Federal judge orders arrest of True the Vote founders behind bogus voter fraud claims

Shortly after a federal judge ordered the arrest of the founders of a Texas group that spread baseless election conspiracy theories, US Marshals escorted the duo out of a Houston courtroom and into a holding cell.

Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips are the founders of True the Vote and the executive producers of a film promoted by Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans to advance a fraudulent narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

On 31 October, US District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ordered their detention for “one-day and further until they fully comply” with a court order demanding that they reveal the name of a person of interest in a defamation and computer hacking case against them. They have claimed, without evidence, that the person is a confidential FBI informant.

Monday’s arrest marks the latest turn in a strange, sprawling case in the aftermath of the 2020 election, with proponents of meritless voter fraud claims accused of defaming an election technology company, which is also under investigation for alleged security flaws purportedly exposed by True the Vote.

Judge Hoyt is overseeing a defamation case against True the Vote from election software company Konnech Inc, which has accused the group of promoting baseless claims against the company and its founder Eugene Yu.

True the Vote has accused the Michigan-based company of holding information for nearly 2 million poll workers in the US and that Mr Yu, a longtime US resident, is a Chinese operative. The company and Mr Yu have denied the allegations.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, meanwhile, charged Mr Yu with two felonies that appeared to mirror some of the claims raised by True the Vote. The office, however, later downgraded the accusations against the company, which allegedly exposed county workers to “possible compromise,” according to the district attorney.

Mr Yu has sought to have the charges dismissed.

A spokesman for Konnech said in a statement earlier this month that any Los Angeles County poll worker data “that Konnech may have possessed was provided to it by LA County and therefore could not have been ‘stolen’ as suggested.”

Ms Engelbrecht and Mr Phillips, meanwhile, are prominent figures among election fraud conspiracy theorists with a long track record of advancing claims that election outcomes were manipulated. Mr Phillips claimed without evidence just days after the 2016 presidential election that he had “verified” more than 3 million votes were cast by noncitizens.

The pair were also central to right-wing filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza’s widely debunked film 2,000 Mules, which claimed to have evidence of illegal mail-in and absentee ballots. They both appeared as executive producers, alongside Mr D’Souza, in the film’s credits.

True the Vote solicited donations from the group’s Truth Social account after the duo were detained.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32,” according to the post. “To join us in cause, please donate here.”