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The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity had its first official meeting last week, launching its agenda amid widespread controversy about Vice Chair Kris Kobachs request for all 50 states individual voter data, and while facing seven federal lawsuits related to that request.

Trump's Voter-Fraud Commission Has Its First Meeting

Although the stated mission of the group, as outlined in President Trumps May executive order, is to study the registration and voting processes used in federal elections, the public outcry against the commission has come from fear that it would use overblown charges of voter fraud to encourage or even create widespread voter-suppression programs. The first meeting went roughly the way detractors expected it would: Voter fraud was the center of discussion among the most prominent attendees, though several state elections officials there expressed concern about less sensational issues, like voting equipment and automatic registration. (There is no proof of widespread in-person voter fraud or noncitizen voting.)

Among those state officials was Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, one of three Democrats in a 12-member body that otherwise includes a brain trust of conservative voter-fraud crusaders. I spoke to Dunlap, who in the past has said that Trumps claims of rampant fraud are a ploy to make it harder for people to vote, about his reasons for joining the commission and about what he suspects will be the groups true agenda moving forward. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Vann R. Newkirk II: What are your goals for your work with the commission?

Matthew Dunlap: Its simple: This commission should be about the sovereign right of a citizen to exercise the franchise of self-governance. Everything else falls into place after that.

Newkirk: Where does the idea of voter fraud fall within that goal?

Dunlap: One of the things I tried to convey in the first meeting was, they were talking about this coiled serpent of people being registered to vote in more than one place. But thats not against the law and is usually not the fault of the voter. Its because theyve moved and the administrators havent updated their voter files. Its not because somebodys trying to do anything wrong, but those people have been described as this great threat or tremendous risk.

Newkirk: And the members of this commission are the ones creating that narrative.

Dunlap: Some of the people who are opposed rather vehemently to the very existence of this commission say that I should resign, because being a respected elections official and a Democrat only lends legitimacy to what many people are regarding as a sham to increase suppression and to disenfranchise voters.

Well, thats arguable. I think you have to give it a shot first. If youre not there saying the things that Im saying, then the only things theyre talking about are how to stop voter fraudwithout really trying to define what that means.

I, for one, dont believe for a second that were going to find 3 million to 5 million illegally cast votes, as the president claims. My goals and hopes for this are that we can actually answer some of the lingering questions; put voters first; and, if there are opportunities to improve the process, well do it with the voter in mind and not the elections administrators.

Newkirk: So you think that collecting more data, as Kobach has requested of states, could ease concerns about voter fraud and allow you to pursue the questions you want to pursue?

Dunlap: It depends on what data youre looking at. This is one of the first rules of research. Know what youre looking for.

We had our now-infamous organizational conference call. Thats where the idea came up to ask for the voter data and start looking at this interstate voter-registration issue. Nobody expected the backlash that we got, but I had my spider-sense tingling. I said, Well, you want to be a little careful with what youre asking for and how youre asking for it. Dont demand it, ask for it. And only ask for whats legally and publicly available pursuant to those states laws.

Newkirk: With the commission going forward, how do you think you can represent the interests of voters?

Dunlap: Now that weve had our first meeting, Ive gotten a flavor of where everybody else is coming from. For the next meeting, Im going to be a bit better prepared, and bring some material on the things that weve seen and done in Maine.

A similar commission in Maine, led by Republicans, came out with a report that said the amount of additional security that a voter ID law would provide would be completely and overwhelmingly offset by the number of people who would be disenfranchised because they didnt have access to identity documents. And that commission recommended against it. Id like to bring that to this commission.

Newkirk: What other issues are on your radar?

Dunlap: The week before the 2016 election, there were notices that were sent to college students on a couple of campuses in Maine saying that if you were from out-of-state and you registered to vote in Maine, you would lose your financial-aid package. Thats complete bullshit, but it was meant as a voter-intimidation move. Those are the things that we should be talking about. Thats voter suppression.

