Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool

All Episodes

Previous Next

Aug. 16, 2021 - Epoch Times

19:13

New State Initiates Forensic Audit; Lawmaker Officially Launches Probe | Facts Matter

Large

Audio Only |

Scroll

Time	Text
	Good evening.
	You know, it seems to me that Arizona-style election audits are spreading throughout the entire country.
	For instance, over in Pennsylvania, where a forensic audit has already been initiated, a county there just sent this letter to the Senate saying that they are refusing to comply.
	Meanwhile, over in Georgia, the Speaker of the House just released this statement here, calling on Fulton County election officials to conduct what he called an independent forensic probe of the 2020 election.
	And lastly, over in Wisconsin, the head of the Wisconsin Assembly's Election Commission, she just came out and she likewise initiated a full comprehensive forensic examination of Wisconsin's 2020 presidential election.
	Actually, I got a chance to do something very cool.
	When I was down in Texas, I got a chance to sit down with Scott Walker, who was previously the governor of Wisconsin, and we discussed some of the problems that are currently facing the state's election system.
	Let's go through it all together.
	This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times.
	And today, I would like to start with a very special announcement.
	We here at The Epoch Times are expanding, and we are now hiring.
	And so, if you're watching this episode, and you have at least two years of professional experience as a reporter, or if someone you know has at least two years of professional experience, well, we'd love to speak to either them or to you.
	We're currently looking for full-time reporters across the entire country, and if you would like to apply, simply email careers at epictimes.com.
	That's careers at epictimes.com.
	And now, let's move on over to Pennsylvania.
	As we've already discussed in a previous episode, a state senator out in Pennsylvania, he sent letters to three different counties and officially triggered a forensic probe of the 2020 election.
	In that letter, this senator, who by the way is named Doug Mastriano, he's a Republican, he requested all of the documents, all of the records, as well as all the voting machines and tabulators that were used during the 2020 contest.
	He said that they all must be handed over to the Senate.
	However, it looks like things will not be going as smoothly as one might have expected.
	That's because just yesterday, one of the counties formally declined to allow the state Senate to access any of their election machines or other related information, unless the Senate agrees to give them money to purchase new machines.
	In fact, here is the letter right here that came from Tioga County, and it was addressed to Doug Mastriano, the senator who initiated this forensic audit, and here is what it says.
	As you know, in the interstice between your request and this response, the Secretary of State of Pennsylvania issued a directive that we and other counties must refuse to provide third-party access to our voting machines or she will decertify them, rendering them unusable in future elections.
	Now, I just want to pause here for a moment.
	What they're referring to here in this part of the letter is that after the senator requested all this election material to be handed over, the Pennsylvania Secretary of State's office, which is currently in the hands of the Democrats, they issued a directive which said that if any of these counties, actually if any county throughout the entire state, if any of them allow their machinery to be examined, then this machinery will be decertified.
	And once it's decertified, they will have to spend perhaps millions of dollars to replace it.
	Which actually raises a very interesting question if you think about it, which is that how can the legislature be said to possess investigatory powers over the elections if they can't even look at the machines without having them be decertified?
	Regardless, let's continue on with this letter.
	It goes on, quote, We are therefore not refusing to cooperate with your effort to audit the machines, as many have said.
	We have instead made clear through our senator, Chris Dush, that we would cooperate in any such effort so long as you could provide us funds to have new machines in place in time for the fall election.
	Now, I want to pause here again.
	What they're essentially saying is that they are willing to comply with the audit.
	They're not saying that they're ideologically opposed to the idea of it, but their concern is more of a practical matter.
	This county, Tioga County, is worried that if they comply with the state senate, then come autumn, come fall, they just won't be able to use the machinery that is in place to facilitate their local elections.
	Although, from what I've been reading online, it seems that a lot of people would actually welcome a return to more traditional elections with paper ballots and no machines.
	Regardless, the letter continues and it ends this way.
	Quote, We therefore decline your request at this time.
	Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we reached out to Doug Mace Triano, who is again the senator calling for this audit.
	He's the one this letter is addressed to.
	However, he did not get back to us in time for this video.
	However, on a previous occasion, when we got a chance to speak with him, he told us that if the counties refused to cooperate, what he would do is that he would convene the Senate committee and ask that formal subpoenas be issued, which is likely what's going to happen.
	The Senate will likely subpoena these machines from the county and compel that they be turned over.
	Now, for your reference, by the way, besides Sioga County, which has now officially declined to cooperate, the other two counties which were issued these letters were York County and Philadelphia County.
