Must-read Politico Deep Dive into Brian Newby, a Kobach Protege Who is Causing Major Problems with Election Administration as Executive Director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Read this quite damning portrait:

 A tiny federal agency that plays a crucial role in assisting the nation’s local election supervisors is gripped by a leadership crisis that hassparked concerns that it is unprepared to play its role in protecting the 2020 presidential race from foreign interference.


Brian Newby, the executive director of the Election Assistance Commission, has blocked important work on election security, micromanaged employees’ interactions with partners outside the agency and routinely ignored staff questions, according to former election officials, former federal employees and others who regularly work with the agency.

In doing so, Newby has not only frustrated his own employees and helped create a staff exodus — nine EAC office directors have left since Newby arrived — but also angered cybersecurityexperts, election integrityactivists and state and local officials. His reputation in the elections community conjures up “the eye-roll emoji,” said one former election official. “Everybody kind of puts up with him.”


POLITICO’s seven sources — all of whom requested anonymity to speak candidly — described Newby, a Republican, as too beholden to the EAC’s GOP chairwoman, Christy McCormick, who masterminded his appointment and later spent years denying the reality of Russian interferencein the 2016 election. They also said that Newby alienated his agency almost immediately by wading into the issue of a citizenship requirement for voter eligibility — and that he has failed to regain their trust ever since.

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