CNN –
According to CNN, text messages and emails linked to Donald Trump’s legal team regarding the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County have been obtained by prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
The team of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is set to bring her case to a grand jury next week, where they are expected to name more than dozens of individuals. Individuals who were involved in the voting systems breach in Coffee County are also facing charges in this extensive criminal investigation.
The Georgia criminal investigation’s investigators have long suspected that the breach was not a spontaneous effort by Trump supporters in Coffee County, despite the county being won by him with almost 70% of the vote. They have also gathered evidence that it was aimed at accessing sensitive voting software from operatives without authorization.
As part of a larger effort to support the former president’s unfounded allegations of widespread fraud, Trump supporters sought access to voting machines after the 2020 election.
While Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his attempt to present fake electors were previously a significant part of Willis’ criminal investigation, the Coffee County voting system breach was initially viewed as primarily involving investigators. However, new evidence has emerged over the past year, revealing little information about the involvement of Trump’s lawyers, their hiring of operatives, and the breach’ impact on their wider election plans in other states.
The coffee-tablets and other court documents reveal that Trump’s lawyers and a group of hired operatives attempted to gain access to Coffee County voting machines in the days leading up to January 6, 2021, as his supporters searched for evidence of widespread fraud to delay Joe Biden’d election victory.
A former Trump official testified under oath to the House January 6 select committee that plans to access voting systems in Georgia were discussed during White House meetings last year, including an Oval Office meeting on December 18, 2020, which included Trump.
The local elections official who allegedly helped Trump’s legal team send a “written invitation” to his attorneys, six days before pro-Trump operatives gained access to voting systems, according to text messages obtained by CNN.
Multiple sources informed CNN that investigators have investigated the actions of several individuals involved, including Misty Hampton, a former Coffee County elections official who wrote the letter of invitation referenced in text messages and other documents handed over to prosecutors.
The involvement of Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell in the Fulton County investigation has been analyzed by sources close to the investigation.
Willis’ office declined to comment.
The letter of invitation and text messages obtained by CNN show were shared with attorneys and an investigator working with Giuliani.
A written request has been sent to access voting systems.
A group of Trump supporters received a “written invitation” from Katherine Friess, an attorney working with Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and other Trump allies to visit Coffee County on January 1, 2021, just before the January 7 voting systems breach.
Text messages obtained by CNN have revealed that the group was composed of Sullivan Strickler, a firm hired by Trump’s attorneys to investigate voting systems in the small, heavily Republican Georgia county.
Friess sent a “Letter of invitation to Coffee County, Georgia” on the same day that court documents revealed she had sent it to former NYPD Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, who was working with Giuliani to find evidence supporting their baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
The texts indicate that Friess notified Giuliani’s team and the Coffee County operatives that they had obtained written permission.
The invitation letter was not reviewed by CNN, but it is confirmed to have been sent to employees of Friess, Kerik and Sullivan Strickler.
Friess was unresponsive for a reply.
The messages and documents appear to tie Giuliani to the Coffee County hack, as well as reveal another line of communication between pro-Trump attorneys and the combative state operatives who collaborated to hand over sensitive voting machines to intruders.
Robert Costello, the attorney for Giuliani, stated that Rudy GiULIANI and Sidney Powell had no connection to this incident.
Sullivan Strickler, who was hired by Sidney Powell to study voting systems in Coffee County, wrote to colleagues during a group chat on January 1, saying that they had just returned to DC and that things had already begun to look good.
Other texts from the same person and at the time also consistently referred to former New York Mayor Giuliani as “the Mayor.”
Coffee County’s systems were opened to us through a written invitation right away. Thank you, sweethearts!
Introducing Coffee County to the territory.
Hampton, who remains the top election official for Coffee County, cautioned at a state election board meeting shortly after Election Day that Dominion voting machines could be easily manipulated to flip votes from one candidate to another. This assertion has been repeatedly discredited.
The Trump campaign officials were aware of Hampton’s situation and contacted him within 24 hours. According to documents obtained through a public records request and reported by the Washington Post, Hampton received an email from nefarious staff members seeking as much information as possible.
Hampton hindered the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia by refusing to validate the recount results by a crucial deadline, making Coffee County the only county in the state not to do so. Hampton raised issues during that time.
The video, which was uploaded by Hampton on the internet, allegedly revealed issues with the county’s Dominion voting system. Trump’S lawyers, including Giuliani, utilized the video to convince lawmakers in different states that there is evidence of flawed voting systems impacting the 2020 election results.
Trump supporters were reportedly seeking access to Coffee County’s voting center by mid-December, as evidenced by the text messages and other documents obtained by CNN, which highlight mounting demands for proof of widespread election fraud.
CNN has reported that draft executive orders were used to seize voting machines in Coffee County, which were presented to Trump on December 18, 2020, during a chaotic Oval Office meeting. Giuliani made reference to securing “voluntary access” to machines at the same meeting, as testified by him and others before the House January 6 committee.
According to CNN, Hampton shared a written invitation to access the county’s election office with Cathy Latham, aided by another location elections official.
Following her role as a fake elector from Georgia following the 2020 election, Latham has been under fire for her involvement in the Coffee County hack. Surveillance footage showed that she permitted unlicensed individuals to enter and examine voting machines.