In his prime publish on the Division of Homeland Safety, David Harvilicz units coverage on defending the nation’s elections infrastructure, together with voting machines.
He’s additionally the co-founder of an organization with James Penrose, who helped hatch debunked conspiracy theories blaming hacked voting machines for Donald Trump’s loss within the 2020 presidential election. Penrose assisted in a push to grab voting machines to overturn Trump’s defeat.
On social media, Harvilicz has known as for eliminating voting machines, saying they’re “eminently susceptible to exploitation.” In a March publish, he wrote that “DHS must ban voting machines for all federal elections. The time is now.” He additionally has repeatedly questioned the validity of Democratic electoral victories and pushed for Republicans to overtake electoral methods to their benefit.
Election consultants in addition to present and former DHS officers say Harvilicz’s central position in overseeing the safety of electoral methods and voting machines is particularly regarding at a time when the administration is taking unprecedented steps to relitigate Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. That features the FBI’s seizure of 2020 voting data from Fulton County, Georgia, and having a crew working for Tulsi Gabbard, the director of nationwide intelligence, take custody of voting machines utilized in Puerto Rico in 2020.
“The safety of our election infrastructure will depend on management that’s trusted, neutral and grounded in proof — not people who’ve promoted conspiracy theories concerning the very methods they’re now accountable for defending,” mentioned Danielle Lang, vice chairman for voting rights and the rule of regulation on the Marketing campaign Authorized Middle, a nonpartisan pro-democracy group. “Putting somebody with that background answerable for insurance policies affecting election safety can undermine public confidence in our elections at a time when belief is already fragile.”
DHS didn’t reply detailed questions on Harvilicz or his crew, offering a extra common assertion concerning the work performed by the company. “DHS and its staff are targeted on preserving our elections protected, safe, and free,” it mentioned. “Each single day appointees on the Division of Homeland Safety work to implement the President’s insurance policies and maintain our Homeland protected.”
Harvilicz didn’t reply to questions on his DHS position. Harvilicz’s X account notes his publish as DHS’ assistant secretary for cyber, infrastructure, danger and resilience coverage however says he’s been detailed to the Protection Division. (Such non permanent assignments are sometimes performed in 120-day increments.)
Harvilicz was appointed to the DHS job round July, taking up a task that previously has largely targeted on shaping coverage to guard the nation’s vital infrastructure, together with its election methods.
However present and former DHS officers say Harvilicz and his crew have reworked their features to develop into extra hands-on. They’ve been deeply engaged with facilitating a number of administration data-gathering efforts geared toward scouring voter rolls for noncitizens, the officers mentioned. ProPublica has reported on one such effort, which has led to tons of of residents being incorrectly flagged as potential noncitizens.
Harvilicz’s crew contains Heather Honey, the deputy assistant secretary of election integrity. ProPublica has reported that Honey was beforehand a chief within the Election Integrity Community, a conservative group that has challenged the legitimacy of American election methods. Honey labored intently with Cleta Mitchell, the community’s chief, who performed a distinguished position in serving to Trump attempt to overturn his 2020 loss.
Additionally reporting on to Harvilicz is Samantha Anderson, an information specialist who beforehand labored to elect Trump by the advocacy arm of the America First Coverage Institute, a suppose tank intently related to the president.
A number of officers and elections consultants mentioned they had been anxious that Harvilicz and Honey would have distinguished components in assessing and describing the cybersecurity of the approaching election, each to the general public and to administration leaders. Additionally they expressed concern that if Trump once more needed to get management of voting machines after the election, maybe if Republicans lose seats within the midterms, that Harvilicz is ideally positioned to assist them accomplish that.
“It might be tremendous straightforward for them to get the voting machines,” a present DHS official mentioned, including they’ll “describe it as they need, in the event that they don’t just like the outcomes.”
Harvilicz co-founded Tranquility AI, which has developed a synthetic intelligence software for regulation enforcement, with Penrose, and they’re listed on its 2025 patents as growing its methods collectively.
Penrose, a former intelligence officer, performed a number one position within the marketing campaign to assist Trump in his failed bid to overturn the 2020 election, ProPublica has reported. Penrose additionally participated in a number of makes an attempt to clandestinely seize voting machines, together with in Michigan, the place prosecutors accused him of breaking into a number of the machines. (Penrose wasn’t charged within the case.) He gave the impression to be an unindicted co-conspirator within the failed Georgia prosecution wherein Trump was accused of conspiring to overturn the election outcomes, based on The Washington Put up.
Penrose didn’t reply to a request for remark for this text.
One of many purported makes use of of Tranquility AI’s product is for “election integrity,” based on the corporate’s web site. It didn’t present extra particulars in response to a query from ProPublica.
Tranquility AI’s instruments, which assist regulation enforcement brokers course of knowledge and assemble instances, have been employed by New Orleans’ district legal professional, and the firm says it has partnered with dozens of regulation enforcement companies nationwide. In July 2025, a big authorities IT contractor introduced a partnership with Tranquility AI.
Harvilicz began his profession working at regulation corporations on Wall Road and in tech. Then, in 2004, when he was 29, he launched a shedding bid for a Maryland congressional seat. After that, he helped lead a crowdfunding firm, a film advertising enterprise, a movie manufacturing enterprise that labored with former intelligence officers and a number of other cyber safety ventures (together with one at which he labored with Penrose). He additionally did a stint within the first Trump administration, serving as cybersecurity official within the Division of Vitality.
Upfront of Harvilicz getting the DHS place, Tranquility AI made a $100,000 donation to Trump’s inaugural fund by a newly created nonprofit primarily based at Harvilicz’s residence deal with, based on The Intercept. In response to questions from The Intercept, Harvilicz mentioned the donation was designed to assist them meet administration policymakers. The Intercept first reported his ties to Penrose in reference to the donation.
Harvilicz has posted prolifically to social media, sharing tons of of posts of conservative content material. After Trump received a second presidential time period, he wrote: “We are going to now dismantle the close to communist takeover of America and return her to greatness.”
In 2020, Harvilicz bought a $3.3 million residence outdoors of Los Angeles.
After the Palisades Fireplace destroyed it across the starting of Trump’s second time period, Harvilicz stood on a roadside to greet the president’s tour of the catastrophe space together with his younger son on his shoulders. His son held aloft an image of a bloodied Trump punching the air after surviving an murderer’s bullet.
Even then, elections weren’t removed from his thoughts. He informed a reporter for the Los Angeles Occasions that he supported Trump making catastrophe assist conditional on the Democratic state implementing voter ID.
“I hope he noticed us,” Harvilicz informed the Occasions reporter.
