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. That user did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment, either. In an interview with Rochester's ABC 13, City Blue Imagingsales manager John Mealy condemned misinformation about the tragedy and dismissed the claims again. We kept hearing from election officials that voting machines were never on the internet, 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. He also serves on 16 boards and commissions, on two of which he is the presiding member. The broadcast then began a 15-minute countdown,before the RV exploded, according to The Tennessean. EDITORS NOTE (Feb. 7, 2020, 11:15 p.m.): A previous version of this article stated that Kevin Skoglund and his team had found election systems using ES&S scanners with wireless modems connected to the internet in 11 states and the District of Columbia. There is no evidence that the New York printing company whose building burnt down on Christmas Day was under investigation for printing false ballots. The BoykinZ emerge from TikTok as youngest stars in country's Black 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. The Trump followers believe that the explosion was actually a missile strike aimed at destroying. The explosion injured three people and damaged several businesses, including the AT&T Building. Fact check: Debunking conspiracy links between Nashville explosion Kevin Skoglund, senior technical advisor at the National Election Defense Coalition. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. 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. On January 8, it filed a defamation suit against pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, seeking $1.3 billion in damages. No available external evidence suggests AT&T was involved in any such audit, either. 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. He is focused on New Technologies around AI led Predictive Analytics, Smart Machines, IT Process Automation etc.. through . "The voting machine lobby, led by the biggest company, ES&S, believes they are above the law," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Intelligence Committee who co-signed the letter.. PolitiFact - No, AT&T was not conducting an audit of Dominion Voting Dominion Voting Systems may sue President Trump personally for "I'm in fear for my family's safety. Even for elections nights., Appel agreed. There is no reason to suppose that it would be likely, or even possible, that these buildings, would be used to audit voting machines. But he has no idea if that will ever be possible. Dominion was the first to snap. Rating: False About this rating On Christmas. According to Dominion, vote-switching and software malfunction allegations are "all baseless claims" that "have been debunked by election officials, subject matter experts and third-party fact. That's false. On Monday, The Associated Press debunked claims that Dominion has any connection with AT&T. A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field Office confirmed that the FBI executed the . Generally speaking, the media in those locations are kinda clamoring to get unofficial results as quickly as possible., When asked if the desire for speed was at odds with accuracy and security, Burt said, its not my place to judge that.. Detailed voter instructions for the Infinity voting unit, How to Vote an Optical Scan Ballot with Unisyn Equipment, Public Records Policy and Records Request Form. In the wake of the Christmas morning explosion in Nashville, Tenn., a baseless conspiracy theory started circulating online that 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. 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. An online search turns up segments on the pro-Trump outlets Newsmax and One America News Network discussing the allegations as well as people accusing Coomer of treason and calling for him to be publicly executed. These claims present no convincing evidence and include conspiracy links that have been debunked. "Thats an interesting coincidence.". Thats an interesting coincidence.. 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. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. A newly-released court filing in the Dominion voting machines defamation lawsuit . Posted By: Dreadnought, 2/28/2023 9:52:47 PM Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News highlights former House Speaker Paul Ryan's alleged influence over Fox News Channel's (FNC) editorial control, reportedly urging . U.S. finds no evidence flaws in Dominion voting machines - CBS News Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine manufacturer founded in Canada, made equipment that is used in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. 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. No one is currently working out of the building. Shasta County has become a hotbed for unproven conspiracy theories about rigged voting, fueled by former . While the companys website states that zero of its voting tabulators are connected to the internet, ES&S told NBC News 14,000 of their DS200 tabulators with online modems are currently in use around the country. We can not make our computers perfectly secure," he said. Revealed: Klobuchar, Warren Sent Letter Warning About Dominion, Other Coomer said the first barb aimed at him came five days after the election. There is no evidence to support the claim that the Nashville bombing or City Blue Imaging's fire were connected to election malfeasance, so we rate this claim FALSE. . The cities of West Bend and Mequon's Dominion machine audit found one vote changed each after their hand counts. Both companies have denied the posts claims, saying that there was no such audit and that Dominions machines were not recently transported to Nashville. But companies that specialize in the subject said it is getting exponentially worse. Fact-checkers have debunked claims that the explosion was the result of a missile strike. Similar claims have been shared in hundreds of public posts, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool. Please note the instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. Powell was one of the faces of the Trump. 