CLAIM: AT&T got a contract to do a forensic audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines and those machines were recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee to the same AT&T building that was damaged in a Christmas morning explosion. ES&S has repeatedly advertised its DS200 with internal modem a critical component to ES&Ss voting systems as being EAC certified when, in fact, it is not, the letter said. "The loud speaker was to warn people that the bomb was going to go off.. 5:30a on Christmas morning was picked to ensure that nobody was around.. Dominion Voting Systems lost a sale of more than 1,400 new machines on Wednesday after commissioners for Stark County, Ohio, voted down the purchase against a recommendation from the. Dominionwas acquired by private equity firm Staple Street Capital, co-founded by financiers Hootan Yaghoobzadeh and StephenOwens, in 2018. Were focusing on moving forward.. Oltmann claimed that Coomer said with a laugh on the call that he would make sure Trump didn't win the election. Dominion told AFP the claim is "another bizarre lie being spread by known conspiracy theorists.". But Skogland points to some good news. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Some have also received threatening letters. "So, the explosion just happened to be at the AT&T location where they just so happen to control the cooling system for the super computer and house the dominion voting machines and drives for forensic audit", "Wait, the bombing in Nashville was at the AT&T data center right after they got the contract to audit the Dominion voting machines?," one from Dec. 26 reads. On January 8, it filed a defamation suit against pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, seeking $1.3 billion in damages. That agreement is long over, and they no longer have the . Owens, the other co-founder of Staple Street Capital,did not work for Cerberus, despite the post's claim. "AT&T got a contract to do forensic audit on Dominion voting machines and those machines were being moved to Nashville this past week," one Dec. 27postsays. Yet internet sleuths are searching for their own answers, some looking atthin ties toconspiracy theories about the 2020 election as evidence of a broader plot. AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville explosion site. "You may want to read a book some day to learn about my reference to rising like a #phoenix. Some posts take the claim a step further, alleging that the former owner of the building was a board member of a firm that owns Dominion. The bulletin circulated among state election officials earlier this week and publicly shared online, Friday marks the first time CISA has used its vulnerability disclosure program to probe . With unfounded fraud claims swirling, red California county dumps Dominion voting machines. That user did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment, either. He also serves on the boards of Ford Motor Company, MetLife and Duke Energy Corporation (here). A post on Facebook theorized that the two disasters were connected by a plot to steal the election. There's a third company, Clear Ballot Group which is currently under testing by the state of Florida, the official audit review of their software began May 17th, but that is not . Staple Street Capital took part in a deal with management to acquire Dominion in 2018 (here and here). Voting Systems in Tennessee | Tennessee Secretary of State Proposed Constitutional Amendments Voting Systems in Tennessee View list by county (.pdf) and learn more about each system using the links below. New warnings of hacking risks for voting systems connected to the internet, New questions about voting machines as 2020 election approaches, Oregon officials say vote-by-mail system improves security and turnout, Manufacturers who make voting machines testify before Congress. There may not be answers to the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville anytime soon. The voting conspiracy theories that have led millions of Republicans to feel as though the election was stolen from them, which are still spreading, have also led to calls for Coomer's head. The Company offers voting systems and scanning devices, as well as resource planning, training management, quality control . Serious political tensions and fears of COVID-19 have led record-breaking numbers of Americans to vote early this year, either by mail or in person. Skoglund said that they identified only one company among the systems they detected on line, ES&S. The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle that Warner owned. Similar claims have already been debunked by Reuters (here). All rights reserved. Posts online claim that the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville was an attempt to cover up election fraud because AT&T was conducting an audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines and that the equipment was recently relocated to the companys building that was damaged in the blast. Coomer said the first barb aimed at him came five days after the election. Coomer said in addition to his own information, the personal addresses of everyone from his parents and siblings to his ex-girlfriends have been posted online. The coalition says it is no longer certain that the number of states is correct, so the figure has been removed from the article. Even though it has a blue Nashville and a blue Memphis. It's the first . Rating: False About this rating On Christmas. "Coincidence? However, the firm cited in that version of the claim Cerberus Capital Management