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. 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 . 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. 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 . Heres more information on Facebooks fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536. The House Committee on Administration held a congressional hearing yesterday which was the first time the heads of the three major vendors, representing at least 80 percent of U.S. voting machines, appeared together for questioning. 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. 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 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). The coalition says it is no longer certain that the number of states is correct, so the figure has been removed from the article. He has independently become part of the broader Dominion conspiracy theories, though, with some claiming he's Joe Biden's brother-in-law. 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. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Dominion was founded in the wake of a different controversy: the failure of punch-card voting machines and their infamous hanging chads in the 2000 election. He believes there is time to make real change before the 2020 election. Coomer said the first barb aimed at him came five days after the election. 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. Next theory: The bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. Some of that money was spent on tabulators with wireless modems. More:Fact check: Joe Biden legally won presidential election, despite persistent contrary claims. 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. Across the country on Christmas Eve, a printing press company in New York burned to the ground. "The specific steps taken would depend on the recommendation and the timeline required to make changes effectively.. Dominion did not respond to numerous requests from NBC News for their sales numbers. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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. 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 . 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. Some on social media have speculated that AT&T was contracted to audit Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology supplier that has become central to false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. 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. Rating: False About this rating On Christmas. Hart said that it has approximately 1,600 such tabulators in use in 11 counties in Michigan. 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. . The question is.. ", More:Three firefighters hurt battling three-alarm blaze in Rochester. The complicated theory began circulating soon after an RV exploded in downtown Nashville. Dominion was the first to snap. While federal investigators are still looking into the bombing, law enforcement officials have said Warner was responsible and died in the blast. There is no evidence that suggests that the explosion was election-related. The AT&T buildingon Second Avenueis owned by BellSouth Telecommunications, an operating company of AT&T, according to local records. 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. Were focusing on moving forward.. 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 also mentions the Kraken or supercomputer and says that the cooling system for this computer was located in the AT&T building. THE FACTS: As federal officials work to piece together a motive for the blast that rattled downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, social media users have invented their own far-fetched theories. Jim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T,also told USA TODAY the claims are "not true.". The explosion injured three other people and damaged businesses in downtown Nashville, including an AT&T switching center, which resulted in widespread communications outages. 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. Speaker 13 . 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 ). That team of election security experts say that last summer, they discovered some systems are, in fact, online. 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. Tim Walz signed into law one of the largest voter . 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. 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. Some of Trump's supporters have focused on Coomer as the supposed evil mastermind. causing widespread communications outages. In . So did the type of explosives used to detonate the blast. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Americans should continue to seek information from verifiable, trusted sources, such as law enforcement authorities, Dominion Voting Systems added. 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. 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. 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. Dominion Lawsuit Showcases Paul Ryan's Influence over Fox News Channel's Editorial Control. Authorities still dont know the reason for the Christmas day bombing, but theres no evidence it was election related. Earlier this week, Skoglund showed NBC three election systems were still online even after officials had been told they were vulnerable. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. City Blue Imaging Services' Facebook, Dec. 27. reads the post caption from Red Pill Radio, a Facebook account that bears the slogan of the, However, the firm cited in that version of the claim Cerberus Capital Management doesnt own Dominion nor is it connected to Staple Street Capital, which, PolitiFact's partnership with Facebook here, Our ethics policy for PolitiFact journalists, WRAL partners with PolitiFact NC to fact check political stories. 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 . Even if an election is run perfectly, it doesn't matter to a sizable portion of the public who believes it was unfair. 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. A post on Facebook theorized that the two disasters were connected by a plot to steal the election. So we will clear it up: Its fake. The Poynter Institute Menu. 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. These claims are groundless. 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. 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. Dominion told AFP the claim is "another bizarre lie being spread by known conspiracy theorists.". 2023 Tennessee Secretaryof State |Web and Social Media Policies. Staple Street Capital took part in a deal with management to acquire Dominion in 2018 (here and 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. Thank you for supporting our journalism. 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. Examples can be seen here , here and here . 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.". The West Bend clerk wrote, "The wrong marking device was used to mark the . The post displays a headline from a fabricated story by the Genesius Times, a satirical news website, that reads: "BREAKING: Nashville Bomber died from COVID-19 shortly after blowing himself up. "I've been threatened more times than I could even count. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Read more about our fact-checking workhere . the post reads. 