Former Trump campaign lawyer Kurt Olsen, appointed "Director of Election Security and Integrity," pressed efforts to find tampering in Dominion Voting Systems after the 2020 election. A Virginia cybersecurity firm, Mojave Research Inc., found no evidence of malicious code in machines used in Puerto Rico and denied Olsen’s subsequent accusations that it served the "deep state" or took money from George Soros. Reuters reported that President Trump took Olsen’s allegations seriously; those claims have not been independently verified by MS NOW.
Olsen Accuses Cybersecurity Firm After It Finds No Proof of 2020 Voting-Machines Tampering
A Dominion Voting machine during the last day of early voting on Nov. 1, 2024, in Gwinnett County, Georgia.(Nathan Posner / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Donald Trump’s allies have repeatedly hired outside firms to look for evidence supporting claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Two prior contractors — Berkeley Research Group and Simpatico Software Systems — failed to find substantiating evidence. This week, a third episode involving a cybersecurity firm has drawn renewed attention to how those efforts unfolded.
Kurt Olsen, a former Trump campaign lawyer and prominent election denier who was brought onto the president’s team last year as “Director of Election Security and Integrity,” led efforts to validate debunked allegations about Dominion Voting Systems. Politico reported that Trump even directed some intelligence officials to share material with Olsen to assist his work.
According to Reuters, Olsen and colleagues inspected Dominion machines used in Puerto Rico and suspected they might have been compromised by a foreign (reported as Venezuelan) code. When a Virginia-based cybersecurity contractor, Mojave Research Inc., was brought in to test the machines, it found no evidence of tampering or malicious code.
Rather than abandoning the theory, Reuters reports that Olsen responded by accusing Mojave of obstructing his work, serving the “deep state” and secretly receiving money from billionaire donor George Soros. In a September message to Trump, Olsen reportedly made these allegations while pressing his case.
"Infuriated, Olsen accused the firm of blocking his work, serving the ‘deep state’ and secretly taking money from billionaire George Soros," Reuters quoted sources as saying.
Mojave denied the charges, calling the Soros allegation "patently absurd and ridiculous," and said it opened its books to show no payments had been received from Soros. Reuters also reported — and MS NOW noted — that the president "took Olsen’s deep-state allegations about Mojave seriously." Those reports have not been independently verified by MS NOW.
What This Suggests
This episode illustrates a recurring dynamic: when independent testing fails to confirm a favored conspiracy theory, some proponents respond by alleging that the testers themselves are compromised. Beyond rhetoric, the story shows how high-level officials pursued and amplified these efforts, and how contested findings can quickly become part of broader political narratives.
This article updates earlier related coverage. The post originally appeared on MS NOW and was republished by ms.now.
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