned the flames of the insurrection on January 6th. As Congress met to certify the election of Joe Biden as President, a defeated Donald Trump incited and set loose a vicious, racist, mob on the United States Capitol – a mob he knew to be heavily armed.  

Americans deserve to know their votes will be counted and their voices heard in our elections. Reform of the antiquated Electoral Count Act is an important step to safeguard the results of free and fair elections. President Trump and his associates came exceptionally close to engineering an overthrow of the 2020 election, as the January 6th Select Committee’s hearings have made clear. They did so in part by making bogus assertions about how the Congress should discharge its certification duties of the presidential election, inciting a violent mob, and convincing 147 Congressional Republicans to vote to overturn the election. Part of this plot included testing arcane provisions of the law that must be modernized and clarified before it happens again.

On Wednesday July 20, 2022, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a markup of the “American Data Privacy and Protection Act” (H.R. 8152). The bill would establish a comprehensive national data privacy and data security framework. Among other provisions, the framework includes: data minimization provisions that will prevent companies from collecting consumer data beyond what is necessary to provide products or services; individual rights allowing consumers to access, correct, and delete their data; and civil rights protections that prohibit discriminatory data practices. The legislation is the first comprehensive privacy bill to gain bipartisan and bicameral support. 

As all of his other efforts to steal the 2020 election failed, Donald Trump summoned, instigated, and ultimately set loose a violent, racist mob on the United States Capitol on January 6th. He is attempting to obstruct the committee’s work.