A prominent MAGA-aligned attorney bankrolled an election denier who now holds a position inside the Trump administration, according to tax filings reviewed by Democracy Docket.

Cleta Mitchell, described by Democracy Docket as an election denier and anti-voting attorney, operates a dark money fund that granted just over $72,000 in the last fiscal year to Heather Honey. Democracy Docket characterized Honey as an "election conspiracy theorist" who was hired by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to oversee election integrity. DHS houses the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which coordinates with state and local election officials on protecting election infrastructure from cyber and physical threats.

Mitchell distributed the funds through her Foundation for Accountability, Integrity and Research in Elections Fund. Like other entities organized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, the fund is not required to publicly disclose its donors, which is why such groups are commonly referred to as "dark money" organizations. Honey received the money via her company, Verity Vote, which was compensated for consulting and research services, according to the tax filings.

In fiscal year 2024, Honey's company collected more than $120,000 from Mitchell's fund. Honey is also listed as vice president and director of Mitchell's fund, and she founded a Pennsylvania-based group that operates under Mitchell's Election Integrity Network, a coalition that has recruited and trained activists across multiple states to monitor voting and challenge voter rolls.

Mitchell, who gained national attention as a participant on the January 2021 phone call in which then-President Trump pressed Georgia's secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn the state's election results, and Honey share what Democracy Docket described as a long history of undermining election security and promoting false voter fraud claims.

DHS appointed Honey in August 2025 to a newly created position within its election integrity division. Two months after her appointment, the watchdog organization American Oversight filed a lawsuit against DHS over her hiring.

The American Oversight lawsuit highlighted that Honey had previously suggested Trump could seize control of elections from states by declaring a national emergency, Democracy Docket reported.

"Transparency about Honey's appointment and tenure is key to understanding who is tasked with overseeing our election infrastructure," American Oversight wrote regarding its lawsuit. "The records at issue in our lawsuit could show how Trump and his allies intend to undermine, and potentially subvert, the security of future elections."

Outside of government, Mitchell continues her efforts to restrict voting access, Democracy Docket noted. According to reporting by Sludge, her fund tripled its grant spending last fiscal year on election-denial groups. The Guardian reported that some of these groups used the funding for deceptive 2024 election advertisements, including ads specifically targeting Spanish-speaking voters.