the election results. another worked as a deputy in president donald trump s white house presidential personnel office. at the time that office was known for reading out people to be disloyal to president trump. a third is an arkansas lawyer who represented trump s campaign during last year s wisconsin recount. a process that confirmed that joe biden won by roughly 21,000 votes. all of these people are being paid with wisconsin taxpayer money as part of a legislative back investigation into the 2020 election results. an investigation that has picked up steam in recent weeks. the inquiry is the recent gambit by republicans to re-examine the 2020 election nationally. it makes little pretense of truth l.e.d.. it is being led by figures who openly embraced false claims of fraud. the former president personally lobbied state law makers to pursue the wisconsin investigation. and spurred on other ballot reviews in the country. leading on other legislators to
texas. ensuring the integrity of the ballot box isn t part sand. reporter: gop lawmakers are readying another round of bills for 2022, that could make it tough tore cast a ballot a. if you report from the center for justice, shows, gop law makers are allowing more partisan reviews of election results, members vote by mail and establish new voter i.d. requirement. many in the gop side saw former president trump s lead, as he talks about fraud in the 2020 election. in other words, the election was fraud. we must pass a complete overhaul of our entire elections system to insure it s free, fair, honest and able to be fully and quickly audited. reporter: pointing to those allegations to justify new voting restrictions and post-election ballot reviews. lawmakers in 19 states passed 34 restrictive bills in 2021,
since he lost the state in november. arizona has become ground zero for people who believe trump s completely false claims that the election was rigged and victory was stolen from him. the ongoing so-called audit of ballots there is attracting wannabes from other states. isn t that so lovely? if the ex-president is so sure fraud happened in arizona, why isn t his political action committee taking any action, putting money towards it? it certainly has the means. the washington post reports the save america leadership pac has raked in $75 million this year but hasn t spent any of it on ballot reviews in arizona or anywhere else. arizona s democratic secretary of state katie hobbs joins me now. she s also running for governor in 2022. thanks for joining us. what s your reaction to trump not putting his money where his mouth is? well, i think we ve seen this
answer like that, say, i understand why you would admire him but why does it make him a good president, because i still don t know the answer to your original question. anyway, that s what we ve got. steve, thank you. joining me california congressman ro khanna, a democratic member of the house armed services, agriculture and oversight committees. good to see you back on the broadcast. thanks for joining me. as donald trump is gearing up for the rally in phoenix, the washington post reports trump s political action committee raised about $75 million in the first half of this year, but the group has not devoted any of the funds to the ongoing ballot reviews in arizona or any other state for that matter. why is donald trump not putting his money where his mouth is? will this matter to his supporters? well, alex, i think he knows that there s no legal case. he is trying to demagogue the issue, but he knows that putting money there would be a waste of money and, instead, he is using
a whopping $75 million. how much former president trump s political action committee raised in the first half of the year. partly through fund-raising pitches like this one. facebook ads that read, we need you to join the fight to secure our elections. how much of that $75 million went to any of the ballot reviews and so-called audits? zero. reporting instead the save america leadership pac which has few limits on how it can spend its money has paid for some of the former president s travel, legal staff. trump continues to stoke the big lie so profitable for him and his pac with a speech tomorrow in arizona, home to the audit so central to keeping baseless election fraud conspiracies alive. the event is billed as a, quote, rally to protect our elections. joining our conversation jonathan lemire, white house reporter and an msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson is back with us.