FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2026
democracyrestored.org

Democracy Restored’s letter calls on the Department of Homeland Security to investigate potential security risk of problematic former FBI official’s role at Microsoft

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, government watchdog Democracy Restored sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin calling for a department review its federal contracts with Microsoft. The letter came after recently declassified documents revealing a former FBI analyst-turned-Microsoft director allegedly withheld foreign election interference intelligence from the President of the United States.

In a September 22 letter to Secretary Mullin, Democracy Restored requested that DHS examine former FBI agent Nikki Floris’s role at Microsoft, the systems and information to which she may have access, and whether her position presents any insider risk or foreign-influence concerns for federal systems.

The letter cites recently declassified records and publicly reported material showing that when Floris was still a senior FBI analyst serving as the Bureau’s election-security lead for the 2020 presidential election, she was allegedly involved in the recall of an FBI intelligence report concerning alleged Chinese Communist Party (CCP) efforts to interfere in the 2020 election. Under Floris’s leadership, the FBI reportedly “deliberately massaged the presidential daily briefing to withhold information regarding Chinese activities related to the election.” The letter further cites documents in which Ms. Floris reportedly described herself as “basically running a shadow government across the FBI.”

Following her departure from the FBI, Ms. Floris became the Director of Insider Risk at Microsoft, a company that has held major federal cloud and systems contracts and has previously hired Chinese engineers to support Pentagon cloud work. The alleged activities of Ms. Floris coupled with Microsoft’s own recent history of utilizing China-based contractors for Pentagon work raises potential significant national security concerns.

Democracy Restored asked the Department to conduct a formal review of DHS’ contracts with Microsoft and determine if there are any security risks to the systems, data, and facilities that Microsoft personnel have access to. The organization also sought for DHS to investigate what role Ms. Floris has in any of those contracts and whether her role comports with the department’s security and integrity standards. Additionally, Democracy Restored asked DHS to review whether the combination of Floris’s handling of CCP election interference and Microsoft formerly hiring China-based engineers represents a security risk. Lastly, Democracy Restored asked the department to terminate, suspend, or condition the relevant contracts if it’s concluded that such security risks are present.

“Ms. Floris’s alleged activity combined with Microsoft’s own recent history of using China-based engineers for intelligence community work bring up several red flags,” said Houston Keene, Director of Democracy Restored. “The questions raised by these new records deserve a thorough review by DHS. Digital security is national security, full stop, and must be treated as such in today’s day and age.”

You can read the Washington Examiner’s coverage of the letter by clicking here.

###