At the request of three Democratic lawmakers, the Government Accountability Office will investigate President Trump’s voter fraud commission.
Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, and Amy Klobuchar asked for the probe in a letter to the GAO.
The GAO informed the senators that the requested investigation of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity (PACEI) “is within the scope of its authority” and will begin within roughly five months.
The three senators sent Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general of the United States, a letter last week asking the GAO to investigate the voter fraud commission. Specifically, the senators requested the agency examine how much money is being spent on the commission, its efforts to address voter participation, and the steps the voter fraud panel is taking to protect voter information it collects.
The senators said the commission has ignored congressional inquiries about its activities and said documents that have been made public are “cause for serious concern.” Additionally, they said press reports have raised questions “about the partisan motives and actions” of the voter fraud commission. (Washington Examiner)
“Without any PACEI response to congressional inquiries, we fear that the manner in which the PACEI is conducting its work will prevent the public from a full and transparent understanding of the Commission’s conclusions and unnecessarily diminish confidence in our democratic process,” the senators said in the letter.
The voter fraud commission has faced backlash since it was established in May.
The president claimed that widespread voter fraud cost him the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election.
Critics have argued the commission lacks transparency, however, and is a means of suppressing voter turnout.
But the commission has been criticized for a lack of transparency, and there have been concerns it was created in an attempt to suppress voter turnout.