Coomer said the first barb aimed at him came five days after the election. Coomer oversees product strategy and security for Dominion Voting Systems, the Denver-based company that has suddenly found itself at the center of many of President Trump's false claims about November's election, spread by allies and pro-Trump media. 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. We should not connect our voting machines directly to the computer networks. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. 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. Powell was one of the faces of the Trump. "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 post implies that the bombing was an attempt to stop the audit and cover up voter fraud. 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. He believes there is time to make real change before the 2020 election. 'It was a missile strike': Trump fans go nuts claiming Nashville bomb 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. 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. Did AT&T Have a Contract to Audit Dominion Voting Systems? 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. 2023 Tennessee Secretaryof State |Web and Social Media Policies. "Bombing investigations can take years," Darrell DeBusk, an FBI spokesman based inTennessee, told The Tennessean. Some have also received threatening letters. There is no evidence that suggests that the explosion was election-related. Dominion Voting Systems previously sent OAN letters threatening to sue, accusing the network of spreading the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that the election-technology company manipulated. 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. Progressive Democrats Introduce First Bill to Tighten Rail Safety "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 representatives havealsodenouncedthe conspiracy theory, calling it another "bizarre lie" with "zero credibility.". 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. Its true that an AT&T-owned building in Nashville was one of many buildings damaged in Fridays. Revealed: Klobuchar, Warren Sent Letter Warning About Dominion, Other Voting machine company executive sues Trump allies for defamation - CNN All rights reserved. Some of Trump's supporters have focused on Coomer as the supposed evil mastermind. "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. Donate State Editions California Florida SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Skoglund says those include the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida. A post on Facebook theorized that the two disasters were connected by a plot to steal the election. Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine manufacturer founded in Canada, made equipment that is used in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. "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. he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. Report Claims Dominion Ballot Error Rate Was At Least 85,000 Times FEC "Some of the threats that I've gotten have made very clear that these actors are in it for the long haul. Joe Bidens Brother in Law, Steven Owens, is the cofounder of Staple Street Execs along with William Kennard (mentioned above).. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Lindell told the Minnesota Reformer, that he and a friend were on their way home from duck hunting in Iowa and were in the Hardee's drive through when three cars with four FBI agents surrounded his vehicle. The conspiracy theory has grown into a movement that is promoted by right-wing extremists. Ohio county rejects Dominion voting machines in response to pressure Copyright 2023 Politifact. 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,. 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 AT&T building the posts likely refer to was not the one outside which the bomb exploded on Christmas morning. The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies. There is a bomb. 'Beyond bizarre': Dominion CEO testifies election fraud claims about Dominion was the first to snap. Read more about our fact-checking workhere . Previous claims had said the bomb had targeted the AT&T building and that Dominion Voting Systems machines were being audited there(here). Please note t he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. In February, Dominion filed a lawsuit against Lindell and his company, alleging he defamed them by repeatedly claiming to have evidence their voting machines fraudulently flipped votes. 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. Mike Lindell promised Dominion voting machines - Salon Statement:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. Kevin Monahan is a producer for the NBC News Investigative Unit. Both Dominion Voting Systems andAT&T confirmed the communications company was not contracted to audit Dominion's machines. 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 explosion injured three other people and damaged businesses in downtown Nashville, including an AT&T switching center, which resulted in widespread communications outages. So we will clear it up: Its fake. 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. Now the process of counting these votes . The company, which sells electronic voting hardware and software, contends that some Fox News employees deliberately amplified false claims by Trump supporters that Dominion machines had changed . And we knew that wasn't true. Claims that two buildings that were destroyed on Christmas Day were both holding evidence related to the 2020 U.S. presidential election are untrue. 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 Dominion voting machine in Georgia. why?" Some of that money was spent on tabulators with wireless modems. There can still be security holes that allow hackers to get into the phone network.. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. On Dec. 27, U.S. Attorney Don Cochran said the explosion appeared to be a suicide bombing carried out by a Warner. The bomber was lateridentified by U.S. Attorney Don Cochranas Anthony Warner, 63, according to The Tennessean. There is no evidence that the New York printing company whose building burnt down on Christmas Day was under investigation for printing false ballots. Vandoliers Play Tennessee Concert in Dresses to Protest State's New Rating: False About this rating On Christmas. Serious political tensions and fears of COVID-19 have led record-breaking numbers of Americans to vote early this year, either by mail or in person. 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. 4 Things to Know About Voting Machine Company That - The Daily Signal 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. 