	And neither of these two other counties have yet to give a definitive answer as to whether they are going to comply with the request and hand over their election materials.
	And for your reference, by the way, they have until July 31st, which is tomorrow, to announce their compliance.
	And if they don't comply by then, or if they don't respond by then, once again, very likely what will happen is that subpoenas will be issued.
	And so all we have to do is wait until Monday to see what winds up happening.
	Now, if you'd like to read more about these developments over in Pennsylvania, including this full letter here from the county, I'll throw all those links into the description box below this video for you to check out.
	However, while we're on the topic of election audits, let's talk about what's happening over in Georgia.
	Oh, sorry.
	What's this?
	Well, that's a great question, Roman.
	And the answer is that it's today's sponsor, which is an awesome messaging company called Secure.
	And it's awesome if you're the type of person that actually cares about your privacy.
	Because it goes without saying that both government actors as well as big tech companies can spy on your documents, your emails, and your chat messages.
	I mean, I'm sure you've experienced that before, where you're messaging someone or emailing someone about a certain product or service, and then suddenly you're seeing ads for that exact same product or service.
	I mean, it's pretty obvious what's going on behind the scenes.
	However, with Secure, they have an answer to that problem because they have their own proprietary encryption technology, which allows you to send text messages, documents, as well as emails, and keep them safe and private.
	And largely, that's because they have their servers and their data center over in Switzerland.
	Now, why is that important?
	Well, Switzerland has the strictest data privacy laws in the entire world.
	That's what they say.
	And therefore, your messages are not subject to the Intrusive Cloud Act.
	And if you're interested to know what the Cloud Act is, you can go over to their website to secure his website and have a great explanation for it.
	And in my opinion, the best thing about secure over the other messaging apps that are out there is that you can communicate securely even if the recipient of your message does not use secure.
	Basically, you send a message to them.
	Let's say you send a text and it sends them a link.
	They click on that link and it establishes a secure connection that goes through Switzerland so that you can chat with them securely and privately, even if they don't have secure themselves.
	So go on over to secure.com, which is S-E-K-U-R dot com, and use promo code Roman to save 25% off.
	Their services don't cost that much.
	It's only $5 for the messenger and $10 for the email and the messenger package, and you can even save 25% off when you use the promo code Roman.
	Now, Secure, thank you so much for sponsoring our episode.
	Now, Roman in the studio, back to you.
	And now let's move on over to Georgia.
	Last week, the Speaker of the Georgia House, he said that Fulton County should be subject to an independent forensic probe of their 2020 election.
	Now, this, of course, comes after multiple reports have surfaced, which revealed alleged issues with both the November election as well as with the audit that occurred after the election over in Fulton County.
	Now, David Ralston, who is the Speaker of the House in Georgia, he's a Republican, he wrote this letter right here, where he brought up serious questions about how the election unfolded over in Fulton County.
	Which, by the way, for your reference, Fulton County is the largest county in Georgia, and it includes the city of Atlanta.
	Here's specifically what he wrote in this letter.
	Quote...
	Recently, media reports have surfaced which call into question the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted, and audited the November 2020 presidential election.
	These reports have been accompanied by video and other evidence which is part of ongoing litigation and requires thorough examination and explanation.
	Now, I want to pause here for a moment and mention that, like he says, there are indeed a lot of issues to be discussed over in Fulton County.
	However, due to the censorship on YouTube where we publish these episodes, I just don't believe it's prudent to go through them right now.
	Because even though my episodes, as I'm sure you're aware, are grounded in facts, even though I source every statement, and I try to give both sides of an issue, it frankly doesn't matter.
	Because the YouTube algorithm, it picks up on certain words, and then some latte-drinking 20-year-old kid in Silicon Valley...
	He or she makes the determination as to whether you have the right to watch my video or not on their platform.
	However, if you would like to know the specifics of what he's actually referring to over in Fulton County, all of the issues and anomalies that are being referenced in this letter, then you can go on over to Epic TV. Because on there, I publish two full episodes that go in-depth about what has been discovered thus far over in Fulton County.
	Now, if you're watching this episode on YouTube, the link will be right there at the top of the description box.
	You can click on it and check it out.
	Go on over to Epic TV. Or if you're watching this on television right now, you can just head on over to epictv.com slash factsmatter and check it out there.
	Regardless, let's get back to this letter and see what the Speaker of the House says.
	Given the seriousness of the situation and the possible repercussions for our state and nation, it is time we have an independent investigation, once and for all, of the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted, and audited the November 2020 presidential election.
