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June 3, 2023
Coffee County Voters:
Tonight the Coffee County Board of Commissioners and the Board of Elections and Registration received the letter below from Susan Greenhalgh, an election security expert with the non-profit organization Free Speech For People. She learned from Open Records Requests this week that in September 2022, the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) requested the laptop Misty Hampton used when she was Election Director. But it appears that the County did not cooperate when requested to produce it. She reports this information to the two county boards in an email tonight (below), and urges the boards to take action to seek accountability related to these breaches.
Please email or text us your email address if you would like to be on our Coffee County update list to follow the events related to this massive voting system breaches. (704.292.9802)
Thank you for your interest.
Marilyn Marks
Marilyn@uscgg.org
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From: Susan Greenhalgh <susan@freespeechforpeople.org>
Date: Sat, Jun 3, 2023 at 8:40 PM
Subject: Coffee attorney failed to provide evidence to GBI in voting system breaches
To: <jimmy@americantruckparts.com>, <ajdovers@gmail.com>, <elect.tedosteen@gmail.com>, <oscarpaulk@gmail.com>, <johnnywaynejowers@gmail.com>, <wendellstone2000@yahoo.com>, <etclark@windstream.net>, <mwmccul@yahoo.com>, <athomas31552@gmail.com>, <tommypaula1966@gmail.com>
Cc: <robert@douglasnow.com>
Dear Commissioners and Members of the Board of Elections,
I am the senior advisor for election security at Free Speech For People, a national, non-partisan, non-profit legal advocacy organization committed to protecting democracy for all people. We are writing to you to make you aware of some troubling developments regarding the state's investigation into the unauthorized voting system access that occurred in Coffee County at least three times in early 2021.
Specifically, according to representations by a GBI officer in an email to county attorneys, Coffee County's attorney, Tony Rowell, denied a request made in September 2022 by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to turn over Misty Hampton's office laptop. It appears the laptop has not been taken into evidence by the GBI for nearly ten months after the investigation was opened, potentially degrading the evidence and depriving the GBI of a key piece of evidence for its investigation.
Further, the decision by Mr. Rowell not to produce the laptop to the GBI, after an agent requested it, suggests that the County may not be fully cooperating with the investigation.
Because of the grave election security implications for future elections, and the evidence indicating the breach in Coffee County was part of a larger multistate plot, our organization has called on the US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate. Through periodic open records requests we monitor developments regarding the voting system software breaches in Coffee County and any state or federal investigations.
In response to an open records request we made to the Coffee County Clerk and Open Records Officer, we received an email last week that was sent May 22, 2023 from GBI investigator Chris Baldwin to Coffee County attorney Jennifer Herzog. The email (attached) reads:
Good Afternoon Ms. Herzog,
On September 9, 2022 I took into evidence a black iPhone from Attorney Tony Rowell that was purportedly Misty Hayes' while she worked at the Coffee County Elections and Registration Office. At that time, there was also a laptop that Mr. Rowell advised was the one Hayes used; however, at that time he was not prepared to produce it. I am writing to inform you that the GBI would now like to take possession of the laptop, transport it to GBI HQ in Decatur, GA and get a search warrant on that item there. Please advise on how Coffee County would like to proceed.
We are sharing this information so that County Commissioners and Board of Elections may be fully aware of Mr. Rowell's decision not to produce the laptop to the GBI.
We also raise this as this incident suggests the GBI is failing to conduct a vigorous and effective investigation of the state’s voting system breaches that were initiated in Coffee County.
It is our understanding that the County Commissioners will be meeting Monday, and the Election Board on Tuesday. We urge both sets of officials to take up the question of why the county attorney did not turn over to the GBI the laptop Ms. Hampton used, after the GBI requested it. We also urge both boards to make a formal decision to increase transparency and accountability relating to the information concerning the breaches to ensure that the public is fully informed, and to ensure that all necessary security controls are in place to prevent such breaches in the future.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or if I can provide any additional information.
Susan Greenhalgh
Senior Advisor on Election Security
Free Speech For People
susan@freespeechforpeople.org
Emails between GBI and Coffee County attorneys
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Coalition for Good Governance is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on election security, integrity, and transparency.
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