Prosecutors have evidence of Trump allies’ involvement in unauthorized access to voting machines
According to a CNN report, prosecutors in Georgia have obtained text messages and emails that show some of former President Donald Trump’s legal team were connected to a voting system breach in a rural Georgia county in early 2021. The breach occurred in Coffee County, where people attempted to access voting machines to create evidence of voter fraud, as part of Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The report said that the texts and emails suggest that the breach was led by members of Trump’s team, rather than local Trump supporters acting alone. The texts showed that the invitation to access the voting machines was written by Misty Hampton, a former county official who previously made the baseless claim that Dominion voting machines could be easily manipulated.
The report also said that Trump’s legal team, including former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, knew of the invitation and indicated in a December White House meeting that they were excited about obtaining “voluntary access” to the machines.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has called the Coffee County breach “unauthorized access”, as Georgia law requires permission from the Secretary of State before any software is loaded onto or maintained or used on computers on which the election management system software is located.
Prosecutors are preparing for possible indictments in a multi-state case
The Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis and her team of prosecutors are reportedly preparing for more than a dozen indictments later this month, as they are pursuing a sweeping multi-state case that involves conspiracy and racketeering charges. Some of the individuals linked to the breach in Coffee County might also be charged in the larger criminal investigation, according to CNN.
The investigation by Willis has been ongoing for months, and it focuses on Trump’s attempts to pressure Georgia officials, including Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump also made an hourlong phone call to Raffensperger in January 2021, where he asked him to “find” enough votes to make him win the state.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed that he will never take a plea deal. He has also called the investigation a “witch hunt” and a “hoax”.
The breach in Coffee County was part of Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud
The breach in Coffee County was one of the many instances where Trump and his allies tried to find evidence of voter fraud in Georgia, where he lost to President Joe Biden by nearly 12,000 votes out of nearly 5 million ballots cast. Biden won Georgia by performing strongly in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, and its suburbs.
However, Trump refused to concede and claimed that he was the true winner of Georgia and other swing states. He and his allies filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the election results, but none of them succeeded. They also spread false and unfounded allegations of widespread fraud and irregularities involving Dominion voting machines, mail-in ballots, dead voters, and other issues.
Despite multiple audits, recounts, and investigations that confirmed Biden’s victory in Georgia and other states, Trump and his supporters continued to insist that the election was rigged and stolen from him. They also tried to pressure state legislators and Congress to reject Biden’s electoral votes and declare Trump as the winner.
The breach in Coffee County was part of this effort, as Trump’s legal team sought to access the voting machines before the certification of Biden’s electoral win. However, their attempt failed to produce any proof of fraud or manipulation.
