A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field Office confirmed that the FBI executed the . Dominion did not respond to numerous requests from NBC News for their sales numbers. 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 post implies that the bombing was an attempt to stop the audit and cover up voter fraud. Both companies have denied the posts claims, saying that there was no such audit and that Dominions machines were not recently transported to Nashville. It was an assurance designed to bolster public confidence in the way America votes: Voting machines are not connected to the internet.. 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? The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. "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 wishes are that I forever have to look over my shoulder," Coomer said. All of these businesses were reported to be damaged in the blast (here). 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. One theory shared thousands of times on Facebook over the weekend tries to connect the explosion to voting machines used in the Nov. 3 election. He also serves on 16 boards and commissions, on two of which he is the presiding member. "The FBI corralled me in Mankato, Minnesota, and took my cell phone," Lindell told the Reformer. 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 . 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. Similar claims have already been debunked by Reuters (here). Donald Trump went after media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his network Fox News in rants on Truth Social where he once again pushed the baseless and debunked claim that the . 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 ithelps spread COVID-19and is used as a spying tool by the government. 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. A post on Facebook theorized that the two disasters were connected by a plot to steal the election. 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 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 . Posts include debunked conspiracy claims attempting to tie the Nashville explosion Dominion voting systems. The following three posts were flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. But none of this is true. 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. The question is.. More:Fact check: No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. We rate thisclaim as FALSE, because it wasn't supported by our research. ES&S confirmed they had sold scanners with wireless modems to at least 11 states. The voting rights of more than 55,000 formerly incarcerated Minnesotans were restored on Friday, as Gov. "What we should do is remove all of the unnecessary, hackable pathways, such as modems. Warner died in the blast, according to authorities. A newly-released court filing in the Dominion voting machines defamation lawsuit . Behind it is the notion that if voting systems are not online, hackers will have a harder time compromising them. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Some posts have said the Nashville explosion was caused by a missile. 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). Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine manufacturer founded in Canada, made equipment that is used in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Sumit Ganguli is the CEO and Member of the Board at GAVS Technologies. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. 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. Statement:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. There is no evidence that the New York printing company whose building burnt down on Christmas Day was under investigation for printing false ballots. "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. Examples can be seen here , here and here . Videos from law enforcement officials and local businesses show that the explosion occurred on 2nd Avenue North in downtown Nashville. 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.. Copyright 2023 Politifact. But he has no idea if that will ever be possible. Earlier this week, Skoglund showed NBC three election systems were still online even after officials had been told they were vulnerable. "Thats an interesting coincidence.". But now, some state officials worry that the machines may pose a security risk and are pushing to have the modems removed. But companies that specialize in the subject said it is getting exponentially worse. We therefore again respectfully request that EAC investigate and take action to correct this serious issue., Once you add that modem, you are de-certifying it, Skoglund said. 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 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 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. Some users seemed to recognize the story as fake, but others didnt. Oltmann claimed that Coomer said with a laugh on the call that he would make sure Trump didn't win the election. 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. These claims are groundless. DNA found at the scene matched Warner's, according to an FBI press release. Rumors about an investigation into the company do not even appear in web searches until after the fire. 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. "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. First, QAnon. This material may not be reproduced without permission. 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. 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. why?" But the company did not account for the new voting centers, so the Williamson County. 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. . 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. 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. CNN didnt report that Anthony Warner, the person authorities have identified as the bomber, died from COVID-19. More:Fact check: Joe Biden legally won presidential election, despite persistent contrary claims. There may not be answers to the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville anytime soon. Now the process of counting these votes . 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. 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. 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. 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. Its true that an AT&T-owned building in Nashville was one of many buildings damaged in Fridays. So did the type of explosives used to detonate the blast. Thank you for supporting our journalism. For election systems to be online, even momentarily, presents a serious problem, according to Appel. Facebook post:The Nashville bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. . Authorities still dont know the reason for the Christmas day bombing, but theres no evidence it was election related. 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 ). 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. More than a month ago, Eric Coomer went into hiding. Conspiracy theorists say the suicide bombing that rocked downtown Nashville was actually the result of a missile strike. Both sit on Dominion's board. 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. 