Joe Schoffstall of the Washington Free Beacon details concerns surrounding a recent demand from a member of the Federal Elections Commission.
A Democratic Federal Elections Commission official may have violated federal ethics laws in her quest to have President Donald Trump provide proof that voter fraud occurred in New Hampshire during the 2016 elections, experts say.
FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, who has for days called on Trump to prove his claim that he and former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte lost in New Hampshire due to voter fraud, released an official statement Feb. 10 asking Trump to substantiate the scheme. …
… The letter demanded Trump prove his claims to the public and authorities.
“I therefore call upon President Trump to immediately share his evidence with the public and with the appropriate law-enforcement authorities so that his allegations may be investigated promptly and thoroughly.”
However, the FEC does not have jurisdiction over voter fraud issues—a fact that Weintraub acknowledged in October 2016. …
… Matthew Whitaker, executive director of the watchdog group Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, told the Washington Free Beacon that Weintraub’s actions could constitute an ethics and legal violation.
“If she is using her office for personal political purposes, then it would be a misuse of taxpayer funded resource and could be a political issue as well,” Whitaker said. “Also, the FEC does have significant cases before it that it should be focusing on, for instance our complaints on the hybrid ads and the candidates conspiracy to coordinate with the super PACs.”
Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said that investigating voter fraud is “certainly” outside of the FEC’s jurisdiction.