Kansas City Star: Kris Kobach, running for Kansas AG, still working for scandal-tainted border wall group

Kansas City Star: Kris Kobach, running for Kansas AG, still working for scandal-tainted border wall group

Washington-based Common Cause in 2019 filed a complaint with the Department of Justice, asking for an investigation. Campaign finance experts at the time pointed to the lack of a “paid for” disclosure in the message and said if Kobach didn’t pay a fair market price for access to the email list, it could be a violation of campaign finance law. “Any time a candidate for public office is associated with an outside political organization, it warrants scrutiny to make sure the candidate is not getting an unfair or even illegal boost from the outside organization,” Paul S. Ryan, Common Cause’s vice president of policy and litigation, said in an interview this week.

Before Kris Kobach lost the Kansas Republican primary for U.S. Senate in August 2020, his pitch to voters included his work for We Build the Wall, the nonprofit funding the construction of strips of wall along the southern border. As its general counsel, Kobach commanded a handsome $25,000 per month fee. He was sometimes the organization’s public face, appearing on conservative media and in slick promotional materials. Everything changed 16 days after the election, when federal prosecutors charged leaders of We Build the Wall, including former White House strategist Steve Bannon, with defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors. They created sham invoices and accounts to launder donations and cover up crimes, prosecutors alleged.

The former Kansas secretary of state, known for his hardline views on immigration, wasn’t charged or accused of wrongdoing. Bannon was pardoned by President Donald Trump during his final hours in office. We Build the Wall’s operations largely ground to a halt, its funds frozen as the remaining criminal cases moved forward. But Kobach has continued to work for the scandal-tainted group over the past year and a half, even after launching his campaign for Kansas attorney general — the state’s top law enforcement official.

Kobach is no stranger to controversial causes or associating with fringe characters. His latest campaign, coming after unsuccessful bids for Senate and governor, may attract fresh attention to his day job as a lawyer. The ongoing fallout from the We Build the Wall scandal is only the latest headline-grabbing development in a legal career that has also included being held in contempt in federal court while personally defending a Kansas voter registration law.

Kobach remains general counsel at We Build the Wall. And according to Florida business filings, he is a director along with president and founder Brian Kolfage, who is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Money helps explain why Kobach has maintained his ties to Kolfage’s organization.

In the immediate wake of the federal charges, We Build the Wall owed Kobach at least $75,000, according to a September 2020 letter that Kobach’s attorney, Justin Weddle, filed in federal court. Kobach had a contract with the organization for a flat $25,000 monthly fee but was last paid in June 2020, the letter said. …

Kobach had been previously accused by government watchdogs of misusing We Build the Wall’s email list to raise money for his campaign. Kobach had emailed the group’s supporters, providing links to the campaign’s official fundraising page and asked for “a financial contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500, or any amount up to the maximum of $2,800 per individual.”

Washington-based Common Cause in 2019 filed a complaint with the Department of Justice, asking for an investigation. Campaign finance experts at the time pointed to the lack of a “paid for” disclosure in the message and said if Kobach didn’t pay a fair market price for access to the email list, it could be a violation of campaign finance law.

“Any time a candidate for public office is associated with an outside political organization, it warrants scrutiny to make sure the candidate is not getting an unfair or even illegal boost from the outside organization,” Paul S. Ryan, Common Cause’s vice president of policy and litigation, said in an interview this week.