Kim Wyman, 59 years old, has been leading elections in Washington state for many years and was reelected to a second term in November. She is the only statewide elected Republican on the West Coast. According to The Associated Press, she is currently in discussions to be the election security chief for the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. This agency is responsible for protecting U.S. electoral elections. These people were aware of the discussions, but they weren't allowed to speak publicly. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Wyman would be the government's liaison with the states. This job was already well-known before 2020 and will continue to be so after Trump's false claims regarding the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden and the acceptance of those false claims from other GOP members.
Trump and his associates made and continue to make false claims that there was widespread election fraud in 2020. This despite the fact that evidence is contrary. Former Attorney General William Barr said to AP that there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Trump lashed out at the election. Leaders of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency declared publicly that it was one of the most secure elections in history. Trump fired one shortly thereafter.
Hundreds of lawsuits brought by Trump and his associates over allegations of election fraud were dismissed by courts, including Trump-appointed federal judges.
Millions of Americans still believe that Trump stole the 2020 election. This misinformation led thousands of people to storm the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, in a violent, but unsuccessful effort to stop Biden's win being certified.
CNN first reported the discussions surrounding Wyman. CNN first reported the discussions involving Wyman. The White House refused to comment, and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Wyman didn't respond to Monday's text message, and Wyman's spokeswoman stated that they couldn’t comment on details of the story.
Wyman published "Elections 2020" last October. It was titled "Controlling Chaos: How Foreign Interference and a Global Pandemic Threaten U.S. Democracy."
In the weeks leading to the 2020 election she was an constant presence on national television networks, extolling the security and safety of the vote by mail system in her state. This process has been in place for many years. She refuted Trump's claim that mail-in voting was fraudulent.
Wyman stated that she was an election administrator in interviews before the 2020 elections.
She told AP that if the president wants to rant about how insecure the vote by mail is, or how rigged our elections are, then she should talk about Washington's security measures. "And I'm going spend my time talking to the facts. And no, I'm certainly not going to get involved in any kind of political debate or posturing."
Wyman became emotional talking to the 12 members of Washington's Electoral College about the vote that was about to be cast.
She said that while some may continue to question the outcome, ordinary citizens from all walks will rise today to fulfill their constitutional duty and perform their constitutional duties to the best of our ability. This is an important ceremony. This is American governance. This is democracy at work.
Wyman has not shied away from the fact Wyman is a Republican but she has stated that she believes she has approached the job in an impartial way.
She stated last year that "it's how you do your work every day" and that her job was to instill confidence in all voters, no matter if they're a staunch Democrat of a hardcore Republican.
