By KATE BRUMBACK
ATLANTA (AP) — A Republican Party official in Georgia informed a pc forensics staff to repeat parts of the voting system at a rural elections workplace two months after the 2020 election and spent almost all day there, contradicting her sworn deposition testimony about her position within the alleged breach of the tools, a brand new courtroom submitting says.
The submitting late Monday is a part of a broader lawsuit difficult the safety of the state’s voting machines that has been drawn right into a separate investigation of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss in Georgia. The obvious breach occurred on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters in search of to cease the certification of the election.
Interior safety digicam video from the Coffee County elections workplace reveals Cathy Latham, the county Republican Party chair on the time, welcomed the pc forensics staff when it arrived, launched the staff to native election officers and spent almost all day there. She additionally instructed the staff what to repeat, which turned out to be “virtually every component of the voting system,” the submitting says. The video immediately refutes Latham’s testimony in a sworn deposition and her representations in filings with the courtroom, the doc states.
The submitting is available in response to Latham’s attorneys’ try and quash subpoenas for her private digital gadgets, together with any cellphones, computer systems and storage gadgets.
Robert Cheeley, an lawyer for Latham, didn’t reply to an e mail in search of remark. He beforehand stated his shopper doesn’t bear in mind all the main points of that day. But he stated she “would not and has not knowingly been involved in any impropriety in any election” and “has not acted improperly or illegally.”
Latham stated in a deposition final month that she moved to Texas over the summer season. In January 2021, she was chair of the Coffee County Republican Party and was the state get together caucus chair for greater than 125 of Georgia’s smaller counties. Latham additionally was one among 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificates in December 2020 falsely stating that Trump had received the state and declaring that they have been the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.
Trump the truth is misplaced Georgia by almost 12,000 votes to Democrat Joe Biden. The investigation into Trump’s efforts to vary the outcomes features a telephone name he made to the Georgia secretary of state, a fellow Republican, suggesting he may “find” simply sufficient votes to make Trump the winner.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat who’s main that investigation, has notified Latham and the opposite faux electors that they might face felony fees.
The Georgia secretary of state’s workplace has described the copying of knowledge from Coffee County’s election system as an “alleged unauthorized access” and final month requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to get entangled. It’s the most recent of a number of suspected breaches of voting system knowledge across the nation tied to Trump allies since his election loss.
Attorney Sidney Powell and different Trump allies have been concerned in arranging for the copying of the election tools in Coffee County — which is residence to 43,000 individuals and voted overwhelmingly for Trump — as a part of a wider effort to entry voting tools in a number of states, in response to paperwork produced in response to subpoenas within the long-running lawsuit over Georgia’s voting machines.
Latham’s “data likely will reveal additional details about the work performed and information obtained in the breach, what was done with the compromised software and data, and the people involved in planning and orchestrating the breach, which puts voters and future elections at enormous risk,” the submitting says.
An exhibit hooked up to the Monday submitting juxtaposes quotes from Latham’s deposition with photos pulled from safety digicam footage that seem to immediately contradict her statements.
Latham stated that she went to her job as a highschool trainer and stopped by the election workplace briefly that afternoon. But the video picture reveals her arriving at 11:37 a.m., and time stamps on different photos present her there all through a lot of the day. She additionally stated she didn’t see particular individuals and noticed others solely briefly, however the video photos present in any other case.
The lawsuit that features the struggle over Latham’s private digital gadgets was initially filed a number of years earlier than the 2020 election by particular person voters and the Coalition for Good Governance, an election safety advocacy group. It alleges that Georgia’s touchscreen voting machines will not be safe and seeks to have them changed by hand-marked paper ballots.
The Monday submitting stated the plaintiffs have recognized a number of paperwork that Latham failed to supply in response to a earlier subpoena. It seeks to have a 3rd get together make a brief forensic copy of her gadgets and seek for responsive paperwork.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”