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BumRushDaShow

(127,308 posts)
Fri May 13, 2022, 09:57 AM May 2022

Georgia county under scrutiny after claim of post-election breach

Source: Washington Post

A former elections supervisor in rural Coffee County, Ga., has told The Washington Post that she opened her offices to a businessman active in the election-denier movement to help investigate results she did not trust in the weeks after President Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat. Trump had carried the conservative county by 40 points, but elections supervisor Misty Hampton said she remained suspicious of Joe Biden’s win in Georgia.

Hampton made a video that went viral soon after the election, claiming to show that Dominion Voting System machines, the ones used in her county, could be manipulated. She said in interviews that she hoped the Georgia businessman who visited later, Scott Hall, and others who accompanied him could help identify vulnerabilities and prove “that this election was not done true and correct.” Hampton said she could not remember when the visit occurred or what Hall and the others did when they were there.

She said they did not enter a room that housed the county’s touch-screen voting machines, but she said she did not know whether they entered the room housing the election management system server, the central computer used to tally election results. “I’m not a babysitter,” she told The Post. Hall, who owns a bail bond business, did not respond to requests for comment. Voting experts said that, whether they accessed sensitive areas or not, Hampton’s actions underscore a growing risk to election security.

In the year and a half since the 2020 election, there has been steady drumbeat of revelations about alleged security breaches in local elections offices — and a growing concern among experts that officials who are sympathetic to claims of vote-rigging might be persuaded to undermine election security in the name of protecting it. “Insider threat, while always part of the threat matrix, is now a reality in elections,” said Matt Masterson, who previously served as a senior U.S. cybersecurity official tracking 2020 election integrity for the Department of Homeland Security.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/05/13/coffee-county-misty-hampton-election/

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Georgia county under scrutiny after claim of post-election breach (Original Post) BumRushDaShow May 2022 OP
So she's very concerned about election results underpants May 2022 #1
i.e.... paleotn May 2022 #8
Oh I've been to that part of Georgia underpants May 2022 #10
And this shit is happening right under our noses Novara May 2022 #2
This is all happening gab13by13 May 2022 #3
"because DOJ failed to prosecute the Cyber Ninjas." BumRushDaShow May 2022 #6
Hope they nab her. She is paid to follow the rules, not look the other way. /nt bucolic_frolic May 2022 #4
"I'm not a babysitter"? I bet she doesn't let folks wander around her bail bond business. Midnight Writer May 2022 #5
Yes--you ARE a babysitter Bayard May 2022 #7
Hall is an election official who opened her office Yet "Hampton said she could not remember when the riversedge May 2022 #9
"... investigate results she did not trust." Grins May 2022 #11
They did similar here in PA in a deep red county BumRushDaShow May 2022 #12
WTF is wrong with the goobers? AverageOldGuy May 2022 #13
K&R ck4829 May 2022 #14

underpants

(182,276 posts)
1. So she's very concerned about election results
Fri May 13, 2022, 10:03 AM
May 2022

but she lets WhoTF ever in and doesn’t watch where they go or do?

paleotn

(17,781 posts)
8. i.e....
Fri May 13, 2022, 11:50 AM
May 2022

she's full of shit. When it comes to her county's voting equipment, yes, by all means, she is a babysitter. Even in Bumfuck County, GA. Especially in Bumfuck county, GA.

underpants

(182,276 posts)
10. Oh I've been to that part of Georgia
Fri May 13, 2022, 12:01 PM
May 2022

Not THAT Bumfuck, another Bumfuck in the NW corner. MTG’s district.

Novara

(5,754 posts)
2. And this shit is happening right under our noses
Fri May 13, 2022, 10:03 AM
May 2022

Everyone sees them taking control of voting so they can manipulate the results yet nothing is being done about it. Everyone knows they use the lie to gain control of voting so they can manipulate the results. Everyone knows "voter fraud" is a lie. We all know all of this shit because it's in the open. Yet nothing is being done.

Once Manchin and Sinema went on the record to protect the filibuster rather than to protect voting, Congress just dropped it.

gab13by13

(20,864 posts)
3. This is all happening
Fri May 13, 2022, 10:25 AM
May 2022

because DOJ failed to prosecute the Cyber Ninjas.

By the bye, have the Cyber Ninjas turned over their documents yet? Have they paid their 50k per day fine for not turning over the documents?

The insurrection, the coup keeps growing.

BumRushDaShow

(127,308 posts)
6. "because DOJ failed to prosecute the Cyber Ninjas."
Fri May 13, 2022, 11:06 AM
May 2022

What would they be "prosecuting" them for?

As much as I want that whole outfit thrown in jail, even with them now now bankrupt, that whole mess with them was going on internally in a state and under a state authority, so the feds' hands are tied outside of demanding that they keep the election records intact for just under 2 years.

In the AZ case against Cyber Ninjas, the lawsuit that you are referring to demanding documents that have not been produced, meaning the schlock company is racking up the fines, is not a federal lawsuit, but a state one, and the state courts are deciding it.