doesnt own Dominion nor is it connected to Staple Street Capital, whichacquired Dominion in 2018. On Tuesday, Coomer sued the Trump campaign and a number of allies, alleging defamation. The explosion disrupted AT&T wireless and internet services, leading to widespread 911 issues in the Nashville area, The Tennessean reported. Thank you for supporting our journalism. More:Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. The largest manufacturer of voting machines, ES&S, told NBC News their systems are protected by firewalls and are not on the public internet. But both Skoglund and Andrew Appel, a Princeton computer science professor and expert on elections, said such firewalls can and have been breached. In a letter obtained by NBC News sent to the EAC on Tuesday, the nonprofit public interest group Free Speech for People and the National Election Defense Coalition asked the agency to look into whether ES&S violated agency regulations by implying that DS200 voting machines with modems are EAC certified. DNA found at the scene matched Warner's, according to an FBI press release. The wishes are that I forever have to look over my shoulder," Coomer said. The posts all tie AT&T with Dominion, holding the explosion to be alleged proof of conspiracy. Cerberus Capital did briefly own an AT&T building, but the post is wrong about which one. No available external evidence suggests AT&T was involved in any such audit, either. The claim implies the explosion was an elaborate plot to destroy voting machines that might have yielded evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. That is just inviting trouble.. Modems in voting machines are a bad idea, said Appel. Dominion Voting Systems which commands more than a third of the voting-machine market without having Washington lobbyists has hired its first, a high-powered firm that includes a. The question is.. Dominion has no connection to AT&T, the building, Nashville, family members of the Bidens or the Clintons, and Staple Street is not owned by Cerberus, said Tony Fratto, a partner at the PR firm Hamilton Place Strategies who emailed the AP on behalf of Dominion. "AT&T got a contract to do forensic audit on Dominion voting machines and those machines were being moved to Nashville this past week," one Dec. 27 post says. Law enforcement authorities have suggested that Warner may have been paranoid about 5G technology, a QAnon-related conspiracy theory that makes an array of unproven claims including that it helps spread COVID-19 and is used as a spying tool by the government. Did City Blue Imaging Print Voting Ballots, Then Burn Down? Dominion did not respond to numerous requests from NBC News for their sales numbers. Owners of Dominion Voting Systems,(the company many people are accusing of voter fraud) are former executives from Cerebus," another post reads. Note that aspects of Tennessee law may differ with what is seen on the videos. These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth.. Skoglund and his team developed a tool that scoured the internet to see if the central computers that program voting machines and run the entire election process at the precinct level were online. Some users seemed to recognize the story as fake, but others didnt. The investigation of the Nashville bombing is ongoing, but the Facebook post is inaccurate and ridiculous. "To the misinformed people on @Twitter and @instagram #cityblueimaging does not print #ballots, does not do work for #Phoenixgraphics and was never owned by the owner of #phoenixgraphics," the company wrote on its Facebook page on Dec. 27. Examples can be seen here , here and here . Joe Bidens Brother in Law, Steven Owens, is the cofounder of Staple Street Execs along with William Kennard (mentioned above).. So did the type of explosives used to detonate the blast. While a building was destroyed in a blast in Nashville on Christmas Day, and a printing company in New York state caught fire on Christmas Eve and later burned down, neither building held evidence related to the U.S. elections. We should not connect our voting machines directly to the computer networks. We should be unplugging all of these machines from the internet, Skoglund said. The West Bend clerk wrote, "The wrong marking device was used to mark the . "Bombing investigations can take years," Darrell DeBusk, an FBI spokesman based inTennessee, told The Tennessean. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. The post also mentions the Kraken or supercomputer and says that the cooling system for this computer was located in the AT&T building. Last week, Dominion filed its fourth defamation lawsuit, this one a $1.6 billion whopper charging that Fox News spread the bogus conspiracy claim in order to boost ratings that plummeted after. Their evidence: a grainy black-and-white video. There was no evidence of a shooting, but both officers and witnesses heard a warning blare from the RV: "Evacuate now. . Sumit Ganguli is the CEO and Member of the Board at GAVS Technologies. On Dec. 27, U.S. Attorney Don Cochran said the explosion appeared to be a suicide bombing carried out by a Warner. "Fuck a drag bill," they wrote in an Instagram post. Some posts have said the Nashville explosion was caused by a missile. Shasta County has become a hotbed for unproven conspiracy theories about rigged voting, fueled by former . Cerberus Capital Management, the firm named in the posts, does not own Dominion, nor does it own the company that does own Dominion, Staple Street Capital. There are currently two voting systems which are certified by the State of Florida's