Kobach says canceling Trump voter panel will actually speed up investigation

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I'm reluctant to link to the Washington Times, but they had the story. Take it with a 55-gallon drum of salt.

Hat tip, commenter "ewleve" at Joe.My.God: BREAKING: Trump Dissolves Voter Fraud Commission

ewleve > JoeMyGod • 10 hours ago

"Now, he said, the probe will go on, but it will no longer be done through public meetings, and Democrats — who had five seats on the voting commission — will now be shut out as the investigation moves to the executive branch bureaucracy. It will get done faster, but the Democrats no longer have a seat at the table,” he said. “If they think this is a victory for the left, they are wrong.” https://www.washingtontimes...

Kobach says canceling Trump voter panel will actually speed up investigation

Probe will go on but no longer be done through public meetings, Democrats will now be shut out

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Wednesday, January 3, 2018

The vice chairman of President Trump’s now-disbanded voter integrity commission said Wednesday the decision to cancel the panel was a tactical decision that will actually speed up the investigation into voter fraud.

Kris Kobach, Kansas secretary of state, said President Trump’s decision to nix the panel and ask Homeland Security to pick up the investigation will actually move much faster, and will still be able to look at critical issues such as the extent of noncitizens who register to vote — and in many cases actually cast illegal ballots.

Mr. Kobach said the panel, officially known as the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, had gotten bogged down in legal challenges filed by Democrats, liberal groups — and even one Democratic member of the commission itself.

Now, he said, the probe will go on, but it will no longer be done through public meetings, and Democrats — who had five seats on the voting commission — will now be shut out as the investigation moves to the executive branch bureaucracy. ... “It will get done faster, but the Democrats no longer have a seat at the table,” he said. “If they think this is a victory for the left, they are wrong.”

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Great!

[RandomAccess]

2. Well this is ominous

I certainly hope that the several law suits that were filed against this fraudulent commission can be transferred to the Homeland Security office now responsible for it.

These people are so unAmerican, so fascist and evil.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. And it will be just as meaningless as 45's claim of millions of illegal voters.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. The reason is to hide things from the public

Once a federal judge determined that the president*’s ridiculous “voter integrity” commission had to provide Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap—perhaps the commission’s primary in-house skeptic—with internal documents and emails, it became rather obvious that the commission was doomed and that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s time on the federal dime was running out. Sure enough, accompanied by the customary blizzard of lies from the White House, the commission was disbanded on Wednesday. From the NYT:
...

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. As a White House commission, the voter-fraud panel was subject to public-disclosure requirements and other restrictions that Mr. Kobach said opponents of the inquiry had seized on in “a determined effort by the left” to hamstring its investigation.

In other words, having been ordered by a federal court to be more transparent (to one of its own members!) the commission is handing off the job to an agency that is less transparent. Kobach is a real beauty, boy. From The Kansas City Star:

Kobach said that he would remain in close contact with the White House and the Department of Homeland Security as that agency begins to investigate the issue instead of the commission. He said Trump made the final decision to disband the commission Wednesday after multiple weeks of discussion on the matter. DHS was chosen because the agency oversees immigration and can come up with an accurate estimate of the number of noncitizens on voter rolls, Kobach said.

“This is a tactical shift by the president who remains very committed to finding the scope of voter fraud,” said Kobach, the architect of a controversial law that requires Kansas voters to provide their birth certificates or other proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. “In a perfect world, the commission would’ve moved swiftly and there wouldn’t be any lawsuits.”

And, according to Politico, Kobach has decided to free himself even from the pretense of impartiality.

Democrats and liberal groups rejoiced over the commission's demise Wednesday, but in an interview with POLITICO Wednesday night, Kobach said that exuberance is misplaced. "Anyone on the left needs to realize that by throwing the food in the air, they just lost a seat at the table," Kobach said.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a14743241/trump-kobach-vote-integrity-commission-disbanded/

[SunSeeker]

5. The "executive branch bureaucracy" is still subject to FOIA.

Go fuck yourself, Kobach.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. J. Christian Adams is on it.

"Be careful what you wish for ACLU, because now you aren't going to have a seat or a spy at the table." Podcast with @IAMMGraham on #election integrity post-PACEI. https://ricochet.com/podcast/michael-graham-morning/cyclone-book-blows-washington/ … @HvonSpakovsky #voterfraud #MAGA

Link to tweet