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 ). Full Story. The video, which was posted by a Facebook page called Red Pill Radio on Dec. 28, shows the outline of buildings and a highway in Nashville. The machines America votes on seem to be capturing the interest of some in Congress. "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. 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. On Nov. 21, a group protested in front of Dominion's Denver headquarters, waving American flags and signs saying "fraud equals arrests." On Christmas Day, an RV in Nashville, Tennessee, exploded, severelydamaging many of the buildings around it in the explosion. "They" Sent This Tornado (with David French) - The Bulwark 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. Facebook post:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. The explosion in the heart of Nashville injured three people and damaged businesses including an AT&T switching center, disrupting mobile, internet and TV services across central Tennessee and parts of four other states (here). 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. The printing business took to social media to debunk the claim itself. The AT&T building the posts likely refer to was not the one outside which the bomb exploded on Christmas morning. The Genesius Times describes itself as the "most reliable source of fake news on the planet" and that it strives "to provide the most up-to-date, accurate fake news on the Internet,", "Nashville explosion a missile strike??" So we will clear it up: Its fake. . This is part of The Associated Press ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform. Those modems connect to cell phone networks, which, in turn, are connected to the internet. Shortly afterwards, social media users began circulating variants of a conspiracy theory holding that AT&T had been engaged to undertake a "forensic audit of Dominion voting machines," the latter of which were frequent targets of false election fraud claims made by President Donald Trump and his supports after Trump lost his re-election bid in November 2020: The implication of the conspiracy theory was that the explosion had been intended to destroy the machines before they were audited in order to cover up evidence of massive voting fraud. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 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 Police spokesperson Don Aaron told The Tennessean that day. Reuters debunked this claim here . Speaker 13 . The question is.. Mike Lindell Claims Dominion Voting 'Cover-Up' Is 'Coming Apart' 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. The bomber was lateridentified by U.S. Attorney Don Cochranas Anthony Warner, 63, according to The Tennessean. 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. This screengrab is being shared on social media without that context. This is bogus. 'It was a missile strike': Trump fans go nuts claiming Nashville bomb 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. Spokespeople for both AT&T and Dominion have confirmed that AT&T did not hold a contract to audit Dominion, nor had any of Dominions equipment been moved to Nashville in preparation for such an audit. There can still be security holes that allow hackers to get into the phone network.. All of these businesses were reported to be damaged in the blast (here). The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. "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. Videos from law enforcement officials and local businesses show that the explosion occurred on 2nd Avenue North in downtown Nashville. 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. ", Both Snopes and AFP reached the same conclusion. Vandoliers Play Tennessee Concert in Dresses to Protest State's New The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle owned by Warner. Read more about our fact-checking workhere . We therefore again respectfully request that EAC investigate and take action to correct this serious issue., Once you add that modem, you are de-certifying it, Skoglund said. 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. The conservative network has seen its ratings surge in . And thats not what were about. Coomer oversees product strategy and security for Dominion Voting Systems, the Denver-based company that has suddenly found itself at the center of many of President Trump's false claims about November's election, spread by allies and pro-Trump media. Singer reportedly funded the original investigation The wishes are that I forever have to look over my shoulder," Coomer said. NBC News asked the two other major manufacturers how many of their tabulators with modems were currently in use. Please note t he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. 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.". 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. Voting machine company executive sues Trump allies for defamation - CNN Oltmann claimed that Coomer said with a laugh on the call that he would make sure Trump didn't win the election. 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. In an all-caps tweet on Saturday night, Trump highlighted a report from One America News Network (OANN), a right-wing outlet, that claimed voting machines made by Dominion Voting Systems. Some of the posts (here) say: Dominion voting is owned by Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus is run by Staple Street Execs. A Facebook post (here) shared more than a thousand times has falsely claimed: In New York a printing press company, under investigation for printing and shipping fake voting ballots into Pennsylvania, burned to the ground Xmas morning.. Didi Martinez is an associate producer with the NBC News Investigative Unit. Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software. 4 min read. Dominion Voting Systems Official Is In Hiding After Threats : NPR - NPR.org Staple Street Capital took part in a deal with management to acquire Dominion in 2018 (here and here). Jim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T,also told USA TODAY the claims are "not true.". James Murphy, a spokesperson for MetLife, confirmed the company owns the building. Reuters found no evidence that Cerberus Capital Management (www.cerberus.com/) owns Dominion. 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. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Sumit Ganguli - Harvard University - New York City - LinkedIn With the 2020 presidential election only ten months away, Appel and Skoglund believe all modems can and should be removed from election systems. The 23-page report signed by a former Republican congressional candidate with a history of spreading misinformation about Michigan's election claims Dominion "is intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results.". That flood reached Dominion the week after the election, according to Zignal, and misinformation related to the company's machines has been mentioned more than 10 million times since then. The 35 systems Skoglunds team found represent a fraction of total voting systems nationwide, though he believes they only captured a portion of the systems that are or have been online. The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies. Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos is not ruling out legal action against President Trump, whose surrogates have spent nearly two months alleging the Nov. 3 election, which Trump lost, may . Three days later, on November 6th, AT&T named William "Bill" E. Kennard Chairman of its Board of Directors. The complicated theory began circulating soon after an RV exploded in downtown Nashville. AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville explosion site These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth.. While William Kennard serves on Staple Street Capitals board, he is not one of the companys co-founders as these posts claim (here). Alex Jones uses lies about Dominion Voting Systems and the 2020 All rights reserved. In the wake of the Christmas morning explosion in Nashville, Tenn., a baseless conspiracy theory started circulating online that claims Nashville's downtown AT&T complex, which was damaged in. The Nashville outlet found . The claim implies the explosion was an elaborate plot to destroy voting machines that might have yielded evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. 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. Earlier this week, Skoglund showed NBC three election systems were still online even after officials had been told they were vulnerable. Skoglund said that they identified only one company among the systems they detected on line, ES&S. Staple Street Capital has a managing director and co-founder named Stephen Owens. 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. Thank you for supporting our journalism. Heres more information on Facebooks fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536. 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. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle owned by Warner. Next theory: The bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. Trump Campaign Knew Lawyers' Voting Machine Claims Were Baseless, Memo The Poynter Institute Menu. Georgia, the site of so much controversy in the 2020 election, hurriedly switched in response to a judge's order in 2019 from all-electronic voting machines to Dominion models that. Recently, however, there are signs that elections companies, like some election officials, are pushing back against the false accusations. But none of this is true. PolitiFact - No, AT&T was not conducting an audit of Dominion Voting 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. Dominion: will one Canadian company bring down Trump's empire of Some of that money was spent on tabulators with wireless modems. 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. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has dismissed the claim of an election hacking and vote manipulation operation known as Hammer and Scorecard. (here). RUMOR ALERT: Dominion Voting Systems Fraud Claims Report spreads debunked claims about Dominion machines in Michigan You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. 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 . 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. Full text of Commercial and Financial Chronicle : April 6, 1940, Vol This is bogus. Dominion is a company that supplies voting machines in more than two-dozen states, including Ohio. Progressive Democrats Introduce First Bill to Tighten Rail Safety "Some of the threats that I've gotten have made very clear that these actors are in it for the long haul. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. provides voting machines and tabulators. More:Fact check: Joe Biden legally won presidential election, despite persistent contrary claims. The posts on social mediaallege the bombing is tied to Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology supplier that's been central to many right-wing, QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. 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. (Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images). ", Below the headline is an image that looks like its a picture from a CNN broadcast, with chyron that announces the Nashville bomber "died from COVID.". Cynthia McFadden is the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. Some just say AT&T had a contract to conduct a forensic audit on Dominion Voting Systems. The Christmas morning bomb went off on Second Avenue, outside an AT&T transmission building. Fact check: Nashville bombing-Dominion Voting Systems link is - Yahoo! 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 .