Members of former President Donald Trump’s legal team were connected to a voting breach in Coffee County, Georgia, after the 2020 presidential election, according to emails and text messages reportedly in the possession of Atlanta-area prosecutors.
The evidence collected by prosecutors since January 2021 allegedly depicts an effort that was led by Trump’s team in the county, CNN reported.
The breach had been in tandem with a widespread effort in Georgia to gather data that backed claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
According to the report, the correspondences detail discussions to access the voting software just days before the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Access to the voting software was reportedly gained by Trump’s team about a week after a local elections official, identified as Misty Hampton, sent a “written invitation” to the attorneys.
On Jan. 1, this invitation was disseminated throughout Trump’s orbit. An attorney working with Rudy Guiliani, Katherine Friess, Sidney Powell, and others shared the invite with others working with Trump’s team. Members of Sullivan Strickler, which was a firm that Trump’s attorneys hired to investigate the county’s voting systems, were some of the recipients, per CNN.
In texts, Friess later told operatives that eventually breached the system that written permission had been secured by the former president’s team.
The texts also appeared to link Guiliani further to the Georgia case. A text from a Sullivan Strickler employee, also on Jan. 1, said, “Just landed back in DC with the Mayor huge things starting to come together!”
“Most immediately, we were just granted access — by written invitation! — to Coffee County’s systems. Yay!” the employee added.
The revelation comes as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is set to bring her case before a grand jury sometime this week. Willis indicated that charges would be levied in mid-August, and reports have suggested that there could be as many as 12 indictments on the table.
Several individuals involved in the voting systems breach in Coffee County are among those who may face charges in the criminal probe.
