Ethical Hacking News
ProPublica reports that David Harvilicz, a new appointee to the Department of Homeland Security, has raised concerns due to his history of promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines and his association with a company that developed artificial intelligence tools for law enforcement. The appointment has sparked questions about Harvilicz's impartiality and qualifications for the role.
David Harvilicz's appointment as assistant secretary for cyber, infrastructure, risk and resilience policy at DHS has raised concerns among election experts and former DHS officials. Harvilicz's history of promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines and his association with a company that developed AI tools for law enforcement have sparked concerns about his impartiality and qualifications. His team is allegedly engaging in data-gathering efforts to flag hundreds of citizens as potential noncitizens, sparking accuracy concerns. Harvilicz's association with James Penrose, a former intelligence officer involved in Trump's election recount campaign, has raised eyebrows about his impartiality. The appointment is seen as a worrying development amid the administration's efforts to relitigate Trump's baseless claims about the 2020 election.
In a recent exposé by ProPublica, the appointment of David Harvilicz as the assistant secretary for cyber, infrastructure, risk and resilience policy at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has raised significant concerns among election experts and current and former DHS officials. The appointment is particularly concerning given Harvilicz's history of promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines and his association with a company that developed artificial intelligence tools for law enforcement.
According to sources, Harvilicz was appointed to the role around July, marking a significant shift in the department's focus on protecting election systems. However, current and former DHS officials have reported that Harvilicz and his team have transformed their functions to become more hands-on, engaging in data-gathering efforts aimed at scouring voter rolls for noncitizens.
These efforts have led to hundreds of citizens being incorrectly flagged as potential noncitizens, sparking concerns about the accuracy of the department's methods. Additionally, ProPublica has reported that Harvilicz's team includes Heather Honey, who was previously a leader in the Election Integrity Network, a conservative group that has challenged the legitimacy of American election systems.
The appointment of Harvilicz to DHS is also raising eyebrows given his association with James Penrose, a former intelligence officer who played a leading role in the campaign to help Donald Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election. Penrose was involved in multiple attempts to clandestinely seize voting machines, including in Michigan, where prosecutors accused him of breaking into some of the machines.
Furthermore, Harvilicz co-founded Tranquility AI with Penrose, a company that has developed artificial intelligence tools for law enforcement and claims to be working on "election integrity." While the details of these efforts are not entirely clear, they have sparked concerns among election experts who question the impartiality of Harvilicz's role in overseeing the security of electoral systems and voting machines.
The appointment of Harvilicz is also seen as a worrying development at a time when the administration is taking unprecedented steps to relitigate Trump's baseless claims about the 2020 election. The FBI's seizure of 2020 voting records from Fulton County, Georgia, has raised concerns among experts that Harvilicz and his team may be working to undermine public confidence in our elections.
"The security of our election infrastructure depends on leadership that is trusted, impartial and grounded in evidence — not individuals who have promoted conspiracy theories about the very systems they are now responsible for protecting," said Danielle Lang, vice president for voting rights and the rule of law at the Campaign Legal Center. "Placing someone with that background in charge of policies affecting election security can undermine public confidence in our elections at a time when trust is already fragile."
As Harvilicz takes on his role as assistant secretary for cyber, infrastructure, risk and resilience policy, it remains to be seen how he will balance the need to protect electoral systems with his own history of promoting conspiracy theories about voting machines. One thing is certain, however: the appointment has raised significant concerns among election experts and current and former DHS officials who question Harvilicz's impartiality and qualifications for the role.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/The-Shadowy-Role-of-David-Harvilicz-at-the-Department-of-Homeland-Security-ehn.shtml
https://www.propublica.org/article/david-harvilicz-homeland-security-voting-machines
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/this-dhs-official-oversees-the-security-of-federal-elections-he-wants-to-ban-voting-machines/ar-AA1YD2kN
https://letsdatascience.com/news/dhs-official-oversees-election-security-amid-controversy-445ed5cb
Published: Sat Mar 14 14:48:07 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
