Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Demand White House Fire Election-Denial Czar

Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Demand White House Fire Election-Denial Czar

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today joined their Senate colleagues in calling for election-denier Kurt Olsen's removal as Director of Election Security and Integrity at the White House.

The lawmakers emphasized that Olsen has exceeded the legal limit of 130 days as a "special government employee" appointed by Trump to "investigate" the 2020 election, and stressed the danger of Olsen's ongoing efforts to manufacture baseless claims of voter fraud to support Trump's election interference efforts.

"On October 29, 2025, several U.S. Senators alerted senior White House officials to serious concerns regarding the appointment of Mr. Olsen to investigate conspiracy theories around the 2020 election," the lawmakers wrote to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House Counsel David Warrington, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Presidential Personnel Dan Scavino. "These concerns have been borne out. Public court filings have confirmed that Mr. Olsen made debunked conspiracy theories the basis of the FBI's search warrant in the Administration's unprecedented raid on Fulton County, Georgia election offices, with the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in attendance. Public reporting also shows that Mr. Olsen's investigation was behind the Administration's seizure of election equipment in Puerto Rico, and he remains unpersuaded that even his own biased investigation has found no evidence for these conspiracy theories."

Olsen was hired at the White House as a "special government employee" by Trump in October 2025, as part of a strategy of hiring 2020 election deniers and Trump loyalists to "investigate" baseless claims of election interference. His involvement in the unprecedented seizing of ballots and voting equipment has raised fears that he could help Trump illegally interfere in the midterm elections. Since his hiring, Olsen has also been granted rare access to American intelligence agencies - using his position to divert their resources from national security needs to perpetuate 2020 election conspiracies.

"President Trump is then using these theories to justify his ongoing baseless claims about the 2020 election and assert illegal and unconstitutional powers to 'take over the voting' in certain states in the upcoming election," the lawmakers said.

The senators also highlighted reports that Trump is attempting to find other agencies in which to place Olsen following this role - furthering Trump's attempts to fill his administration with political allies and loyalists. The lawmakers emphasized the immediate need to remove Olsen from the White House and prevent him from any further involvement in future elections, given that Olsen has been sanctioned in federal court for false election claims and is rejecting the results of his own investigation when it fails to support his conspiracy theories.

The letter was led by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif. In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter was cosigned by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

The full letter is here.