New docs expose Trump admin's secret plan to share voter data with election deniers
The liberal elections outlet Democracy Docket has obtained what it called a "paper trail" connecting the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, project to far-right election deniers.
"The records — first obtained by Democracy Forward through public record requests and ongoing litigation, and shared exclusively with Democracy Docket — include heavily redacted emails between government employees and the external group," said the report, noting that Democracy Docket's founder, voting rights attorney Marc Elias, also sits on the board of Democracy Forward. "They also include the signed voter data agreement and discussion of how data would be transferred between parties."
“The Trump-Vance administration continues to hide what it is doing with Americans’ personal data, who it has unlawfully shared it with, and why,” said Democracy Forward chief Skye Perryman in a statement. “This is why we are seeking discovery in our case – to ensure that we hold this administration accountable to the American people. We will not stop until we know exactly how far this unlawful assault on our privacy, and potential threats to free and fair elections, go.”
Reports that DOGE collaborated with an unnamed MAGA election conspiracy theory group first surfaced in January, when a criminal referral was made over two DOGE officials put in the Social Security administration who handed over confidential data to the group.
"Internal communications included in the files show discussions about executing a data-sharing agreement and coordinating the transfer of information once finalized, though key details — including the identities of the outside entity and other officials involved — remain blacked out," said the report. "One email included in the records offered a glimpse into the tone of the outside group’s outreach, with a sender writing that they had spent extensive time analyzing specific elections and were eager to share data and 'theories.'"
DOGE was founded, with the guidance of tech billionaire Elon Musk, to investigate waste and fraud in government and propose ways of simplifying administration.
The group ultimately fired large numbers of federal workers, but failed to make a meaningful dent in taxpayer spending.