Kobach Says He Advised Trump On Voter Fraud Probe, Immigration Orders

President-elect Donald Trump greets Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, as he arrive at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) said Wednesday that he advised President Donald Trump to pursue an investigation into his unsubstantiated claims of massive election fraud and played a role in writing executive orders on immigration policy.

“I’ve advised him on the issue of voter fraud in multiple forms,” Kobach said as quoted by the Wichita Eagle. “I’m not the only one, but he’s been very interested in finding ways to reduce voter fraud.”

Kobach said that Trump “is interested in investigating the issue on a national scale,” but also wants to see “specific investigations” by the Justice Department in cases with “real serious, specific evidence.”

He cited the Bush administration’s voter fraud crackdown, which found “virtually no evidence” of any such organized activities according to a 2007 report by the New York Times. Kobach worked in the Department of Justice during the first term of President George W. Bush’s administration.

“The Obama administration all but ended federal efforts to go after voter fraud,” Kobach said per the report. “So it’s entirely appropriate for the Trump Justice Department to restart federal investigations.”

He also said that he played a role in writing executive orders on immigration, according to the Wichita Eagle’s report.

Kobach has a long history of pushing for tougher measures targeting undocumented immigrants and for voting regulations that restrict access to the ballot. As Kansas Secretary of State, he aggressively pursued prosecutions of alleged instances of voter fraud, an occurrence which is in fact incredibly rare.

Just after Trump’s 2016 election victory, Kobach said he was officially named to serve on Trump’s immigration team, where he said he would have “a lot to do.”

Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday morning to boost border patrol forces, cut funding for “sanctuary cities” and increase the number of immigration enforcement officials who carry out deportations.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Race riots incoming.

  2. Of course Kobach helped Trump. The man is an idiot without someone telling him what to do and how. They just put those fucking papers in front of him in legalese and tell him to sign them. So long as he gets to play king and they continue to stroke his delicate ego the farce continues. The fucker doesn’t even read the stuff he signs I bet you.

    The spending, the spending, the out-of-control spending!!! Remember when that was the response to everything and anything the Democratic President wanted to do, no matter what it was. With Republicans there’s never anything they can’t waste money on to run up the deficit of stupid shit…When they really want to hide what they’re doing, they just don’t put that shit on the books…like they failed to do while getting us into two fucking wars.

    So far no money in any budget has been allocated for all of Trump’s harebrained ideas. Let’s see if Republicans give him those line items when they propose the Federal budget. Otherwise, this shit is just like robbing Peter to pay Paul for now…and shifting already available resources from one thing to another out of pique and the ability to overturn political priorities.

  3. Another GOP sociopath.

    What do they do? Hang out a sign?

    Only lunatics apply.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

50 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for sherriot Avatar for srfromgr Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for marby Avatar for jloomis3 Avatar for DuckmanGR Avatar for sniffit Avatar for borisjimbo Avatar for donnyyoung Avatar for neal_anderthal Avatar for topchap Avatar for riverstreet Avatar for mrf Avatar for clauscph Avatar for edhedh Avatar for jacksonhts Avatar for lizzymom Avatar for birdford Avatar for tiowally Avatar for machoneman Avatar for katscherger Avatar for hayduke2017 Avatar for moniker

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: