Op-Ed: Stolen? Lessons from the 2020 Presidential Election

12/12/2023

Op-Ed Commentary
by WV Secretary of State Mac Warner

Federal Overreach and Election Interference;

Lessons from the 2020 Election

“Yes or no — was the 2020 election stolen?”

Radio talk show host Hoppy Kercheval posed that question last week in a forum in Morgantown. I responded, "Yes." Here is my reasoning.

West Virginia voters elected me their Chief Election Officer for two consecutive terms beginning in 2017. Working with all 55 county clerks, the WV Secretary of State's Office cleaned up voter registration lists, implemented voter ID, spearheaded numerous election security measures and legislation, helped secure millions of dollars in state-of-the-art election equipment, and reported results on election night. We made West Virginia the nation's model for election integrity and security.

Trained at West Point, the world’s premier leadership academy, I served on the Honor Committee. Our Honor Code states, “A cadet will not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.” The toleration clause is key, especially when joined with our commissioning oath wherein we swear to protect and defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We also prayed the West Point Cadet Prayer, “endow us with courage to know no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never be content with a half-truth when the whole can be won.”

As a WVU College of Law graduate and Army JAG officer, I remain loyal to the oaths I took as a cadet, officer, lawyer, and as Secretary of State — honor, service, and integrity are integral to me.

Therefore, I do not arrive at my answer "Yes" in a void.

Voters rely on me to ensure safe, secure, and fair elections, and expect me to keep an eye on national issues as well. Reading, listening, and participating in Congressional hearings, I conclude the 2020 presidential election was improperly influenced by federal officials. Here is how that happened.

The primary basis for my conclusion is the report published by the House Judiciary Committee on May 10, 2023, along with its substantial supporting materials and citations, concerning the involvement of 51 former intelligence officials, including four former CIA directors, and at least one then-current CIA employee, who participated in the creation of a letter that discounted the troubling information discovered on Hunter Biden’s laptop. The report is public on the House Judiciary’s website.

In 2020, current U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken was an advisor to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. Three weeks before the election and before the final Biden-Trump presidential debate, news broke about Hunter Biden’s laptop. Under oath, former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell said Blinken introduced the idea of telling American voters that the laptop was Russian disinformation in an effort to create a debate talking point for Biden to use against Trump.

During the debate, Biden cited the letter signed by the former intelligence officials and claimed the laptop controversy had been debunked. Blinken’s ploy worked, and there was insufficient time for fact-checking before the election. The campaign pulled off a psychological operation, a lie, on the people of the U.S. — the voters.

In the May 10, 2023, House Judiciary report, former CIA Acting Director Morell admitted that the letter was, in fact, and in his own words, fabricated “to help Vice President Biden in the debate.” (See Report pages 10-11.)

The truth, we have learned, is the laptop had been in the possession of the FBI for nearly a year and had not been hacked by the Russians. Morell and numerous other federal officials knew the laptop was not Russian disinformation. Yet, when those 51 intelligence agents made their claim, the FBI tolerated the lie and allowed a half-truth to go unchecked until long after the election was over.

Worse, knowing the truth, the FBI nonetheless warned social media companies to censor reporting about the laptop, and Big Tech acted accordingly. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg himself admitted on Joe Rogan’s show that the FBI urged censorship about the scandal.

Those statements are facts that have been well documented in the Report and elsewhere. I must uphold oaths I have taken and report wrongdoing when I see it. This was the first time in my career that I ever had cause to worry about domestic enemies, much less in our own federal government. American voters, not three-lettered agencies, should determine election outcomes.

There were also numerous improper actions by state officials in other states that did not receive prior legislative approval: accepting ballots days after the election was over, using unsupervised drop boxes, allowing massive volumes of no-excuse mail-in ballots, accepting ballots without signatures or addresses, and curing ballots in some areas but not others. Many officials used COVID as an excuse to step outside the law and change voting procedures. Challenges to these non-legislatively approved actions have been successful in several jurisdictions but were resolved long after the election was over and certified.

The U.S. Constitution provides that state legislatures set procedures; executives are to follow them. Votes “outside the law” should not be counted for any reason.

These are the undeniable facts. Some may not like to acknowledge the facts, but they are nonetheless true, accurate, and published. In the election arena, that means that we need to openly discuss what happened in the 2020 election and resolve to prevent it from ever happening again. That's my job.

NOTES:

Mac Warner's position on federal overreach and improper election influence can be found at:

Mac Warner Testimony before Congress: