Trump's election security chief promoted false 2020 election claims

WASHINGTON – As President Donald Trump ramps up his interest in taking federal control of the November elections, he's tapped one of the lawyers who worked on his efforts to overturn the 2020 election to be his administration’s "director of election security and integrity."

That's Kurt Olsen, a conservative lawyer who has been hit with ethics complaints and a legal sanction from the Arizona state Supreme Court for spreading what it called "unequivocally false" claims about Trump’s 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden and Kari Lake's 2022 gubernatorial loss in Arizona.

Olsen, a 63-year-old former Navy SEAL, quietly joined the Trump White House in October as a special government employee. Since then, he's been working with law enforcement and intelligence officials to reinvestigate Trump's debunked allegations about 2020, including that he lost Georgia because of voter fraud and that states used "COVID to cheat" via mail-in ballots.

Those claims were investigated and dismissed by courts and election authorities at the time. Trump lost 61 of 62 cases in court by the time supporters of his stormed the U.S. Capitol to interrupt electoral count proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021.

On a phone call on Jan. 2, 2021, Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, to change the official vote count in Georgia to give him its Electoral College results. Raffensperger refused, telling Trump, "the data you have is wrong."

Members of Trump’s own administration, including his then-attorney general, Bill Barr, told Trump at the time that his statements about the election were untrue.

Now critics such as Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, worry that Olsen is seeking to advance these past election fraud claims to help Trump gain more control over future elections.

The man behind the Georgia FBI raid

Recently unsealed court documents disclosed that the FBI investigation that led to the Jan. 28 raid of a Georgia elections office was launched based on Olsen’s own criminal referral to the agency.

Historically, White House officials have taken pains to avoid any appearance of being involved in, or directing, criminal investigations undertaken by the Department of Justice and the FBI.

But in this case, the FBI agent who filed an affidavit to get a judge to approve the search warrant highlighted Olsen’s role in the case and some of his claims about 2020.

"Following the November 3, 2020, presidential election, there were many allegations of electoral impropriety relating to the voting process and ballot counting in Fulton County, Georgia," the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans read.

"This warrant application," he wrote, "is part of an FBI criminal investigation into whether any of the improprieties were intentional acts that violated federal criminal laws."

Evans added: "The FBI criminal investigation originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity."

Olsen did not return a request for comment left on a cell phone registered in his name. The White House praised him for his work.

"The President has the most talented and qualified individuals serving as part of his team, including Kurt," White House spokesman Davis Ingle told USA TODAY Feb. 16 in response to questions about Olsen’s role. "President Trump remains focused on ensuring the safety and security of American elections."

Ingle also referred questions about Olsen’s work to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which has been cooperating with him on efforts to reinvestigate the 2020 election.

But some election security advocates find fault with what Olsen is doing.

"It is inappropriate to say the least, for the same reason that courts have sanctioned his false claims about past elections," said Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, an organization that promotes the responsible use of technology in election administration.

A key 'Stop the Steal' lawyer

Olsen spent much of his career in private legal practice before another lawyer, William Olson, urged Trump to recruit Olsen for his efforts to overturn his loss in key swing states. According to a Dec. 28, 2020, memo obtained by The New York Times that Olson wrote to Trump documenting his Christmas Day call with the president, Olson recommended getting the DOJ involved in his campaign's legal challenges and firing then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.

Olsen worked with Rosen at a prominent Washington, DC, law firm. Olson wrote Trump, "so he would be taken seriously."

Olsen was also working with Texas officials, Olson said, to sue Pennsylvania to overturn Biden's victory there over the use of mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Kurt is a former Navy Seal, who has volunteered and worked tirelessly for weeks developing the papers for the suit brought by Texas," Olson wrote. "Also, this is a person who simply cannot be intimidated."

"You need a lawyer literally on your side who is principled, schooled in the constitution, brilliant, tough, and committed to both you and the Constitution," Olson wrote. "Then, Kurt can bring in a few other capable and principled lawyers to help you."

Olson did not respond to requests for comment about Olsen that USA TODAY left with an associate at his law firm on Feb. 16.

On Jan. 6, 2021, as a mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an effort to halt the certification of the election, Olsen spoke repeatedly with Trump, the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack would later conclude, after subpoenaing Olsen and others involved.

Olsen was also deeply involved in the failed effort to use the DOJ to help overturn the election results by claiming extensive voter fraud, the committee said.

And in 2022, Olsen represented former TV anchor and Republican nominee Kari Lake in her unsuccessful efforts to challenge her loss in the Arizona gubernatorial election to Katie Hobbs, including claims that the state's electronic voting machines were sabotaged.

Olsen was sanctioned by a federal judge for making "false, misleading and unsupported factual assertions" in a lawsuit aimed at overturning Lake's 2022 election loss. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit later imposed $122,200 in sanctions against Olsen and another attorney for filing bad-faith, baseless allegations regarding voting machine reliability.

Watchdog groups, States United Democracy Center and Lawyers Defending American Democracy, filed ethics complaints against Olsen in 2024, arguing that his repeated participation in filing election-related lawsuits grounded in false claims may violate professional ethical standards.

What has Olsen been up to as White House election security czar?

Fulton County officials, who deny any widespread problems in the 2020 election, asked the court to release the FBI agent's affidavit to the public, which disclosed Olsen’s role.

The FBI, which is part of the DOJ, seized ballots and other records tied to the 2020 election in the Jan. 28 raid. The move marked a major escalation of efforts in Trump's second term to call into doubt the results of the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost to then-former Vice President Biden.

Olsen has also been involved in efforts by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the broader U.S. intelligence community to investigate – and bolster – long-debunked claims that foreign interference played a role in Trump having the 2020 election stolen from him.

Trump has specifically tapped Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard – who was present during the Fulton County raid – to spearhead that effort.

According to Politico and NBC News reports citing anonymous sources, spy agencies are sharing classified intelligence reporting with Olsen to support his 2020 election probe.

U.S. intelligence agency officials would not confirm those reports in emails with USA TODAY on Feb. 16.

The CIA issued a statement, saying, "The president has asked Mr. Olsen to look at intelligence related to the 2020 election and the agency is ensuring that he has the access necessary to do his work."

An Office of the Director of National Intelligence spokeswoman, in an email to USA TODAY, said everyone granted access to classified information goes through an extensive background review to ensure they are trustworthy and do not pose a threat to national security.

Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized Gabbard and Olsen for what he said were their continuing efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 election.

"The newly unsealed affidavit shows this search originated from the frivolous claims of Kurt Olsen, an attorney who traffics in debunked falsehoods about the 2020 election," Warner said in a Feb. 10 statement.

Though American elections have always been run by state and local election officials, Trump has recently been saying he wants to put the federal government in charge of the November midterms − which will determine control of Congress − to prevent voter fraud.

"The Republicans should say, 'We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least ‒ many, 15 places.'" Trump said during an appearance on the podcast of Dan Bongino, who returned to his show on Feb. 2 after resigning in January as FBI deputy director in the Trump administration. "The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that are so crooked."

Some Democrats see that as an effort to use Trump's claims of past voter fraud to justify an execution of the next one that would be biased in his favor.

On CBS News’ "Face the Nation" on Feb. 8, Warner said Trump "sees the political winds turning against him, and he's going to try to interfere in the 2026 election."