Houston, TX)—On Thursday, January 26, 2017, Congressman Al Green (TX-9) released the following statement on President Trump’s call for a “major investigation” into unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud during the 2016 election.

“Given that these baseless claims have been widely dismissed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and elections experts, it is not unreasonable for one to ask why is this being done? Is this phony investigation about creating ‘alternative facts’ (also known as insidious prevarications) needed to further suppress lawful voting rights?

“We are at a time in our nation’s history when the Voting Rights Act is being weakened and state governments across our country are imposing invidious discriminatory ‘voter-ID laws’ under the façade of preventing voter fraud. We face a real and urgent threat to the core of our democracy—the right to vote. Although President Trump has purported to have an interest in maintaining the integrity of our voting system, he has failed to call for the much-needed reauthorization of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. To add insult to injury, he has nominated an individual to be the Attorney General who has a history of dismissing efforts to defend voting rights.

“President Trump’s ‘major investigation’ is a threat to the important legacy of the Civil Rights and Human Rights Movements. We must not allow ourselves to be distracted by fallacious voter-fraud allegations that can erode our democracy. The substantial issue is the reauthorization of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, not ‘alternative facts’ wrongly suggesting that millions committed voter fraud.”