	The speaker then goes on to urge the elections director over in Fulton County to go ahead and request a forensic probe by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and he suggested that they, quote, follow the evidence wherever it may lead to determine if any irregularities or willful fraud occurred.
	Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we reached out to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as well as to the Fulton County Elections Director for comment on this letter, but we have yet to hear back.
	However, Rob Pitts, who is the chairman of Fulton County's Board of Commissioners, he did issue a response.
	He said that Fulton County should not be investigated unless other counties in Georgia are looked at as well.
	Here's specifically what he said.
	While Fulton County is the largest county and therefore under the most scrutiny, it is also my understanding that other counties had issues in their elections and finding ballots not included in the initial tabulation.
	If you are requesting that Fulton County be the subject of such an investigation, then I believe it will only be fair that all counties with issues be subject to investigation.
	And it seems like that is exactly what some Republicans in the state are looking to do.
	For instance, Vernon Jones, who was formerly a state representative and now he's running for governor, he agreed that all of Georgia's counties should undergo a forensic audit.
	Here's specifically what he said.
	I'm glad to see that the Georgia Speaker of the House, David Ralston, and others are finally calling for a GBI, which is the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, investigation into the fraud being uncovered over in Fulton County.
	But as I have been screaming from the rooftops for months, we need a forensic audit in all 159 counties in Georgia.
	Now, what's interesting to note over in Georgia is that Republicans, they control both chambers of the legislature as well as the governor's office.
	However, until now, officials have been resisting doing an in-depth examination of the election.
	And so, while proponents of an audit say that Georgia should follow the investigation methods that, say, Arizona has done, critics are saying that there has already been multiple recounts in the state.
	However, there might be a change on the horizon since just last month there was a report issued by a bipartisan election investigator who found what he called massive issues with the 2020 Fulton County election.
	And so, we'll just have to wait and see whether this call here from the Speaker of the House for a forensic audit will actually be taken up.
	If you would like to read more about what's happening over in Georgia, including this full letter here, I'll throw that into the description box below this video for you to check out, which is, by the way, that same little description box that is right below that like button that I hope you take a quick moment to smash.
	Because honestly, it goes without saying that videos that are like this, that talk openly and transparently about what is happening in this world right now, are routinely censored by big tech giants like YouTube.
	However, when you smash that like button, it literally forces the YouTube algorithm to share this video out to potentially thousands, tens of thousands of new people, letting the truth be known far and wide.
	And now let's move on over to Wisconsin.
	As we already discussed in a previous episode, a Wisconsin lawmaker said that the reviews of the 2020 election, which are currently being conducted, should actually be expanded into what he called a full forensic audit.
	Now, in case you're not aware of what's been happening over in Wisconsin, earlier this year, the Wisconsin legislature authorized an investigation into the 2020 election, which is currently being carried out by a former state Supreme Court justice, several retired police officers, as well as the legislative audit bureau.
	However, just last week, Mr.
	Timothy Ranthan, he's a Republican lawmaker over in Wisconsin, he submitted a formal request to have this investigation expanded.
	Here's how he described his request.
	It is vital to our democratic process that the Wisconsin legislature acknowledges the alarming information that threatens the very fabric of our society.
	In order to preserve our God-given rights and ensure that citizens can have confidence in the integrity of our elections, I'm requesting it be added to the scope of the Wisconsin audit.
	Now, specifically, what he's asking to be added is a forensic component to the audit.
	And that appears to be exactly what is happening.
	Because just three days ago, Janet Branson, who is the head of the Wisconsin Assembly's Election Committee, she said that she will ensure that there is a comprehensive forensic examination of Wisconsin's 2020 election.
	Branchin was, by the way, one of the lawmakers who actually traveled over to Arizona to watch the election audit taking place in person, and now it appears that she will be conducting a similar investigation over in Wisconsin.
	Here's specifically what she said during her announcement.
	The people of Wisconsin deserve to know the truth about the 2020 election.
	In that same announcement, she then added that her committee will do a cyber forensic examination of the tabulators, the ballot marking devices, as well as other election-related equipment.
	Here's specifically what she said on that front.
	Voters have made it clear that they want a thorough cyber forensic examination of tabulators, ballot marking devices, and other election equipment, which I will be helping facilitate.
	IP addresses, chain of custody on ballots, and audit trail logs must be thoroughly inspected by cyber audit technicians in order to provide confidence for voters in our elections, both completed and For your reference, by the way, earlier this year, the Wisconsin Assembly, they voted to give Ms.
