WASHINGTON, DC – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has found himself back in a familiar place: facing ethics complaints over violating campaign finance laws. As The Kansas City Star reported, Kobach “accepted more than $10,000 in campaign contributions […] that exceeded limits for individual donors set by state law […] two donors who gave more than is allowed by state law and did not receive refunds from the campaign.”

This is not the first time the Republican AG has failed to follow campaign finance law, the most recent incident was during his failed 2020 Senate campaign when he accepted an illegal in-kind corporate donation from the We Build the Wall organization that scammed its donors out of $25 million.

If Kobach cannot follow the law, he should not be trusted to faithfully carry out the job of AG.

Key highlights: 

• “‘Kris Kobach’s own campaign filings appear to show that he either violated Kansas’s campaign finance laws numerous times this election cycle or he submitted inaccurate reports,’ [Tiffany] Muller said in a statement to the Star. ‘He should be investigated either way.’”
• “In addition to the allegations of excess donations, the letter also claims Kobach accepted a $2,500 contribution from a corporate law firm during the legislative session. The watchdog alleges that the contribution violated a state law prohibiting donations from lobbyists, political committees or corporations during the session.”
• “Leah Rymer, a spokesperson for Mann’s campaign, said Kobach has ‘no excuse for not knowing or following the rules’ because he has run for multiple statewide offices before, including governor, U.S. senator, secretary of state and attorney general.”
•  “‘Kris Kobach either doesn’t understand Kansas campaign finance laws, or he is flouting the rules to improve his campaign’s financial standing,’ Rymer said. ‘There shouldn’t be one set of rules for everyone else and another for Kris Kobach.’”
•  “In 2011, Kobach was fined $5,000 by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission — KPDC’s precursor — for inaccurately reporting more than $75,000 in contributions and expenditures during the 2010 election.”
• “Kobach sent emails to the [We Build the Wall] 295,000 donors soliciting contributions for his Senate campaign. The FEC found Kobach failed to report the in-kind contribution, resulting in a $30,000 civil penalty shared by the campaign and We Build the Wall.”

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