WEBVTT - Outnumbered, Democrats on Trump Voter Panel Push Back (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>You've probably heard the story that's been going around for

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<v Speaker 1>about eight months about thousands of people being bust into

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<v Speaker 1>New Hampshire from Massachusetts to vote illegally in last year's election.

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<v Speaker 1>President Trump even told that story to a group of

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<v Speaker 1>Senators in a closed door meeting in February. New Hampshire

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<v Speaker 1>officials have denied those claims, and there's been no evidence

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<v Speaker 1>to back them up. But President Trump's claims that three

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<v Speaker 1>to five million people voted illegally in November led him

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<v Speaker 1>to set up a controversial voter fraud Commission, which held

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<v Speaker 1>its first meeting in July. Any form of illegal or

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<v Speaker 1>fraudulent voting, whether by noncitizens or the deceased, and any

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<v Speaker 1>form of voter suppression or intimidation, must be stopped. That

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<v Speaker 1>commission has been the center of controversy since its inception.

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<v Speaker 1>Joining us as Bloomberg News legal reporter Andrew Harris, who

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<v Speaker 1>has written an article in Bloomberg Business Week entitled the

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<v Speaker 1>Few Democrats on Trump's Voter Fraud Panel, pushed back Andrew

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<v Speaker 1>tell us about the surprising allegations the head of the

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<v Speaker 1>integrity Panel, Kansas Secretary of State Chris Kolback, made about

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<v Speaker 1>New Hampshire's voting. Hi June, Michael, thanks for having me

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<v Speaker 1>on the show. Chris Callback for a long time has

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<v Speaker 1>been associated with toughening voter registration UH laws. Uh it

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<v Speaker 1>kind of goes hand in hand with his UH other association,

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<v Speaker 1>which is with toughening U S immigration laws. So about

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<v Speaker 1>five days before the panel met in Manchester, New Hampshire,

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<v Speaker 1>earlier this month, UH Colback, who is Kansas Secretary of

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<v Speaker 1>State and a candidate for governor there. He's a Republican,

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<v Speaker 1>wrote a column for Breitbart in which he asserted that

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<v Speaker 1>more than six thousand people who voted in last year's

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<v Speaker 1>election in New Hampshire showed up the polls using out

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<v Speaker 1>of state driver's licenses as I das, and that only

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<v Speaker 1>some five and that ten months later, only a thousand

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<v Speaker 1>or so of those people that actually UH secure were

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<v Speaker 1>New Hampshire ideas. So Mr koback ansserted that the balance

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<v Speaker 1>of those people were apparently in violation of New Hampshire

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<v Speaker 1>residency laws, and that there's a good chance that these

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<v Speaker 1>people were out of state voters who tipped both the

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<v Speaker 1>Senate election there and potentially the presidential balloting there in

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<v Speaker 1>favor of Democrats Maggie has Hassan and Hillary Clinton, and

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<v Speaker 1>so what was the response. The response from New Hampshire

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<v Speaker 1>Secretary of State Bill Gardner was a numbers, uh, don't

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<v Speaker 1>constitute proof. He wouldn't substantiate the allegations. Another Democratic member

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<v Speaker 1>of the panel, Main Secretary of State, Matt Dunlop, called

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<v Speaker 1>the column reckless and said that making this allegation was

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<v Speaker 1>tantum out to say that money found in somebody's wallet

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<v Speaker 1>was evidence that they had robbed the bank. So it

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<v Speaker 1>didn't go over very well at the Commission meeting in

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<v Speaker 1>Manchester Andrew More generally, given that the you know how

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<v Speaker 1>partisan a lot of Democrats feel this voter for commission is.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, you've got five Democrats on the Commission. How

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<v Speaker 1>are they approaching this? And beyond just that allegation, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know you have at least what appears facially to

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<v Speaker 1>being in balance. As I said, Chris Kulback has spent

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of time working on election law issues, as

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<v Speaker 1>have some of the other more notable Republicans on the Commission.

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<v Speaker 1>Hans von Spakovski and Jay Christian Adams, both of Rum,

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<v Speaker 1>are former Republican Justice Department attorneys. On the other side,

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<v Speaker 1>you have Mr Gardner, Mr Dunlap, a former Arkansas state lawmaker,

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<v Speaker 1>a West Virginia County clerk, and in Alabama probate judge.

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<v Speaker 1>None of uma is closely associated with this issue, as

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<v Speaker 1>are the three men that I mentioned on the Republican side. Nonetheless,

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<v Speaker 1>has spoken to all of them except for Judge Allen King,

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<v Speaker 1>and they've all said that they are resolute in staying

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<v Speaker 1>on the panel, even as uh, some of their colleagues

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<v Speaker 1>have said, well, you're lending a veneer of credibility to

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<v Speaker 1>this uh not credible effort. Uh. Their their opinion is

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<v Speaker 1>that they're best fighting from the inside then walking away.

