As the 2024 election approached, advertisements began appearing in key swing states, suggesting that local officials had discretion not to certify election results. These ads, initially reported by ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch, were misleading. Certification is not optional; officials are required to certify the vote once all proper processes for election challenges are complete. However, the warnings arrived at a time when Donald Trump and his allies appeared to be preparing to contest the election results if he lost.
New documents reviewed by the Guardian reveal that the group behind these 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 Trump ally who assisted his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and Heather Honey, a researcher known for misleading election analyses who now works in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are both listed as directors of the fund. The fund was incorporated in Delaware in 2023.
Honey’s appointment to an elections role at the DHS last year has alarmed voting rights groups, who argue it places an election denier in a powerful government position. Before joining the government, Honey produced misleading research that Trump cited to undermine confidence in the 2020 election. For instance, she falsely claimed there were more votes in Pennsylvania in 2020 than registered voters.
Her appointment comes as Trump and his administration continue to cast doubt on the integrity of American elections, making baseless accusations of fraud without substantial evidence. There are concerns that Trump might use the machinery of the Justice Department and other government resources to contest midterm election results this year.
Mitchell and Honey did not respond to requests for comment.
The Fair Elections Fund sent $300,000 to the American Principles Project Foundation between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, according to a tax form reviewed by the Guardian. In 2024, the American Principles Project Foundation used this money to pay for advertisements suggesting election certification was optional. The ads featured the logo of a group called Follow the Law, but a disclaimer stated they were paid for by the American Principles Project Foundation. Follow the Law also sent a letter to at least one clerk in Nevada, urging him not to be a "rubber-stamp" and directing him to a website that again hinted election officials have discretion not to certify elections.
The American Principles Project did not respond to a request for comment.
"Cleta Mitchell and Heather Honey are not only leading figures in the election denial movement, they are also helping channel millions of dollars to an ecosystem of groups that seek to undermine the freedom to vote and mainstream fringe election claims," said Brendan Fischer, director of strategic investigations at Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group. "These grants are important not only for what they fund individually, but for the broader election denial infrastructure they help build."
During the same period, the Fair Elections Fund also gave $1.875 million to the Article III Foundation, a group linked to a non-profit run by pugilistic Trump ally Mike Davis. This foundation ran Spanish-language ads ahead of the 2024 election warning that non-citizen voting was illegal and a deportable offense.
The group also sent $285,000 to Urban Legend Media, a company that connects funders with influencers to promote their causes. The Fair Elections Fund spent money as part of a campaign to promote the Save Act, a voting restriction bill that did not pass Congress. In 2024, Mitchell launched the Only Citizens Vote coalition, a group of over 80 conservative organizations focused on stopping non-citizens from voting and championing federal proof of citizenship requirements.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has faced immense pressure from Trump and conservatives to pass a bill similar to the Save Act, even if it requires eliminating the filibuster. In an interview earlier this year, Thune attributed some of the pressure to a "paid influencer ecosystem."
The Fair Elections Fund also sent $200,000 to the Election Research Institute, where Honey served as president until 2025. Between 2023 and 2025, the fund paid Verity Vote, another group Honey led, nearly $200,000 for consulting.
Since its incorporation in Delaware in 2023, the fund has raised over $7.7 million. The Fair Elections Fund appears to have been largely funded by the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), a group that serves as a hub for Trump loyalists in Washington and supports various groups advancing the president’s agenda. The CPI, where Mitchell is a senior legal fellow, gave the Fair Elections Fund more than $6 million in 2024, according to tax documents. The Fair Elections Fund also lists the CPI’s headquarters as its address on tax documents.
"We still see a massive ecosystem built around producing and spreading and pushing false, baseless, tired, debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud," said Michael McNulty, policy director at Issue One, a watchdog group that analyzed donors behind the Only Citizens Vote coalition. "It fits perfectly into what we’ve kind of called the ‘election takeover playbook’ that Trump has. The first step is just being able to massively spread these false conspiracy theories about election fraud."
He added: "What seems to be a large ecosystem, then when you start connecting the dots, a lot of the same people and same groups are involved. And the same funders are involved."
