Trump fans make bold appeal to president's team at election deniers conference

A collection of Donald Trump supporters is putting pressure on members of the president's team who appeared at an election deniers conference.

Staffers including Kurt Olsen, a White House lawyer charged with reinvestigating the 2020 election, and Heather Honey, the Department of Homeland Security official in charge of election integrity, were featured at the event organized by Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser. Photos and videos reviewed by ProPublica also confirmed the attendance of Cleta Mitchell, who directs the Election Integrity Network.

Mitchell's group has, in the past, spread false claims about election fraud. Experts have warned that the meeting may have seen the president's supporters put together a plan to ease possible losses in the upcoming midterm elections.

Current members of staff, including Office of the Director of National Intelligence Clay Parikh, and Mac Warner, who handled election litigation at the Justice Department, were present for a dinner that would, according to Salon, help shape the upcoming elections.

Brendan Fischer, a director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan pro-democracy organization, warned that the meeting highlights a potential risk to the upcoming elections in November.

He said, "The meeting shows that the same people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have only grown better organized and are now embedded in the machinery of government.

"This creates substantial risk that the administration is laying the groundwork to improperly reshape elections ahead of the midterms or even go against the will of the voters."

An unnamed White House official says federal officials' attendance is not a sign of agreement but "common practice" for those wanting to communicate ideas with the president's team.

Activists are believed to have left the convention convinced that Trump should take further control of the midterm elections by declaring a national emergency. Whether the president does this remains to be seen, but attendees like former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne believe Trump is "playing nice" in not orchestrating a takeover.

He added, "But at some point, he's got to do something, the muscular thing: declare a national emergency."