The Hack of Project 2025, Elections Overseas, and Biden’s Refusal to Step Down

Welcome back to OptOut’s general newsletter. Just in case you don’t know me, I’m Liana DeMasi, the LGBTQ+ Editor here at OptOut. (Check out my newsletter here!) Our co-founder and the usual writer of this newsletter is out this week, so I’m here to bring you some of the latest.

Just last week, we started a Project 2025 explainer series on our social media channels, and I’ve talked quite a bit about the 920-page conservative manifesto in my newsletters. Most of the coverage surrounding the plan penned by the Heritage Foundation has been grim, but this week, a group of “self-described ‘gay furry hackers’ behind a group dubbed SiegedSec” released highly sensitive information from the dark-money group (New Republic). Amongst the most damning data released has been IP addresses tied to the Heritage Foundation, particularly those out of China. Project 2025 having potential support or influence from China is highly problematic and hypocritical, given that the harms of “communist China” are detailed several times in the document.

In the same vein of deception, Trump has claimed that he knows nothing about Project 2025. Meanwhile, recent reporting has revealed that “at least 140 people from the Trump administration have a hand in the Project 2025 plan” (New Republic).

For Important Context this week, Walker sat down with Brendan Fischer, the deputy executive director of Documented to discuss, amongst other things, whether or not the Heritage Foundation is in violation of financial law, considering that activists have reported the organization to the IRS for allegedly violating its charitable tax status by engaging in political activity.

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In Other News

Speaking of dark money, the Republican National Convention meets in Wisconsin next week to officially nominate Trump, but “the identities of the corporations and wealthy donors to who forked over millions of dollars to fund the event will be largely unknown to the public” for about two months following the event. Amongst some of the donors we’re all familiar with? General Motors and Starbucks. (Sludge)

In the wake of one of the most excruciating debates in recent history, many are calling for Biden to step aside and allow for a younger, more capable candidate to face Trump in November. But following the NATO summit this week, Biden held a press conference where he let people know that, despite their calls, he would not be backing down. (Daily Montanan)

Last weekend, the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire party won the French election with 182 seats, leaving Macron’s party with 168 and Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National with 143. As if following in the U.S.’s post-election footsteps, Macron stated that “no one had won” and is allegedly trying to maintain majority power despite having lost it. (Jacobin)

Earlier this month, British Muslims banded together and elected five pro-Palestinian independents. “In the run-up to the general election…Mosques, community centers, and civil society organizations joined hands to create a political movement that was committed to putting the Gaza crisis at the center of the election.” (The Nation)

Editor’s note: Liana wrote this newsletter before yesterday’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump, so they do not address it in this newsletter.

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