Trump Disbands Commission on Voter Fraud
- 6 years ago
Trump Disbands Commission on Voter Fraud
The Department of Homeland Security is going to be able to move faster and more efficiently than a presidential advisory commission.”
A spokesman for homeland security, Tyler Q. Houlton, said on Wednesday
that “the department continues to focus our efforts on securing elections against those who seek to undermine the election system or its integrity.”
“We will do this in support of state governments who are responsible for administering elections,” he added.
Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Kobach have insisted that voting by noncitizens is endemic — Mr. Trump falsely claimed
that millions of illegal voters cost him a popular-vote victory in 2016 — but investigations, including ones by Mr. Kobach and the Justice Department under President George W. Bush, turned up scant evidence of fraud.
But Mr. Kobach insisted in an interview that the commission’s work would not end but rather would be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, one of the federal agencies charged with ensuring election integrity and one
that he said critics would find more difficult to target.
“The commission itself was unable to justify its existence as a result.”
In a telephone interview late Wednesday, Mr. Dunlap, a Democrat
and a member of the panel who has consistently criticized the commission’s operations, said the White House’s decision to move the inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security was “utterly alarming.”
“Homeland security operates very much in the dark,” he said.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday abruptly shut down a White House commission he had charged with investigating voter fraud, ending a brief quest for evidence of election theft
that generated lawsuits, outrage and some scholarly testimony, but no real evidence that American elections are corrupt.
The Department of Homeland Security is going to be able to move faster and more efficiently than a presidential advisory commission.”
A spokesman for homeland security, Tyler Q. Houlton, said on Wednesday
that “the department continues to focus our efforts on securing elections against those who seek to undermine the election system or its integrity.”
“We will do this in support of state governments who are responsible for administering elections,” he added.
Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Kobach have insisted that voting by noncitizens is endemic — Mr. Trump falsely claimed
that millions of illegal voters cost him a popular-vote victory in 2016 — but investigations, including ones by Mr. Kobach and the Justice Department under President George W. Bush, turned up scant evidence of fraud.
But Mr. Kobach insisted in an interview that the commission’s work would not end but rather would be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, one of the federal agencies charged with ensuring election integrity and one
that he said critics would find more difficult to target.
“The commission itself was unable to justify its existence as a result.”
In a telephone interview late Wednesday, Mr. Dunlap, a Democrat
and a member of the panel who has consistently criticized the commission’s operations, said the White House’s decision to move the inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security was “utterly alarming.”
“Homeland security operates very much in the dark,” he said.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday abruptly shut down a White House commission he had charged with investigating voter fraud, ending a brief quest for evidence of election theft
that generated lawsuits, outrage and some scholarly testimony, but no real evidence that American elections are corrupt.