She believed the IRS lawsuit had been “a great fundraising tool” for Ms. Mitchell “and her associates. I wanted to win the case and move on and not be a cottage industry.”
Ms. Mitchell said in a text message that her legal team did “all the heavy lifting” for years but was fired after she made a public statement, which had been standard practice. “The problem is Catherine hates it when someone else hangs out with reporters,” she said.
Shortly after the 2020 election, whose funding has faltered in recent years, True the Vote received a $2.5 million windfall in donation from Fred Eshelman, a Texas entrepreneur looking for evidence to undo the election. But the attempt failed and Mr. Eshelman sued, claiming he had been defrauded.
He lost a first round in Texas court and is now appealing. The lawsuit alleges that Ms. Engelbrecht and Mr. Phillips were romantically involved and violated Texas conflict of interest law, as True the Vote sent a “significant portion” of Mr. Eshelman’s money to OpSec†
Asked about a personal relationship, Ms Engelbrecht said, “You know, Gregg and I actually talked about this and how we would answer this question. And the best answer I think one of us is going to give is that it’s totally unrelated and unimportant.”
It is true that the Vote’s eventual focus on ballot trading was inspired by an Arizona investigation into ballot collecting in the 2020 primaries that led to charges.
But True the Vote’s efforts have led to little action from law enforcement. Last year, after True the Vote circulated its research in Georgia, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the transferred cell data, which tracked people as close as 30 feet, was not enough to act on.
“What has not been provided is any other type of evidence linking these cell phones to ballot collection,” the agency said. said in a letter† “For example, there are no witness statements and no names of possible suspects to question.” It added that while the group had said it had “a source” that could validate such findings, “despite repeated requests, that source has not been provided.”