Division of Elections. There is no evidence that suggests that the explosion was election-related. Law enforcement authorities have suggested that Warner may have been paranoid about 5G technology, a QAnon-related conspiracy theory that makes an array of unproven claims including that ithelps spread COVID-19and is used as a spying tool by the government. The City of Rochester government and police did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. Heres more information on Facebooks fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536, Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Bogus conspiracy theory spreading online claims the Nashville bombing was an attempt to cover up voter fraud. (Read more about, Breaking news meme generators are frequently used online to create fabricated headlines and chyrons such as this one. Much of the voting equipment was by Dominion. US Elections were November 3, 2020. CLAIM: AT&T got a contract to do a forensic audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines and those machines were recently moved . However, both AT&T and Dominion have disclaimed the notion that the former company was engaged in audit of the latter, or that any Dominion-related systems were being moved to Nashville in preparation for a "forensic audit" (by anyone). AT&T got a contract to do forensic audit on Dominion voting machines and those machines were being moved to Nashville this past week, read one post. Dominion provides election equipment and software to 28 states, including many of the swing states on which Trump has focused his post-election ire. It was an assurance designed to bolster public confidence in the way America votes: Voting machines are not connected to the internet.. Thats an interesting coincidence.. These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth. Others add that the explosion took place as the voting machines were being moved to Nashville and provide political links as proof of a conspiracy. "I actually am in fear for my safety," Coomer said recently, speaking by video call from an undisclosed location to Colorado Public Radio. View list by county(.pdf) and learn more about each system using the links below. Donald Trump went after media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his network Fox News in rants on Truth Social where he once again pushed the baseless and debunked claim that the . This conspiracy theory has been debunked by various experts as reported by Reuters here and other fact checkers including Snopes, Factcheck.org and PolitiFact here , here and here . The Trump followers believe that the explosion was actually a missile strike aimed at destroying. Texas country-punk band Vandoliers are standing in solidarity with drag performers and the LGBTQ+ community. Last month Dominion filed a $1.6bn defamation suit against Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, accusing it of trying to boost ratings by amplifying the bogus claims. We can not make our computers perfectly secure," he said. Trump has repeatedly made comments about Dominion's voting machines and retweeted reports perpetuating the conspiracy theory, calling the company's voting machines "a disaster all over the . Next theory: The bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. Jim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T, told USA TODAY the claims are "not true. The FBI confirmed that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast. Both companies have also denied that AT&T held a contract to audit machines from Dominion Voting Systems (other Fact Checks on these claims can be seen here and here ). The three largest voting manufacturing companies Election Systems &Software, Dominion Voting Systems and Hart InterCivic have acknowledged they all put modems in some of their tabulators and scanners. Statement:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. Copyright 2023 Politifact. Earlier this week, Skoglund showed NBC three election systems were still online even after officials had been told they were vulnerable. Cynthia McFadden is the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. the post reads. In 2006, Cerberus Capital acquired it, according to a 2006 News Channel 5 Nashville report. causing widespread communications outages. In the weeks following the election, the election technology firm Dominion Voting Systems has been the target of baseless allegations of election fraud, according to the Washington Post.Now a viral Facebook post attempts to connect President-elect Joe Biden to the company by claiming his sister is married to Stephen Owens, who, the post alleges, owns Dominion Voting Systems. There can still be security holes that allow hackers to get into the phone network.. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has promised for months since the 2020 election that he had obtained Dominion, Smartmatic and ES&S voting machines, and they would be on full. Now the process of counting these votes . That's false. This weekend, both Fox Business Network and Newsmax appeared to answer those demands with segments debunking some claims. