Government watchdog accepts request to review Trump voter fraud commission
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will likely be looking into President Trump's voter fraud commission next year.
GAO accepted a request from Senate Democrats to review the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity "as work that is within the scope of its authority," according to a Thursday letter from Katherine Siggerud, GAO's managing director for congressional relations, to Colorado's Sen. Michael Bennett.
Bennett, along with Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey, requested the review on Oct. 18.
"We accepted the request and now goes through our system," Chuck Young, GAO's managing director of public affairs, told CBS News. "It's in the queue and we have to wait until staff is available, so several months before the work gets underway and at that time we'll determine the full scope and methodology."
Mr. Trump established the commission, led by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, to investigate allegations of voter fraud. But the commission has been questioned about its own transparency, or lack thereof. It's that lack of transparency that Democrats say prompted their review. The Democrats claimed the commission has ignored "numerous requests from members of Congress seeking clarification" of its activities, possibly in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act that is supposed to ensure open operations in federal agencies.
Earlier this month, two members of the commission fired off letters to commission staff complaining about a lack of information in the group's agenda and demanding more information about its activities.
In an Oct. 17 letter, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said he was not apprised of information about the commission, requesting copies of all correspondence between commission members since the president signed an executive order establishing the commission in May.
"I am in a position where I feel compelled to inquire after the work of the commission upon which I am sworn to serve, and am yet completely uninformed as to its activities," Dunlap wrote in his letter to Andrew Kossack, the commission's executive director.
CBS News' Jacqueline Alemany contributed to this report.
