WASHINGTON, DC – Recent reporting has shown Kansas’ Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach has an extensive history using unreliable “expert” witnesses in major state court cases, whose testimonies have been frequently questioned by various judges for lacking credibility.

“…federal and state judges have deemed expert witnesses brought forth by Kobach, or on his behalf, not credible or unreliable in more than a dozen instances since 2016 across four court cases involving state laws,” The Kansas Reflector reported.

Kobach calling noncredible witnesses to the stand for critical court casses is another example of how he is unfit to faithfully and truthfully carry out the job of AG. Kansas deserves better.

Key highlights: 

• “The woman who testified anonymously is one of several witnesses Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has brought forward in state cases whose bias and credibility has been questioned.”
• “A retired district judge found the pattern troubling. ‘What’s concerning is he keeps using the same people over and over again,’ said Kevin Moriarty, a retired Johnson County district judge, who was the first to permit same-sex marriage in Kansas.”
• “In a high profile 2016 case on voting rights involving then-Secretary of State Kobach, a federal judge, Julie Robinson, sanctioned Kobach and reprimanded him for ‘flaunting disclosure and discovery rules that are designed to prevent prejudice and surprise at trial,’ she said in a 2018 ruling that also blocked a law Kobach supported that required proof of citizenship to vote.”
• “Robinson also found Kobach in contempt of court before her 2018 verdict. Before that, a federal magistrate demanded he pay a $1,000 fine for presenting misleading information about voter fraud.”
• “In a 2023 case challenging state-imposed abortion restrictions dating back to 1997, then-Johnson County District Judge Christopher Jayaram questioned the credibility of seven witnesses who testified for Kobach’s team of attorneys during a two-part trial in 2025.”
• “Jayaram also gave little weight to testimony from three abortion patients, who ‘appeared biased and untrustworthy to the court, when considered either independently or in totality.’”
• “Jayaram said her testimony at times ‘seemed unbelievable and coached…’”
• “In a case challenging a gender-affirming care ban for minors, Douglas County District Judge Carl Folsom disputed most of the witnesses Kobach put forth in a May ruling. Folsom said the vast majority of the state’s witnesses were ‘not credible’ or gave their testimony little to no weight in articulating his decision to temporarily block the ban. Kobach said at the time Folsom’s decision was “a stark example of judicial activism.”
• “Folsom said Curlin’s opinions were ‘inconsistent with the weight of medical research in his field, and his opinion appears motivated by his personal views as opposed to a methodology applicable in the field of medical ethics.’”
• “Leah Rymer, a spokesperson for Democrat Chris Mann, who is running for attorney general against Kobach in the November election, said taxpayers are footing the bill for state witnesses. ‘It’s reasonable to expect the state’s top attorney to bring credible witnesses, not ones who push a political agenda,’ Rymer said.”

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