A newly-released court filing in the Dominion voting machines defamation lawsuit . He claimed on his podcast that he'd infiltrated a call with Denver-area antifa members that included a man identified as "Eric from Dominion.". The question is.. AT&T does not hold a contract to audit Dominions software or machines and did not have any of the companys equipment in its Nashville building. It is true Kennard serves on the board of Staple Street Capital (not Staple Street execs as the posts say). That is just inviting trouble.. Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems, Nashville police bodycam footage shows raw moments of chaos before and after explosion, Three firefighters hurt battling three-alarm blaze in Rochester, "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, After devastating fire, City Blue Imaging looks toward future. Examples can be seen here , here and here . Some of Trump's supporters have focused on Coomer as the supposed evil mastermind. But companies that specialize in the subject said it is getting exponentially worse. Reuters Fact Check previously debunked this claim here . 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. 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. A Dominion spokeswoman said other company employees have also gone to more secure locations, been threatened and been digitally stalked. 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. But none of this is true. In an email to PolitiFact, a Dominion spokesperson said the company and AT&T are calling on everyone to reject these baseless rumors: "Americans should continue to seek information from verifiable, trusted sources, such as law enforcement authorities.". We can not make our computers perfectly secure," he said. It is no longer federally certified. 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. The bomb squad was en route. AT&T and Verizon and so on try and protect as best they can the security of their phone network from the rest of the internet, but its still part of the internet, Appel explained. Newsmax TV aired a stunning fact-check on Monday of claims made on the network about voting companies used in the 2020 presidential election. Dominion representatives havealsodenouncedthe conspiracy theory, calling it another "bizarre lie" with "zero credibility.". Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 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. In counties that didn't use Dominion systems, Biden got 1.54 million votes to Trump's 1.52 million. "Conspiracy theory links false claim of AT&T election audit to bombing, Fact check: Hugo Chvez's family does not own Dominion Voting Systems, Fact check: Dominion voting machines didn't delete votes from Trump, switch them to Biden, Live politics updates: Dominion says it may sue over election conspiracy theories, subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy, Cision PR Newswire archive, July 16, 2018, ", The Tennessean archives, July 23, 2004, ", News Channel 5 Nashville archives, Dec. 18, 2006, ", Email correspondence withJim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T, Email correspondence with a spokesperson for Dominion Voting Systems. In an interview with Rochester's ABC 13, City Blue Imagingsales manager John Mealy condemned misinformation about the tragedy and dismissed the claims again. ", Both Snopes and AFP reached the same conclusion. For election systems to be online, even momentarily, presents a serious problem, according to Appel. Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. provides voting machines and tabulators. ", More:Nashville police bodycam footage shows raw moments of chaos before and after explosion. According to the post, that firm ownedthe AT&T building outside of which the Christmas bombing occurred. Please note the instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. "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. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. (Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images). The accusation started with a conservative activist in Colorado, Joe Oltmann. While the investigation is ongoing, the Federal Bureau of Investigation concluded that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast ( here , here ). Dominionwas acquired by private equity firm Staple Street Capital, co-founded by financiers Hootan Yaghoobzadeh and StephenOwens, in 2018. AP'S ASSESSMENT: False. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. Some posts have said the Nashville explosion was caused by a missile. Cerberus Capital previously owned the AT&T Building, onceknownas the BellSouth Building,where the company has operated its Tennessee headquarters since the building's erection in 1994. "You can see as theres a line flying in, theres a little bit of a glow and then theres the explosion," a narrator says in the video. The machines America votes on seem to be capturing the interest of some in Congress. 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. Even though it has a blue Nashville and a blue Memphis. CLAIM: AT&T got a contract to do a forensic audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines and those machines were recently moved . 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. Hismotive is unknown. 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. But Skogland points to some good news. And I don't know that all these jurisdictions are aware of that because ES&S is advertising otherwise.. Critics also argue ES&S has mislead jurisdictions into thinking their DS200 tabulators with modems are certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a claim they say is grounds for an investigation. One of the co-founders of Staple Street Capital (staplestreetcapital.com/ ), not Staple Street execs, Hootan Yaghoobzadeh, worked at Cerberus prior to starting Staple Street in 2009 (here). 