House representatives question what DHS is doing about defunct election integrity commission

Democrats on the Congressional Task Force for Election Security are seeking answers from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristjen Nielsen regarding its responsibilities related to the now-defunct Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.

The commission was established to investigate allegations of fraudulent voter registrations and voting in the 2016 elections. However, after the commission was unable to produce any evidence of improprieties, President Donald Trump terminated the commission this past December and directed DHS to “examine” the commission’s initial findings and “determine the next courses of action.”

In a letter to Nielson, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Robert Brady (D-PA), who co-chair the task force, said the claim of voter fraud was “nothing more than the president’s active imagination and frustration that he did not receive the majority of the popular votes cast in the 2016 presidential election.”

They want to know what the next steps are.

“It is unclear how the department will carry out this charge given that the commission never produced any findings,” the lawmakers wrote. “We are concerned that directing DHS essentially to take over where the commission left off could distract the department from its pressing obligation to protect US election systems from foreign interference and may undermine the burgeoning relationships DHS is building with state election officials.”

Thompson and Brady asked that the DHS provide any documents, files, electronic records, or information that the department has received, or anticipates receiving, from the commission.
They also wanted to know what activities the department will undertake pursuant to Trump’s decision and if those additional activities will require DHS to divert resources from existing activities.

The lawmakers also requested information regarding what steps the department plans to take to avoid undermining the relationship between DHS and the states necessary to secure elections.