The Justice Department is seeking information on at least seven people in connection with hacking a Colorado county’s election system as part of efforts to sway the 2020 election, according to subpoena documents obtained by CNN that reveal new details about the scope of the investigation. .
The subpoena issued to MyPillow CEO Mike Liddell earlier this week lists the names of people considered “subjects” of the investigation — including people involved in efforts to seize voting machine data in several states, as former President Donald Trump and his allies tried to overturn his electoral decision. loss. Lindell has not been charged with any crimes or misdemeanors.
It’s unclear if federal investigators have opened probes into what happened in other states, but the subpoena shows they are gathering evidence related to three possible crimes in Mesa County, Colorado: identity theft, intentional damage to a protected computer and/or conspiracy for the commission.
The subpoena covers “all records and information” on Lindell’s phone that constitute evidence against seven named individuals or any other unnamed co-conspirators. It details various areas of interest to researchers related to Dominion voting systems and any attempts to damage or access them.
Liddell was part of the broader effort to find evidence of voter fraud after the 2020 election, aimed at supporting former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the election was rigged.
Earlier this year, Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was indicted on 10 counts related to allegations of voting machine tampering after an apparent security breach at the Mesa County election office in May 2021. Peters has pleaded not guilty.
Peters appeared last year at Lindell’s “Cyber Symposium,” a gathering of election naysayers that promoted a number of debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
In addition to Peters, the subpoena issued to Lindell sought information on a half-dozen others who have been linked to efforts in Colorado and other states to access voting data.
Most of the individuals are directly connected to the Mesa County system.
Two of the people, Belinda Knisley and Sandra Brown, were Peters’ deputies in the Mesa County election office and were indicted in the Colorado state case earlier this year.
Knisley reached a settlement last month in exchange for her cooperation. According to the agreement, Knisley told investigators that Peters created a scheme in which she helped an unauthorized person enter secure areas inside the clerk’s office and county election equipment. Knisley told investigators the person was Conan Hayes, who was also listed on Lindell’s subpoena. (Hayes has not been charged.)
Lindell told CNN last summer that he had paid Hayes and other so-called cyber experts “a lot of money” to examine what he described as data from the 2020 election.
Hayes, an election denialist turned surfer, was part of the team of pro-Trump operatives who accessed voting systems in Antrim County, Michigan, in early December 2020. He worked with the likes of Cyber Ninja CEO Doug Logan to produce a -report on County Antrim Dominion voting machines used by the former President and his allies as evidence of widespread election fraud.
Lindell told CNN last year that he paid Hayes and other “cyber forensics experts” to analyze data from the 2020 election.
Hayes and Logan did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Additionally, the subpoena cited Sherronna Bishop, the former 2020 campaign manager for Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who is a close ally of Peters and has appeared with the embattled county clerk at various political rallies and in several social media videos. networking.
In November 2021, the FBI and local investigators executed a search warrant at Bishop’s home as part of the Mesa County security breach investigation.
Lawyer explains DOJ subpoena ‘blitzkrieg’ ahead of midterm elections
Bishop is a pro-choice denier and has posted several far-right conspiracy theories on a Facebook page she runs called “America’s Mom.” She has also posted photos with Lindell and Trump. Asked about her name appearing on the subpoena served on Lindell, Bishop told CNN in a text message that she continues to “stand by and fully support the creation of forensic images by employee Tina Peters.” He also has not been charged.
Lindell’s subpoena also listed Douglas Frank, who has gained prominence in the Trump world with his theories about the 2020 election results. Frank told CNN he has trained groups in 30 states so far on how to examine their electoral rolls to reveal possible fraud and that more have asked for help. It’s part of his claim that state voter registration rolls are bloated with fraudulent or “phantom” voters.
Frank previously said he began focusing on building relationships with election officials in December 2020 and has recruited dozens, including clerks and other offices, in counties across the country to support their effort. Frank claimed Lindell provided financial support for his work, paying for flights and other expenses.
“I work with dozens of election officials across the country. I keep their identities confidential unless they want to go public,” Frank said in January.
Frank told CNN he has not received a subpoena from federal investigators or heard from the FBI, but indicated he expects to. He has not been charged with any crime.
Lindell has emerged as one of the most vocal boosters still pushing false claims about the 2020 election. In a series of so-called documentaries, Lindell has advanced an increasingly outlandish theory that foreign hackers broke into election computer systems offices to change votes – in what he described as the “biggest cybercrime in world history”.
He is also one of the few people still fighting to block the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot from obtaining their phone records and has been embroiled in a months-long legal battle with the committee.
