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New Document Shows Trump's Election Commission May Be on Shaky Legal Ground
Mother Jones is not a news organization. Also, this is from yesterday.
Hat tip, Ari Berman:
Speaking of morons: Trump 'election integrity' commission may be illegally coordinating with DHS & other agencies
Link to tweet
New Document Shows Trump’s Election Commission May Be on Shaky Legal Ground
Communication logs reveal internal and external discussions that could violate the law.
PEMA LEVY OCT. 3, 2017 12:31 PM
A new court document has provided a rare view into the workings of Donald Trump’s controversial election integrity commission, which has operated in almost complete secrecy. The document, an index of communications to and from commission members and staff, casts further doubt on the legality of the commission’s work and its requests for voter data.
The index was produced in response to a lawsuit alleging that the commission has failed to comply with public disclosure laws. It is not a comprehensive list of every email, text, or note written by the commission, but it provides enough of an outline to raise serious questions about the commission’s activities. The index reveals that the commission’s most ideologically extreme members were involved in crafting its June 28 request for reams of information on every registered voter—a request that nearly every state rejected at least in part. It shows that the commission has been in contact with the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration, suggesting that the commission may be seeking additional data on Americans in its quest to produce evidence of voter fraud.
The commission has also been in contact with what the index described as “third-party data analysis entities,” indicating that the commission may seek to outsource its analysis of voter data to a private company. ... “The information released by the so-called Commission on Election Integrity as a result of our lawsuit paints an incomplete but alarming record about the Commission’s work and intentions,” said Kristen Clarke, the president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, whose lawsuit against the commission resulted in the document’s release.
The commission is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, but it’s clear from the communications records that it is being run by its vice chairman, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, and staff from Pence’s office. While some commission members have reported not knowing exactly what the commission is working on, Kobach has been communicating for months with two of his staunchest ideological allies on the commission: Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation, who was previously the most prominent advocate for tighter voting restrictions in the Justice Department under George W. Bush, and J. Christian Adams, another former Bush Justice Department official who has spent the last several years to attempting to purge voter rolls around the country. Before von Spakovsky and Adams joined the commission in July, the three corresponded about who should be on the commission, and von Spakovsky wrote a letter requesting that no Democrats be included. (Several Democratic members were ultimately appointed.) In the week leading up to the June 28 letter requesting detailed personal information on every registered voter, the three corresponded about the request.
....
You can read the index here.
{Snip. It's 43 pages long.}
Communication logs reveal internal and external discussions that could violate the law.
PEMA LEVY OCT. 3, 2017 12:31 PM
A new court document has provided a rare view into the workings of Donald Trump’s controversial election integrity commission, which has operated in almost complete secrecy. The document, an index of communications to and from commission members and staff, casts further doubt on the legality of the commission’s work and its requests for voter data.
The index was produced in response to a lawsuit alleging that the commission has failed to comply with public disclosure laws. It is not a comprehensive list of every email, text, or note written by the commission, but it provides enough of an outline to raise serious questions about the commission’s activities. The index reveals that the commission’s most ideologically extreme members were involved in crafting its June 28 request for reams of information on every registered voter—a request that nearly every state rejected at least in part. It shows that the commission has been in contact with the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration, suggesting that the commission may be seeking additional data on Americans in its quest to produce evidence of voter fraud.
The commission has also been in contact with what the index described as “third-party data analysis entities,” indicating that the commission may seek to outsource its analysis of voter data to a private company. ... “The information released by the so-called Commission on Election Integrity as a result of our lawsuit paints an incomplete but alarming record about the Commission’s work and intentions,” said Kristen Clarke, the president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, whose lawsuit against the commission resulted in the document’s release.
The commission is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, but it’s clear from the communications records that it is being run by its vice chairman, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, and staff from Pence’s office. While some commission members have reported not knowing exactly what the commission is working on, Kobach has been communicating for months with two of his staunchest ideological allies on the commission: Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation, who was previously the most prominent advocate for tighter voting restrictions in the Justice Department under George W. Bush, and J. Christian Adams, another former Bush Justice Department official who has spent the last several years to attempting to purge voter rolls around the country. Before von Spakovsky and Adams joined the commission in July, the three corresponded about who should be on the commission, and von Spakovsky wrote a letter requesting that no Democrats be included. (Several Democratic members were ultimately appointed.) In the week leading up to the June 28 letter requesting detailed personal information on every registered voter, the three corresponded about the request.
....
You can read the index here.
{Snip. It's 43 pages long.}
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Trump’s Voter Fraud Commission Forced to Produce Electronic Communications Related To Its Work, Revealing Potential Coordination With Federal Agencies
Previously at DU, re: J. Christian Adams:
Election Integrity Commission members accuse New Hampshire voters of fraud
Beyond Words: J. Christian Adams Appointed to Pence-Kobach Commission
Controversial rightwing activist J Christian Adams to join Trump's election integrity commission
He used to live near me, and he might still.
Ignoring the Signs in Alexandria: Baseball, Bullets, and Bloodshed
BY J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS JUNE 16, 2017
