ICYMI: Derek Schmidt Continues Kris Kobach’s Legacy of Costing Taxpayers Millions

Attorney General Derek Schmidt is proving once more that he’ll only continue the unpopular policies and political stunts of Sam Brownback and Kris Kobach. A report from the Kansas Reflector details how Schmidt is costing Kansas taxpayers $1.9 million by finally conceding defeat in a legal battle started by the passage of Kobach’s signature law five years ago.

In 2016, the lawsuit was filed in response to Kobach’s baseless allegations of voter fraud and restrictions on voting that are unconstitutional. A U.S. District Court judge found no evidence to support Kobach’s claims, but Schmidt followed Kobach’s lead by extending the legal battle and its costs to taxpayers. Schmidt was also recently exposed for abusing his office by sending his taxpayer-funded staff to a partisan political summit.

In addition to continuing Kobach’s costly legacy of embarrassing political stunts, Schmidt stood by former governor Brownback as he crashed the economy and harmed public schools in Kansas.

DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton said: “Derek Schmidt has managed to tie himself to both the failed economic policies of Sam Brownback and the costly political stunts of Kris Kobach. That’s a disastrous combo that won’t fly with Kansas voters.”

Read key excerpts from the report below:

Kansas Reflector: Kansas agrees to $1.9M settlement for defending Kobach’s baseless voter fraud claims

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office has agreed to pay the American Civil Liberties Union and other attorneys $1.9 million in fees and expenses for a five-year legal battle over an unconstitutional restriction on voter registrations.

The high-profile lawsuit was filed 2016 in response to former Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s signature law, which required residents to prove their citizenship before registering to vote. The law blocked more than 35,000 eligible voters from participating in elections.

U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson held Kobach in contempt of court following his embarrassing performance in a 2018 trial. The judge determined there was no evidence to support Kobach’s claims of widespread voter fraud and ruled the law unconstitutional.

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Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Secretary of State Scott Schwab prolonged the legal fight, and extended its costs, by appealing Robinson’s ruling. The state lost the appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene.

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