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. Previous claims had said the bomb had targeted the AT&T building and that Dominion Voting Systems machines were being audited there(here). Swing-state counties that used Dominion voting machines mostly voted 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. Oltmann claimed that Coomer said with a laugh on the call that he would make sure Trump didn't win the election. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Our mission is to exceed the expectations of our customers, the taxpayers, by operating at the highest levels of accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and accountability in a customer-centered environment. As of now, the person of interest identified by the FBI in connection with the explosion, Anthony Quinn Warner, is believed to have been "paranoid about 5G technology" (another frequent subject of conspiracy theories) rather than possessing any election-related motive. Those modems that ES&S [and other manufacturers] are putting in their voting machines are network connections, and that leaves them vulnerable to hacking by anybody who can connect to that network.. "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. ", 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.". 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 . "Fuck a drag bill," they wrote in an Instagram post. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. 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. Spokespersons for both Dominion Voting Systems and AT&T told Reuters by email that claims that Dominion voting machines related to the election were held in the building were untrue. A public relations firmtold the Associated Presson behalf of Dominion that the company "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. 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). 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. For Coomer, that means his life may be forever changed. Trump Campaign Knew Lawyers' Voting Machine Claims Were Baseless, Memo Dominion Voting Systems Official Is In Hiding After Threats : NPR - NPR.org 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. 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.. How the Dominion Voting Machine Controversy Shaped - Newsweek Conspiracy theorists say the suicide bombing that rocked downtown Nashville was actually the result of a missile strike. That agreement is long over, and they no longer have the . But the company did not account for the new voting centers, so the Williamson County. He believes there is time to make real change before the 2020 election. Sumit Ganguli - Harvard University - New York City - LinkedIn He has independently become part of the broader Dominion conspiracy theories, though, with some claiming he's Joe Biden's brother-in-law. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which provides cybersecurity frameworks for state and local governments and other organizations, recommends that voting systems should not have wireless network connections. Voting rights restored to more than 55,000 Minnesotans under new law One theory shared thousands of times on Facebook over the weekend tries to connect the explosion to voting machines used in the Nov. 3 election. "They" Sent This Tornado (with David French) - The Bulwark 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. Copyright 2023 Politifact. Once they had identified such systems, they contacted the relevant election officials and also provided the information to reporter Kim Zetter, who published the findings in Vices Motherboard in August. Behind it is the notion that if voting systems are not online, hackers will have a harder time compromising them. 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. PolitiFact - No, AT&T was not conducting an audit of Dominion Voting 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 ). Texas country-punk band Vandoliers are standing in solidarity with drag performers and the LGBTQ+ community. Similar claims have already been debunked by Reuters (here). So that unofficial election results can more quickly be relayed to the public. "And I probably will. While William Kennard serves on Staple Street Capitals board, he is not one of the companys co-founders as these posts claim (here). Were focusing on moving forward.. Vandoliers Play Tennessee Concert in Dresses to Protest State's New All rights reserved. Let's start here: The man behind the Dec. 25 bombing in downtown Nashville, Tenn., died of COVID-19, according to a popular and wrong Facebook post. The company put the building back on the market shortly thereafter; MetLife Inc., throughsubsidiary Prefco Fourteen, now owns the building, public records show. And so we set out to try and find the voting machines to see if we could find them on the internet, and especially the back-end systems that voting machines in the precinct were connecting to to report their results.. Hismotive is unknown. Next theory: The bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. We can not make our computers perfectly secure," he said. 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. NewsGuard, which vets news sources based on transparency and reliability standards, found recently that among the top 100 sources of news in the U.S., sources it deemed unreliable had four times as many interactions this year compared with 2019. Some posts have said the Nashville explosion was caused by a missile. Some of Trump's supporters have focused on Coomer as the supposed evil mastermind. The investigation of the Nashville bombing is ongoing, but the Facebook post is inaccurate and ridiculous. Its true that an AT&T-owned building in Nashville was one of many buildings damaged in Fridays bombing, causing widespread communications outages. No available external evidence suggests AT&T was involved in any such audit, either. Dominion Lawsuit Showcases Paul Ryan's Influence over Fox News Channel's Editorial Control. 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 . There is no reason to suppose that it would be likely, or even possible, that these buildings, would be used to audit voting machines. The ATT building in Nashville that was affected by the bomb was owned by Cerebus (sic) Capital. The report claims the results of the election in . In preparing for this November's election, the company gamed out all sorts of worst-case scenarios, but it wasn't on anyone's radar that Dominion and its employees could become the targets of threats. A Dec. 14 Facebook video, viewed more than 23,000 times, claimed in its caption that "Trump WON The Election NEW Evidence Shows" because "a forensics report done on Dominion voting machines . Claims that two buildings that were destroyed on Christmas Day were both holding evidence related to the 2020 U.S. presidential election are untrue. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Americans should continue to seek information from verifiable, trusted sources, such as law enforcement authorities, Dominion Voting Systems added. This is bogus. Williamson County to ditch Dominion voting machines after state review 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. Powell is named in Coomer's suit, along with the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. The user who created the post did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. 