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A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 7 september 2022
Video fills in details on alleged Ga. election system breach

By KATE BRUMBACK copying is happening.
Associated Press During a deposition last
ATLANTA (AP) — Two month, Chaney declined
months after the 2020 presi- to answer many questions
dential election, a team about that day, citing the
of computer experts trav- Fifth Amendment. But when
eled to south Georgia to an attorney representing
copy software and data the county reached out to
from voting equipment in him in April regarding ques-
an apparent breach of a tions from the The Washing-
county election system. ton Post, Chaney wrote, "I
They were greeted outside am not aware of nor was
by the head of the local I present at the Coffee
Republican Party, who was County Board of Elections
involved in efforts by then- and Registration's office
President Donald Trump to when anyone illegally ac-
overturn his election loss. cessed the server or the
A security camera outside room in which it is con-
the elections office in rural tained." Chaney resigned
Coffee County captured from the elections board
their arrival. The footage last month, days before his
also shows that some lo- deposition.
cal election officials were Attempts to reach Chaney
at the office during what In this Jan. 19, 2021 image taken from Coffee County, Ga., security video, Cathy Latham, bottom, by phone were unsuccess-
the Georgia secretary of who was the chair of the Coffee County Republican Party at the time, greets a team of computer ful, and his lawyer did not
state's office has described experts from data solutions company SullivanStrickler at the county elections office in Douglas, respond to an email seek-
Ga.
as "alleged unauthorized Associated Press ing comment.
access" of election equip- — About two weeks after
ment. trusted to keep it secure," pany SullivanStrickler to before 1:30 p.m., roughly the initial breach, video
Security footage from two said lawyer David Cross, travel to Coffee County, two hours after she greeted shows Misty Hampton —
weeks later raises addi- who represents plaintiffs in which Trump won by nearly the SullivanStrickler team. then the county elections
tional alarms — showing a long-running lawsuit over 40 percentage points. She returns a little before director — arriving at the
two people who were in- Georgia's voting machines. The surveillance video, 4 p.m. and then leaves elections office at 4:20 p.m.
strumental in Trump's wider The Coffee County secu- emails and other docu- around 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 18, when it was
efforts to undermine the rity footage was obtained ments that shed light on Latham said under oath closed for Martin Luther
election results entering the through that lawsuit, which what happened there in during a deposition in Au- King Jr. Day. She unlocked
office and staying for hours. alleges that Georgia's January 2021 were pro- gust that she stopped by the door and let in two
The security video from touchscreen voting ma- duced in response to sub- the elections office that men — Doug Logan and
the elections office in the chines are vulnerable to poenas issued in the vot- evening for "Just a few Jeff Lenberg, who have
county about 200 miles attack and should be re- ing machine lawsuit and minutes" and left before 5 been active in efforts to
(320 kilometers) southeast placed by hand-marked were obtained by The As- p.m. Pressed on whether challenge the 2020 elec-
of Atlanta offers a glimpse paper ballots. The suit long sociated Press. Parts of the she had been there ear- tion results.
of the lengths Trump's al- predates and is unrelat- security video appear to lier in the day, Latham said Logan founded Cyber Nin-
lies went in service of his ed to false allegations of contradict claims by some she couldn't recall but sug- jas, which participated in
fraudulent election claims. widespread election fraud of the local officials: gested her schedule as a a partisan and ultimately
It further shows how access pushed by Trump and his — Footage captures Cathy teacher would not have al- discredited review of the
allegedly was facilitated by allies after the 2020 elec- Latham, then chair of the lowed it. 2020 election in Maricopa
local officials entrusted with tion. Coffee County Republican Robert Cheeley, a law- County, Arizona. The two
protecting the security of The alleged breach in Cof- Party, arriving at the elec- yer for Latham said in an men remained inside until
elections while raising con- fee County's elections of- tions office shortly after emailed statement that his just after 8 p.m. and then
cerns about sensitive voting fice also has caught the 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2021, client doesn't remember all spent more than nine hours
technology being released attention of Fulton County the day after the violent the details of that day. But there the next day. Len-
into the public domain. District Attorney Fani Willis, assault on the U.S. Capitol. he said she "would not and berg returned for brief visits
Georgia wasn't the only who is overseeing an inves- Just a few weeks earlier, has not knowingly been in- on at least three more days
state where voting equip- tigation into whether Trump she was one of 16 Georgia volved in any impropriety later that month.
ment was accessed af- and his allies illegally tried Republicans who signed a in any election" and "has Hampton resigned as elec-
ter the 2020 presidential to influence the 2020 elec- certificate falsely stating not acted improperly or il- tions supervisor in February
election. Important infor- tion results in Georgia. that Trump had won the legally." 2021 after elections board
mation about voting sys- Last month, Willis cited the state and declaring that — The video also shows officials said she falsified
tems also was compro- Coffee County activity, they were the state's "duly Eric Chaney, a member of her timesheets. Attempts
mised in election offices among other things, when elected and qualified" Coffee County's election by the AP to reach her
in Pennsylvania,Michigan she sought to compel tes- electors. board, arriving shortly be- were unsuccessful.
and Colorado. Election timony from Sidney Pow- A few minutes after her ar- fore 11 a.m. the same day In a statement released by
security experts worry the ell, an attorney who was rival, she is seen outside and going in and out sever- its attorney, SullivanStrick-
information obtained — deeply involved in Trump's greeting SullivanStrickler al times before leaving for ler said the company was
including complete cop- effort to undo the election Chief Operating Officer the night around 7:40 p.m. retained by attorneys to
ies of hard drives — could results. Paul Maggio and two other Lawyers for the plaintiffs in forensically copy voting
be exploited by those who Emails and other records people. Less than 10 min- the voting machine lawsuit machines used in the 2020
want to interfere with future show Powell and other at- utes later, she escorts two wrote in a court filing that election and had no rea-
elections. torneys linked to Trump other men into the building. a photo produced by Sul- son to believe they would
"The system is only as secure helped arrange for a team The video shows her leav- livanStrickler's COO shows ask its employees to do
as the people who are en- from data solutions com- ing the elections office just Chaney in the office as the anything improper.q