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. That user did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment, either. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. 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. Representatives for companies involved say there is no truth to the claims. Staple Street Capital has a managing director and co-founder named Stephen Owens. Videos from law enforcement officials and local businesses show that the explosion occurred on 2nd Avenue North in downtown Nashville. 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. Staple Street Capital took part in a deal with management to acquire Dominion in 2018 (here and here). US Elections were November 3, 2020. This is bogus. Read more about our fact-checking workhere . In counties that used Dominion systems, Biden got 888,259 votes to Trump's 851,069. However, he is not tied to Joe Biden and is not his sister Valerie Biden Owens husband. AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville explosion site. The company recently threatened a number of groups repeating the claims with lawsuits, including One America News Network, Newsmax and Fox News. 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. 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. It's the first . No one is currently working out of the building. More:Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. These claims are groundless. "Thats an interesting coincidence.". 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. But none of this is true. 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. 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,. Select an Infowars smear of Dominion Voting Systems. AT&T did not have a contract to audit Dominion machines and was not holding Dominion machines in its Nashville building, both companies confirmed to The Associated Press. In 2006, Cerberus Capital acquired it, according to a 2006 News Channel 5 Nashville report. NBC News asked the two other major manufacturers how many of their tabulators with modems were currently in use. the post 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, read one post. But none of this is true. Sumit Ganguli is the CEO and Member of the Board at GAVS Technologies. 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. . CNN didnt report that Anthony Warner, the person authorities have identified as the bomber, died from COVID-19. Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine manufacturer founded in Canada, made equipment that is used in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. On Christmas Day, an RV in Nashville, Tennessee, exploded, severelydamaging many of the buildings around it in the explosion. The posts all tie AT&T with Dominion, holding the explosion to be alleged proof of conspiracy. 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. Didi Martinez is an associate producer with the NBC News Investigative Unit. And thats not what were about. On Monday, The Associated Press debunked claims that Dominion has any connection with AT&T. 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. That building is located at 333 Commerce St., roughly a quarter mile from where the bomb went off. 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. 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. Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software. Full Story. 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.". According to Dominion, vote-switching and software malfunction allegations are "all baseless claims" that "have been debunked by election officials, subject matter experts and third-party fact. That is just inviting trouble.. Powell is named in Coomer's suit, along with the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. The FBI confirmed that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast. The wishes are that I forever have to look over my shoulder," Coomer said. 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 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. The post's creator did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. Across the country on Christmas Eve, a printing press company in New York burned to the ground. 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. He has independently become part of the broader Dominion conspiracy theories, though, with some claiming he's Joe Biden's brother-in-law. (Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images). These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth. 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). There is no evidence that suggests that the explosion was election-related. AP'S ASSESSMENT: False. why?" "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. The question is.. 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. 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. Both companies have denied the posts claims, saying that there was no such audit and that Dominions machines were not recently transported to Nashville. 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. Dominion is a company that supplies voting machines in more than two-dozen states, including Ohio. 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. 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. 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. The Nashville outlet found . Rumors about an investigation into the company do not even appear in web searches until after the fire. Cerberus Capital previously owned the AT&T Building, onceknownas the BellSouth Building,where the company has operated its Tennessee headquarters since the building's erection in 1994. 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 cities of West Bend and Mequon's Dominion machine audit found one vote changed each after their hand counts. 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. Since the 2016 election, Michigan authorized $82 million dollars to upgrade its election systems. It is true Kennard serves on the board of Staple Street Capital (not Staple Street execs as the posts say). The complicated theory began circulating soon after an RV exploded in downtown Nashville. 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. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. 