UncoverDC has written several articles to specifically address the details and implications of the bombshell True The Vote (TTV)/OPSEC investigation. We spoke at length on April 29 with the Founder of TTV, Catherine Engelbrecht and probed deeper into the timeline of events, actors involved, and the ways public officials and law enforcement have obstructed the investigation at almost every turn. This column serves to sturdy the foundation for further revelations and deep dives into the tributaries of TTV's 2-year ongoing ballot trafficking investigation.
Subpoenas went out on April 21 in Georgia, referencing the TTV and OPSEC ballot trafficking investigation. The subpoenas requested—among other items—the identity of a whistleblower, his mother, and "any receipts, invoices, bills, or other documents evidencing any medical payments you or your contracted team of vendors made for any person you suspect participated in ballot harvesting in Georgia." The main topic discussed in this column addresses why the request for those identities is, at once, egregious but also arguably unnecessary as a vehicle to prosecute the alleged crimes committed. Keep in mind that many were interviewed during the investigation, and TTV has purposely never made public some of the information in the referenced subpoena.
Gregg Phillips/LinkedIn
Examination of the subpoena may help contextualize the history of this investigation. However, True the Vote's partner Gregg Phillips and his team at OPSEC have already delivered comprehensive data using geofencing technology and cell phone app data to potentially call this a multi-state RICO ballot trafficking operation—one that should almost certainly satisfy a serious state investigation without having to burn sources.
A Timeline Of The Investigation
Engelbrecht filled in the timeline of events for UncoverDC.
- November 3 - Election Day 2020
- End November/Early December, questions about the election arise. Tip from individual leads TTV/OPSEC to ballot trafficker/whistleblower.
- End November/Early December 2020, OPSEC meets with whistleblower at the Bluff in Atlanta, a crime-ridden, drug-infested neighborhood. Confesses to TTV/OPSEC team he has been paid $10 per ballot to traffick ballots and is working for an NGO. TTV/OPSEC eventually corroborates the story with other data. He ends up being one of the more prolific mules.
- December 2020 - April 2021, TTV and OPSEC begin to piece together the evidence using cellphone data and geofencing technology. They do everything they can to minimize bias, including setting specific parameters, filtering for outliers, and looking for behavior patterns. The data is anonymous but accurate.
- On January 18, 2021, the process began in Fulton County to secure run-off video footage from drop boxes. Months of delay in obtaining copies of video surveillance.
- In February 2021, requests for Cobb County surveillance footage. "Only took a few weeks to receive."
- March 2021 requests went out for Gwinnett surveillance video. Months of delay.
- March 25, 2021, the FBI is given geofencing/cellphone data.
- Late April/May 2021 TTV/OPSEC team meets with GBI. Kemp backs out of the meeting last minute. However, Kemp is made aware of the evidence. At that time, the team hands over the geofencing, cellphone data, and documentation. No video surveillance copies are presented yet because of delays from Public Records Centers.
- May 25, 2021, Perdue asks Kemp to pursue the investigation. Kemp does nothing. The meeting was originally requested in April but was rescheduled for May.
- June 2021 Requests for copies of General Election video surveillance went out. The first copies are delivered in October 2021. TTV was told that surveillance video was missing prior to October 30, 2020. Steve Rosenberg, Open Records Custodian, "They do not exist." (Written response, July 6, 2021.)
- June 2021, TTV files to introduce data on behalf of Georgia. The law firm was stopped by RNC and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). "Kemp knows, does nothing."
- September 25, 2021, Trump mentions the investigation at his rally in Perry, Georgia. "Kemp knows, and he does something."
- September 30, 2021, GBI leaks its letter dismissing the evidence to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Days later, according to Engelbrecht, Kemp's Chief of Staff began to tell contractors they "will never get contracts with the state again if they continue to cooperate with TTV." Senator Albers disparages TTV investigation.
- October 22, 2021, Attorneys for TTV respond to rebut GBI's ommissions. GA GOP Chairman David Shafer corroborates with his own letter to the GBI.
- November 30, 2021, two complaint letters were sent from TTV to SOS Raffensperger; one letter, an in-depth accounting of important details from the investigation, and details from the whistleblower interview.
- January 5, 2022, Raffensberger says there is credible evidence and opens an investigation.
- April 21, 2022, Georgia State BOE issues four subpoenas.