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. We kept hearing from election officials that voting machines were never on the internet, he said. Powell is named in Coomer's suit, along with the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Thank you for supporting our journalism. Skoglund said that they identified only one company among the systems they detected on line, ES&S. Last fall, when ES&S gave NBC News an exclusive tour at its headquarters in Omaha, Neb., Chief Executive Officer Tom Burt defended using modems when asked about the Sprint and Verizon modems seen in ES&S's testing area. The explosion injured three other people and damaged businesses in downtown Nashville, including an AT&T switching center, which resulted in widespread communications outages. A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field Office confirmed that the FBI executed the . 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.. "To the misinformed people on @Twitter and @instagram #cityblueimaging does not print #ballots, does not do work for #Phoenixgraphics and was never owned by the owner of #phoenixgraphics," the company wrote on its Facebook page on Dec. 27. There are currently two voting systems which are certified by the State of Florida's Division of Elections. The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle owned by Warner. AP'S ASSESSMENT: False. Note that aspects of Tennessee law may differ with what is seen on the videos. 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. Voting rights restored to more than 55,000 Minnesotans under new law 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. As of Friday, a motive in the bombing remained under investigation by the FBI, the ATF and Metro Nashville police. The City of Rochester government and police did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. "The voting machine lobby, led by the biggest company, ES&S, believes they are above the law," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Intelligence Committee who co-signed the letter.. A widely sharedpost on Facebook alleges that four days before the bombing, a rumor circulated that AT&T was awarded a contract to audit Dominion's voting machines, which were supposedly being sent to Nashville. A sample ballot is shown via the Dominion Voting Systems that Georgians use to vote. The conservative network has seen its ratings surge in . 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.". Examples can be seen here , here and here . Rupert Murdoch says some Fox hosts 'endorsed' false election claims U.S. finds no evidence flaws in Dominion voting machines - CBS News Last month Dominion filed a $1.6bn defamation suit against Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, accusing it of trying to boost ratings by amplifying the bogus claims. The services and oversight found in the Secretary of State's office reach every department and agency in state government. The ATT building in Nashville that was affected by the bomb was owned by Cerebus (sic) Capital. The state of Michigan is currently grappling with this issue. Fact check: Nashville bombing, NY fire unrelated, not tied to election ", 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.". Similar claims have already been debunked by Reuters (here). Even if an election is run perfectly, it doesn't matter to a sizable portion of the public who believes it was unfair. 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. In . (Read more about ourpartnership with Facebook.). It also claims the AT&T building that was affected by the bomb is where those machines were being stored. 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. The company put the building back on the market shortly thereafter; MetLife Inc., throughsubsidiary Prefco Fourteen, now owns the building, public records show. 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. 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.. Tre Hargett was elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to serve as Tennessees 37th secretary of state in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021. All of these businesses were reported to be damaged in the blast (here). More:Fact check: Joe Biden legally won presidential election, despite persistent contrary claims. "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.. RUMOR ALERT: Dominion Voting Systems Fraud Claims 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. Since the 2016 election, Michigan authorized $82 million dollars to upgrade its election systems. Dominion's Defamation Lawsuits Are Still Active - FactCheck.org As people experience their own individual Internet bubbles, it can be hard to recognize just how much misinformation exists and how the current information ecosystem compares with previous years. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. 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. In 2006, Cerberus Capital acquired it, according to a 2006 News Channel 5 Nashville report. On Christmas morning of 2020, a recreational vehicle exploded on the streets of Nashville near a building owned by AT&T that lies one block from the companys office tower. The coalition says it is no longer certain that the number of states is correct, so the figure has been removed from the article. More:Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. Lin Wood Wins Restraining Order to Stop Georgia Elections Officials 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 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). Williamson County to ditch Dominion voting machines after state review 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. The company recently threatened a number of groups repeating the claims with lawsuits, including One America News Network, Newsmax and Fox News. It really is. (Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images). 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 Lawsuit Showcases Paul Ryan's Influence over Fox News Channel's Editorial Control. Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. 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. Oltmann claimed that Coomer said with a laugh on the call that he would make sure Trump didn't win the election. . The FBI confirmed that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast. Dominion Lawsuit Showcases Paul Ryan's - lucianne.com 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. Immediately, Coomer knew things would blow up. "Very, very interesting.". Shasta County has become a hotbed for unproven conspiracy theories about rigged voting, fueled by former . Federal officials have identified the man believed to be behind the bombing, and they are working to discern a motive.