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. After that podcast went out, the threats quickly arrived. he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. Lindell told the Minnesota Reformer, that he and a friend were on their way home from duck hunting in Iowa and were in the Hardee's drive through when three cars with four FBI agents surrounded his vehicle. ", Dominion Voting Systems Employee Sues Trump Campaign And Allies, Alleging Defamation, Former Election Security Official Says It Will Take Years To Undo Disinformation, Barr Says No Need For Special Counsel For Hunter Biden Probe, Election Fraud Claims. Dominion Voting Systems, a company beset by dubious election fraud claims in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, said "human error" was to blame after machines in a Pennsylvania. "Very, very interesting.". Select an Infowars smear of Dominion Voting Systems. . More on Dominion:Fact check: Viral photo shows fake logo and slogan for Dominion Voting Systems. The company put the building back on the market shortly thereafter; MetLife Inc., throughsubsidiary Prefco Fourteen, now owns the building, public records show. The companys sales manager, John Mealey ( here , here ), also spoke about the rumor to local ABC affiliate WHAM-TV, saying: Its crazy, the amount of misinformation that you see.. The post implies that the bombing was an attempt to stop the audit and cover up voter fraud. The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle that Warner owned. The bomber was lateridentified by U.S. Attorney Don Cochranas Anthony Warner, 63, according to The Tennessean. So that unofficial election results can more quickly be relayed to the public. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. 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. CNN didnt report that Anthony Warner, the person authorities have identified as the bomber, died from COVID-19. 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. But to draw that connection, a number of other groups are brought into the fold and it doesn't add up. 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. We kept hearing from election officials that voting machines were never on the internet, he said. 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. Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software. AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville explosion site. Others are not so sure, and the state has set up an advisory committee. The media intelligence platform Zignal Labs, in an analysis performed at NPR's request, found that misinformation narratives related to vote-by-mail systems alone were mentioned across the media spectrum more than 40 million times since Election Day. A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field Office confirmed that the FBI executed the . the post reads. The West Bend clerk wrote, "The wrong marking device was used to mark the . Cerberus Capital did briefly own an AT&T building, but the post is wrong about which one. 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 ). AT&T had a contract to conduct a forensic audit of Dominion Voting Systems in Nashville just prior to a December 2020 explosion in that city. False. We should be unplugging all of these machines from the internet, Skoglund said. First, QAnon. Did City Blue Imaging Print Voting Ballots, Then Burn Down? "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. He is focused on New Technologies around AI led Predictive Analytics, Smart Machines, IT Process Automation etc.. through . In 2020, the controversy revolves around Dominion's voting machines, sparked by an erroneous result out of a Michigan county that's been blamed on human error, allegations of rigged Dominion software in Georgia and the fact Texas rejected Dominion's system due to security concerns. 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 . These are real, tangible things coming out of these baseless accusations.". Behind it is the notion that if voting systems are not online, hackers will have a harder time compromising them. Some of the posts attempted to further link AT&T to Dominion by claiming a former owner of the AT&T building was a board member of a firm that owns Dominion. the dominion voting system that was the subject of an enormous amount of controversy, is a dramatic improvement over prior forms of voting. The complicated theory began circulating soon after an RV exploded in downtown Nashville. 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 to support the claim that the explosionin Nashville and fire in Rochester, New York,that occurred around the holidays point toward a broader conspiracy to hide election malfeasance. Three days later, on November 6th, AT&T named William "Bill" E. Kennard Chairman of its Board of Directors. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Note that aspects of Tennessee law may differ with what is seen on the videos. The post's creator did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. For Coomer, that means his life may be forever changed. Those modems connect to cell phone networks, which, in turn, are connected to the internet. Some just say AT&T had a contract to conduct a forensic audit on Dominion Voting Systems. Earlier this week, Skoglund showed NBC three election systems were still online even after officials had been told they were vulnerable. ", In an email to PolitiFact, a Dominion spokesperson said the company and AT&T are calling on everyone to reject these baseless rumors: "Americans should continue to seek information from verifiable, trusted sources, such as law enforcement authorities.". Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle owned by Warner. 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. 