MAGA election denier raises alarms with rapid advance at Trump DOJ

After President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to Democratic nominee Joe Biden, MAGA attorney Kurt Olsen was a prominent figure in Trump's efforts to overturn the election results. Trump ultimately failed: Biden was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2021. But Olsen, 16 and one-half months into Trump's second presidency, is serving in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) via the Southern District of Florida. And according to NBC News reporter Ryan J. Reilly, MAGA critics are alarmed by Olsen's rapid advancement at DOJ.

"An 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," Reilly reports for NBC News' website. "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."

Olsen's work at DOJ comes a time when Trump is doubling down on his repeatedly debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voter fraud. And the group Free Speech for People, founded in 2010, is sounding the alarm. On Tuesday morning, June 9, the group sent a letter to 11 Democratic lawmakers urging them to seek Olsen's removal from DOJ.

"Olsen got involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election after watching video clips online, and eventually was part of an effort led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that ultimately failed," Reilly notes. "Olsen then tried to pressure Justice Department officials to join efforts to overturn the election. In the end, members of Trump's Cabinet said there had been no widespread election fraud. Olsen also appeared at an 'Election Crime Bureau Summit' alongside Mike Lindell, Mike Flynn and Steve Bannon in 2023…. (Free Speech for People) asked Democrats to seek Olsen's removal and to investigate 'the wrongful access of voting equipment and Mr. Olsen's involvement.'"

In the letter, Free Speech for People warned about "the wrongful access of voting equipment and Mr. Olsen's involvement." And Susan Greenhalgh, one of the Trump critics who signed the letter, told NBC News that Olsen is "probably the biggest player who's not widely known."