Schmidt Sent Taxpayer-Funded Aide to Group w Ties to Jan 6 attack

September 9, 2021

Derek Schmidt Sent Taxpayer-Funded Aides to Partisan Political Summit Hosted By Group Tied to Deadly Insurrection

KDP Calls on Schmidt to Return Any and All Taxpayer Funds Related to Staffers During the Trip

Topeka, KS – Records obtained by the Kansas Reflector have exposed Republican gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Derek Schmidt for sending two taxpayer-funded aides in senior roles to a controversial and partisan political summit ahead of last year’s presidential election, which featured “war games” of how to respond if Republican extremists “lose the White House.”

As a result, the Kansas Democratic Party is calling on Derek Schmidt to return any and all taxpayer funds spent on the staffers while they were planning the trip and attending the event.

Specifically, the event was hosted by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a group that was later criticized for its role in the lead-up to the deadly January 6th insurrection on the United States Capitol, which led to the deaths of multiple Capitol police officers. The RLDF even gave details on the timing and location of the march protesters took from the White House to the Capitol.

Professor Kathleen Clark of Washington University in St. Louis told the Kansas Reflector the organization is “fundamentally partisan.”

“While Schmidt has already abused his office by spreading lies about the last election to help his own politics and costing Kansas taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars by defending Kris Kobach’s lawsuits, this report confirms he also got caught red-handed sending taxpayer-funded staffers to a partisan political event. It’s time Schmidt stopped playing dangerous political games with Kansas taxpayers’ money.” — KDP Chairwoman Vicki Hiatt.

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Paid for by the Kansas Democratic Party, Yolanda Taylor, Treasurer

Kansas Democratic Party
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United States