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. CNN didnt report that Anthony Warner, the person authorities have identified as the bomber, died from COVID-19. He also serves on 16 boards and commissions, on two of which he is the presiding member. Skoglund said that they identified only one company among the systems they detected on line, ES&S. More on Dominion:Fact check: Viral photo shows fake logo and slogan for Dominion Voting Systems. Chinese parts, hidden ownership, growing scrutiny: Inside - NBC News It is true Kennard serves on the board of Staple Street Capital (not Staple Street execs as the posts say). There may not be answers to the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville anytime soon. CLAIM: AT&T got a contract to do a forensic audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines and those machines were recently moved . A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field Office confirmed that the FBI executed the . More:Neighbor recalls warning, countdown before Nashville explosion. Across the country on Christmas Eve, a printing press company in New York burned to the ground. Shasta to become 1st California county to drop Dominion voting machines A Dominion spokeswoman said other company employees have also gone to more secure locations, been threatened and been digitally stalked. 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 . He also serves on the boards of Ford Motor Company, MetLife and Duke Energy Corporation (here). "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. Dominion Going After Right-Wing Media Stars Over Voting Fraud The extent of our relationship is this: In 2009, Smartmatic licensed the use of a Dominion voting machine for use in the Philippines. His top goal right now is pretty simple hoping one day it'll be safe to return home. It also claims the AT&T building that was affected by the bomb is where those machines were being stored. Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. provides voting machines and tabulators. On January 8, it filed a defamation suit against pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, seeking $1.3 billion in damages. This material may not be reproduced without permission. 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). False. In 2006, Cerberus Capital acquired it, according to a 2006 News Channel 5 Nashville report. ( here and here ). Everyone Dominion, Smartmatic Suing Over Election Conspiracy - Insider Those modems connect to cell phone networks, which, in turn, are connected to the internet. 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. Dominion Voting Systems may sue President Trump personally for Bogus conspiracy theory spreading online claims the Nashville bombing was an attempt to cover up voter fraud. (Read more about ourpartnership with Facebook.). "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. But none of this is true. Report spreads debunked claims about Dominion machines in Michigan The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle owned by Warner. By the time the news conference occurred on Nov. 19, Mr. Trump's campaign had already prepared an internal memo on many of the outlandish claims about the company, Dominion Voting Systems, and. 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. A sample ballot is shown via the Dominion Voting Systems that Georgians use to vote. "The minute I saw it, it left a big pit in my stomach," he said. Thats an interesting coincidence.. Dominion was the first to snap. Federal officials have identified the man believed to be behind the bombing, and they are working to discern a motive. Dominion Voting Systems Inc - Company Profile and News The machines America votes on seem to be capturing the interest of some in Congress. 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. 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. There are currently two voting systems which are certified by the State of Florida's Division of Elections. This is bogus. Shasta County has become a hotbed for unproven conspiracy theories about rigged voting, fueled by former . 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. Dominion: will one Canadian company bring down Trump's empire of While federal investigators are still looking into the bombing, law enforcement officials have said Warner was responsible and died in the blast. 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. A newly-released court filing in the Dominion voting machines defamation lawsuit . The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies. 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. Joe Bidens Brother in Law, Steven Owens, is the cofounder of Staple Street Execs along with William Kennard (mentioned above).. 4 Things to Know About Voting Machine Company That - The Daily Signal 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.". "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. 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. In August 2021, Dominion Voting Systems programmed machines for the county's upcoming elections. Q&A of the Day - Voting Machines Used in Florida's 2022 Elections 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. The post's creator did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth. Its true that an AT&T-owned building in Nashville was one of many buildings damaged in Fridays. 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. In counties that didn't use Dominion systems, Biden got 1.54 million votes to Trump's 1.52 million. The post also mentions the Kraken or supercomputer and says that the cooling system for this computer was located in the AT&T building. The Nashville outlet found . All rights reserved. Select an Infowars smear of Dominion Voting Systems. Voting machine company executive sues Trump allies for defamation - CNN 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 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. It wasn't meant to kill people, but to destroy a building. Authorities still dont know the reason for the Christmas day bombing, but theres no evidence it was election related. Social media is home to several conspiracy theories about the explosion in Nashville on Christmas Day. Both Dominion Voting Systems andAT&T confirmed the communications company was not contracted to audit Dominion's machines. 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. 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. But election integrity advocates worry the disinformation won't truly begin to recede until political leaders such as Trump stop questioning the election's legitimacy. Don't Buy the Debunked Dominion Voting Machine Conspiracy Theory 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.. View list by county(.pdf) and learn more about each system using the links below. 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. 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. Owners of Dominion Voting Systems,(the company many people are accusing of voter fraud) are former executives from Cerebus," another post reads. In an interview with Rochester's ABC 13, City Blue Imagingsales manager John Mealy condemned misinformation about the tragedy and dismissed the claims again. 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. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. hide caption. That user did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment, either. Dominion has been the target of a wide range of false posts since American voters chose Joe Biden as their next president, despite no evidence of widespread fraud or irregularities in the 2020 election. The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle owned by Warner. Full text of Commercial and Financial Chronicle : April 6, 1940, Vol The post provides no links to evidence for their allegations. Full Story. The location of the heavily damaged buildings seen in the photograph accompanying the post appear to show 170 to 176 2nd Avenue North in Nashville after the explosion. 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..