2020 election denier under scrutiny from fair elections advocates for new role at DOJ

FIRST ON NBC NEWSJustice DepartmentJustice Department2020 election denier under scrutiny from fair elections advocates for new role at DOJ Kurt Olsen, who helped try to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, is now part of the Justice Department, working on a “grand conspiracy” investigation targeting the president’s foes.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Attorney Kurt Olsen during his opening statement in Kari Lake's election challenge trial May 17, 2023, in Mesa, Ariz.Mark Henle / USA Today Network fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 9, 2026, 9:00 AM EDTBy Ryan J. ReillyAn election denier who tried to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss is facing scrutiny over his new role in the Justice Department as part of a team investigating the president’s foes. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The Justice Department has placed Kurt Olsen at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, where the Trump ally is part of a probe into a “grand conspiracy.” He was previously overseeing election security at the White House, where he made a referral to the Justice Department that resulted in an FBI search of an election hub near Atlanta in January.The group Free Speech For People, a nonprofit founded in 2010 that focuses on free and fair elections and rooting out corruption in government, sent 11 Democratic lawmakers a letter Tuesday morning urging them to seek Olsen’s removal from the Justice Department. It wrote that Olsen had “driven efforts to access election systems and documents in Fulton County, Georgia, and Puerto Rico.”The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Elections are run by the states. But Trump has recently suggested that federal officials take over some state elections based on accusations of voter fraud he has levied without evidence. The president ended an almost hourlong interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press”...