(Updated to include new details about gun purchased by the secretary of state’s office, comments from Kobach spokeswoman, FBI and the secretary of state’s office employee who returned the ammunition and edits throughout)
Secretary of State Scott Schwab on Thursday revealed that the office purchased 1,000 rounds of ammunition under the leadership of his predecessor Kris Kobach.
Schwab released a statement on Thursday indicating that he asked for law enforcement assistance to find the 1,000 rounds after they vanished.
Schwab’s office discovered that the ammunition was purchased in 2017 – when Kobach was still secretary of state – during a review of office accounts. Kobach is now running for the U.S. Senate.
With the assistance of the FBI, 218 rounds were found after former investigator Craig McCullah was contacted. The ammunition was ultimately turned over to the Capitol Police.
“It didn’t seem appropriate to have ammunition unaccounted for, especially when purchased with state funds,” Schwab said.
“We’re grateful for the help of law enforcement to ensure the ammunition was located and returned in a timely and safe manner.”
Danedri Herbert, who worked as a spokeswoman in the office before Schwab was elected, said the ammunition was not purchased at Kobach’s direction.
“However, it is routine for security personnel in a government agency to be supplied ammunition to maintain their certification,” Herbert said.
The ammunition was purchased for McCullah to get certified as a law enforcement officer so he could investigate voter fraud.
Kobach was the only secretary of state in the country with the legal power to investigate and prosecute voter fraud.
The secretary of state’s office also purchased a gun for McCullah to get certified at the Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson.
However, McCullah said he couldn’t use the gun on the firing range at the training center because it didn’t have the correct safety mechanism.
He used his own gun – a 9 millimeter Glock – for the training, which is why the office bought ammunition for his firearm and not the one purchased by the secretary of state’s office.
McCullah said there was no one to turn the ammunition over to when he left the office and since it didn’t match the gun bought by the office he just stored it in his garage. He turned the left over ammunition to authorities.
“I’m not sure why Schwab made a big statement about this. To me, it’s a nonstory,” McCullah said in an interview.
Mccullah, who ran for secretary of state last year, said the gun was administrative in nature to keep his law enforcement certification credentials.
“A firearm is not for election fraud. It’s to have a certified law enforcement officer,” he said. “This was administrative. It wasn’t like I was going around with a gun trying to hunt down voter fraud people.”
A spokesman for the FBI in Kansas City said information has been presented to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He referred all questions to that office, which is led by U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister. An effort to reach the office spokesman for comment was unsuccessful but various media reports indicate it won’t prosecute.
The purchase was made from Simmons Gun Specialties in Spring Hill. It was made on Jan. 14, 2017. It cost $174 for the 1,000 rounds of Winchester 9mm Luger ammunition.
Former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, who is running for the U.S. Senate, ripped into Kobach on Thursday afternoon.
