WASHINGTON — A gathering of high-ranking federal election officials and prominent figures who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election took place last week in Washington, D.C., where participants pressed President Trump to declare a national emergency and take control of this year’s midterm elections, according to videos, photos, and social media posts reviewed by ProPublica.
Among those at the Feb. 19 roundtable, sponsored by the Gold Institute for International Strategy, were Kurt Olsen, a White House lawyer tasked with reinvestigating the 2020 election, and Heather Honey, the Department of Homeland Security official responsible for election integrity. The event was organized by Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, and included Cleta Mitchell, who leads the Election Integrity Network, a group that has promoted unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
The meeting reflects a growing effort to persuade Trump to take unprecedented action regarding the November vote, election experts say. Previous attempts to reshape elections through executive order have been blocked by courts, and legislative efforts to implement strict voter ID laws nationwide have stalled in Congress. Activists associated with the summit have reportedly circulated a draft executive order that would ban mail-in ballots and eliminate voting machines as part of a federal takeover, as reported by ProPublica.
Peter Ticktin, a lawyer involved in drafting the executive order and representing a client who attended the summit, told ProPublica that these actions were “all part of the same effort.” The summit followed a series of previously unreported meetings and discussions between administration officials and activists dating back to last fall, according to ProPublica, raising concerns about a breakdown in safeguards protecting U.S. Elections.
“The meeting shows that the same people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have only grown better organized and are now embedded in the machinery of government,” said Brendan Fischer, a director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan pro-democracy organization. “This creates substantial risk that the administration is laying the groundwork to improperly reshape elections ahead of the midterms or even go against the will of the voters.”
Five of the six federal officials who attended the summit did not respond to questions from ProPublica. A White House official, speaking anonymously, stated that the officials’ attendance shouldn’t be interpreted as support for a national emergency declaration, characterizing it as “common practice” for staffers to communicate with outside advocates. The official also referenced Trump’s denial to PBS News that he was considering such a declaration or had reviewed the draft executive order, stating, “Any speculation about policies the administration may or may not undertake is just that — speculation.”
Trump has previously expressed interest in a federal takeover of elections, stating in a recent interview with conservative podcaster Dan Bongino that Republicans necessitate “to take over” elections and “to nationalize the voting.”
Mitchell did not respond to inquiries from ProPublica. Flynn’s spokesperson dismissed concerns raised by experts, texting, “LOL ‘EXPERTS.’”
The roundtable, held at an office building in downtown Washington, D.C., was followed by a dinner attended by activists and government officials, as shown in photos reviewed by ProPublica. Flynn explained the purpose of the event to social media personality Tommy Robinson, stating, “I wanted to bring this group together physically, because most of us have met online” whereas “fighting battles” in swing states like Arizona and Georgia. He added, “The overall theme of this event was to make sure that all of us aren’t operating in our own little bubbles.” Flynn has repeatedly called for Trump to declare a national emergency, posting on social media, “We The People want fair elections and we know there is only one office in the land that can make that happen given the current political environment in the United States.”
In addition to Olsen and Honey, four other federal officials from agencies involved in upcoming elections were present. Clay Parikh, a special government employee at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence assisting Olsen with the 2020 inquiry, attended “in his personal capacity,” according to an ODNI spokesperson. Mac Warner, who handled election litigation at the Justice Department, resigned the day after the summit without receiving required ethics approval, a department spokesperson said. The department affirmed its “commitment to upholding the integrity of our electoral system.”
Marci McCarthy, who directs communications for the nation’s cyber defense agency overseeing election infrastructure security, also attended. Kari Lake, appointed by Trump as a senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, was a featured speaker. Lake previously worked with Olsen and Parikh in her unsuccessful attempt to overturn her 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election loss. Lake stated she spoke for about 20 minutes on “the overall importance of election integrity” and then left the event.
Activists at the meeting discussed strategies to transform American elections to favor conservatives, according to social media posts and interviews on platforms like LindellTV. Participants reportedly divided into two camps: those advocating for a legal and legislative approach and those urging Trump to declare a national emergency, a move they believe would circumvent the constitutional directive that states manage elections.
Patrick Byrne, a prominent funder of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, told LindellTV that Trump has “played nice” by not seizing control of elections but “at some point,” he “has got to do something, the muscular thing: declare a national emergency.” Will Huff, advocating for eliminating voting machines, told a conservative vlogger that Olsen and other administration representatives would relay the “consensus” from the gathering to Trump, stating, “It’s got to be a national emergency.” Huff later said in an email that Olsen and Trump would determine whether to declare an emergency, noting that the President had been “briefed on findings of shortcomings in election infrastructure.”
McCarthy, the cybersecurity official, expressed support for fellow attendees on social media, writing, “Grateful for friendships forged through years of standing shoulder-to-shoulder, united by purpose and conviction. The mission continues… and so does the fellowship.”
The summit is the latest in a series of interactions between conservative election activists and administration officials, according to ProPublica. Previously unreported emails reveal that shortly after Honey joined the Department of Homeland Security, she briefed election activists, a Republican secretary of state, and another federal official on a call arranged by Mitchell. Honey did not respond to questions about the call. Experts suggest this briefing may have violated ethics rules in place under previous administrations. Fischer stated that prior “ethics guardrails would have prevented some of the revolving door issues we’re seeing between the election denial movement and the government officials,” preventing former employers and clients from receiving privileged access.
