Trump administration halts expanded election security work after findings fail to support fraud claims

Published Aug 10, 06:09 PM UTC

Mojave Research, a cybersecurity firm, analyzed Dominion voting systems from Puerto Rico's 2024 elections for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) under Tulsi Gabbard. The firm found over a dozen high- or critical-severity software vulnerabilities, including reused passwords, disabled firewalls, and poor cryptographic protections, but no evidence that any weaknesses were exploited or votes altered. The Trump administration initially planned to expand the team from 10 to 60 people and authorized follow-on work ahead of the November midterms. However, the effort was abruptly shut down after Mojave's findings did not support claims of election manipulation. Company executives said the resistance came from a White House collective dissatisfied with the lack of evidence for fraud, while ODNI staff wanted the research to continue. The episode highlights political pressures on election security work.