Researcher Who Has Distorted Voter Data Appointed To Homeland Security Election Integrity Role

A blimpish predetermination interrogator whose faulty findings connected elector information were cited by President Donald Trump arsenic he tried to overturn his 2020 predetermination nonaccomplishment has been appointed to an predetermination integrity domiciled astatine nan U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Pennsylvania activistic Heather Honey is now serving arsenic nan lawman adjunct caput for predetermination integrity successful nan department's Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans, an organizational floor plan connected its website shows.

The governmental appointment, first reported by Democracy Docket, shows really self-styled predetermination investigators who person thrown themselves into predetermination conspiracy theories since 2020 are now being celebrated by a statesmanlike management that indulges their mendacious claims.

Her caller role, which didn't beryllium nether President Joe Biden, besides comes arsenic Trump has utilized predetermination integrity concerns arsenic a pretext to effort to springiness his management powerfulness complete really elections are tally successful nan U.S.

The president has ordered sweeping changes to predetermination processes and vowed to do distant pinch message ballots and voting machines to beforehand "honesty" successful nan 2026 midterms, contempt a deficiency of law authority to do so. Trump's Department of Justice besides has demanded complete authorities elector lists, raising concerns astir elector privateness and questions astir really nan national authorities plans to usage nan delicate data.

Neither Honey nor DHS instantly responded to requests for remark connected Tuesday.

Honey runs an investigations and auditing consulting patient called Haystack Investigations, according to interaction accusation provided connected her LinkedIn profile. Since 2020, she besides has led a assortment of predetermination investigation groups whose flawed analyses of predetermination information person fueled right-wing attacks connected voting procedures, including successful battleground states Pennsylvania and Arizona.

In 2020, her predetermination investigation misrepresented incomplete authorities elector information to falsely declare that Pennsylvania had much votes reported than voters. Trump echoed nan falsehood during his reside to supporters connected Jan. 6, 2021, saying Pennsylvania "had 205,000 much votes than you had voters." Shortly after, his supporters violently attacked nan U.S. Capitol successful an effort to forestall Biden from becoming president.

In 2021, Honey was progressive successful nan Arizona Senate's partisan audit of predetermination results successful Maricopa County, she confirmed successful a podcast question and reply pinch a GOP lawyer. That reappraisal successful nan state's astir populous county, which spent six months searching for grounds of fraud, was described by experts arsenic riddled pinch errors, bias and flawed methodology. Still, it came up pinch a ballot tally that would not person altered nan outcome, uncovering that Biden really won by much votes than nan charismatic results certified successful 2020.

In 2022, Honey's statement Verity Vote issued a study claiming that Pennsylvania had sent immoderate 250,000 "unverified" message ballots to voters who provided invalid recognition aliases nary recognition astatine all.

Officials successful Pennsylvania said nan declare flagrantly misrepresented nan measurement nan authorities classified applications for mail-in and absentee ballots. The "not verified" nickname did not mean nan elector didn't supply meticulous recognition information, nor did it mean their ID wasn't later verified.

Former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said he received dozens of nationalist records requests related to elections from Honey during his clip successful office, which took up "scores of hours of unit time." He said he was amazed to perceive she had been elevated to a position of specified "authority and responsibility."

From what he saw, Richer said, she's "not a superior auditor."

Honey's hiring astatine nan Department of Homeland Security comes amid reports that Trump's management has met pinch respective different predetermination conspiracy theorists successful caller months. Mike Lindell, nan laminitis of MyPillow and 1 of nan astir salient predetermination conspiracy theorists, said successful an email to supporters successful June that he had met pinch nan president doubly successful nan erstwhile 8 weeks. In June, a national assemblage successful Colorado recovered that Lindell had defamed a erstwhile worker for a institution that makes predetermination instrumentality by making mendacious claims related to nan 2020 election.

Seth Keshel, an predetermination modeler whose activity connected nan 2020 predetermination prompted challenges that were later dismissed, presented his investigation to White House unit successful May, he said connected his Substack account.

David Becker, executive head of nan nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research, said DHS utilized to person existent credibility successful its advisory domiciled connected elections. Its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency had collaborated pinch states to statement up their elections from overseas attacks and disinformation, he said.

Now, nan agency has fired its "real experts" connected elections, he said. Trump's management besides has done distant pinch overmuch of its activity search overseas power campaigns targeting voters, some astatine CISA and nan Office of nan Director of National Intelligence.

"What I'm concerned astir is that it seems for illustration DHS is being poised to usage nan immense powerfulness and megaphone of nan national authorities to dispersed disinformation alternatively than combat it," Becker said. "It's going to really harm DHS's credibility overall."

____