CHICAGO — Olivia Troye, who quit her White House national security job under former President Donald Trump after Jan. 6, believes the Republican candidate is gearing up to claim a “rigged” election again in 2024.
“I remember the 2020 playbook very well,” Troye told USA TODAY at last week’s Democratic National Convention, adding that she remains deeply concerned about the “real world consequences” of false allegations that the election was stolen. “He’s making the same references again.”
She said she also worries about the implications of what another Trump presidency would mean for the intelligence community.
In the Trump administration, Troye served as a national security and counterterrorism adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump’s contentious relationship with members of the intelligence community was widely known − and reported on − during his time in office. Troye sat through many of those heated intelligence briefings.
In a startling revelation, Troye said that when Trump received intel that he didn’t like, he would simply fire the person who delivered the information.
“Whenever somebody would give a factual briefing with real intelligence that really mattered, especially when it came to foreign adversaries… he would discredit that person,” explained the former Trump official.
“I saw bosses get fired, long-time mentors of mine, who were worrying about what Russia was doing, about what foreign interference was happening, and he just didn’t want to hear it.”
After a decades-long career in national security, Troye ultimately resigned from the Trump administration in 2020.
During her speech at the DNC, she acknowledged that it was a challenging decision for a Republican who had wanted to work in the White House to vote Democratic, but supporting Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate was “the right one” as an American.
Troye was among several Republicans who took the stage at last week’s convention to pledge support for Harris and criticize Trump as the Harris campaign looks to appeal to anti-Trump moderate Republicans and independents.
In addition to Troye, other Republicans who spoke at the DNC included: former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who served on the House panel that investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election; former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham; former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Mesa, Ariz. Mayor John Gil.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former Trump official: he’s ready to claim election is ‘rigged’ again