For the commissions focus on fraud, say somebody moved from Lincolnville to Old Town [in Maine], and they voted absentee in Lincolnville to cover their bases before they got their new apartment. And as theyre registering their new truck in Old Town, they get handed all kinds of documents, including a voter-registration card and a ballot application. They fill it all out and get a ballot with different names, and they votethey dont necessarily realize theyre voting twice. Is that voter fraud? Not really. We need to sit and think about those things, but instead were talking about illegal aliens coming here to vote, which is not what people come here to do. They come here to work.

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What's the Real Goal of Trump's Voter-Fraud Commission? - The Atlantic

Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 21, 2017. Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP file

"Jeff Sessions is among the most honorable men in government today...I have full confidence in Jeffs ability to perform the duties," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the most senior Republican in the Senate.

Hatch was the second senator to endorse Trump last year, he noted to reporters "some people thought I was crazy to do it."

Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas conservative, called Sessions "a good man and a fine Attorney General."

Sen. Tom Tillis, R-N.C., praised Sessions specifically for his handling of the Russia probe.

"I think that his independence has been proven by his willingness to recuse himself," Tillis told reporters. "I think hes doing a good job there and I look forward to him continuing to serve."

Asked if the Senate would confirm a replacement for Sessions should it need to, Tillies replied, "That raises the question about whether or not anybody would wanna do it."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has butted up against Sessions hardline on immigration, defended him on Twitter.

Trump snubbed Sessions on Monday when he spoke to the

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told CNBC that Sessions "embodies all of the things that are great about boy scouting and eagle scouts."

"I worked with Jeff Sessions for nine and a half years in the Senate," Barrasso added. "Jeff Sessions has my confidence."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich introduces Donald Trump at a rally last month in Ft. Myers, Fla. Evan Vucci / AP

And even Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and outspoken Trump defender, took Sessions' side. "I think Sessions should stay," Gingrich told NPR Wednesday. "I dont think this is one of the Presidents better moments."

Meanwhile in Alabama, three Republicans are the leading candidates

One of them, Rep. Mo Brooks, on Wednesday announced that he would drop out of the race if the other GOP contenders would do so as well so that Sessions could become the Republican nominee to get his old Senate seat back if he is fired by Trump.

"This public waterboarding of one of the greatest people Alabama has ever produced is inappropriate and insulting to the people of Alabama who know Jeff Sessions so well and elected him so often by overwhelming margins," Brooks said.

More:
Republican Senators Steamed Over Trump Attacks Back Sessions - NBCNews.com

Hours later, Mr. Trump joined the chairman of Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics supplier for Apple and other tech giants, for a big announcement: The company will open its first American factory in Wisconsin.

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3. The Treasury Department announced new financial sanctions on current and former Venezuelan officials. The Trump administration is threatening further action if President Nicols Maduro proceeds with a constituent assembly on Sunday that critics consider a danger to democracy. Above, a scene from a protest in Caracas.

And Russian legislators called for painful measures against the U.S. in response to plans for new American sanctions. The House voted on Tuesday to bolster sanctions to punish Moscow for aggression toward its neighbors and election interference. The bill goes to the Senate next.

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4. You can think of California as a giant laboratory.

That was a Berkeley professor as Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new law expanding the states cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The state now plans to rethink every corner of its economy, from urban planning to dairy farms.

And theres a big scandal rocking the University of Southern California. The Los Angeles Times published an expos about the former dean of the medical school, who was seen on camera taking hard drugs and partying with much younger companions.

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5. Thousands of people were evacuated from homes and vacation sites in southeastern France as strong winds fueled wildfires that had been raging across the region for days.

At least two homes and 2,000 acres of forest were gutted, but there have been no reports of fatalities so far. The fire started at a campsite near Bormes-les-Mimosas, a town on the Mediterranean coast, where the population surges with vacationers during the summer.

