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Judge Orders Kobach To Produce Trump Transition Documents

AP/File
Kris Kobach met with then President-elect Donald Trump in late November, where Kobach was photographed holding a plan for the Department of Homeland Security.

A federal magistrate says he wants to inspect documents that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach shared with then President-elect Trump during the transition.

The order came in a case challenging the Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration. The ACLU claims the requirement violates the federal motor voter act, which only requires voters to swear they are citizens. Kobach argues that has allowed non-citizens to register.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. O’Hara now wants to see what might be drafts of an amendment to the motor voter law that Kobach shared with then President-elect Trump in November.

The ACLU requested the documents, which it says support its claim that Kobach can’t show a substantial number of non-citizens have registered to vote and thus is trying to change the legal standard.

Dan Margolies is editor in charge of health news at KCUR, the public radio station in Kansas City. Dan joined KCUR in April 2014. In a long and varied journalism career, he has worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Business Journal, The Kansas City Star and Reuters. In a previous life, he was a lawyer. He has also worked as a media insurance underwriter and project development director for a video production firm.