WASHINGTON, D.C. — Kurt Olsen has resigned from the U.S. Department of Justice. Olsen was assigned to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, where he worked on an investigation referred to as the "grand conspiracy" probe targeting former Obama and Biden administration officials.

The "grand conspiracy" investigation has not resulted in any criminal charges. Joe diGenova resigned from the Justice Department earlier this month. The Justice Department has hired two new former prosecutors to join the investigative team.

Olsen previously served as the Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity at the White House. In 2020, Olsen worked with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to urge the Supreme Court to overturn the election results. Olsen made a referral to the FBI regarding the Fulton County election, which led to a search warrant and the seizure of dozens of boxes of ballots and other materials from the 2020 election. Olsen made several other 2020 election-related referrals to the Justice Department.

Why It Matters

Kurt Olsen's resignation follows a series of sanctions and allegations related to his conduct in election litigation and his role in post-2020 election efforts. The events described span three years, from 2020 to 2023, involving multiple legal and political actions. Olsen's work with the Justice Department and his interactions with former President Trump have been subjects of congressional investigation and judicial sanction.

The House Jan. 6 select committee alleged that Olsen contacted high-level Department of Justice officials at the president's direction to discuss filing challenges to the election results. Free Speech For People, a nonprofit focused on election integrity, alleged in a 2023 letter that Olsen possessed copies of election system software obtained through schemes to compromise voting equipment between 2020 and 2022. These allegations and sanctions are part of ongoing scrutiny of election-related legal actions and the conduct of officials involved.

Timeline

On January 6, 2021, the FINAL REPORT of the Select Commitee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol stated that Olsen reportedly prepared a draft executive order for former President Trump that would have directed the U.S. Department of Justice 'to take voter action,' and, according to materials on file with the committee, he had multiple telephone calls with former President Trump on that day. Also on January 6, 2021, Olsen was part of a group that met with former President Donald Trump to discuss legal strategies for challenging the election results, according to records from the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack.

The House Jan. 6 select committee stated that Olsen spoke multiple times with Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021.

The House Jan.

6 select committee subpoenaed Olsen in 2022. On November 8, 2022, Olsen represented Kari Lake during her attempt to overturn her loss in the 2022 Arizona governor’s race.

What's New

Kurt Olsen was sanctioned by Arizona courts in 2022 for making false statements during the 2022 Arizona election lawsuit, as documented in court records. In 2021, the Arizona Supreme Court sanctioned Kurt Olsen for making false statements in a lawsuit related to the 2020 election, marking the first time a lawyer had been sanctioned by the court for such conduct. Kurt Olsen was named as a witness in a federal lawsuit filed by Kari Lake in 2022, in which he provided legal support for her attempt to overturn her loss in the Arizona governor’s race.

Kurt Olsen was appointed as the Director of Election Security and Integrity at the White House in 2020, a role created specifically to oversee election security efforts during the Trump administration. The Justice Department’s grand conspiracy investigation, led by Joe diGenova and Olsen, reviewed prior federal probes into Trump, including the 2016 Russian collusion investigation and the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. Olsen played a role in the Justice Department’s move to subpoena records related to the 2020 election in Maricopa County, Arizona. Olsen was involved in the collection of election system software from voting equipment in Puerto Rico, Georgia, and Arizona, as part of efforts to examine potential vulnerabilities in election infrastructure. Olsen appeared at an 'Election Crime Bureau Summit' in 2023 alongside Mike Lindell, Steve Bannon, and other figures associated with the 2020 election conspiracy theories.

How Sources Differ

The House Jan. 6 Select Committee subpoena text alleged that Olsen contacted high-level Department of Justice officials at the president's direction to discuss filing challenges to the election results.