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6. At least four people, including two teenagers, have died since Monday trying to cross the Rio Grande into Texas, in another deadly sign of the extremes to which migrants will go to reach the U.S.

The river is normally just a trickle there, but heavy rains have transformed it into a dangerous torrent. Seven people were also rescued near El Paso, above.

The deaths came days after the authorities discovered the bodies of eight migrants packed in a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio.

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7. New York Citys subway system is a disaster at the moment plagued by delays, breakdowns and even derailments.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency in June. Now hes going to Washington to meet with Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the states congressional delegation about the crisis.

If youre wondering why the governor is in charge of the subway and not the mayor youre not alone. Heres the back story.

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8. A first-of-its-kind traveling exhibition of objects from Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp, will begin a tour of 14 cities across Europe and North America later this year.

The organizers said its more urgent than ever as the last survivors age, and anti-Semitism persists in many quarters.

The exhibit will include letters and testimonials, a tin that contained Zyklon B gas pellets and other grim reminders from the complexs gas chambers. Above, a wooden box made in Auschwitz by a Polish prisoner.

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9. Is your Roomba plotting to spy on you?

The company that makes the robotic vacuum, iRobot, is considering selling the mapping data the devices collect to a company like Google or Amazon.

The data could be a windfall for marketers, and the implications are easy to imagine as are the legal questions and privacy concerns that could arise.

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10. Finally, the late-night hosts had their hands full trying to make sense of the health care debate in the Senate. (We sympathize.)

But they managed. Ahead of the health care vote senators were saying that they had no clue what theyd be voting on, Jimmy Fallon quipped. Then Americans said, Hey, just like us during the election.

Tonight, Stephen Colbert talks to Michael Moore about his forthcoming one-man show on Broadway on The Late Show.

Have a great night.

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Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.

Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.

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Republican Party, Russia, Venezuela: Your Wednesday Evening Briefing - New York Times

President Trump made no effort to dispel the impression that he wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions out, telling reporters on Tuesday, We will see what happens. Time will tell.

At a news conference on Tuesday at the White House, President Trump took questions about his attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

Mr. Sessions remained silent, but Mr. Trumps continued criticism of an early ally has opened a rift with conservatives who see the attorney general as their champion. It has also raised questions about the future of the investigation into Russias election interference and highlighted the complicated relationship between the president and congressional Republicans.

On Tuesday, the president addressed an adoring crowd in Ohio, while the Boy Scouts tried to distance the group from his politics-laced speech the day before.

Estimate of North Korean threat is revised.

A missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. is likely to be developed within a year, American intelligence agencies say, a significantly shorter time frame than previously given.

Scandal sinks dean at U.S.C.

The University of Southern California is under intense scrutiny over the departure of the leader of its medical school.

Dr. Carmen Puliafito was a prodigious fund-raiser, but a report last week detailed how he associated with criminals and used drugs on campus.

U.S. soldier tells of baffling attack.

A survivor of a shootout in Jordan last year that killed three Americans described a scene of confusion and terror.

A gun battle erupted between American Special Forces soldiers and a Jordanian Air Force sergeant last year at an air base outside Al Jafr, Jordan.

The Daily, your audio news report.

In todays show, we discuss the Senates health care debate.

Listen on a computer, an iOS device or an Android device.

The White House is exploring ways to exploit Afghanistans vast mineral wealth, which Afghan officials have said could be profitably extracted by Western companies.

Weak productivity is conventionally understood to be the root cause of slow growth and low wages. What if its the other way around?

Frustrated by limits on transactions, a faction of programmers is starting a new virtual currency, Bitcoin Cash.

Employees at a tech company in Wisconsin are volunteering for microchip implants, making it easier to open doors and pay for food. The practice raises many questions, both privacy- and health-related.

U.S. stocks were up on Tuesday. Heres a snapshot of global markets.

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

Can you test the health of your gut?

Recipe of the day: Weeknights call for comfort food like chicken curry.

Recalling riots in Detroit, 50 years on.

