An Iowa-based firm that has never conducted an election review will delve into a forensic audit of Pennsylvania’s contentious 2020 general election results and this year’s May primary. How it intends to determine election integrity remains shrouded in secrecy.
Steve Lahr, president of Envoy Sage LLC, on Tuesday declined to reveal what procedures or methods his firm will use to seek the voter information that state Republicans have requested through subpoenas. Envoy Sage will have access to complaints alleging possible election misconduct that residents filed with the Senate committee, Lahr said, and make recommendations on election integrity.
“We have no preconceived notion of the facts,” said Lahr, who pointed out his firm has worked for both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Envoy Sage was hired last week under a $270,000 no-bid contract by Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson, in consultation with Republican leaders and the bipartisan Intergovernmental Operations Committee. The contract was signed by Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Hempfield.
Dush on Tuesday wouldn’t say how the GOP selected Envoy Sage or how many other companies were interviewed. Dush also would not explain why Envoy Sage was given a no-bid contract, saying it was up to the Republican-led committee to release that information.
On its website, Envoy Sage — founded in 2020 — operates under the slogan “Delivering Ground Truth.” It describes itself as providing “consulting services tailored for crisis, chaos and change,” with “research and investigation” and “influence and information operations” among offered services.
“The leadership and personnel are veterans from the U.S. Special Operations Command and Intelligence organizations,” the website says. “Our Information and Disinformation specialists bring decades of effective Information and Influence Operations applied across various domains, platforms, industries and environments.”
The firm wants voter information the Republican-controlled panel has sought. The panel issued subpoenas in September to the Pennsylvania Department of State, but the department refused to cooperate. The GOP wants to learn what guidance the state issued to counties prior to the 2020 election. The GOP senators sought key voter data, including lists of all registered voters, voter activity, the method by which voters cast their ballots, and changes in voter registration.
Neither Lahr nor Dush, who chairs the Intergovernmental Operations Committee, shed any light on when the forensic audit would begin or if the process is stalled while a decision is rendered on Senate Democrats’ suit to block the GOP attempt to view private voter information. A hearing on the lawsuit challenging the legality of the investigation is scheduled for Dec. 15 in Commonwealth Court.
Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, a member of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee, said Democrats were prohibited from participating in the selection of the firm.
“They agreed to wait, and then went ahead with hiring their own firm to carry out this political, unnecessary and costly witch hunt,” Costa said.
In an apparent attempt to allay fears of sensitive voter information being leaked, Lahr said the firm has worked with confidential and classified information for the Department of Defense and other government agencies.
The Department of State issued a directive in July stating county boards of election should not allow physical, electronic or internal access to third parties seeking to copy or examine any state-certified electronic voting systems or software. Allowing access by a third party like Envoy Sage, the department said, would make the equipment insecure, and it could not be used in subsequent elections.
Wanda Murren, a Department of State spokeswoman, declined to comment because of pending litigation.
The Allegheny County elections office has not received any notification from Envoy Sage of information it might want from the county to conduct its audit. Even if it did, the county will not comply with any request for voter information or access to voting machines, said Amie Downs, a county spokeswoman.
Greg McCloskey, acting director of Westmoreland County’s election bureau, said the county has not been contacted by Envoy Sage for any voter information.
Under terms of the contract, Lahr said, his firm will look at previous election audits. He did not specify which elections would be reviewed and did not say if Envoy Sage would review audits of Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory over Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania to determine if there were discrepancies in that election.
The Envoy Sage hiring comes after former President Trump, who lost to Joe Biden in Pennsylvania, criticized Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, this summer for allegedly fighting attempts to conduct an audit of his defeat in Pennsylvania. Trump’s campaign in November unsuccessfully sought in court to prevent the Pennsylvania secretary of state from certifying the results on the grounds of voter irregularities.
Before Envoy Sage was hired, Corman last week announced his bid for the 2022 GOP nomination for governor. Jason Thompson, a Corman spokesman, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Costa said he found it “particularly troubling that they are fast-tracking this Trumpian sideshow” the same week Corman announced his bid for governor.
“This is not good government: It is bad politics,” Costa said.
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Process of pending Pennsylvania election audit remains shrouded in secrecy - TribLIVE
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