No available external evidence suggests AT&T was involved in any such audit, either. A Dominion voting machine in Georgia. 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 same Facebook post also said Dominion voting machines were being audited in the AT&T building that was destroyed by a bomb in Nashville. Breitbart, by Hannah Bleau Original Article. 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 ). Others are not so sure, and the state has set up an advisory committee. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. The cities of West Bend and Mequon's Dominion machine audit found one vote changed each after their hand counts. Powell was one of the faces of the Trump. But now, some state officials worry that the machines may pose a security risk and are pushing to have the modems removed. 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. Here are the facts: CLAIM: President-elect Joe Biden's sister is married to Stephen Owens, the co-founder of the private equity firm Staple Street Capital, which owns Dominion Voting Systems . Warner died in the blast, according to authorities. https://archive.is/qqjBh Paul E. Singer-Elliott Management, aka "The Vulture", reportedly controls CNN parent, AT&T, as well as Twitter. Previous claims had said the bomb had targeted the AT&T building and that Dominion Voting Systems machines were being audited there(here). Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. 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. causing widespread communications outages. Heres more information on Facebooks fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536. We rate thisclaim as FALSE, because it wasn't supported by our research. So that unofficial election results can more quickly be relayed to the public. But none of this is true. The voting rights of more than 55,000 formerly incarcerated Minnesotans were restored on Friday, as Gov. The state of Michigan is currently grappling with this issue. Cerberus Capital did briefly own an AT&T building, but the post is wrong about which one. 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. 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. The Christmas morning bomb went off on Second Avenue, outside an AT&T transmission building. This weekend, both Fox Business Network and Newsmax appeared to answer those demands with segments debunking some claims. Some users seemed to recognize the story as fake, but others didnt. Reuters debunked this claim here . The posts on social mediaallege the bombing is tied to Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology supplier that's been central to many right-wing, QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. More:Neighbor recalls warning, countdown before Nashville explosion. We should not connect our voting machines directly to the computer networks. 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. "Thats an interesting coincidence.". 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.". 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 . ES&S confirmed they had sold scanners with wireless modems to at least 11 states. why?" DNA found at the scene matched Warner's, according to an FBI press release. 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. Nashville's date on June 7 at GEODIS Park will feature Kelsea Ballerini and BRELAND -- and now, The Boykinz. 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. Oltmann claimed that Coomer said with a laugh on the call that he would make sure Trump didn't win the election. Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. In counties that used Dominion systems, Biden got 888,259 votes to Trump's 851,069. The wishes are that I forever have to look over my shoulder," Coomer said. "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.. 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. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has dismissed the claim of an election hacking and vote manipulation operation known as Hammer and Scorecard. (here). "And I probably will. ", 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.". 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. 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. It is no longer federally certified. 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. There are currently two voting systems which are certified by the State of Florida's Division of Elections. "Anthony Warner is the bomber. 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. he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. Heres more information on Facebooks fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536, Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Read more about our fact-checking workhere . The bomber was lateridentified by U.S. Attorney Don Cochranas Anthony Warner, 63, according to The Tennessean. Donate State Editions California Florida 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. 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. If you have super majorities, Tennessee is like an R plus twenty state. 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. "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. "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. On Tuesday, Coomer sued the Trump campaign and a number of allies, alleging defamation. Dominionwas acquired by private equity firm Staple Street Capital, co-founded by financiers Hootan Yaghoobzadeh and StephenOwens, in 2018. 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. Both sit on Dominion's board. Examples can be seen here , here and here . 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. 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). He was present when the bomb went off, and he perished in the bombing," Cochran said. The following three posts were flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Please note t he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. 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. The AT&T building the posts likely refer to was not the one outside which the bomb exploded on Christmas morning. The company recently threatened a number of groups repeating the claims with lawsuits, including One America News Network, Newsmax and Fox News. But he has no idea if that will ever be possible. There is no evidence to support the claim that City Blue Imaging, a longtime Rochester, New York, printing business that went up in flames on Christmas Eve, was under investigation for printing fake ballots. Rumors about an investigation into the company do not even appear in web searches until after the fire. the dominion voting system that was the subject of an enormous amount of controversy, is a dramatic improvement over prior forms of voting. 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 Influence over Fox News Channel's Editorial Control. 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. "I've been threatened more times than I could even count. Select an Infowars smear of Dominion Voting Systems. 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.". Tim Walz signed into law one of the largest voter . But companies that specialize in the subject said it is getting exponentially worse. "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. 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. "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. "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 post implies that the bombing was an attempt to stop the audit and cover up voter fraud. It also claims the AT&T building that was affected by the bomb is where those machines were being stored. "Coincidence? His top goal right now is pretty simple hoping one day it'll be safe to return home. A sample ballot is shown via the Dominion Voting Systems that Georgians use to vote. 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 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 claim implies the explosion was an elaborate plot to destroy voting machines that might have yielded evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. 