	Branchin's committee both investigatory powers as well as the power to subpoena.
	And so, it appears that she is indeed fully capable of initiating a forensic audit over in Wisconsin, and it looks like that's exactly what she's doing.
	Now, as soon as she issues either requests or subpoenas to these different counties, we'll let you know right away.
	However, on a related note, while I was down in Texas, I had the unique opportunity to sit down and interview Scott Walker, who is formerly the governor of Wisconsin, and during the interview, I asked him about his thoughts surrounding the Wisconsin elections, and his take on things was pretty interesting, to say the least.
	Here's part of that interview.
	Without question, is that over 200,000 absentee ballots that were cast in Wisconsin were not cast following the state statutes.
	About half of those were in violation of the law that says you have to ask for it in writing.
	Many of those in our two largest counties were handed out by the clerk and their staff.
	That's not what the law says to do.
	About the other half of those were people who'd failed to personally, the voter didn't fill in, write in their address.
	They may have signed their name and wrote their name, but they didn't write in the address.
	Elections officials said that it was okay to fill in, and it's not according to the statute.
	What the larger issue is going forward, though, is that many states need to change their laws and improve them.
	In the case of Wisconsin and I believe a couple other states, the laws are strong.
	I signed voter ID 10 years ago.
	There are other strong voter integrity laws in the state.
	The problem wasn't the laws.
	It was enforcement of the laws.
	And when the clerks of the two largest counties who are outspoken, aggressive Democrats are also in counties that have clearly Democrat prosecutors who failed to act on it, there has to be a mechanism for the state To make sure that every one of the 72 elections officials follows the law as written.
	Well, yeah, because I know the Wisconsin Election Commission, prior to the election, they were sending out memos saying that you can use these drop boxes, which, I mean, I'm not fully versed on the Wisconsin state law, but it seems to be directly in contradiction to the method of delivery that's prescribed there.
	That, to me, is the case with all these, with absentee ballots, with all the other issues on the table.
	The laws on the books have to be enforced.
	And right now, in a number of these cases, they were not.
	And looking ahead, one of the best things, either the legislature or in this case because of a Democrat governor, it may require the court at some level to order, is that the laws that currently exist have to be enforced.
	And just because there's not a Republican prosecutor or a Republican clerk It doesn't mean people should be able to pick and choose what laws they uphold.
	The law is the law.
	They need to follow it to the letter of the law.
	And that's something that if they won't do it through the traditional legislative process, they need to come back to the courts to do.
	Well, let's say you're in a situation like you are now in Wisconsin where...
	You have an opposing party to the party that necessarily passed the laws.
	They don't agree with the laws.
	They don't want to enforce the laws.
	The Supreme Court doesn't want to hear these cases.
	Right.
	So what is the remedy in this type of situation?
	Well, I think in the case of the state Supreme Court, my understanding, I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that case is they didn't say never.
	They just said the case wasn't brought forward in the proper means.
	So I think you have to keep coming back until you get it corrected so that there's an order by the court to actually follow the state statutes.
	Yeah.
	In the end, part of justice means that people follow the laws, no matter what the circumstances, whether it's criminal or civil law.
	In this case, they've got to uphold the law.
	And you know, I think that it's a really great point that he made.
	Because if the executive branch has the discretion to decide which laws to enforce and which laws to ignore, then what's the point of having laws in the first place?
	We're essentially then just governed by whoever is in charge of the executive branch.
	By the way, if you'd like to watch that full interview with Governor Scott Walker, I'll be posting it over on Epic TV in the next few days.
	And in case you don't know, Epic TV is our brand new no-censorship video platform where you can find all of the awesome Epic Times video content, like The Larry Elder Show, Crossroads with Joshua Phillip, American Thought Leaders, China in Focus, Life and Times, and of course on there is our show Facts Matter...
	And again, on there we'll publish exclusive content that we frankly just don't publish here on YouTube due to the censorship.
	If you want to check out all that awesome exclusive content, including that full-length interview with Governor Walker, the link to it will be right there at the top of the description box.
	I hope you click on it.
	I hope you check it out.
	I hope you subscribe.
	And I hope that you join us on the journey of exploring this beautiful, beautiful world through honest journalism that is based in truth and tradition.
	Now lastly, if you haven't already, smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm.
	Subscribe to this YouTube channel if you haven't already in order to get this type of honest news content delivered directly into your YouTube feed while you still can.
	Also, if you actually have an Instagram account, follow me at EpochTimesRoman.
	I publish spicy memes as well as behind-the-scenes research.
	And then until next time, I'm your host, Roman from the Epoch Times.

▲