Kurt Olsen

Kurt B. Olsen (born August 20, 1962) is an American lawyer.

Kurt B. Olsen was born on August 20, 1962.^[1] He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1984. For several years, Olsen was a Navy SEAL.^[2]

In 2003, Olsen founded Klafter & Olsen.^[3] His work involved defending companies in product liability cases.^[4] In October 2007, Maryland governor Martin O'Malley named Olsen to his Health Care Commission.^[5] In 2021, after Olsen's involvement in litigation surrounding the 2020 presidential election became apparent, the firm changed its name to Klafter Lesser and disassociated with him completely.^[3]

After the 2020 presidential election, Olsen began involving himself with lawsuits that falsely contended Joe Biden's victory. He advised Texas attorney general Ken Paxton on his lawsuit against Pennsylvania. According to emails obtained by House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigators, Olsen attempted to contact Jeffrey A. Rosen, the acting U.S. attorney general, about the lawsuit. He spoke with Jeff Wall, the acting U.S. solicitor general, asserting that president Donald Trump had directed him to speak to Rosen but that he could not reach Rosen. After Rosen's chief of staff told him that Rosen was busy, Olsen drove to Washington, D.C., "in the hopes of meeting" with him.^[6] Rosen was not convinced by Olsen's arguments and challenged him on the case's merit.^[7] The lawyer William J. Olson encouraged Trump to hire Olsen.^[8]

In August 2021, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol sent requests to government agencies inquiring about Olsen's activities.^[9] According to a statement accompanying a subpoena sent in March 2022, the committee alleged that Olsen had prepared a draft executive order to direct the Department of Justice to "take voter action" and had spoken repeatedly with Trump on January 6.^[10] Mike Lindell, the businessman who founded My Pillow, established a network of election denialists that included Olsen.

Prior to the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, Olsen filed a lawsuit on behalf of the former television presenter Kari Lake and the politician Mark Finchem. The 65 Project filed a complaint against Olsen in Maryland over his election litigation in August 2022^[11] and in February 2023.^[12] The Arizona Supreme Court sanctioned Lake, the lawyer Bryan Blehm, and Olsen in May over false statements in their lawsuit.^[13] The State Bar of Arizona began investigating two charges brought against Olsen in November.^[3]

Olsen also represented Lake in an action in federal court, in which he made various accusations against Arizona's voting system. The United States District Court for the District of Arizona dismissed the case and imposed sanctions of $122,000 on Olsen and his co-counsel for violating the federal rule against frivolous litigation. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal. It also affirmed the sanctions order, finding that Olsen and his co-counsel, in their court filings, had "made false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions ... and did not undertake a reasonable pre-filing inquiry."^[14]