The conservative activist cited by Donald Trump as an authority on voter fraud owes the US government more than $100,000 in unpaid taxes, was once accused of lying about his qualifications, and has faced several allegations of ethical impropriety. In a text message on Friday, Phillips said: “I am in a disagreement with the IRS over income taxes. Noting that auditors had discovered mismanagement in his Mississippi department, the article said Phillips held “shaky qualifications and a suspect track record”. In 2003, Phillips took a job as the second-in-command in Texas’s own human services department, where he was put in charge of a drastic privatization of many services. Phillips told the newspaper he had “severed all ties” to his company when he went to work for the state.

Source: The Guardian January 27, 2017 18:48 UTC