The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle owned by Warner. Joe Bidens Brother in Law, Steven Owens, is the cofounder of Staple Street Execs along with William Kennard (mentioned above).. We rate thisclaim as FALSE, because it wasn't supported by our research. Sumit Ganguli is the CEO and Member of the Board at GAVS Technologies. Kevin Monahan is a producer for the NBC News Investigative Unit. 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. 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. It's the first . 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. 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. 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. 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. That is just inviting trouble.. 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. The FBI confirmed that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast. Dominion did not respond to numerous requests from NBC News for their sales numbers. 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. Those networks are among the defendants Coomer is suing. "What we should do is remove all of the unnecessary, hackable pathways, such as modems. 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. . These claims present no convincing evidence and include conspiracy links that have been debunked. 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. The ATT building in Nashville that was affected by the bomb was owned by Cerebus (sic) Capital. 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. On Nov. 21, a group protested in front of Dominion's Denver headquarters, waving American flags and signs saying "fraud equals arrests." 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. The machines America votes on seem to be capturing the interest of some in Congress. 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. 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. 2023 Tennessee Secretaryof State |Web and Social Media Policies. The AT&T building the posts likely refer to was not the one outside which the bomb exploded on Christmas morning. That agreement is long over, and they no longer have the . Facebook post:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. President Donald Trump's attorney Lin Wood reportedly experienced a series of ups and downs Sunday in a court battle to ensure Georgia elections officials do not wipe Dominion voting machines, and won a temporary restraining order following a night-time Zoom hearing. https://archive.is/qqjBh Paul E. Singer-Elliott Management, aka "The Vulture", reportedly controls CNN parent, AT&T, as well as Twitter. 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. The claim implies the explosion was an elaborate plot to destroy voting machines that might have yielded evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. 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. APS ASSESSMENT: False. And thats not what were about. On Thursday night, the group performed their set at the Shed in Maryville, Tennessee, with all six of its members wearing dresses in protest of the state's newly enacted law on public drag performance. The question is.. All of these businesses were reported to be damaged in the blast (here). 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. Jim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T, told USA TODAY the claims are "not true. 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 . And then run the ballots through the machine a few times. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Hismotive is unknown. Representatives for companies involved say there is no truth to the claims. While the voting machines themselves are not designed to be online, the larger voting systems in many states end up there, putting the voting process at risk. Hart said that it has approximately 1,600 such tabulators in use in 11 counties in Michigan. Immediately, Coomer knew things would blow up. 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. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Some users seemed to recognize the story as fake, but others didnt. "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. Some just say AT&T had a contract to conduct a forensic audit on Dominion Voting Systems. In counties that didn't use Dominion systems, Biden got 1.54 million votes to Trump's 1.52 million. 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. No amount of transparency at the county and state level can really combat the sort of megaphone that Trump wields, Kiniry says. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. 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. Speaker 13 . The post also mentions the Kraken or supercomputer and says that the cooling system for this computer was located in the AT&T building. "It does appear that the intent was more destruction than death," said David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, inan interview on NBC's "Today." Dominion was the first to snap. 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. 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. For election systems to be online, even momentarily, presents a serious problem, according to Appel. 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. False. Full Story. This screengrab is being shared on social media without that context. These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth. Skoglund and his team developed a tool that scoured the internet to see if the central computers that program voting machines and run the entire election process at the precinct level were online. These are real, tangible things coming out of these baseless accusations.". 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. "Coincidence? "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.. (Read more about ourpartnership with Facebook.). DNA from human remains found at the scene matched Warner, and investigators found financial records for components that he may have used to construct the bomb. 4 min read. The bomb was located in a recreational vehicle owned by Warner. February 28, 2023, 1:26 PM. 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 ). 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. 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. The bomb is in this vehicle and will explode." 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. After that podcast went out, the threats quickly arrived. NBC News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which declined to comment on the topic of modem security in voting machine tabulators and scanners. Shasta County has become a hotbed for unproven conspiracy theories about rigged voting, fueled by former . "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. The Poynter Institute Menu. In counties that used Dominion systems, Biden got 888,259 votes to Trump's 851,069. ", Both Snopes and AFP reached the same conclusion. The post's creator did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. As of now, the person of interest identified by the FBI in connection with the explosion, Anthony Quinn Warner, is believed to have been "paranoid about 5G technology" (another frequent subject of conspiracy theories) rather than possessing any election-related motive. In an interview with Rochester's ABC 13, City Blue Imagingsales manager John Mealy condemned misinformation about the tragedy and dismissed the claims again. 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. Social media is home to several conspiracy theories about the explosion in Nashville on Christmas Day. But now, some state officials worry that the machines may pose a security risk and are pushing to have the modems removed. Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. (Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images). It is true Kennard serves on the board of Staple Street Capital (not Staple Street execs as the posts say). 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. The complicated theory began circulating soon after an RV exploded in downtown Nashville. . 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. 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. Their evidence: a grainy black-and-white video. 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. 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. All rights reserved. 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 . "Thats an interesting coincidence.". 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. "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. There is no reason to suppose that it would be likely, or even possible, that these buildings, would be used to audit voting machines. Both Dominion Voting Systems andAT&T confirmed the communications company was not contracted to audit Dominion's machines. 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. 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. There is no evidence to support the claim that the explosionin Nashville and fire in Rochester, New York,that occurred around the holidays point toward a broader conspiracy to hide election malfeasance. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has dismissed the claim of an election hacking and vote manipulation operation known as Hammer and Scorecard. (here). On Christmas Day, an RV in Nashville, Tennessee, exploded, severelydamaging many of the buildings around it in the explosion. View list by county(.pdf) and learn more about each system using the links below. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Generally speaking, the media in those locations are kinda clamoring to get unofficial results as quickly as possible., When asked if the desire for speed was at odds with accuracy and security, Burt said, its not my place to judge that.. The accusation started with a conservative activist in Colorado, Joe Oltmann. 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. These claims are groundless. 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. We should be unplugging all of these machines from the internet, Skoglund said. However, he is not tied to Joe Biden and is not his sister Valerie Biden Owens husband. He believes there is time to make real change before the 2020 election. There can still be security holes that allow hackers to get into the phone network.. DNA found at the scene matched Warner's, according to an FBI press release. 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. 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. 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. 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 than a month ago, Eric Coomer went into hiding. 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. 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. Note that aspects of Tennessee law may differ with what is seen on the videos. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. 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. He is focused on New Technologies around AI led Predictive Analytics, Smart Machines, IT Process Automation etc.. through . ", More:Three firefighters hurt battling three-alarm blaze in Rochester. "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 explosion injured three other people and damaged businesses in downtown Nashville, including an AT&T switching center, which resulted in widespread communications outages. 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. Were focusing on moving forward.. The conservative network has seen its ratings surge in . Didi Martinez is an associate producer with the NBC News Investigative Unit. Some posts have said the Nashville explosion was caused by a missile. 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). The post implies that the bombing was an attempt to stop the audit and cover up voter fraud.