AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville explosion site. 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. That agreement is long over, and they no longer have the . Since the 2016 election, Michigan authorized $82 million dollars to upgrade its election systems. 2023 www.statesman.com. But the company did not account for the new voting centers, so the Williamson County. Dominion representatives havealsodenouncedthe conspiracy theory, calling it another "bizarre lie" with "zero credibility.". 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. The post implies that the bombing was an attempt to stop the audit and cover up voter fraud. 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. Jake Rollow, director of communications for the Michigan Department of State, said in a statement to NBC News, Even though the results are unofficial, if these unofficial results were disrupted or manipulated, it could still cause confusion on Election Day., "The department will consider the advisory commissions recommendations to improve the security of the process," Rollow continued. "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 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. NBC News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which declined to comment on the topic of modem security in voting machine tabulators and scanners. Some posts have said the Nashville explosion was caused by a missile. Please note the instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. In counties that didn't use Dominion systems, Biden got 1.54 million votes to Trump's 1.52 million. After that podcast went out, the threats quickly arrived. He believes there is time to make real change before the 2020 election. APS ASSESSMENT: False. . "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. The extent of our relationship is this: In 2009, Smartmatic licensed the use of a Dominion voting machine for use in the Philippines. Immediately, Coomer knew things would blow up. It also claims the AT&T building that was affected by the bomb is where those machines were being stored. he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. 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. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. There is a bomb. 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. The City of Rochester government and police did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. Staple Street Capital took part in a deal with management to acquire Dominion in 2018 (here and here). 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. 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 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. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. 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. 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.. . The post's creator did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. 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. There may not be answers to the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville anytime soon. 2023 Tennessee Secretaryof State |Web and Social Media Policies. Similar claims have already been debunked by Reuters (here). "What we should do is remove all of the unnecessary, hackable pathways, such as modems. Much of the voting equipment was by Dominion. Singer reportedly funded the original investigation 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. The following three posts were flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. The post also mentions the Kraken or supercomputer and says that the cooling system for this computer was located in the AT&T building. Jim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T,also told USA TODAY the claims are "not true.". 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. 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. Some just say AT&T had a contract to conduct a forensic audit on Dominion Voting Systems. In 2006, Cerberus Capital acquired it, according to a 2006 News Channel 5 Nashville report. This material may not be reproduced without permission. 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. 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. "I actually am in fear for my safety," Coomer said recently, speaking by video call from an undisclosed location to Colorado Public Radio. It was an assurance designed to bolster public confidence in the way America votes: Voting machines are not connected to the internet.. More than a month ago, Eric Coomer went into hiding. February 28, 2023, 1:26 PM. The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies. More:Neighbor recalls warning, countdown before Nashville explosion. He has independently become part of the broader Dominion conspiracy theories, though, with some claiming he's Joe Biden's brother-in-law. At its core is the prediction thatan alleged mass arrest ofhigh-profile Democrats and celebritieswould be carried out while now-former President Donald Trump secretly savedthe world from a satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals. It really is. Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. DNA found at the scene matched Warner's, according to an FBI press release. 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. Those networks are among the defendants Coomer is suing. The posts all tie AT&T with Dominion, holding the explosion to be alleged proof of conspiracy. With the 2020 presidential election only ten months away, Appel and Skoglund believe all modems can and should be removed from election systems. Dominion told AFP the claim is "another bizarre lie being spread by known conspiracy theorists.". Coomer said the first barb aimed at him came five days after the election. Its crazy, the amount of misinformation that you see, Mealy said. According to the post, that firm ownedthe AT&T building outside of which the Christmas bombing occurred. For election systems to be online, even momentarily, presents a serious problem, according to Appel. 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. This references the claim that supercomputer Hammer and software program Scorecard were used to change votes in Bidens favor in the 2020 Presidential election. But to draw that connection, a number of other groups are brought into the fold and it doesn't add up. And then run the ballots through the machine a few times. "Coincidence? 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. The report claims the results of the election in . 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. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. "Anthony Warner is the bomber. Representatives for companies involved say there is no truth to the claims. The bomb squad was en route. Statement:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. A post on Facebook theorized that the two disasters were connected by a plot to steal the election. 