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. https://archive.is/qqjBh Paul E. Singer-Elliott Management, aka "The Vulture", reportedly controls CNN parent, AT&T, as well as Twitter. On Thursday night, the group performed their set at the Shed in Maryville, Tennessee, with all six of its members wearing dresses in protest of the state's newly enacted law on public drag performance. 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. 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. 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. In addition to Coomer's lawsuit, Dominion is threatening legal action against Sidney Powell, who has been among the loudest voices pushing conspiracy theories on behalf of the Trump campaign. Read more about our fact-checking workhere . Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. The company recently threatened a number of groups repeating the claims with lawsuits, including One America News Network, Newsmax and Fox News. "The minute I saw it, it left a big pit in my stomach," he said. 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. A spokesperson for Dominion Voting Systems confirmed to Reuters via email that the Stephen Owens at Staple Street has no family ties or business affiliations with Bidens sister, Valerie Biden Owens. On Christmas Day, an RV in Nashville, Tennessee, exploded, severelydamaging many of the buildings around it in the explosion. The wishes are that I forever have to look over my shoulder," Coomer said. The same Facebook post also said Dominion voting machines were being audited in the AT&T building that was destroyed by a bomb in Nashville. Cynthia McFadden is the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Then, a plume of smoke rises behind three light poles. "That's all still speculation at this point as we continue in our investigation with all of our partners. Tre Hargett was elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to serve as Tennessees 37th secretary of state in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021. Dominion told AFP the claim is "another bizarre lie being spread by known conspiracy theorists.". Bogus conspiracy theory spreading online claims the Nashville bombing was an attempt to cover up voter fraud. The claim: Dominion Voting Systems is tied up in the Nashville bombing, based on the affected AT&T building's ownership and that the cellular company was contracted to audit Dominion's. Other posts on social media have gone a step further, alleging that Dominion is tied to the bombing through ownership of the affected AT&T building. All those. Even for elections nights., Appel agreed. Warner died in the blast, according to authorities. His top goal right now is pretty simple hoping one day it'll be safe to return home. why?" The post implies that the bombing was an attempt to stop the audit and cover up voter fraud. 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. No amount of transparency at the county and state level can really combat the sort of megaphone that Trump wields, Kiniry says. Dominion provides election equipment and software to 28 states, including many of the swing states on which Trump has focused his post-election ire. So did the type of explosives used to detonate the blast. The post reads: In Nashville 2 days ago an RV pulled up to a building and over a loud speaker announced to clear the area..the RV then blew up taking half a building with it..oh, minor detail - inside that building were the Dominion voting machines being audited. While the post does not specify which building they believed the machines were held in, a Dominion Voting Systems spokesperson said by email that none of their machines were anywhere in the area of the explosion or were being audited in Nashville that day. 2023 www.statesman.com. All rights reserved. "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. AT&T does not hold a contract to audit Dominions software or machines and did not have any of the companys equipment in its Nashville building. Here are the facts: CLAIM: President-elect Joe Biden's sister is married to Stephen Owens, the co-founder of the private equity firm Staple Street Capital, which owns Dominion Voting Systems . Its disgusting. "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. We found over 35 [voting systems] had been left online and were still continuing to find more, Kevin Skoglund, a senior technical advisor at the election security advocacy group National Election Defense Coalition, told NBC News. That team of election security experts say that last summer, they discovered some systems are, in fact, online. Sumit Ganguli is the CEO and Member of the Board at GAVS Technologies. 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. Before starting Staple Street Capital, Yaghoobzadeh worked as a senior vice president for private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. 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. These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth.. More:Neighbor recalls warning, countdown before Nashville explosion. Now the process of counting these votes . Much of the voting equipment was by Dominion. "Coincidence? "I've been threatened more times than I could even count. The conspiracy theory appears to have originated in a tweet by Lin Wood, an attorney and Trump supporter, who has pushed a number of false election claims. The FBI confirmed that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast. "Anthony Warner is the bomber. 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 . "Thats an interesting coincidence.". Theres a small percentage of jurisdictions in the country -- a lot of them are in Florida -- who have decided they want to modem unofficial results to the election office, he said.
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