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. Donate State Editions California Florida Bogus conspiracy theory spreading online claims the Nashville bombing was an attempt to cover up voter fraud. Powell was one of the faces of the Trump. For Coomer, that means his life may be forever changed. 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. The bomber was lateridentified by U.S. Attorney Don Cochranas Anthony Warner, 63, according to The Tennessean. Select an Infowars smear of Dominion Voting Systems. 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. In counties that used Dominion systems, Biden got 888,259 votes to Trump's 851,069. There can still be security holes that allow hackers to get into the phone network.. The explosion injured three people and damaged several businesses, including the AT&T Building. According to the post, that firm ownedthe AT&T building outside of which the Christmas bombing occurred. 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. NBC News asked the two other major manufacturers how many of their tabulators with modems were currently in use. No one is currently working out of the building. In 2006, Cerberus Capital acquired it, according to a 2006 News Channel 5 Nashville report. These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth. All rights reserved. And I don't know that all these jurisdictions are aware of that because ES&S is advertising otherwise.. ", 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.". Federal officials have identified the man believed to be behind the bombing, and they are working to discern a motive. 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. This screengrab is being shared on social media without that context. "Some of the threats that I've gotten have made very clear that these actors are in it for the long haul. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. 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. 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 Christmas morning bomb went off on Second Avenue, outside an AT&T transmission building. 2023 www.statesman.com. Across the country on Christmas Eve, a printing press company in New York burned to the ground. The machines America votes on seem to be capturing the interest of some in Congress. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software. Singer reportedly funded the original investigation That team of election security experts say that last summer, they discovered some systems are, in fact, online. 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.. 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. That agreement is long over, and they no longer have the . The ATT building in Nashville that was affected by the bomb was owned by Cerebus (sic) Capital. 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. Owens, the other co-founder of Staple Street Capital,did not work for Cerberus, despite the post's claim. 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). Please note the instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. 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 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. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. ", Both Snopes and AFP reached the same conclusion. February 28, 2023, 1:26 PM. Fact-checkers have debunked claims that the explosion was the result of a missile strike. Nashville's date on June 7 at GEODIS Park will feature Kelsea Ballerini and BRELAND -- and now, The Boykinz. 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,. Heres more information on Facebooks fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536. The claim implies the explosion was an elaborate plot to destroy voting machines that might have yielded evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. "And I probably will. Hart said that it has approximately 1,600 such tabulators in use in 11 counties in Michigan. False. CLAIM: AT&T got a contract to do a forensic audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines and those machines were recently moved . 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. Were focusing on moving forward.. 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. 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. he instructions and videos shown here have been prepared by the manufacturers and are general in nature. The companys sales manager, John Mealey ( here , here ), also spoke about the rumor to local ABC affiliate WHAM-TV, saying: Its crazy, the amount of misinformation that you see.. Before starting Staple Street Capital, Yaghoobzadeh worked as a senior vice president for private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Shasta County has become a hotbed for unproven conspiracy theories about rigged voting, fueled by former . APS ASSESSMENT: False. Previous claims had said the bomb had targeted the AT&T building and that Dominion Voting Systems machines were being audited there(here). 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. Both companies have denied the posts claims, saying that there was no such audit and that Dominions machines were not recently transported to Nashville. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has dismissed the claim of an election hacking and vote manipulation operation known as Hammer and Scorecard. (here). 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. "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. 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. Jim Greer, a spokesperson for AT&T, told USA TODAY the claims are "not true. 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 if an election is run perfectly, it doesn't matter to a sizable portion of the public who believes it was unfair. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. This is bogus. "I've been threatened more times than I could even count. 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. Both Dominion Voting Systems andAT&T confirmed the communications company was not contracted to audit Dominion's machines. Speaker 13 . This conspiracy theory has been debunked by various experts as reported by Reuters here and other fact checkers including Snopes, Factcheck.org and PolitiFact here , here and here . Full Story. Its true that an AT&T-owned building in Nashville was one of many buildings damaged in Fridays bombing, causing widespread communications outages. He claimed on his podcast that he'd infiltrated a call with Denver-area antifa members that included a man identified as "Eric from Dominion.". 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 . 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 ). 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. Even for elections nights., Appel agreed. "I'm in fear for my family's safety. 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. 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. Their evidence: a grainy black-and-white video. Next theory: The bombing was an attempt to stop an AT&T audit into Dominion software and cover up election corruption. 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 FBI confirmed that a man named Anthony Warner was responsible for the bombing and was killed in the blast. 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.