AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It has long been illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. And most evidence shows that it happens very rarely and usually by mistake. That hasn't stopped many Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, from claiming that Democrats are bringing migrants in to vote illegally this November. As NPR's Jude Joffe-Block reports, that false rhetoric is having a real impact on voters.
JUDE JOFFE-BLOCK, BYLINE: The latest false claim started last week with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARIA BARTIROMO: A friend had sent me a text this weekend telling me that they went to the DMV for a new license, and there were lines and lines of illegals all over the DMV office, the Department of Motor vehicles. There was one in Weatherford, Texas, massive line of immigrants getting licensed. They had a tent outside and a table to register them to vote.
JOFFE-BLOCK: She mentioned on social media her source observed this at two sites in Fort Worth as well. But the story quickly fell apart. A local Republican county chair said he could find no evidence of that voter drive in Weatherford or registrations by ineligible applicants. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, the agency that administers driver's licenses, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the story wasn't true. Except, he said, there had been a voter registration table outside of a DPS office in one Fort Worth location, but not in the other...
TOPICS: Horn USA, Inc.PPP loanCivil lawsuitFalse Claims ActSmall Business AdministrationDOJEmergency financial assistanceQui tam GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In a civil settlement, Horn USA, Inc., a pr...