U.S. Marshals in Houston, Texas, on Monday arrested True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht and board member Gregg Phillips for contempt of court in a defamation case against them after they refused a federal judge's order to release the name of a confidential source.

The civil lawsuit was filed in September by Eugene Yu, the CEO of the Michigan-based, election software company Konnech. Yu alleges True the Vote made baseless and racist accusations that forced him and his family to flee their home in fear for their lives and damaged his company's business.

At the center of Yu's complaint is True the Vote's claim that Konnech was storing U.S. election information on serves in China through its software app PollChief, posing a national security risk.