By Eric Stock
WASHINGTON – Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois argue President Donald Trump’s voter suppression commission is intrusive and illegal.
“Why has this executive commission been created?” Durbin asked. “They are looking for 3 million illegal voters in the last presidential election so President Trump’s boasts that he won the popular vote can be vindicated. They are not going to find it.”
At a news conference in Washington, Duckworth said the commission should instead be focusing on the serious threat posed by known foreign attacks on our election infrastructure.
“This commission appears to be attempting to manufacture false evidence of massive voter fraud to justify voter suppression,” Duckworth said. “As someone who served 23 years in the military, that makes me angry. Russia attacked our nation, stole voter files from Illinois, and meddled in our election – yet the President has done nothing.”
A new report suggests an Illinois elections board vendor may have been compromised by Russian hackers seeking to attack voting systems.
Illinois is one of 44 states that have refused to provide certain types of voter information to Trump’s election integrity commission,
“Any state that complies with the Trump commission’s request would be rewarding a violation of federal law,” added Duckworth. “That is a dangerous precedent to set – especially under this administration, where various members have already broken federal ethics rules, violated the Constitution’s anti-corruption Emoluments Clause, and are reportedly under investigation by a special prosecutor.”
President Trump has claimed millions of illegal voters tipped the scales in the popular vote last November.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
