Gary Berntsen is convinced Venezuela stole the 2020 U.S.election.That myth has been debunked numerous times, including as part of Fox News' 2023 $787 million settlement with voting machine company Dominion, but Berntsen, a former CIA operative, has been pushing it for years."One of the things that we learned is there's 14 different technical ways that you can steal an election," Berntsen explained in an interview in the fall with conservative podcaster Lara Logan.But ahead of the 2024 election, Berntsen says he couldn't get anyone to listen to him.
Not the FBI.Not the media.Finally, he went to Congress, where he says he was similarly rebuffed by almost everyone, including Republicans.
Except one."One politician in America was not afraid," Berntsen told Logan."It was Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma."Allies of Berntsen say Mullin — then a U.S.
senator, now the head of the Department of Homeland Security — brokered a meeting at Mar-a-Lago so Berntsen could brief President Trump's team on conspiracy theories about Venezuelan interference in elections.That is just one time of many that Mullin has gone to bat for election denial."[D]ue to all of the fraud and uncertainty surrounding the 2020 election there is no way I can vote to certify the Electoral College," Mullin wrote online on Jan.2, 2021.
Four days later, after a mob overran the U.S.Capitol during the certification, Mullin was one of 147 congressional Republicans who still voted not to certify the results.Mullin's history of false election fraud claims has heightened concerns that voting officials have had for more than a year: that DHS will not be a partner helping to secure elections, but rather a threat seeking to undermine results that Trump dislikes.Numerous local election officials, across the political spectrum, have told NPR they are avoiding sharing voter data or other security information with the federal government for fear that information could be used against them in some way."I'm actively disc...