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Behind it is the notion that if voting systems are not online, hackers will have a harder time compromising them. While lawmakers questioned them about foreign influence in their supply chains and whether they would comply with more federal reporting requirements, the presence of modems in some of their tabulators was mentioned but not pursued. Singer reportedly funded the original investigation Kevin Skoglund, senior technical advisor at the National Election Defense Coalition. Then Acting Undersecretary for Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security Jeanette Manfra said those words in 2017, testifying before Congress while she was responsible for the security of the nations voting system. Whether it's the standard online trolls, voicemails that are left almost on a daily basis, being called a traitor to this country, I can't even begin to describe what effect this has had on my life," he said. Jim Greer, associate vice president for corporate communications at AT&T, was blunt in an email response to PolitiFact: "That is not true," he wrote. It is no longer federally certified. "So, the explosion just happened to be at the AT&T location where they just so happen to control the cooling system for the super computer and house the dominion voting machines and drives for forensic audit", "Wait, the bombing in Nashville was at the AT&T data center right after they got the contract to audit the Dominion voting machines?,"onefrom Dec. 26 reads. Dominion has played a central role in a number of unfounded conspiracy theories alleging election fraud, from foreign ownership to switching votes from one candidate to another. The post's creator did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. These claims present no convincing evidence and include conspiracy links that have been debunked. A spokesperson for Dominion Voting Systems told Reuters via email: Dominion calls on the media and the public to reject the baseless rumors circulating on social media, which suggest without evidence that there was some election-related connection to the Nashville explosion.. The following three posts were flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. "When we're in the realm of coupling disinformation from both foreign and domestic sources, and government and nongovernment sources, and none of it is really grounded in reality evidence doesn't help much," he said. He believes there is time to make real change before the 2020 election. In August 2021, Dominion Voting Systems programmed machines for the county's upcoming elections. In February, Dominion filed a lawsuit against Lindell and his company, alleging he defamed them by repeatedly claiming to have evidence their voting machines fraudulently flipped votes. On Christmas morning of 2020, a recreational vehicle exploded on the streets of Nashville near a building owned by AT&T that lies one block from the companys office tower. There is no evidence to support the claim that City Blue Imaging, a longtime Rochester, New York, printing business that went up in flames on Christmas Eve, was under investigation for printing fake ballots. Federal officials have identified the man believed to be behind the bombing, and they are working to discern a motive. "God is at the wheel, but we are the warriors that must do the work of men to repel evil," said one of numerous posts on the conservative social media site Parler. Dominion was the first to snap. CNN didnt report that Anthony Warner, the person authorities have identified as the bomber, died from COVID-19. (Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images). Even in an election where almost all the voting was recorded on paper ballots and rigorous audits were done more than ever before, none of that helps if millions of people are working with an alternative set of facts, said Joe Kiniry, chief scientist of the open-source election technology company Free & Fair. Dominion Lawsuit Showcases Paul Ryan's Influence over Fox News Channel's Editorial Control. A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field Office confirmed that the FBI executed the . In counties that used Dominion systems, Biden got 888,259 votes to Trump's 851,069. The post, which has been shared almost 900 times,makes two claims:A buildingdamaged in the Nashville explosion was holding Dominion Voting Systems machines set to be audited, and in New York, the company that burned was under investigation for printing and shipping fake ballots to Pennsylvania. The extent of our relationship is this: In 2009, Smartmatic licensed the use of a Dominion voting machine for use in the Philippines. Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software. The conspiracy theory has grown into a movement that is promoted by right-wing extremists. Previous claims had said the bomb had targeted the AT&T building and that Dominion Voting Systems machines were being audited there(here). There is no evidence that the AT&T switching center damaged by the explosion (here) housed a supercomputer being used to alter the elections outcome. "Some of the threats that I've gotten have made very clear that these actors are in it for the long haul. Some of the posts (here) try connect the explosion to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama by claiming that William Kennard, Obamas EU ambassador and Clintons FCC chair, is on AT&Ts board and owns the Nashville AT&T building that was destroyed in the blast. "It does appear that the intent was more destruction than death," said David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, inan interview on NBC's "Today." The electronic voting system company accused the television network of spreading lies that Dominion machines were used to rig the 2020 election against Donald Trump. Social media users have been sharing content online that claims AT&T had a contract to do a forensic audit on Dominion Voting Systems machines and that the Dec. 25 explosion in Nashville, which damaged an AT&T building, was tied to this audit. Newsmax