Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams’ law firm did work for election deniers

Kentucky Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, who is running for a second term in this November’s election, is a name partner for a private law firm that has done work for election deniers.

Among those who have done business with Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman is one person who was convicted of disorderly conduct for entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, one who was present at the storming of the Capitol, and several members of Congress who voted against accepting the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Adams is running for a second term against Democratic former state Rep. Buddy Wheatley. In an Oct. 9 debate between the candidates, Wheatley raised Adams’ connection to the election denial movement.

“When you’re a firefighter, when the alarm sounds, you go towards the emergency, and right now alarms are sounding how Michael Adams has run our elections,” Wheatley said. “In 2022, we had the lowest voter turnout in 30 years. Hundreds of polling locations were removed. Folks, this is what happens when you have a secretary of state who treats the office as part-time while he’s working his side job for election deniers.”

Adams denied the accusation, responding: “I don’t represent any ‘election deniers.’ That’s totally false.”

But his firm has received thousands of dollars in payments from individuals who have falsely claimed that President Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election.

Records filed with the Federal Election Commission show that Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman was paid more than $27,000 between June 2021 and June 2022 by #WalkAway Campaign PAC. The political action committee was founded by self-described “former liberal” Brandon Straka, who encouraged people to walk away from the Democratic Party and back former President Donald Trump.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Straka was recorded on video encouraging the mob that breached the U.S. Capitol to “Go go go!” and telling rioters who were taking a shield from a Capitol Police officer to “take it.” Straka admitted to his actions in U.S. district court in January 2022 and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Straka was fined for his offenses and also charged a fine for damage that was done to the Capitol building by the mob he supported.

The law firm also represented the campaign of former candidate Teddy Daniels, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District in 2022. Between November 2021 and March 2022, Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman was paid over $2,500 in legal fees by Daniels’ campaign.

Daniels was part of the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and posted video of the event to X, formerly known as Twitter, with the caption, “I am here. God bless our patriots.” On Feb. 2, 2022, Daniels tweeted, “The real ‘Big Lie’ is that Biden ‘won’ Pennsylvania in 2020.”

Additionally, Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman was paid for legal work by Reps. Robert Aderholt (AL), Guy Reschenthaler (PA), Jody Hice (GA), Andrew Clyde (GA), Byron Donalds (FL) and Alex Mooney (WV), all of whom voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Former Trump administration official Kris Kobach, who now serves as Kansas attorney general, paid the firm over $8,000 in 2021 in connection with his failed U.S. Senate campaign. Kobach has falsely claimed that “there’s no question” voter fraud occurred in the 2020 election and was involved in an unsuccessful lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the election.

Former Georgia Sen. David Perdue, who in 2022 claimed the election was “rigged and stolen,” paid the law firm more than $30,000 between 2021 and 2022. Former congressional candidates who have promoted election falsehoods and have also paid the firm include Darius Mayfield, Loren Culp and Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette.

Despite his firm’s actions, in May, during the Republican primary for the secretary of state election, Adams described election deniers as “cranks and kooks” in an interview.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.