She pushed to overturn Trump’s loss in 2020. Now she’ll help oversee US election security
Heather Honey has been appointed to a senior position in the Department of Homeland Security. State election officials and voting experts are concerned.
Doug Bock Clark,
ProPublica | August 26, 2025 06:06 PM ET
Heather Honey, a high-profile denier of Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, has been appointed to a senior position in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in which she’ll help oversee the nation’s election infrastructure.
Honey is a protege of Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who tried to help Trump overturn the 2020 election results. In 2024, ProPublica reported that Honey had played a key role in Mitchell’s behind-the-scenes effort to change Georgia’s election rules to allow Republican officials to contest a potential Trump loss in that year’s presidential race. Honey also promoted election conspiracy theories, including one Trump cited in a speech to his followers before they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Though states do the on-the-ground work of running elections, DHS supports them with tasks beyond their capacities, such as protecting IT infrastructure and voter databases from foreign intrusions. The agency, with bipartisan support, took on this role in the aftermath of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Experts on voting and state election officials warned that Honey’s appointment as DHS’ deputy assistant secretary of election integrity could erode trust between state and federal officials, prompting states not to share information with the agency.
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/08/she-pushed-overturn-trumps-loss-2020-election-now-shell-help-oversee-us-election-security/407708/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