American Oversight
@weareoversight
NEW: In response to our lawsuit, the Arizona Senate has released over a thousand pages of records from Cyber Ninjas related to the 2020 election “audit.” We’re still reviewing the files. We’ll post updates in this thread and here:
americanoversight.org
American Oversight Obtains Arizona Election ‘Audit’ Records Previously Held by Cyber Ninjas -...
On Tuesday, the Arizona Senate released a set of records, previously held by former Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, related to the sham “audit” of the 2020 election in Maricopa County.
5:27 PM · May 10, 2022


That group "American Oversight" has been fantastic (along with Marc Elias' Democracy Docket) in terms of using the state court systems to fight back against the GOP fraud. They were also able to obtain copies of the "fake electors" through EFOIA and get them posted.

Arizona justices to decide if public has right to see Cyber Ninja election audit records

Attorneys for American Oversight said the audit was an administrative procedure and not a legitimate investigation of a crime.

Michael McDaniel / May 10, 2022


PHOENIX (CN) — The Arizona Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday over whether the state Senate has the authority to conceal records from an audit of the 2020 presidential election. American Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group, filed suit in 2021 after Arizona Republicans contracted the private firm Cyber Ninjas to audit the results of the 2020 election. The now-defunct Cyber Ninjas found President Joe Biden was lawfully elected but identified what it considered to be 53,304 questionable ballots. Maricopa County investigated the authenticity of those ballots and determined that only 37 may have been illegally cast.

The case landed before the Arizona Supreme Court after the Arizona Court of Appeals and a trial judge rejected the state Senate’s assertion that legislative privilege granted some documents protection against disclosure. The state’s high court has barred the court-ordered release of the records while it considers the case. Andy Gaona of Coppersmith Brockelman, representing American Oversight before the court Tuesday, argued that legislative privilege is not a political tool to hide information. “[Legislative] privilege is not intended to benefit individual legislators; it is not intended to protect them from embarrassment,” Gaona said.

“It is not intended to allow them to shield communications as they see fit. What it’s intended to do is to benefit the public by ensuring that their elected representatives — and this is what Appeals says — are not held either criminally or civilly liable for their actions.” Gaona said the Speech or Debate Clause in the U.S. Constitution protects politicians when they’re legitimately acting in the sphere of the Legislature. The purpose of the clause is to prevent officials or executives from influencing or arresting those they disagree with, and to protect members from civil suits related to their official duties.

American Oversight’s lawsuit questioned the extent of that sphere for the audit leader and president of the Arizona Senate, Karen Fann. American Oversight contends communications between Cyber Ninjas and Fann may not fall into that privilege. “Text messages re: legislative discussions about the audit that are between President Fann and Doug Logan, I don’t understand how legislative privilege can attach that necessarily,” Gaona said. “There’s not enough information.” Doug Logan is the former CEO of Cyber Ninjas.

https://www.courthousenews.com/arizona-supreme-court-to-determine-if-the-public-has-a-right-to-access-cyber-ninja-related-audit-records/

Midnight Writer

(21,547 posts)
5. "I'm not a babysitter"? I bet she doesn't let folks wander around her bail bond business.
Fri May 13, 2022, 10:47 AM
May 2022

And I bet she doesn't let folks browse through her business computers and file cabinets.

But to a MAGA, this is good government.

Bayard

(21,805 posts)
7. Yes--you ARE a babysitter
Fri May 13, 2022, 11:48 AM
May 2022

And I'm assuming, a paid official.

I'm betting she didn't check this, "businessman's" credentials that showed up on her doorstep either.

MAGA idiot.

riversedge

(69,722 posts)
9. Hall is an election official who opened her office Yet "Hampton said she could not remember when the
Fri May 13, 2022, 11:51 AM
May 2022

So she just let them roam free? damn, she should be fired Post haste. Or charged with dereliction of duty.

"Hampton said she could not remember when the visit occurred or what Hall and the others did when they were there."

Grins

(7,134 posts)
11. "... investigate results she did not trust."
Fri May 13, 2022, 12:06 PM
May 2022

Trump got 70% of the vote.
And she doesn’t trust the results.
So Trump didn’t win?

The Georgia Republican candidates now in office are there illegally?

Please proceed…!

BumRushDaShow

(127,308 posts)
12. They did similar here in PA in a deep red county
Fri May 13, 2022, 12:32 PM
May 2022

that as part of a preliminary kick-off of a select "2020 election audit". The county that volunteered itself voted 84% for 45, the highest percentage in the state. The state SOS (who is a Democrat) promptly decertified their equipment -

July 22, 20213:36 AM EDT
Last Updated 10 months ago

Pennsylvania decertifies county's voting machines after 2020 audit

By Nathan Layne



July 21 (Reuters) - Pennsylvania's top election official has decertified the voting equipment of a rural county that participated in an audit of the 2020 election requested by a Republican state lawmaker and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump. Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid said on Wednesday that Fulton County violated the state election code by giving a third party access to its election databases and other certified equipment in an audit of the 2020 results.

