A legal group filed a complaint Monday asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Kris Kobach, the vice chairman of President Donald Trump’s voter fraud panel, violated federal by highlighting his role on the commission during his 2018 campaign for Kansas governor, The Hill reports.
The complaint by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law points to multiple alleged violations under the Hatch Act, a law enacted in 1939 that prevents government employees from giving an outright endorsement to political candidates.
The legal group asserts that Kobach misused his high-level position on Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to promote his gubernatorial campaign on social media.
“Kris Kobach, a special government employee, is subject to the Hatch Act because of his role with the Commission. Kobach prominently used his position as Vice Chair of the Commission to promote his candidacy and to solicit campaign funds,”the complaint reads.
The group also lays out examples of such violations including “interviews with Fox News and MSNBC”. Kobach’s Kansas office denied the violations in a response to CNN, slamming the legal group for “trying to create a story”.
“We are certain that no Hatch Act violations have occurred. This is nothing but a bunch of liberal lawyers trying to create a story”, said Kobach’s spokeswoman, Samantha Poetter.
Trump created the panel in May with an executive order after making the baseless claim that there were millions illegally castvotes for his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. The panel sent letters last week to the 50 secretaries of state across the country requesting information about voters, with many refusing to cooperate, The Hill adds.
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