by WorldTribune Staff, June 16, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
Quickly after Donald Trump revamped the Republican National Committee (RNC), the new leadership placed a priority on ensuring the integrity of the November election.
The former president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley took over as RNC co-chairs, while senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita was named chief of staff.
Christina Bobb, a former One America News anchor and lawyer for Trump, was selected to lead the RNC's grassroots election integrity effort.
“I want to have a massive red wave of volunteers, of workers, of people who actually work in their county. I don’t want this to be another election where we’re like, oh, ‘Democrats stole it again.’ We have to have more people than we have ever had working the election. It’s not enough to just vote, it’s not enough to send in a donation. I’m so grateful for people that are donating by all means, please, we need the support,” Bobb told The Daily Caller.
“But more than that we need the people, whether if you have an hour that you can give, if you have a couple of weeks you can give, whatever time you can give to be a part of this process. We absolutely need you,” she added.
Bobb is leading the RNC's “Protect the Vote” initiative. The initiative, which was launched on Monday, assists Americans nationwide in signing to be credentialed to help as poll workers, challengers, or observers on Election Day.
On the Protect the Vote website’s front page, a handful of states’ volunteers can indicate if they are interested in being a poll watcher, poll worker, or working in another role.
The RNC said its “Protect the Vote” tour will “rally voters for President Trump and train volunteers” as members of the party travel to Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.
“We want to make sure that we can credential as many people as want to be credentialed and get as many people on the shift, as many have time and availability to do it. So that that’s the main focus from the RNC, is making sure that people are going to protect the vote to make sure they’re going through the RNC process,” Bobb told The Daily Caller.
“And of course, working with state parties, it filters down to state parties they are all a part of this as well. And then the state parties ideally have their own operations as well. So I just want to make sure it’s as robust as possible,” Bobb added.
Democrats and their allies in legacy media wasted no time in criticizing the move by the GOP to hire Bobb. The New Republic wrote that the hire “ought to scare” Americans. MSNBC called it an “odd choice.”
“As far as what the Left thinks about me – you mean the same outlets that lied to us about Hunter Biden’s laptop? The 51 intelligence officials? Joe Biden’s foreign income? Cocaine in the White House? The Russia Hoax? The Ukraine Hoax? The Steele Dossier? The FBI’s involvement in the ‘insurance policy’? The Biden White House’s involvement in censoring free speech? The Biden White House’s involvement in dictating content to social media companies?” Bobb said. “I couldn’t care less what they say about me, or anything else.”
The Trump campaign and the RNC also launched “Trump Force 47,” an organization focused on mobilizing grassroots supporters ahead of the election. The site asks signees if they want to help with a variety of initiatives, such as calling targeted voters and outreach, poll watching and hosting a “Trump House Party.”
Meanwhile, the House Administration Committee has issued subpoenas to 15 members of Joe Biden’s Cabinet related to an executive order on voting access.
The executive order, Promoting Access to Voting, was signed in March 2021 and says that “executive departments and agencies should partner with state, local, tribal and territorial election officials to protect and promote the exercise of the right to vote, eliminate discrimination and other barriers to voting, and expand access to voter registration and accurate election information.”
Wisconsin Republican Rep. Bryan Steil, chairman of the committee, suggested the executive order lets officials from the Biden team “flood election administration sites, [which] threatens election integrity and reduces Americans’ confidence.”
“Elections are partisan, but our election administration should never be partisan,” Steil said in the statement. “This executive order is another attempt by the Biden administration to tilt the scales ahead of 2024. I will continue working to provide transparency and accountability on this administration’s latest scheme, as Congress did not appropriate taxpayer funds for partisan activities.”
The subpoenas request information from the Cabinet officials on how they plan to implement the orders five months ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
“The committee has concerns about the implementation of E.O. 14019, particularly regarding its compatibility with provisions of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993,” Steil said in a letter to the Cabinet secretaries dated Wednesday.
“Congress delegates to federal agencies specific functions and missions, which by law they are required to follow. Congress’ delegation of authority to [the Housing and Urban Development Department] does not include using funds and resources to provide Americans with voter registration materials,” Steil said.
Steil said the executive order requires federal agencies to submit their plans on “how the agency can promote voter registration and voter participation” and that some agencies, like the Education Department and the Small Business Administration, have already begun taking action.
Steil said the committee is considering legislation to repeal the executive order and require the agencies’ plans to be submitted to Congress.
The agencies subpoenaed were requested to respond by June 26. The letter was sent to the Departments of Transportation, Agriculture, Interior, Treasury, State, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Energy, Education, Defense, Commerce, Justice, Office of Management and Budget, Labor, and HUD.
