Group Connected to Trump Allies Funded Misleading Election Ads in Swing States
As the 2024 election approached, advertisements appeared in key swing states suggesting local officials had discretion not to certify election results.
These advertisements, reported at the time, were misleading. Certification is mandatory, and officials must certify the vote once the proper election challenge processes are complete. Despite this, the warnings emerged as Donald Trump and his allies appeared to prepare to contest the election results if he lost.
New documents reviewed by reveal that the group behind these advertisements received financial support from a non-profit linked to prominent election deniers with ties to Trump. This same non-profit, the Foundation For Accountability Integrity & Research In Elections Fund (Fair Elections Fund), also paid influencers to promote an anti-voting bill in 2024.
Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer and longtime Trump ally who assisted efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and Heather Honey, a researcher now working at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are both listed as directors of the fund, which was incorporated in Delaware in 2023.
Honey's appointment to an elections role at DHS last year has caused concern among voting rights groups, who argue it places an election denier in a significant government position. Prior to her government role, Honey promoted claims cited by Trump to undermine confidence in the 2020 election. She has falsely asserted, for example, that there were more votes in Pennsylvania in 2020 than voters.
Her appointment coincides with ongoing efforts by Trump and his administration to sow doubt about the integrity of American elections, making baseless fraud accusations without substantial evidence. Concerns remain that Trump could use the justice department and other government resources to contest the results of the midterm elections this year.
Mitchell and Honey did not respond to requests for comment.
Financial Support and Advertising Campaigns
The Fair Elections Fund sent $300,000 to the American Principles Project Foundation between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, according to a tax form reviewed by . In 2024, the American Principles Project Foundation funded advertisements suggesting election certification was optional.
The advertisements displayed the logo of a group called Follow the Law, but a disclaimer stated they were paid for by the American Principles Project Foundation. Follow the Law also sent a letter to at least one clerk in Nevada urging him not to be a “rubber-stamp” and directing him to legal opinions that imply election officials have discretion not to certify elections.
The American Principles Project did not respond to requests for comment.
“Cleta Mitchell and Heather Honey are not only leading figures in the election denial movement, they are also helping channel millions of dollars to an ecosystem of groups that seek to undermine the freedom to vote and mainstream fringe election claims,” said Brendan Fischer, director of strategic investigations at Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group.
“These grants are important not only for what they fund individually, but for the broader election denial infrastructure they help build.”
During the same period, the group also gave $1.875 million to the Article III Foundation, linked to a non-profit run by pugilistic Trump ally Mike Davis, which ran advertisements warning that non-citizen voting was illegal and a deportable offense.
The group also sent $285,000 to a company that connects funders with influencers to promote preferred causes. The Fair Elections Fund spent money as part of a campaign to promote the Save Act, a voting restriction bill that did not pass Congress. In 2024, Mitchell launched the Only Citizens Vote coalition, a group of more than 80 conservative organizations focused on preventing non-citizens from voting and advocating federal proof of citizenship requirements.
John Thune, the Senate majority leader, has faced significant pressure from Trump and other conservatives to pass a bill similar to the Save Act, even if it requires eliminating the filibuster. In an interview earlier this year, Thune attributed some of the pressure to a “very vocal group.”
The group also sent $200,000 to the Election Research Institute, where Honey served as president until 2025. Between 2023 and 2025, the group paid Verity Vote, another organization led by Honey, nearly $200,000 for consulting services.
Funding and Connections
Since its incorporation in Delaware in 2023, the Fair Elections Fund has raised over $7.7 million. The fund appears to have been largely financed by the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), an organization supporting Trump loyalists in Washington and various groups advancing the president’s agenda.
The CPI, where Mitchell is a senior legal fellow, contributed $4.5 million to the Fair Elections Fund in 2024, according to tax documents. The Fair Elections Fund also lists the CPI’s headquarters as its address on tax filings.
“We still see a massive ecosystem built around producing and spreading and pushing false, baseless, tired, debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud,” said Michael McNulty, policy director at Issue One, a watchdog group tracking donors behind the Only Citizens Vote coalition.
“It fits perfectly into what we’ve kind of called the ‘election takeover playbook’ that Trump has. The first step [is] just like being able to massively spread these false conspiracy theories about election fraud.”
He said: “What seems to be a large ecosystem, then when you start connecting the dots, a lot of the same people and same groups are involved. And the same funders are involved.”