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. Thats an interesting coincidence.. "That's all still speculation at this point as we continue in our investigation with all of our partners. 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??" There are currently two voting systems which are certified by the State of Florida's Division of Elections. 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. Even for elections nights., Appel agreed. On Christmas Day, an RV in Nashville, Tennessee, exploded, severelydamaging many of the buildings around it in the explosion. 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. Behind it is the notion that if voting systems are not online, hackers will have a harder time compromising them. 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. "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. "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. Social media is home to several conspiracy theories about the explosion in Nashville on Christmas Day. The extent of our relationship is this: In 2009, Smartmatic licensed the use of a Dominion voting machine for use in the Philippines. 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. Its crazy, the amount of misinformation that you see, Mealy said. "I actually am in fear for my safety," Coomer said recently, speaking by video call from an undisclosed location to Colorado Public Radio. These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth.. Owens, the other co-founder of Staple Street Capital,did not work for Cerberus, despite the post's claim. 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. The company recently threatened a number of groups repeating the claims with lawsuits, including One America News Network, Newsmax and Fox News. View list by county(.pdf) and learn more about each system using the links below. The post's creator did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. Recently, however, there are signs that elections companies, like some election officials, are pushing back against the false accusations. The report claims the results of the election in . The accusation started with a conservative activist in Colorado, Joe Oltmann. "I'm in fear for my family's safety. 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. 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. NBC News asked the two other major manufacturers how many of their tabulators with modems were currently in use. He also serves on the boards of Ford Motor Company, MetLife and Duke Energy Corporation (here). All those. It's the first . After that podcast went out, the threats quickly arrived. All of these businesses were reported to be damaged in the blast (here). 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). Some users seemed to recognize the story as fake, but others didnt. Shasta will be the first of 40 California counties that used Dominion in the November 2022 election to drop the voting system, Shasta County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen told the . 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. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Similar claims have been shared in hundreds of public posts, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool. However, there are no news reports available online that mention that the business was involved with an investigation related to the election, and Google searches for any mention of the company and an investigation into ballot fraud from the start of September to the date of the fire do not reveal even online rumors to that effect circulating before the fire broke out (here), The companys Facebook page has addressed rumors that have spread since the fire, saying: To the misinformed people on @Twitter and @instagram #cityblueimaging does not print #ballots (here). This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Dominion provides election equipment and software to 28 states, including many of the swing states on which Trump has focused his post-election ire. 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. "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. Newsmax TV aired a stunning fact-check on Monday of claims made on the network about voting companies used in the 2020 presidential election. Its disgusting. 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. February 28, 2023, 1:26 PM. Hismotive is unknown. We should not connect our voting machines directly to the computer networks. More:Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. The FBI confirmed that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast. ( here and here ). Now the process of counting these votes . 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. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. A sample ballot is shown via the Dominion Voting Systems that Georgians use to vote. Skoglund says those include the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida. There is no evidence that the New York printing company whose building burnt down on Christmas Day was under investigation for printing false ballots. Conspiracy theorists say the suicide bombing that rocked downtown Nashville was actually the result of a missile strike. Note that aspects of Tennessee law may differ with what is seen on the videos. Kevin Skoglund, senior technical advisor at the National Election Defense Coalition. Nashville's date on June 7 at GEODIS Park will feature Kelsea Ballerini and BRELAND -- and now, The Boykinz. 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. The printing business took to social media to debunk the claim itself. Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. 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. More than a month ago, Eric Coomer went into hiding. AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville explosion site. One of the largest voting machine suppliers in the U.S. Dominion Voting Systems sued Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who represented former President Donald Trump, after they . The AT&T building the posts likely refer to was not the one outside which the bomb exploded on Christmas morning. That agreement is long over, and they no longer have the . 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 building of City Blue Imaging (www.cityblueimaging.com/), a printing company in Rochester, New York, burnt down on Christmas morning after catching fire the night before ( here , here and here ). The post provides no links to evidence for their allegations. 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. Heres more information on Facebooks fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536, Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. The cities of West Bend and Mequon's Dominion machine audit found one vote changed each after their hand counts. But companies that specialize in the subject said it is getting exponentially worse. Both companies have denied the posts claims, saying that there was no such audit and that Dominions machines were not recently transported to Nashville. 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. It also claims the AT&T building that was affected by the bomb is where those machines were being stored. 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. Select an Infowars smear of Dominion Voting Systems. Did City Blue Imaging Print Voting Ballots, Then Burn Down? The bomb squad was en route. "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.