IE 11 is not supported. A sample ballot is shown via the Dominion Voting Systems that Georgians use to vote. 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. "Coincidence? 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. His top goal right now is pretty simple hoping one day it'll be safe to return home. And we knew that wasn't true. Tim Walz signed into law one of the largest voter . 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. No one is currently working out of the building. After that podcast went out, the threats quickly arrived. he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. More on Dominion:Fact check: Viral photo shows fake logo and slogan for Dominion Voting Systems. But companies that specialize in the subject said it is getting exponentially worse. Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software. Even though it has a blue Nashville and a blue Memphis. He is focused on New Technologies around AI led Predictive Analytics, Smart Machines, IT Process Automation etc.. through . Rumors about an investigation into the company do not even appear in web searches until after the fire. The post, which has been shared almost 900 times, makes two claims: A building damaged in the Nashville explosion was holding Dominion Voting Systems machines set to be audited, and in New. 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. All of these businesses were reported to be damaged in the blast (here). Didi Martinez is an associate producer with the NBC News Investigative Unit. 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,. Note that aspects of Tennessee law may differ with what is seen on the videos. 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. John Bazemore/AP Now the process of counting these votes . The Trump followers believe that the explosion was actually a missile strike aimed at destroying. 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. The explosion injured three other people and damaged businesses in downtown Nashville, including an AT&T switching center, which resulted in widespread communications outages. More:Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. 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. We rate thisclaim as FALSE, because it wasn't supported by our research. The wishes are that I forever have to look over my shoulder," Coomer said. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Immediately, Coomer knew things would blow up. Social media is home to several conspiracy theories about the explosion in Nashville on Christmas Day. Fact-checkers have debunked claims that the explosion was the result of a missile strike. 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 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. 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. 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. 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? read another post. Then, a plume of smoke rises behind three light poles. The post, which has been shared almost 900 times,makes two claims:A buildingdamaged in the Nashville explosion was holding Dominion Voting Systems machines set to be audited, and in New York, the company that burned was under investigation for printing and shipping fake ballots to Pennsylvania. The conservative network has seen its ratings surge in . Posts include debunked conspiracy claims attempting to tie the Nashville explosion Dominion voting systems. "The loud speaker was to warn people that the bomb was going to go off.. 5:30a on Christmas morning was picked to ensure that nobody was around.. Dominion is a company that supplies voting machines in more than two-dozen states, including Ohio. 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. "Conspiracy theory links false claim of AT&T election audit to bombing, Fact check: Hugo Chvez's family does not own Dominion Voting Systems, Fact check: Dominion voting machines didn't delete votes from Trump, switch them to Biden, Live politics updates: Dominion says it may sue over election conspiracy theories, subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy, Cision PR Newswire archive, July 16, 2018, ", The Tennessean archives, July 23, 2004, ", News Channel 5 Nashville archives, Dec. 18, 2006, ", Email correspondence withJim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T, Email correspondence with a spokesperson for Dominion Voting Systems. Earlier this week, Skoglund showed NBC three election systems were still online even after officials had been told they were vulnerable. 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. Owners of Dominion Voting Systems,(the company many people are accusing of voter fraud) are former executives from Cerebus," another post reads. The City of Rochester government and police did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. AT&T was not contracted to audit Dominion Voting Systems' machines, and no Dominion machines were being held in the building outside of which the bomb exploded, spokespeople for both AT&T and Dominion confirmed. The report claims the results of the election in . Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, which sells electronic voting hardware and software, is suing both Fox News Network and parent company Fox Corp. for defamation. There can still be security holes that allow hackers to get into the phone network.. . why?" Select an Infowars smear of Dominion Voting Systems. US Elections were November 3, 2020. Three days later, on November 6th, AT&T named William "Bill" E. Kennard Chairman of its Board of Directors. But now, some state officials worry that the machines may pose a security risk and are pushing to have the modems removed. The ATT building in Nashville that was affected by the bomb was owned by Cerebus (sic) Capital. Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. The bomber was lateridentified by U.S. Attorney Don Cochranas Anthony Warner, 63, according to The Tennessean. 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. 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. 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. Both companies have denied the posts claims, saying that there was no such audit and that Dominions machines were not recently transported to Nashville. 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. Joe Bidens Brother in Law, Steven Owens, is the cofounder of Staple Street Execs along with William Kennard (mentioned above).. Dominion Voting Systems on Tuesday morning filed three $1.6 billion defamation lawsuits against two pro-Trump media networks and an outspoken Trump ally, the latest in a string of suits from the . Its true that an AT&T-owned building in Nashville was one of many buildings damaged in Fridays. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. 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. "The specific steps taken would depend on the recommendation and the timeline required to make changes effectively.. It's just the latest example of how people's lives are being upended and potentially ruined by the unprecedented flurry of disinformation this year. Skoglund says those include the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida. 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 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 ). In a Dominion-themed segment, an Infowars host speaking during a November Washington, D.C., rally presaged the January 6 violence by hyping the . The state of Michigan is currently grappling with this issue. 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. 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. 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. Statement:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. But none of this is true. 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. "So, the explosion 'just happened . 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.. The media intelligence platform Zignal Labs, in an analysis performed at NPR's request, found that misinformation narratives related to vote-by-mail systems alone were mentioned across the media spectrum more than 40 million times since Election Day. Reuters debunked this claim here . Some just say AT&T had a contract to conduct a forensic audit on Dominion Voting Systems. Please note t he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. 