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. A post on Facebook theorized that the two disasters were connected by a plot to steal the election. The City of Rochester government and police did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. Read more about our fact-checking work here . Hismotive is unknown. So that unofficial election results can more quickly be relayed to the public. Some of the posts (here) try connect the explosion to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama by claiming that William Kennard, Obamas EU ambassador and Clintons FCC chair, is on AT&Ts board and owns the Nashville AT&T building that was destroyed in the blast. James Murphy, a spokesperson for MetLife, confirmed the company owns the building. A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field Office confirmed that the FBI executed the . On Dec. 27, U.S. Attorney Don Cochran said the explosion appeared to be a suicide bombing carried out by a Warner. 2023 www.statesman.com. Its disgusting. 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 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). 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. 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. Earlier this week, Skoglund showed NBC three election systems were still online even after officials had been told they were vulnerable. He was present when the bomb went off, and he perished in the bombing," Cochran said. Reuters found no evidence that Cerberus Capital Management (www.cerberus.com/) owns Dominion. Their evidence: a grainy black-and-white video. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. The social media post states "AT&T got contract [sic] to do forensic audit on Dominion voting machines and those machines were being moved to Nashville this past week" before the bombing. TheBatman-shaped skyscraper was first owned by Prefco XIV, a limited partnership ofPitney Bowes, which bought the building in 1994 for $100.8 million, according to the building's deed. the dominion voting system that was the subject of an enormous amount of controversy, is a dramatic improvement over prior forms of voting. Claims that two buildings that were destroyed on Christmas Day were both holding evidence related to the 2020 U.S. presidential election are untrue. 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 Police spokesperson Don Aaron told The Tennessean that day. 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 ). Some posts have said the Nashville explosion was caused by a missile. "The specific steps taken would depend on the recommendation and the timeline required to make changes effectively.. Did AT&T Have a Contract to Audit Dominion Voting Systems? And we knew that wasn't true. Some of that money was spent on tabulators with wireless modems. 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. "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. 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. For election systems to be online, even momentarily, presents a serious problem, according to Appel. "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. We rate thisclaim as FALSE, because it wasn't supported by our research. 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. "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.. 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. 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. In an interview with Rochester's ABC 13, City Blue Imagingsales manager John Mealy condemned misinformation about the tragedy and dismissed the claims again. Theres a small percentage of jurisdictions in the country -- a lot of them are in Florida -- who have decided they want to modem unofficial results to the election office, he said. The Trump followers believe that the explosion was actually a missile strike aimed at destroying. This weekend, both Fox Business Network and Newsmax appeared to answer those demands with segments debunking some claims. So did the type of explosives used to detonate the blast. ES&S has repeatedly advertised its DS200 with internal modem a critical component to ES&Ss voting systems as being EAC certified when, in fact, it is not, the letter said. "What we should do is remove all of the unnecessary, hackable pathways, such as modems. 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 . ", More:Three firefighters hurt battling three-alarm blaze in Rochester. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.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. "I've been threatened more times than I could even count. 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. 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. The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies. Note that aspects of Tennessee law may differ with what is seen on the videos. "Fuck a drag bill," they wrote in an Instagram post. Social media is home to several conspiracy theories about the explosion in Nashville on Christmas Day. There is no evidence that the New York printing company whose building burnt down on Christmas Day was under investigation for printing false ballots. Once a hacker starts talking to the voting machine through the modem, the hacker cannot just change these unofficial election results, they can hack the software in the voting machine and make it cheat in future elections, he said. After that podcast went out, the threats quickly arrived. The conservative network has seen its ratings surge in . 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. APS ASSESSMENT: False. "I actually am in fear for my safety," Coomer said recently, speaking by video call from an undisclosed location to Colorado Public Radio. Hart said that it has approximately 1,600 such tabulators in use in 11 counties in Michigan. The conspiracy theory has grown into a movement that is promoted by right-wing extremists. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. 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. Even for elections nights., Appel agreed. . Then Acting Undersecretary for Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security Jeanette Manfra said those words in 2017, testifying before Congress while she was responsible for the security of the nations voting system. More:Neighbor recalls warning, countdown before Nashville explosion. Breitbart, by Hannah Bleau Original Article. "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. Similar claims have already been debunked by Reuters (here). "Anthony Warner is the bomber. 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..
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