Obstruction From Kemp and GBI
The evidence found in the TTV/OPSEC investigation has been met with obstruction and sometimes active resistance. TTV and OPSEC have already sent all of the evidence to key officials in Georgia—allegedly plenty of evidence to warrant a serious look at the alleged RICO ballot trafficking crimes. The information was given to both the FBI and the GBI. Incidentally, the two bureaus colocate (COLO) and often share information.
According to Engelbrecht, in the spring of 2021, her team traveled to Georgia to meet with the GBI and the Governor's office to present the information. Kemp was supposed to be there, but he "ghosted the meeting." The first official response from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was a letter to TTV on September 30th, which was leaked to the press. The letter coincidentally came just after former President Trump's mention of the investigation at a September 25th rally.
The GBI's letter dismissed the breadth and depth of the evidence provided, stating that "the data does not rise to the level of probable cause that a crime has been committed." The same letter also noted that the GBI was not provided "with any other kind of evidence that ties these cellphones to ballot harvesting." False. Per TTV's attorneys—and then confirmed by a letter to Director Reynolds of the GBI from the GA GOP chairman, David Shafer—the GBI managed to "omit" from its response corroborating information that may prove ballot trafficking occurred.
Also notable is the linked November 17th letter found on VoterGa.org from Kemp to the State Election Board members. The letter essentially stated he had only received one referral and "provided all the requested information," indicating issues in the 2020 election. Not only had TTV/OPSEC met with his office in the spring to deliver their data, but Kemp could also have easily engaged the GBI or requested video surveillance from any number of dropbox locations had he been interested in the state of the 2020 election.
Kemp Nov. 17 Letter/VoterGa.com
November 30 Complaint: Why Identities Should Not Matter
The business of interviewing whistleblowers in cases involving crimes like these can be dangerous business. Whistleblowers can be used as political cudgels to discredit investigations. Whistleblowers often take significant risks, including threats of violence and/or death due to their testimony. Moreover, one or two whistleblowers do not make an investigation. Serious criminal investigations gather abundant data and corroborating evidence from sources and document trails, among other data points. Notably, according to Engelbrecht, none of the details about John Doe have been made public. Yet, the State Election Board took it upon themselves to "publish sensitive information in the subpoena" in opposition to requests from TTV and OPSEC.
Engelbrecht remarked during our discussion:
"Why would the SOS take a clearly sensitive situation and publicize it in this way? After True the Vote and OpSec have clearly stated they would not betray the confidence of any informant. This is a game to them. The Georgia SOS is endangering people’s lives by putting out the subpoenas like they did."
The True the Vote/OPSEC investigation is a rigorous, ongoing, two-year investigation involving “pinpoint” cellphone geolocation data showing “trackable, provable data trails.” This data shows incontrovertible evidence of “repeated abuses of process that diminish the sanctity of all votes,” said Engelbrecht during testimony on March 24 in front of the Wisconsin State Legislature. She and Phillips were there to help lawmakers craft laws that would protect elections and voters.
The complaint letter sent on November 30th to SOS Raffensperger provides a fulsome summary of the whistleblower's accounting of his experiences as a paid ballot trafficker/ mule. The letter also describes many of OPSEC's findings. The letter states TTVs:
- Initial review of the available 3 million minutes of surveillance video, we found compelling evidence to support the reports of absentee ballot trafficking conducted during the November 3, 2020, General Election and January 5, 2021, Runoff Election periods.
- True the Vote purchased commercially available, anonymized, geospatial mobile device information. This cell phone data establishes what devices were at a particular location at a particular time but does not disclose any private information about a person’s identity.
- During the Runoff Election period, in six counties in and around Atlanta, 552,987 cell phones came within a narrowly defined distance of ballot drop boxes during our study period. However, 242 unique devices made repeat trips to dropboxes averaging 23 trips each. These same 242 devices also went repeatedly, averaging eight trips each, to specific NGOs. These 242 individual devices went to dropboxes a total of 5,668 times, with approximately 40% of the visits occurring between the unusual hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
- Individuals made repeat visits to dropboxes.
- Cars were observed with out-of-state license plates, including rental vehicles. This in itself is not necessarily problematic; however, it is notable because these out-of-state and rental cars were driven by individuals who were also in our targeted study group of 242 devices.
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Consistent with John Doe’s report regarding the proof necessary to receive payment, individuals were observed taking cell phone photos, not of themselves, but of their ballot deposits or of the dropbox after the ballots had been deposited.