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. Some of Trump's supporters have focused on Coomer as the supposed evil mastermind. A sample ballot is shown via the Dominion Voting Systems that Georgians use to vote. (Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images). Staple Street Capital has a managing director and co-founder named Stephen Owens. More than a month ago, Eric Coomer went into hiding. The bomb is in this vehicle and will explode." ", 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.". 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. 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. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. These two tech experts also agree on the path forward, saying they are comforted by the fact that most Americans will vote this year on hand-marked paper ballots which are counted by machine and can be recounted by hand if the situation warrants. But none of this is true. Warner died in the blast, according to authorities. The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Those networks are among the defendants Coomer is suing. It was an assurance designed to bolster public confidence in the way America votes: Voting machines are not connected to the internet.. 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 electronic voting system company accused the television network of spreading lies that Dominion machines were used to rig the 2020 election against Donald Trump. 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). The company put the building back on the market shortly thereafter; MetLife Inc., throughsubsidiary Prefco Fourteen, now owns the building, public records show. For Coomer, that means his life may be forever changed. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Since the 2016 election, Michigan authorized $82 million dollars to upgrade its election systems. That is just inviting trouble.. The Nashville outlet found . "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. With unfounded fraud claims swirling, red California county dumps Dominion voting machines. A team of election security experts used a Google for servers to challenge claims that voting machines do not connect to the internet and found some did. A Dominion spokeswoman said other company employees have also gone to more secure locations, been threatened and been digitally stalked. Oltmann claimed that Coomer said with a laugh on the call that he would make sure Trump didn't win the election. Hismotive is unknown. So we will clear it up: Its fake. The user who created the post did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. These claims are groundless. More:Neighbor recalls warning, countdown before Nashville explosion. "The minute I saw it, it left a big pit in my stomach," he said. 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. We should not connect our voting machines directly to the computer networks. Conspiracy theorists say the suicide bombing that rocked downtown Nashville was actually the result of a missile strike. Much of the voting equipment was by Dominion. 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. David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994 as a creative outgrowth of his wide-ranging interests in a variety of subjects (particularly folklo read more. Representatives for companies involved say there is no truth to the claims. There is no evidence that the New York printing company whose building burnt down on Christmas Day was under investigation for printing false ballots. But the company did not account for the new voting centers, so the Williamson County. 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.. 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). "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. 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 . Jim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T, told USA TODAY the claims are "not true. On Monday, The Associated Press debunked claims that Dominion has any connection with AT&T. On January 8, it filed a defamation suit against pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, seeking $1.3 billion in damages. Read more about our fact-checking work here . 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. 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. Bogus conspiracy theory spreading online claims the Nashville bombing was an attempt to cover up voter fraud. Dominion told AFP the claim is "another bizarre lie being spread by known conspiracy theorists.". Heres more information on Facebooks fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536. Some users seemed to recognize the story as fake, but others didnt. 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. Coomer said the first barb aimed at him came five days after the election. 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. Thats an interesting coincidence., Some posts read: 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. 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 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. Facebook post:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. Some have also received threatening letters. On Dec. 27, U.S. Attorney Don Cochran said the explosion appeared to be a suicide bombing carried out by a Warner. The AT&T building in downtown Nashville. Even if an election is run perfectly, it doesn't matter to a sizable portion of the public who believes it was unfair. Powell is named in Coomer's suit, along with the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. 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. 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. As of Friday, a motive in the bombing remained under investigation by the FBI, the ATF and Metro Nashville police. hide caption. Others are not so sure, and the state has set up an advisory committee. 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. 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. 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. Powell was one of the faces of the Trump. The voting rights of more than 55,000 formerly incarcerated Minnesotans were restored on Friday, as Gov. "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. Thank you for supporting our journalism. Dominion provides election equipment and software to 28 states, including many of the swing states on which Trump has focused his post-election ire. Please note the instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. The post implies that the bombing was an attempt to stop the audit and cover up voter fraud. 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. APS ASSESSMENT: False. 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. "Bombing investigations can take years," Darrell DeBusk, an FBI spokesman based inTennessee, told The Tennessean. . Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. 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. Reuters Fact Check previously debunked this claim here . Social media posts from the event tagged the far-right group the Proud Boys. "You may want to read a book some day to learn about my reference to rising like a #phoenix. Jim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T,also told USA TODAY the claims are "not true.". "The FBI corralled me in Mankato, Minnesota, and took my cell phone," Lindell told the Reformer. "Anthony Warner is the bomber. But that is an overstatement, according to a team of 10 independent cybersecurity experts who specialize in voting systems and elections. In . Cerberus Capital did briefly own an AT&T building, but the post is wrong about which one. The post also mentions the Kraken or supercomputer and says that the cooling system for this computer was located in the AT&T building. Previous claims had said the bomb had targeted the AT&T building and that Dominion Voting Systems machines were being audited there(here). Its true that an AT&T-owned building in Nashville was one of many buildings damaged in Fridays bombing, causing widespread communications outages. 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). Shasta County has become a hotbed for unproven conspiracy theories about rigged voting, fueled by former . 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. 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.
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