The audit was conducted in December at the request of Republican state Senators Doug Mastriano and Judy Ward, who asked county officials to allow Wake Technology Services Inc to probe the county's results, according to media reports. Degraffenreid's announcement was the latest salvo in a battle between Mastriano, a promoter of Trump's false stolen-election claims who is now waging an effort to conduct a wider "forensic investigation" into Trump's loss in the state, and the administration of Democratic Governor Tom Wolf.

"These actions were taken in a manner that was not transparent," Degraffenreid said. "As a result of the access granted to Wake TSI, Fulton County's certified system has been compromised." Fulton County officials and Wake TSI, based outside of Philadelphia, did not respond to requests for comment. The company was at one point also involved in a contentious audit of the vote in Arizona. Neither Mastriano nor Ward responded to an email seeking comment on Wednesday.

Degraffenreid said that Dominion Voting Systems, which leases tabulation machines to the county, also could not verify that its equipment was safe to use. Fulton County received notification from Dominion that it was in violation of its contract and needed to pay $25,000 to lease new equipment for the May 2021 primary, the Fulton County News reported last month. There has been no indication that the Fulton County audit turned up any irregularities.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pennsylvania-decertifies-countys-voting-machines-after-2020-audit-2021-07-21/


I am guessing the real motive was to get into the machines to see how they operated so they could rig them in the future.

One of the ones who "ordered" this is the front-runner for Governor of PA - insurrectionist extraordinaire Doug Mastriano.

Meanwhile Dominion, et al, has been moving forward with their defamation lawsuits against multiple parties -

Court Lets Challenge Against Former Overstock CEO Move Forward—Here’s Where Dominion And Smartmatic’s Defamation Suits Stand Now

Alison DurkeeForbes Staff
Apr 21, 2022,01:55pm EDT
Updated Apr 21, 2022, 09:41am EDT

Topline Voting company Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne can move forward, a judge ruled Wednesday, as Dominion and rival company Smartmatic pursue 11 defamation lawsuits over baseless election fraud claims about their voting machines. U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols ruled Dominion had a defamation case against Byrne and “that a reasonable jury could find Byrne acted with actual malice” in spreading provably false assertions about Dominion and its voting machines.

Dominion sued Byrne, who has become known for spreading election conspiracy theories after stepping down from Overstock in 2019, in August, alleging the businessman “manufactured and promoted fake evidence to convince the world that the 2020 election had been stolen” using Dominion voting machines, and accused him of doing so in order to boost his own investments in blockchain voting technology.

(snip)

What To Watch For

It’s unclear whether additional lawsuits will still be filed, but Dominion has identified more than 150 people as potential targets of litigation, and it sent letters to preserve evidence and warning of potential litigation to right-wing figures including pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood Melissa Carone, who Giuliani has promoted as a witness to supposed voter fraud efforts. The company sent letters to social media networks in February 2021 asking them to preserve posts from Trump and his campaign, as well as from Trump allies including former Trump advisor Michael Flynn, Pirro, Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis and far-right political commentator Dan Bongino. Dominion attorney Stephen Shackelford confirmed to reporters in August the company is still considering bringing additional lawsuits, saying the company is “still exploring options” as to how to hold others accountable and has “not ruled out other parties.”

Big Number

$1.6 billion. That’s approximately how much Dominion is asking for in damages against Byrne, OANN, Newsmax and Fox News. Its lawsuits against Powell, Giuliani and Lindell are each seeking $1.3 billion in damages. Smartmatic’s Fox News lawsuit is seeking $2.7 billion in damages, but its OANN, Newsmax and Lindell complaints do not specify exact figures.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/04/21/after-court-lets-fox-news-challenge-move-forward-heres-where-dominion-and-smartmatic-defamation-suits-stand-now-and-who-could-be-next/?sh=427dc08e20e2

AverageOldGuy

(1,462 posts)
13. WTF is wrong with the goobers?
Fri May 13, 2022, 03:17 PM
May 2022

I live in a red rural VA county where I have been on the county's three-person Electoral Board for 11 years. Our voting machines, ballots, and anything else that we deem to be sensitive is locked in a vault with two locks on the door and no one has both keys.

NOBODY goes into the vault with the voting equipment except us three EB members, the registrar, and her one deputy registrar. When we are setting up an election, a couple of volunteer firefighters (young guys with strong backs) come into the vault to help carry equipment out to a county truck and together we haul equipment, ballots, etc., around to our five precincts where the people working at the polls sign for the equipment. We reverse the system to pick up and return to the vault on election night.

Equipment is sealed and locked and no one has access to anything except the vote-counting scanners at each precinct -- and the only access there is to turn the machine on in the morning and off when the polls close. Voters stick marked ballots into the slot where the ballot is scanned, tallied, and dropped into a locked ballot box under two-person control. The folks working at our precincts would likely kick your ass if you tried to screw around with their voting equipment.

We do not allow anyone into the vault -- not County Supervisors, not the Sheriff, not Deputies, not anyone.

WTF is wrong with these goddam Georgia goobers???

Oh, wait . . . I answered my own question.

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