Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is seeking to avoid answering questions under oath about two documents containing plans for changes to U.S. election law. Kobach, who also is vice chairman of President Donald Trump’s commission on election integrity, filed a notice late Monday saying he is appealing to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals an order to submit to a deposition by the American Civil Liberties Union in a voting rights case. The closed deposition is scheduled for Thursday. The ACLU said Tuesday that Kobach’s appeal of the deposition order to the 10th Circuit is “bizarre.”
Two federal judges in Kansas have each twice ruled the Kansas Republican misled the court about the contents of documents he was photographed taking into a November meeting with then President-elect Trump as well as a separate draft amendment to the National Voter Registration Act. Kobach was holding the documents at his side with the print facing out so photographs made it possible to read part of what was written on it.
The court fined Kobach $1,000 and ordered him to testify about the documents. The photographs prompted the ACLU to seek to obtain the document and any related materials on his proposed changes to federal voting law. Kobach essentially told the court and the ACLU that he didn’t have any such documents — the misrepresentation the court cited in imposing sanctions against him.
Full Article: Kobach appeals order to answer questions under oath | The Kansas City Star.