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<v Speaker 1>And Andrew, So, there have been these accusations that this

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<v Speaker 1>is a partisan commission from the beginning, but you're write

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<v Speaker 1>about evidence that at least one of the panel's Republican

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<v Speaker 1>members you just spoke about was concerned about even including Democrats.

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<v Speaker 1>That would be Mr von Spakovsky. On the day that

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<v Speaker 1>the Commission was meeting in Manchester, a public interest group

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<v Speaker 1>released a copy of an email they had gotten pursued

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<v Speaker 1>to a Freedom of Information Act request. It was an

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<v Speaker 1>email sent by Mr von Spakovsky, He says to a

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<v Speaker 1>friend back in February had ultimately made its way to

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney General Sessions, in which Mr von Spakovsky expressed concern

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<v Speaker 1>about putting uh Democrats or even moderate Republicans on the

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<v Speaker 1>Commission and asserting that they would be an impediment to

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<v Speaker 1>the Commission's objectives and that email is one of the

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<v Speaker 1>reasons that seven Democrat at the Senator has asked the

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Justice on Tuesday to explain any involvement it

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<v Speaker 1>has with the Commission. The Justice Department has said that

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<v Speaker 1>it has no involvement with the commission. Is that correct?

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<v Speaker 1>Its correct? We haven't We haven't seen any evidence of that.

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<v Speaker 1>The Commission is nominally led by Vice President Pence. Mr

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<v Speaker 1>Kolback is the vice chairman of the commission. Has uh

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<v Speaker 1>you noted it is a majority Republican entity, seven Republicans,

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<v Speaker 1>five Democrats. Uh. They're they're they're charged with investigating problems

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<v Speaker 1>with American election integrity and what gives people confidence in

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<v Speaker 1>what takes it away. But there's been no indication that

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<v Speaker 1>the Justice Department has weighed in on this, at least

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<v Speaker 1>not that I've seen. So what has Judge Alan King,

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<v Speaker 1>who you mentioned earlier, has written a memo on these

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<v Speaker 1>Where is he at all this? Uh, he's one of

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<v Speaker 1>the minorty Democrats and he's worried that the Commission is

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<v Speaker 1>spending more time I'm looking for ways to keep people

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<v Speaker 1>from voting, even by toughening registration laws or toughening voter

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<v Speaker 1>ID laws. Then it is helping people to vote. And

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<v Speaker 1>his concern, and it's echoed by a lot of his

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<v Speaker 1>fellow Democrats. Is it The end result of this Commission's

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<v Speaker 1>work will be a recommendation to the President to toughen

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<v Speaker 1>those registration and voting laws and make it harder for

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<v Speaker 1>some people to get to the polls and cast their votes. Andrew,

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<v Speaker 1>what has struck you as you were writing this about

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<v Speaker 1>the way Americans view voter fraud? Well, you know, June,

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<v Speaker 1>this is really where the rubber meets the road in

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<v Speaker 1>the democratic process. I mean, there are a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>hot button issues, whether it's gone ownership or gay marriage

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<v Speaker 1>or abortion rights. But this is people voting, So there's

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<v Speaker 1>probably nothing more essential to the process than that. And

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<v Speaker 1>depending on who you talk to, people either are convinced

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<v Speaker 1>that this is a widespread, endemic problem or that it

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<v Speaker 1>hardly exists at all. Nobody's saying it does exist, but

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<v Speaker 1>the question is really scale and there doesn't seem to

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<v Speaker 1>be a lot of middle ground being expressed from either side.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much. That's Andrew Harris, and he is a

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg News legal reporter and he wrote this article, very

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<v Speaker 1>well researched for Bloomberg Business Week entitled the Few Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>on Trump's voter fraud panel push Back. That's it for

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<v Speaker 1>this edition of Bloomberg Law. We will be back Monday

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<v Speaker 1>at one pm Wall Street Time, and hope that you

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<v Speaker 1>will be as well. Thanks to our producer David Suckerman

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<v Speaker 1>and our technical director Sean Kilby. You can always find

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<v Speaker 1>slash podcast slash Law for the latest legal news. Coming

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<v Speaker 1>up next, Bloomberg Markets with Carol Masser and Corey Johnson.

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<v Speaker 1>Carol has just walked into the studio time enough to

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<v Speaker 1>tell us one of the top things you'll be talking about,

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<v Speaker 1>Carol Ware about Steve Bannon. He's back and he's targeting China. June,

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<v Speaker 1>I have no comment on the list, no comment, speechless

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<v Speaker 1>for one of the first times in my life. All Right,

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<v Speaker 1>have a great weekend everyone. I'm June Graza with Michael Beast.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg.