The Trump administration’s Presidential Election Integrity Commission appears to be dead in the water before it even meets for the first time. And most of the blame can be placed squarely on the White House, which requested all sorts of data on voters–names, addresses, Social Security numbers–that most states say they won’t be handing over.
So the White House is trying desperately to spin their failure, even having Vice President Mike Pence say that a report from the Associated Press which notes that 44 states have said they will not comply with the commission’s request for detailed voter information, not even Kansas, home of commission vice chair Kris Kobach, will be providing data, and the AP reported:
“No state election official planned to provide the commission with all of the information requested — even Kansas, where commission vice chairman Kris Kobach is secretary of state. He sent the letter asking for the names, party affiliations, addresses, voting histories, felony convictions, military service and the last four digits of Social Security numbers for all voters.
“A spokeswoman for Kobach’s office said the last four digits of Social Security numbers are not publicly available under Kansas law and would not be handed over. That was the case in many other states, noted in statements from top election officials and responses to queries from reporters for The Associated Press.”
Taking personal offense, Pence fired off this tweet:
"Real news" -> 36 states have agreed or are considering providing publicly available voter data to @POTUS Election Integrity Commission. pic.twitter.com/qVUxH9rym9
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) July 5, 2017
The key phrase there is “publicly available voter data,” which a person could find by going down to their local voter registration office. Anyone has access to that data. But Social Security numbers and other personal data are not being released by 44 states.
Note Pence’s use of the term “real news” to try and discredit the AP’s reporting, even though they’re 100 percent correct.
Soon after the Veep’s tweet, the Twitterverse lit up with condemnation for the holier-than-thou asshat who pretends to be a Christian:
Mike are you this uninformed? 44 States are declining the request and FYI, we know that you knew about FLYNN #AbuseOfPower
— Madeline Troescher (@magita629) July 5, 2017
45 States now !! https://t.co/Mj8cIFunZo
— KOliver (@oliverkri) July 5, 2017
This is simply not true. Over 40 states have told you no, including your home state and the home state of the fraud running this commission.
— Calvin (@calvinstowell) July 5, 2017
No they are not. 44 states refused including MD which called the request repugnant. Geesus what is wrong with you?
— Moosey-Vote out traitors!!! (@t_pletch) July 5, 2017
Why can't anyone in this administration stop lying to the American people? We see you.
— Christie (@Christie_D22) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/Spicerlies/status/882732245022367744
There is so much idiocy to this tweet that I'm having a hard time figuring out which part to mock.
— Nick Magel (@nickmagel) July 5, 2017
Until you present "real news" in the form of concrete factual evidence that voter fraud actually exists, this entire endeavor is nonsense.
— Peter Duchan (@pduchan) July 6, 2017
Fake news, @VP @MikePenceVP. Fake. News. 40+ states, including yours, refuse to turn over voter data. Facts matter!
— Teresa (@MDTeresa) July 6, 2017
Hey, Mike, here’s a question for you: Why would we start believing an administration built solely on lies all of a sudden? Answer: We wouldn’t, so kindly kiss off and pretend to read your Bible, you freaking hypocrite.
Featured Image Via the BBC