2023 www.statesman.com. Did AT&T Have a Contract to Audit Dominion Voting Systems? There may not be answers to the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville anytime soon. US Elections were November 3, 2020. This screengrab is being shared on social media without that context. The post provides no links to evidence for their allegations. 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. The AT&T building in downtown Nashville. 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. Dominion Voting Systems, a company beset by dubious election fraud claims in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, said "human error" was to blame after machines in a Pennsylvania. The investigation of the Nashville bombing is ongoing, but the Facebook post is inaccurate and ridiculous. That building is located at 333 Commerce St., roughly a quarter mile from where the bomb went off. Didi Martinez is an associate producer with the NBC News Investigative Unit. Both companies have denied the posts claims, saying that there was no such audit and that Dominions machines were not recently transported to Nashville. Thats an interesting coincidence.. Now the process of counting these votes . While Kennard served at the FCC and as EU ambassador and he joined AT&Ts board of directors as Chairman in Nov. 2020 (here), Greer confirmed Kennard is not the former owner of the AT&T building that was destroyed in Nashville, as the posts claim. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. The company put the building back on the market shortly thereafter; MetLife Inc., throughsubsidiary Prefco Fourteen, now owns the building, public records show. The explosion disrupted AT&T wireless and internet services, leading to widespread 911 issues in the Nashville area, The Tennessean reported. 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. 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. All those. Skoglund said that they identified only one company among the systems they detected on line, ES&S. . 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. While federal investigators are still looking into the bombing, law enforcement officials have said Warner was responsible and died in the blast. 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. There is no evidence that suggests that the explosion was election-related. 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. Some shorter posts here and here say: Wait, the bombing in Nashville was at the AT&T Data Center right after they got the contract to audit the Dominion Voting machines? Speaker 13 . With the 2020 presidential election only ten months away, Appel and Skoglund believe all modems can and should be removed from election systems. Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos is not ruling out legal action against President Trump, whose surrogates have spent nearly two months alleging the Nov. 3 election, which Trump lost, may . In a Dominion-themed segment, an Infowars host speaking during a November Washington, D.C., rally presaged the January 6 violence by hyping the . 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. 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). But Skogland points to some good news. 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. That is just inviting trouble.. Their evidence: a grainy black-and-white video. 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??" The accusation started with a conservative activist in Colorado, Joe Oltmann. Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software. 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. . ( here and here ). 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.. Much of the voting equipment was by Dominion. There was no evidence of a shooting, but both officers and witnesses heard a warning blare from the RV: "Evacuate now. 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. 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 . Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. provides voting machines and tabulators. Staple Street Capital took part in a deal with management to acquire Dominion in 2018 (here and here). All rights reserved. "I'm in fear for my family's safety. Both Dominion Voting Systems andAT&T confirmed the communications company was not contracted to audit Dominion's machines. 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. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. The question is.. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Were focusing on moving forward.. . 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. More:Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. 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 35 systems Skoglunds team found represent a fraction of total voting systems nationwide, though he believes they only captured a portion of the systems that are or have been online. 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. Heres why:In the wake of theChristmas morning explosion in Nashville, Tenn., a baseless conspiracy theory startedcirculatingonlinethat 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. 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. Joe Bidens Brother in Law, Steven Owens, is the cofounder of Staple Street Execs along with William Kennard (mentioned above).. The FBI confirmed that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast. Hismotive is unknown. This references the claim that supercomputer Hammer and software program Scorecard were used to change votes in Bidens favor in the 2020 Presidential election. "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.. It was an assurance designed to bolster public confidence in the way America votes: Voting machines are not connected to the internet.. False. 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. According to the post, that firm ownedthe AT&T building outside of which the Christmas bombing occurred. "I actually am in fear for my safety," Coomer said recently, speaking by video call from an undisclosed location to Colorado Public Radio. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. And we knew that wasn't true. CNN didnt report that Anthony Warner, the person authorities have identified as the bomber, died from COVID-19. 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. While William Kennard serves on Staple Street Capitals board, he is not one of the companys co-founders as these posts claim (here). Three days later, on November 6th, AT&T named William "Bill" E. Kennard Chairman of its Board of Directors. (Read more about, Breaking news meme generators are frequently used online to create fabricated headlines and chyrons such as this one. All rights reserved. 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. 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. So we will clear it up: Its fake. For election systems to be online, even momentarily, presents a serious problem, according to Appel. And thats not what were about. For Coomer, that means his life may be forever changed. The explosion injured three other people and damaged businesses in downtown Nashville, including an AT&T switching center, which resulted in widespread communications outages. 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. the post reads. Earlier this week, Skoglund showed NBC three election systems were still online even after officials had been told they were vulnerable. The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. This material may not be reproduced without permission. "Fuck a drag bill," they wrote in an Instagram post. We should be unplugging all of these machines from the internet, Skoglund said. 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. Dominion is a company that supplies voting machines in more than two-dozen states, including Ohio. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. 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,.