Missouri Secretary of State fired election-integrity director after he reported an evidence-fabrication scheme, lawsuit alleges

On May 1, 2026, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins fired Nick La Strada, his director of election integrity, days after La Strada testified at a federal administrative hearing over Hoskins' objection, according to a lawsuit La Strada filed September 14, 2026 in Cole County Circuit Court. The suit alleges that on April 15, 2026 -- the day after U.S. District Judge Doug Harpool ordered Hoskins' office to hold the hearing and ordered La Strada to appear in person -- Hoskins' then-chief of staff Matt Alsager and other senior staff discussed fabricating a false whistleblower submission about the state's voter-registration system to offer as evidence in the federal inquiry, routed through an "IP scrambler" and a "burner phone" so the source could not be traced. La Strada reported the conversation to Hoskins; his Capitol badge access was then disabled, though he was able to enter and testify at the hearing anyway. Days later, according to the suit, Hoskins told him not to report to work and then fired him.

The underlying federal inquiry concerns discrepancies between data sources on the number of votes cast in Missouri's 2024 election. Hoskins had hired La Strada, a four-term Pettis County clerk, as director of election integrity in January 2025, praising his "extensive experience in election administration" at the time. La Strada's suit says he was fired for "questioning, reporting and/or complaining of violations of voting laws and regulations, ... speaking up in opposition to defendants' abuse of power and authority and mismanagement, and testifying in the federal HAVA hearing." Through a spokeswoman, Hoskins declined to comment on the lawsuit, one of two filed against him in September 2026 over his conduct in office.