Thread: Kobach Mum Amid Speculation He Could Replace Jeff Sessions

Kobach mum amid speculation he could replace Jeff Sessions


November 7, 2018

Hunter Woodall and Bryan Lowry


Less than a day after Kris Kobach lost his race for Kansas governor, the conservative firebrand is being floated as a potential replacement for fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions.



Reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, a surprised Kobach said “no comment.”



The Kansas secretary of state has longstanding ties to President Donald Trump and has previously been rumored as a candidate for attorney general.



Kobach met with Trump shortly after the 2016 election to discuss plans for the Department of Homeland Security. Kobach said last year that he had been offered roles in the administration, but turned them down to pursue the governor’s office.



“I hated that he ran because I would have loved to have brought him into my administration,” Trump told a crowd in Topeka last month.



“I hope he loses because I want him so badly. But don’t do that.”


Shortly after Sessions’ firing was announced Kobach’s name began circulating on social media as a potential replacement.
Kobach’s campaign manager J.R. Claeys said the Republican is “well-suited” to become attorney general.


“It does make complete sense,” Claeys said. “I haven’t had any discussions with him where this has come up... just knowing Kris as well as I do now, and knowing his history and knowing his relationship with the president and the trust he has from the president, I think it’s definitely a possibility.”


Kansas GOP chair Kelly Arnold said that he expects Trump “find a place for him in his administration. He is very supportive of Kris Kobach.”

Arnold suggested Trump might wait until January when newly elected GOP senators, such as Missouri’s Josh Hawley, could cast their votes for the Kansas Republican.


Kobach was found in contempt of federal court this year and ordered to undergo six hours of legal training this year after he unsuccessfully represented his office against a federal lawsuit against the state’s proof of citizenship law.


His legal work on immigration has also come under scrutiny. An investigation by The Kansas City Star and ProPublica found that small cities that listened to Kobach on immigration policy wound up paying hefty legal bills in defense of ineffective ordinances.


https://www.kansascity.com/news/loca...221309750.html

Could Sessions resignation be an opportunity for Kris Kobach?


November 7, 2018

Nick Viviani


TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- "I hope he loses."



When President Donald Trump came to the Capital City to support Kris Kobach's bid for governor, he joked with the crowd he kind of hoped the Republican nominee didn't win. That's because, Trump said, he wanted the Secretary of State to join him in Washington.


"If he loses I'll bring him into my administration in two seconds."
Those words may, in fact, prove prophetic.


On the very morning after Kobach lost his bid for the Governor's Mansion, a new job opening has some people thinking Kobach may get a spot in President Trump's Cabinet - and it may not take much more than two seconds.


Soon after Attorney General Jeff Sessions submitted his resignationWednesday, prognosticators began wondering about the soon-to-be unemployed Kobach may end up as the nation's top law enforcement officer.


Buzzfeed reporter Joe Bernstein is reporting that he asked an unnamed "political operative with the White House's ear if Kobach for AG is likely."


Bernstein said that operative simply said "Yes."


Were he nominated, this wouldn't be Kobach first time in the Trump Administration. Kobach, who has built a national profile as an advocate of tough immigration laws, advised Trump’s campaign and the White House on homeland security issues and has made enacting state policies against illegal immigration a cornerstone of his campaign for governor.



https://www.wibw.com/content/news/Co...499971122.html

Related:

Breaking: Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned


https://www.alipac.us/f12/breaking-a...73/index2.html