Trump Administration Cites “Endless Legal Battles” As Primary Reason Driving Decision To Disband

Washington, DC – Anne Harkavy, Executive Director of Democracy Forward, released the following statement in response to the news that President Trump decided to disband the Pence-Kobach voting commission in response to “endless legal battles” driven by lawsuits such as the one filed by Democracy Forward:

“We are extremely proud of the role our lawsuit played in President Trump’s decision to disband the unlawful and baseless Pence-Kobach commission. We were thrilled to read that President Trump cited lawsuits such as ours as a primary reason for disbanding this dangerous commission.  Voting is every American citizen’s right and we will continue to challenge efforts by the Trump Administration to undermine that right.

“As part of that continued fight, it is important to recognize that the Trump administration has asked the Department of Homeland Security to review the commission’s ‘initial findings and determine next courses of action.’  We currently have a claim pending against DHS for its role in the President’s efforts to investigate American voters and will continue to challenge any actions it takes to undermine the American people’s privacy and voting rights.”

Background: Democracy Forward Foundation on behalf of its clients Common Cause and individual voters Jan Cantler, Anthony Gutierrez, Thomas Kennedy and Ellen Nakhnikian  filed a lawsuit against the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, its Vice Chair Kris Kobach, and the Department of Homeland Security to enjoin them from violating individual privacy rights and engaging in other unlawful and unauthorized conduct. The suit is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.  Several weeks ago a bipartisan group of former national security and cyber government officials filed a brief in support of the suit, citing the grave national security concerns raised by the Commission and DHS’s conduct.  This evening, President Trump announced that he was disbanding the Commission, citing to the number of lawsuits that have been filed against it.

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Democracy Forward is a nonprofit legal organization that scrutinizes Executive Branch activity across policy areas represents clients in litigation to challenge unlawful actions, and educates the public when the White House or federal agencies break the law.

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Charisma Troiano

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