Shelby Pierson
Chair of the Election Executive and Leadership Board
Assumed office
July 2019
PresidentDonald Trump
Appointed byDirector of National Intelligence

Shelby Pierson is the top election security official of the American intelligence community, the chair of the Election Executive and Leadership Board. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats instituted the position and appointed Pierson to fill it in July 2019.[1][2][3][4] The board includes representatives from the intelligence community and other federal agencies coordinating on election security.[5]

Intelligence career

Pierson was crisis manager for election security during the 2018 midterm elections.

She has more than 20 years of intelligence experience, including as national intelligence manager for Russia, Europe and Eurasia, and roles at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.[4][5][6][7]

2020 election security coordinator

Pierson told NPR in January 2020 that election interference "isn't a Russia-only problem" and that "we're still also concerned about China, Iran, non-state actors, 'hacktivists.' And frankly ... even Americans might be looking to undermine confidence in the elections." She said the Russians "are already engaging in influence operations" but "we do not have evidence at this time that our adversaries are directly looking at interfering with vote counts."[8]

To deter election interference, "it's important for us to keep messaging our adversaries that this activity will not be tolerated and there will be consequences," she told NBC News.[9]

Russian interference warning

Pierson told the House Intelligence Committee on February 13, 2020, that Russia is working to help get Donald Trump re-elected.[10][11] Later, three other national security officials told CNN that this statement omitted important nuance, and that while Russia was working to interfere with the election, there was not evidence the interference was aimed at re-electing Trump.[12]

The day afterward, Trump berated her supervisor, acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire, for allowing the briefing. Trump worried that Democrats might "weaponize" the information against him.[10] On February 19, 2020, Trump replaced Maguire with Richard Grenell, considered a Trump loyalist, as acting director of national intelligence, effective immediately.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Barnes, Julian E. (July 19, 2019). "Intelligence Chief Names New Election Security Oversight Official". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  2. ^ Ewing, Philip (July 19, 2019). "Director Of National Intelligence Dan Coats Appoints New Election Security Czar". NPR. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  3. ^ Edwards, Jane. "Shelby Pierson Named Intelligence Community Election Threats Executive; Dan Coats Quoted". GovCon Wire. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Clark, Douglas (July 23, 2019). "Pierson appointed as newly established IC Election Threats Executive". Homeland Preparedness News. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Derek B. (July 19, 2019). "ODNI creates new position dedicated to election security". FCW. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  6. ^ Dilanian, Ken (July 19, 2019). "U.S. spy chief creates a new head of election security". NBC News. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  7. ^ "DNI Coats Names Election Threats Executive". MeriTalk. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Pierson, Shelby (January 22, 2020). "Election Security Boss: Threats To 2020 Are Now Broader, More Diverse". NPR. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  9. ^ Dilanian, Ken (January 14, 2020). "U.S. election czar: Attempts to hack 2020 election are not Russia-only". NBC News. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Goldman, Adam; Barnes, Julian E.; Haberman, Maggie; Fandos, Nicholas (February 20, 2020). "Russia Backs Trump's Re-election, and He Fears Democrats Will Exploit Its Support". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  11. ^ Jim Acosta; Zachary Cohen; Dana Bash; Jeremy Herb (February 20, 2020). "Russia is looking to help Trump win in 2020, election security official told lawmakers". CNN. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  12. ^ Diamond, Jeremy; Tapper, Jake; Cohen, Zachary (February 23, 2020). "US intelligence briefer appears to have overstated assessment of 2020 Russian interference". CNN. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  13. ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Haberman, Maggie (February 19, 2020). "Trump Names Richard Grenell as Acting Head of Intelligence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 21, 2020.


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