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 ). No available external evidence suggests AT&T was involved in any such audit, either. Dominionwas acquired by private equity firm Staple Street Capital, co-founded by financiers Hootan Yaghoobzadeh and StephenOwens, in 2018. But that is an overstatement, according to a team of 10 independent cybersecurity experts who specialize in voting systems and elections. "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. Did City Blue Imaging Print Voting Ballots, Then Burn Down? More:Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. 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 social media post states "AT&T got contract [sic] to do forensic audit on Dominion voting machines and those machines were being moved to Nashville this past week" before the bombing. This is bogus. 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 . 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. We rate thisclaim as FALSE, because it wasn't supported by our research. subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The row housed Simply the Best $10 Boutique at 176 (here), Ensemble boutique at 174 (www.ensemblenashville.com/) and the Pride & Glory Tattoo Parlor at 172 (www.prideandglorytattoo.com/), as well as apartments on the upper floors (here). There is no evidence that suggests that the explosion was election-related. 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. That team of election security experts say that last summer, they discovered some systems are, in fact, online. This is bogus. No one is currently working out of the building. False. Powell was one of the faces of the Trump. Did AT&T Have a Contract to Audit Dominion Voting Systems? 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. . So we will clear it up: Its fake. 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. "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. He also serves on the boards of Ford Motor Company, MetLife and Duke Energy Corporation (here). All rights reserved. Tim Walz signed into law one of the largest voter . 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 . Cynthia McFadden is the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. Nashville's date on June 7 at GEODIS Park will feature Kelsea Ballerini and BRELAND -- and now, The Boykinz. 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. 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. These claims present no convincing evidence and include conspiracy links that have been debunked. Across the country on Christmas Eve, a printing press company in New York burned to the ground. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Didi Martinez is an associate producer with the NBC News Investigative Unit. 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. 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 . This screengrab is being shared on social media without that context. 4 min read. 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. Thats an interesting coincidence.. Reuters debunked this claim here . 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. While William Kennard serves on Staple Street Capitals board, he is not one of the companys co-founders as these posts claim (here). An executive for a voting machine company that has been the target of conspiracy theories in the aftermath of Donald Trump's 2020 election loss and been baselessly accused of swinging the. In . 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. 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 that money was spent on tabulators with wireless modems. Then, a plume of smoke rises behind three light poles. On Monday, The Associated Press debunked claims that Dominion has any connection with AT&T. 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. Full Story. The conspiracy theory has grown into a movement that is promoted by right-wing extremists. ", Both Snopes and AFP reached the same conclusion. And we knew that wasn't true. 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,. 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. 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. An executive at Dominion Voting Systems moved to dismiss Newsmax as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit Friday after reaching a settlement with the right-wing media organization. Behind it is the notion that if voting systems are not online, hackers will have a harder time compromising them. 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. ", 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.". The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has dismissed the claim of an election hacking and vote manipulation operation known as Hammer and Scorecard. (here). Spokespeople for AT&T and Dominion confirmed to the AP that AT&T had no contract to audit Dominion machines, and no Dominion machines were to be sent to Nashville. "I've been threatened more times than I could even count. 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. Rumors about an investigation into the company do not even appear in web searches until after the fire. why?" Joe Bidens Brother in Law, Steven Owens, is the cofounder of Staple Street Execs along with William Kennard (mentioned above).. Both Dominion Voting Systems andAT&T confirmed the communications company was not contracted to audit Dominion's machines. It's the first . There are currently two voting systems which are certified by the State of Florida's Division of Elections. "Very, very interesting.". We should be unplugging all of these machines from the internet, Skoglund said. The post provides no links to evidence for their allegations. Its true that an AT&T-owned building in Nashville was one of many buildings damaged in Fridays. 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. President Donald Trump's attorney Lin Wood reportedly experienced a series of ups and downs Sunday in a court battle to ensure Georgia elections officials do not wipe Dominion voting machines, and won a temporary restraining order following a night-time Zoom hearing. The user who created the post did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. The services and oversight found in the Secretary of State's office reach every department and agency in state government. Kevin Skoglund, senior technical advisor at the National Election Defense Coalition. NBC News asked the two other major manufacturers how many of their tabulators with modems were currently in use. "The minute I saw it, it left a big pit in my stomach," he said. Speaker 13 . Dominion was the first to snap. 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.

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