Kobach under investigation by Kansas Supreme Court’s disciplinary office

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is being investigated by a Kansas Supreme Court disciplinary office, according to a new report.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the disciplinary office received a complaint from Keri Strahler, a student at Washburn University. The complaint accused Kobach of showing a “lack of respect for the courts.”

Strahler spoke to the Capital-Journal, she referenced reports about Kobach being fined $1,000 by a court in June for not turning over documents he wrote for a meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump.

“It just irks me to no end that he should act that way in our courts,” Strahler told the Capital-Journal.

{mosads}Kobach, who also serves as the vice chairman of President Trump’s commission on election integrity, was handed the fine by a federal judge for a lawsuit involving federal voting laws.

Kobach had been photographed taking documents into a meeting with Trump after the election. The American Civil Liberties Union sued to get the documents, which they said appeared to discuss changing federal voting law.

Kobach, though, said he had no such documents, a claim the judge cited as misleading in issuing the fine.

“The court agrees that defendant’s deceptive conduct and lack of candor warrant the imposition of sanctions,” U.S. Magistrate Judge James O’Hara said, according to The Associated Press. 

A Kansas Supreme Court spokeswoman would not confirm the probe into Kobach to the Capital-Journal.

Strahler, though, told the paper she had received a letter from the disciplinary office that her claims would be investigated.

It is unclear what that investigation would entail. According to the AP, the office, which has oversight of lawyers in the state, receives about 800 complaints a year and opens probes in about a third.

A Kobach spokeswoman also told the Capital-Journal that his office was reviewing the matter.

Trump’s election integrity commission has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks after Kobach sent a letter to all 50 states and the District of Columbia asking them to turn over information about their registered voters, including names, birthdays, the last four digits of their Social Security numbers and their voting history dating back to 2006.

A majority of states have refused to comply with the commission’s request, and the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the commission accusing it of holding its first meeting in private, without public notice.