Wednesday, August 27

Heather Honey, a leading election conspiracy theorist with close ties to anti-voting lawyer Cleta Mitchell, has been appointed to a new “election integrity” position at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It’s an alarming appointment for someone so intertwined with the election denial movement, dating back to President Donald Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 contest. Also in this week’s Eye On The Right: Pennsylvania and Oregon’s pushback against DOJ’s effort to obtain voter data, Fulton County, Georgia GOP drama and more.

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Exclusive: A leading election conspiracy theorist was appointed to a DHS leadership position

Heather Honey, a leading election conspiracy theorist — described by the anti-voting lawyer Cleta Mitchell as a “wonderful person” — has been named to a new “election integrity” post at DHS.
Honey is best known as the founder of Pennsylvania Fair Elections, an anti-voting group and state partner of the Mitchell-led Election Integrity Network. Honey also founded the Election Research Institute, an anti-voting research and advocacy organization.

Honey was active in Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss; the false claim that Pennsylvania had 205,000 more votes than voters — which Trump repeated at the Save America rally on Jan. 6, 2021 — appears to have originated with Honey.
Honey’s title at DHS is deputy assistant secretary for elections integrity in the department’s Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans. It appears to be a new role, and neither DHS nor Honey responded to my requests for comment to explain what, exactly, she’ll be doing.

Pennsylvania and Oregon push back against DOJ’s latest efforts to obtain private voter data

Pennsylvania and Oregon are the latest states to forcefully reject the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ)’s effort to obtain private voter data, according to letters I obtained.
Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt (R) and Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read (D) both cited DOJ’s lack of legal justification and privacy concerns in rejecting the department’s demand for voter roll data — including voters’ full addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial social security numbers.
“Because your letters do not provide any legal justification for the Department to disregard this sacred obligation, we are unable to share such confidential information with you,” Schmidt wrote.
The DOJ recently escalated its efforts to obtain sensitive voter data from states — including by threatening legal action. It’s still not yet clear why the department wants this information and what they plan to do with it — a question I’ll be tackling soon.

Fulton County GOP wants jail for commissioners who blocked appointment of election deniers

Last week, Democrats on the Fulton County, Georgia Board of Commissioners blocked the appointment of two election deniers to the board of elections, after a court ordered the commissioners to approve them.
In response, the Fulton GOP asked a judge to hold all five Democrats on the board in civil and criminal contempt of court, with fines up to $1,000 a day and up to 20 days of imprisonment.
The court set an emergency hearing for later today to consider the GOP’s request. Keep an eye on my BlueSky account for live updates on the hearing.

Trump is still demanding Tina Peters’ release

In a TruthSocial post last week, Trump demanded the release of Tina Peters — the GOP local election clerk and conspiracy theorist in Colorado who was convicted for her role in a voting system data breach. Trump threatened “harsh measures” if she is not freed.
There’s little Trump can do to secure Peters’ release, since she was convicted on state charges. Nonetheless, Peters has become something of a folk hero in MAGA world, with election conspiracy theorists regularly calling for her freedom.
Meanwhile, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) recently asked the court to dismiss Peters’ habeas corpus petition to a federal judge to be released on bond. Weiser’s filing states the obvious: Federal court doesn’t have jurisdiction in this case. Sorry, Trump!

Steve Bannon said ICE will be stationed near polling places

On a recent episode of his podcast, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon made a chilling prediction: ICE agents will be stationed near polling places for the 2026 midterm elections.
“They’re petrified over at MSNBC and CNN that since we're taking control of the cities, there's going to be ICE officers near polling places,” Bannon said. “You're damn right."
Bannon’s warning comes as the Trump administration signals it will try to expand its takeover of Washington, D.C., via the National Guard, to other major U.S. cities.