Trump's failed voter fraud 'czar' Kobach plans on having a hate group member testify on his behalf in court

Next week, Kansas Secretary of State and erstwhile heed of the Trump administration's failed "electoral integrity" commission Kris Kobach will go to federal court to defend his state's extreme voter ID law. He plans on bringing with him a team of "experts," many of whom propose voter fraud conspiracy theories — and one of whom is a member of a known hate group.

Talking Points Memo on Thursday published a rundown of Kobach's star witnesses, which includes Steve Camarota, the research director for the hard-right Center for Immigration Studies that has been categorized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group for their "constant stream of fear-mongering misinformation about Latino immigrants." One of their founders, John Talton, is a known eugenicist who believes the U.S. must retain its "European-American majority" to thrive.

During Kobach's trial, Camerota will not be testifying about immigration at all. Instead, court documents show he'll be there to prove "no evidence that the proof of citizenship requirement adversely impacts the registration or participation rates of U.S. citizens in Kansas."

Among the other experts Kobach assembled is Hans von Spakovsky, another member of the failed election integrity commission who once emailed Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying Democrats and "mainstream Republican officials" should not be allowed to serve on it. He also tapped Old Dominion University professor Jesse Richmon, who wrote a Washington Post editorial claiming undocumented immigrants swung the vote for Barack Obama in North Carolina in 2008 that resulted in three rebuttals in the Post alone.