Fund linked to key Trump allies backed push to sow doubt about 2024 election

Workers in City of Industry, California, count primary election ballots last week. Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Workers in City of Industry, California, count primary election ballots last week. Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images Fund linked to key Trump allies backed push to sow doubt about 2024 election Guardian review finds group tied to Cleta Mitchell and Heather Honey funded misleading ads in swing states As the 2024 election approached, advertisements began popping up in key swing states suggesting local officials had discretion not to certify elections. The advertisements, reported at the time by ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch , were misleading. Certification is not optional, and officials are required to certify the vote once the proper process for any election challenges are complete and an official challenge is complete. The warnings, nonetheless, arrived at a moment when Donald Trump and allies seemed to be gearing up to contest the election results if he lost. New documents reviewed by the Guardian show that the group behind the advertisements received financial support from a non-profit linked to prominent election deniers with ties to Trump. The same non-profit, the Foundation For Accountability Integrity & Research In Elections Fund (Fair Elections Fund), also paid influencers to promote an anti-voting bill in 2024. Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer and longtime ally of Trump who assisted his efforts to overturn the 2020 race, and Heather Honey, a researcher known for misleading election analyses who now works in the Department of Homeland Security, are both listed as directors of the fund, which was incorporated in Delaware in 2023. Honey’s appointment to an elections role at the DHS last year has caused considerable alarm among voting rights groups, who say it places an election denier in a powerful government role. Before she was in government, Honey produced misleading research that Trump has cited to undermine confidence in the 2020 election. She has falsely claimed, for example, that there were more votes in Pennsylvania in 2020 than there were voters. Her appointment comes as Trump and his administration continue to sow doubt about the integrity of American elections, making baseless accusations of fraud without offering substantial evidence. There is still concern that Trump could deploy the powerful machinery of his justice department and other government resources to contest the result of the midterm elections this year. Mitchell and Honey did not respond to a request for comment. The Fair fund sent $300,000 to a group called the American Principles Project Foundation between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, according to a tax form reviewed by the Guardian. In 2024, the American Principles Project Foundation paid for the advertisements suggesting election certification was optional. The advertisements featured the logo of a group called Follow the Law, b