- [A] change in behavior seemed to occur on or around December 23, 2020, the day after Arizona authorities announced that fingerprints on absentee ballot envelopes helped uncover an illegal ballot harvesting scheme in that state. After that announcement, individuals depositing ballots into dropboxes in Georgia are seen wearing blue surgical gloves. They often put them on just before picking up their stack of ballots and remove them as they exit the dropbox area.
- The 242 mobile devices which repeatedly visited dropboxes also visited locations associated with a select group of NGOs. Not only did these devices make repeat visits, but a significant number of these visits, approximately 40%, were made during extremely unusual hours in the middle of the night. Additionally, surveillance footage shows numerous instances in which individuals deposited multiple ballots at a time—a practice that is prohibited under Georgia law except under very limited circumstances.
Notably, the letter also offers to "provide all publicly or commercially available information including the geospatial data and surveillance video to assist with any efforts undertaken by your office of the investigation in Georgia." TTV has provided that information and more to all the relevant authorities in Georgia. "John Doe" confessed, among other things:
- A network of non-governmental organizations (“NGO”s) that worked together to facilitate a ballot trafficking scheme in Georgia. He claimed to have been one of many individuals paid to collect and deliver absentee ballots during the early voting periods of the November 2020 General Election and the January 2021 Runoff Election.
- He does not seem to understand the unlawful nature of his conduct nor that it might constitute organized criminal activity. Instead, he saw it as a "job and thought it was appropriate to be paid for services rendered."
- The assignment included collecting ballots, both from voters in targeted neighborhoods and from NGOs that had their own ballot collection processes, delivering those ballots to other NGOs, picking up designated ballot bundles from the same group of NGOs, and depositing ballots into drop boxes spanning six counties in the metro Atlanta area. Each dropbox delivery would typically include between 5 to 20 ballots. John Doe described a payment validation process that involved taking cell phone pictures of the dropbox where ballots were deposited. Participants were compensated, typically at a rate of $10 per ballot. John Doe was paid directly by one of these NGOs.
The letter clearly states TTV's reasons for its hesitance to reveal the whistleblower's identity. The complaint says, in footnote 1, that TTV does "not have the resources of the State, and [is] unable to provide any safety guarantees to those individuals willing to provide information other than to keep our word that their identity will not be disclosed." Footnote 1 below makes it clear to Raffensperger why TTV has prioritized the safety of their whistleblower:
TTV Complaint/Nov. 30 John Doe
Engelbrecht explained she will resist burning sources because there is ample data to potentially prove the "potentially improper election efforts which took place during the General Election of November 2020 and Runoff Election of January 2021."
Regarding the whistleblower's statements, Engelbrecht says that "it wasn't like it was particularly revelatory based upon what we already knew was going on in other places. But it gave us some data points to go on. So, knowing where Gregg was headed with the geospatial stuff and the geofencing, we looked to see whether it checked out. If it does, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't. The individual could have been lying about everything. Well, turns out the individual wasn't. Turns out this individual was one of the most prolific mules. We eventually collected enough data to prove this without the witness. Turns out we have the individual on video all over the place and his cellphone records, and that is what is so maddening about this."
Kemp's office and the State Board of Elections do not need the whistleblower's name or any other individual to prove the veracity of the TTV/OPSEC data.
Raffensperger Gives Investigation the Green Light
Finally, on January 5, 2022, SOS Raffensperger agreed to investigate TTV's evidence. Time will reveal how committed law enforcement and the state are to taking the evidence seriously. These crimes were allegedly committed in the five states investigated by the TTV/OPSEC team, and the evidence provided could help ensure trafficking operations do not continue. The TTV investigation suggests that seven percent of the mail-in ballots were trafficked in the 2020 election.
More To Come
The focus of this column has been the trafficking of ballots in Georgia. However, as previously mentioned, the TTV/OPSEC ballot trafficking investigation was not limited to Georgia. Multiple investigations were conducted using cellphone data paired with geofencing technology in five states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, and Georgia) and multiple jurisdictions within each state. The evidence collected is not only stunning, but it is also about as close to incontrovertible proof of election fraud as one can collect. Dinesh D'Souza's movie 2000 Mules, telling the story of this investigation, will be released this first week of May.
When asked whom she trusts with the information she has, Engelbrecht said, "I trust only the American people." Engelbrecht hopes this investigation, when fully public, will spur a call to action.