AI Firm Behind Mysterious Trump Donation Is Run by Alleged Election Overthrow Plotter
Why did a shadowy nonprofit make a six-figure gift to Trump's inauguration committee? "It was mostly to meet people,” said a company official. The post AI Firm Behind Mysterious Trump Donation Is Run by Alleged Election Overthrow Plotter appeared first on The Intercept.
An obscure nonprofit group that gave $100,000 to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee was bankrolled by an artificial intelligence company whose CEO was an unindicted co-conspirator in Trump’s election interference case in Georgia, the company’s president confirmed to The Intercept.
Unlike more established megadonors such as Boeing or the Heritage Foundation, however, the Institute for Criminal Justice Fairness was created only months ago and has little public profile beyond a barebones website.
The institute was funded by the startup Tranquility AI, according to company co-founder David Harvilicz, who has pitched Trump administration officials on using its software to speed up deportations of “illegals.”
The purpose of the institute’s donation to the inaugural fund, Harvilicz said, was “to meet people that were there who might be policymakers who would want to eventually attend some of our events. It was mostly to meet people.”
The company’s other co-founder is CEO James Penrose, a former National Security Agency leader who has drawn scrutiny — and a grand jury subpoena — for his role in Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
The donation from the Institute for Criminal Justice Fairness was among a slew of gifts to the Trump inaugural committee disclosed over the weekend. The inaugural committee pulled in a record $239 million haul.
“Inaugural funds present an ideal, problematic opportunity for wealthy special interests.”
The contribution highlights the loose rules that allowed nonprofits and corporations to make unlimited donations to the Trump inaugural committee, a situation that critics say creates the perception that donations can be used to curry favor with the administration.
“Because inaugural funds are very loosely regulated, they present an ideal, problematic opportunity for wealthy special interests to ingratiate themselves with an incoming presidential administration,” said Saurav Ghosh, the director for federal campaign finance reform of the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center. “This is particularly true for Trump, who has made clear that he views his office and government in general as largely transactional; donations and support will be rewarded.”
Following the Money
There are no signs on the Institute for Criminal Justice Fairness’s sparse website of its relationship to Tranquility AI, a startup company backed by a trio of venture capital funds.
The institute was created at the end of September, according to incorporation records in Virginia, and says that it is “dedicated to educating the public and advocating to policymakers on the benefits of utilizing artificial intelligence solutions in law enforcement, the military, and government.”
One clue linking the Institute for Criminal Justice Fairness and Tranquility AI, however, came in the Trump inaugural committee’s Sunday filing with the Federal Election Commission. The address given for the group’s December 18 donation was the same as Harvilicz’s California home, which burned down weeks later in the Palisades Fire.
Harvilicz confirmed in a Monday phone call that the company funded the Institute for Criminal Justice Fairness.
“The nonprofit was designed to help people understand how AI can be used in a positive way to help bring about more fair and equitable criminal justice outcomes,” Harvilicz said.
Harvilicz said he was unaware that his home address had been used in the FEC filing.
There appears to be no federal statute banning companies from using so-called straw donors to contribute to inaugural committees, although at least one member of the House of Representatives has introduced legislation seeking to ban the practice.
“That disclosure is meaningless if the true, original donors aren’t disclosed.”
Ghosh, the campaign finance watchdog, urged Congress to force “meaningful” transparency.
“Inaugural funds are required to report their donors, but that disclosure is meaningless if the true, original donors aren’t disclosed,” Ghosh said. “Congress and the FEC should ensure meaningful transparency around these inaugural fund donations, to ensure that special interests aren’t able to secretly curry favor with an incoming president, further marginalizing the voices of everyday Americans in our democracy.”
“War Zones to Courtrooms”
Although a relatively new company, Tranquility AI has big ambitions in the world of government contracting, both at the state and federal levels.
The company markets its signature software product as a time-saving device for local law enforcement agencies, and has expressed interest in national security and immigration work. On its website, Tranquility AI says that it wants to aid decision-makers working from “war zones to courtrooms.”
Harvilicz, in a series of X posts in early December, pitched Trump’s soon-to-be border czar Tom Homan and Attorney General Pam Bondi on using the company’s software to accelerate deportations.
“In combination with CBP One App and other OSINT, @TranquilityAi’s TimePilot
platform will facilitate location, apprehension, and adjudication of millions of illegals in months instead of years,” Harvilicz said, referring to the since-discontinued app used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to track immigrants.
Harvilicz said the company was founded by alumni of the first Trump administration. He served as the acting assistant secretary for cybersecurity, energy security, and emergency response in the Department of Energy, according to his biography.
Penrose, meanwhile, had a 17-year career at the NSA that included several high-level cybersecurity postings. After moving to the private sector, he held a role at the successful startup Darktrace, which was staffed with former intelligence officials from the U.K. and U.S.
After the 2020 election, however, he found himself under a microscope for his role in Trump and his allies’ attempts to overturn the election results.
Penrose worked with Trump attorney Sidney Powell when she led an effort to breach voting machines in Georgia, according to multiple media reports. He was one of the unnamed unindicted co-conspirators in the Fulton County case that eventually led to Powell’s guilty plea, according to the Washington Post. Penrose was also a “suspect” in a Michigan probe of a voting tabulator breach, according to the outlet Votebeat.
Penrose was not charged with any crime in either state. His supporting role in Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election has drawn scrutiny in places like New Orleans, however, where Tranquility AI worked with the city’s Democratic district attorney.
The company did not respond to a request for comment on Penrose’s role in the donation to Trump’s inaugural committee.
The post AI Firm Behind Mysterious Trump Donation Is Run by Alleged Election Overthrow Plotter appeared first on The Intercept.
