Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, one of four Democrats on President Donald Trump’s disbanded “election integrity” commission, filed for a temporary restraining order Tuesday to preserve his access to information a federal judge previously ruled he was improperly denied, and to deny access to the commission’s findings to the Department of Homeland Security.
Despite a judge’s order in December that the commission — which Trump dissolved earlier this month, citing lawsuits and states’ refusal to hand over voters’ information — must share its records with Dunlap, Justice Department lawyers said last week that Dunlap is not entitled to the records because the commission no longer exists.
Trump started the commission after baselessly claiming that massive voter fraud cost him the popular vote in 2016, and the White House said upon announcing the commission’s dissolution that its findings would be shared with DHS.
The Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday that the commission would destroy the actual voter data it had collected as part of its data gathering operation, aside from sending it to the National Archives and Records Administration as required by law, CNN reported.
But Dunlap, represented by the group American Oversight and attorneys from Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, said in his filing Tuesday that a restraining order would ensure he was not denied access to other records, and that the Department of Homeland Security was not improperly granted access to them.
Their court filing stipulates that the commission should preserve records relating to “the decision to dissolve the commission,” “the disposition of the Commission data and documents,” and those “regarding the transfer of Commission activities and responsibilities to the Department of Homeland Security or any other agency, person, group, or entity.”
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A lot of us were initially concerned that Dunlap was a patsy, a little tool that the Trumpscum could manipulate to their racist ends. He has turned out to be a savvy pol who has almost single-handedly derailed the commission and the racist scum Kobach. Dunlap is a genuine Profile in Courage. I nominate him for the Nobel Prize for Citizenship and Service to the Country.
I imagine what this guy is up to is preserving ALL the data before it is destroyed. The “commission” may appear to be putting on a pretty face in saying “we’re going to get rid of all the data so nothing to worry about” but they will likely wipe the notes of meetings and deliberations too which would revealing information. This panel didn’t shut down and opt to wipe away it’s work because it came to its senses or had heart pangs. It did so because the risk to benefit angles said… let’s get out of here before it hits the fan.
The Maine Sec. of State knows that dirt’s there and he wants it out in the open.
Is it so much dirt or just that all the data pointed was showing no scandel to speak of?
The corruption is just astounding. There is absolutely no excuse for them to play this came with the information.
Both PLUS: the collection of the data in the first place intensifies the dirt blow back when it all comes out to be B.S., risking that some of the sheep will wake up to the reality of the straw-man 3 million illegal votes being a handful of republicans with residences in multiple states voting incorrectly or doubly.