TV aired a stunning fact-check on Monday of claims made on the network about voting companies used in the 2020 presidential election. Early Christmas morning, police in Nashville came across an RV parked on Second Avenue, outside an AT&T transmission building, whileresponding to reports of shots fired in the area, Metro Nashville P, Fact check: Joe Biden legally won presidential election, despite persistent contrary claims, Neighbor recalls warning, countdown before Nashville explosion, Fact check: Viral photo shows fake logo and slogan for Dominion Voting Systems, Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems, Nashville officials resolved to find bombing suspects, learn motive behind explosion, "Nashville bombing: What we know about downtown explosion on Christmas morning, FBI Memphis Special Agent in Charge Announces Identity of Remains Discovered in Nashville Explosion Site; Multi-Agency Investigation Continues, FBI identifies suspect in Nashville bombing, AT&T outage Sunday updates: 'Progress continues' in restoring service after Nashville bombing, Dominion Voting Systems Acquired by its Management Team and Staple Street Capital. It really is. But he has no idea if that will ever be possible. A widely sharedpost on Facebook alleges that four days before the bombing, a rumor circulated that AT&T was awarded a contract to audit Dominion's voting machines, which were supposedly being sent to Nashville. On Christmas Day, an RV in Nashville, Tennessee, exploded, severelydamaging many of the buildings around it in the explosion. While federal investigators are still looking into the bombing, law enforcement officials have said Warner was responsible and died in the blast. Smartmatic, a competitor of Dominion's that has also been the subject of wild rumors, has demanded that numerous news networks take back their allegations against it. For election systems to be online, even momentarily, presents a serious problem, according to Appel. Powell is named in Coomer's suit, along with the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Some shorter posts here and here say: Wait, the bombing in Nashville was at the AT&T Data Center right after they got the contract to audit the Dominion Voting machines? The printing business took to social media to debunk the claim itself. TheBatman-shaped skyscraper was first owned by Prefco XIV, a limited partnership ofPitney Bowes, which bought the building in 1994 for $100.8 million, according to the building's deed. So many government officials like Manfra have said the same thing over the last few years that it is commonly accepted as gospel by most Americans. As people experience their own individual Internet bubbles, it can be hard to recognize just how much misinformation exists and how the current information ecosystem compares with previous years. While the voting machines themselves are not designed to be online, the larger voting systems in many states end up there, putting the voting process at risk. Both Dominion Voting Systems andAT&T confirmed the communications company was not contracted to audit Dominion's machines. A team of election security experts used a Google for servers to challenge claims that voting machines do not connect to the internet and found some did. James Murphy, a spokesperson for MetLife, confirmed the company owns the building. Investigators say the explosion in Nashville was perpetrated by a 63-year-old Tennessean named Anthony Warner, who blared a warning to nearby people from his RV requesting they evacuate before the bomb detonated. However, he is not tied to Joe Biden and is not his sister Valerie Biden Owens husband. By Helen Coster and Jack Queen (Reuters) -A new filing from Dominion Voting Systems became public on Monday, as an April trial approaches in the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought by the voting technology company against Fox News over the U.S. cable news giant's coverage of the 2020 presidential election. Hismotive is unknown. Kevin Monahan is a producer for the NBC News Investigative Unit. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. "Dominion and AT&T have both called on the media and the public to reject the baseless rumors circulating on social media, which suggest without evidence that there was some election-related connection to the Nashville explosion," a spokesperson for Dominion told USA TODAY. New York State Police Director of Public Information Beau Duffy told Reuters via email they were unaware of any state police investigations relating to the claims linking the paper company to ballots. The New York Attorney Generals office said they could not confirm nor deny any investigation. The explosion injured three other people and damaged businesses in downtown Nashville, including an AT&T switching center, which resulted in widespread communications outages. Reuters found no evidence that Cerberus Capital Management (www.cerberus.com/) owns Dominion. There is no evidence that the New York printing company whose building burnt down on Christmas Day was under investigation for printing false ballots. Americans should continue to seek information from verifiable, trusted sources, such as law enforcement authorities, Dominion Voting Systems added. Heres why:In the wake of theChristmas morning explosion in Nashville, Tenn., a baseless conspiracy theory startedcirculatingonlinethat claims Nashvilles downtown AT&T complex, which was damaged in the blast, had gotten a contract to conduct a "forensic audit" on Dominion Voting Systems machines.
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