In todays 360 video, travel through archival photographs to sites of one of the most destructive civil disturbances in U.S. history.

In this 360 video, travel through archival photographs to sites of one of the most destructive civil disturbances in American history and hear from a woman who witnessed it.

111 N.F.L. brains. 110 with disease.

An overwhelming number of football players in a new study were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative disease linked to repeated blows to the head.

Not your typical Mexican fare.

At Atla, a casual cafe in New York from a team with original things to say about Mexican cuisine, chefs make food for every moment of the day, our restaurant critic writes.

In memoriam.

Margaret Bergmann Lambert, a world-class high jumper, was best known for her nonparticipation in the 1936 Olympics, when she was kept off the German team because she was Jewish. She was 103.

Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara cautioned against gluttony and early retirement, and championed climbing stairs and having fun. Practicing what he preached, he helped make Japan the world leader in longevity. He was 105.

Best of late-night TV.

Some of the hosts addressed President Trumps speech to the Boy Scouts. Be prepared.

Quotation of the day.

If an early supporter like this is thrown under the bus, then who is safe? You can imagine what the other cabinet secretaries are thinking.

Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies and a supporter of stricter immigration policies like those championed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

War in a periscope declared the front page of The Times on this day in 1942.

The headline accompanied an image from the U.S. Navy, the first combat action photograph taken through the periscope of an American undersea craft.

That got us wondering about other photographic firsts at The Times, so we dived into our archives.

The Times published its first photographs on Sept. 6, 1896, in the first edition of its Sunday Magazine. (The pictures were of two candidates in the 1860 presidential election. Pictures of white, male politicians? Some things never change.)

It took 13 more years for a photograph to appear on the front page. The Times sponsored a daredevil flight from Albany to New York City and ran a picture of the plane at takeoff.

Experiments with color printing began as far back as the early 20th century, but the front page was strictly black and white until Oct. 16, 1997, when a photograph of the World Series-bound Cleveland Indians appeared.

Interested in seeing more from The Timess archive? Check out our blog, The Lively Morgue, and follow @nytarchives on Instagram.

Ryan Murphy contributed reporting.

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Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern and updated on the web all morning. You can browse through past briefings here.

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Because of an editing error, an earlier version of a caption with this briefing misidentified both the source and the target of a torpedo that sank a Japanese ship. The torpedo was from a U.S. submarine, not a destroyer, and sank a Japanese destroyer, not a battleship.

Original post:
Republican Party, Jeff Sessions, North Korea: Your Wednesday ... - New York Times

A key House Republican has written an online column that describes the transgender bathroom debate as a distraction built, in part, on duplicitous grandstanding by politicians.

The posting on the Texas GOP Vote website is significant because Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, is chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, which will handle legislation pertaining to transgender bathroom use.

As the special session continues to unfold, I am disappointed that our great state is continuing to waste so much time over the bathroom debate, Cook wrote, saying the issue is a smokescreen threats facing rural communities and schools.

Cook went on to explain his position on the issue, saying he supports legislation that limits admittance (based on gender at birth) to multi-stall bathrooms and locker rooms in our schools and requires local schools districts to develop single-stall bathroom policies for its transgender students.

Beyond clarifying this policy for our public schools, we already have strong laws in Texas against sexual predators. Therefore, I do not condone duplicitous grandstanding on this issue and/or discriminatory legislation; nor do I support laws that will adversely affect our states economy, he wrote.

The Texas Senate gave final approval to Senate Bill 3 shortly after midnight Wednesday, sending the bill to an uncertain reception in the House, where Speaker Joe Straus has already announced sharp opposition to the issue.

The State Affairs Committee also has not set a hearing on two bills by Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton House Bill 50, which would ban schools from adopting policies that extend anti-discrimination protection to bathroom, locker room and changing room use, and HB 46, which would extend that prohibition to local governments as well as schools.

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Key House Republican calls bathroom bills a distraction - Austin American-Statesman