The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) might be somewhat dormant at the moment, but newly obtained emails show just how much the agency’s then-vice chair was coordinating with MAGA-aligned election deniers last year.
Also in this week’s Eye On The Right: How Colorado’s highest court shut the door on Tina Peters, notes from the twilight zone, and our quote of the week proves just how desperate MAGA is to try to motivate voters for the midterms.
One final thing, let’s celebrate: This is our 100th edition of this newsletter! Thanks for reading!
Exclusive: Emails reveal coordination between former top federal election official and voting conspiracy group
President Donald Trump may have dismantled the leadership of the EAC, but new emails shared with Democracy Docket reveal that one of the agency’s leaders was coordinating with a far-right group.
Among the numerous provisions of Trump’s first anti-voting order was a directive for the EAC to require documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form. A federal court said Trump couldn’t directly order the agency to add the requirement, which led to America First Legal, a right-wing legal group founded by notorious Trump aide Stephen Miller, to petition the independent agency to do it anyway. The EAC then opened the petition for public comment last fall, leading to a deluge of comments on the proposed rule.
But emails obtained by the legal group Democracy Forward show Christy McCormick, at the time a Republican vice chair of the commission, was regularly communicating with leaders of the Election Integrity Network (EIN) — the anti-voting group started by conservative lawyer and Trump ally Cleta Mitchell — about the comment period.
“At some point, it may be very beneficial to have our data scientist brief the commissioners or even staff with his analysis of the comments,” EIN deputy director Ned Jones wrote in an email to McCormick in Oct. 2025. “Thanks for all you do for election integrity.”
McCormick didn’t dismiss Jones’ offer, even though such a meeting might have run afoul of federal laws for the nonpartisan election agency. “It's good to know that you have a data scientist analyzing the comments,” McCormick wrote back. “Once we get back to full strength and can have a discussion about it, I will let the others know of your offer.”
Jones isn’t the only EIN leader McCormick emailed with. In May of last year, Mitchell warned McCormick that she fell for a phishing scam and that McCormick “may have received a fraudulent email from my address.”
This is why you always complete internet safety training courses.
Tina Peters got her day in court and lost. She won’t get another one
In a tough blow for America’s least favorite election denier, Tina Peters, Colorado’s highest court rejected her appeal to get her election tampering charges dropped.
Peters, a former GOP election clerk, served prison time for her role in a 2021 voting system breach driven by far-right conspiracies. But Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) already commuted Peters’ sentence in May after she had served less than two years of her nine-year sentence. Well done, Polis!
Peters argued in court filings that she was immune from prosecution because of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution — which says that federal law takes precedence over conflicting state laws. She also claimed juror misconduct led to a wrongful conviction. Colorado’s Supreme Court wasn’t buying these arguments.
Peters previously challenged her conviction to the Colorado Court of Appeals. In April, the court found that Peters was improperly sentenced in 2024 and ordered her resentencing. But the court nonetheless upheld her conviction.
Naturally, Peters’ biggest supporters in the MAGA movement are, once again, throwing a temper tantrum — despite the fact she’s free.
“Colorado’s high court just slammed the door on Tina Peters,” far-right podcaster Joe Oltmann wrote. “Not justice. Not closure. A free woman with a branded felony and a court that will not clear her name.”
Meanwhile, Peters is still spreading election conspiracies and using her newfound MAGA celebrity status to pressure Trump to rig the midterms.
On social media, Peters reposted a video alleging a vast conspiracy with Dominion (now Liberty Voting) and the Democratic party. “I wish every government employee and American citizen would listen to this… and THEN you will understand why these criminals sentenced me to 9 YEARS IN PRISON!!!”
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R), who’s been sued numerous times since he took office last year, points out that he’s been “sued less than past [Missouri] Secretaries of State,” including… John Ashcroft. That’s, uh, not exactly something to brag about.
Peters’ lawyer and Trump ally Peter Ticktin thinks the president will declare martial law to stop Democrats from winning the election, impeaching Trump, and then installing… House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries as president. Ok, dude.
Former Tea Party leader and key Stop the Steal organizer Amy Kremer has shifted from attacking elections to attacking… AI.
Today's newsletter was edited by Andrew Wyrich and Zachary Roth, and produced by Leila Fusenig. Additional reporting by Jacob Knutson. Learn more about our staff here.
This is one of our free weekly newsletters. If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to our newsletters here. For questions or help with your subscription, please visit our Help Center.
.png?upscale=true&height=50&upscale=true&name=Bluesky_Logo-grey%20(2).png){kind=logo}
