In a new letter sent on December 4, 2023, to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Chris Wray, and Special Counsel Jack Smith, the legal advocacy organization Free Speech For People, Black Voters Matter, and a coalition of computer security and election security experts provide details connecting the voting system breach in Georgia to similar voting system breaches carried out by Trump allies in Michigan, Pennsylvania,  Colorado, and other states.

The letter outlines information that has been developed in the past year from civil litigation and public reporting that shows the voting system breach that occurred in Georgia – and that was charged as a predicate crime in the Fulton County racketeering indictment of Donald Trump – was part of a coordinated and interconnected plan to improperly obtain voting system software from multiple states.

The letter recounts “additional evidence that the breach in Coffee County was just one element of a much broader, coordinated plan that involved many of the same actors engaging in the same unlawful activities in the pursuit of unauthorized copies of voting system software from multiple states. From public reporting and civil lawsuits, we know that in addition to the breach in Coffee County, voting machines were improperly accessed, or there were attempts to access them improperly in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Nevada, and Colorado, sometimes in more than one county. Furthermore, the activities in these different states were carried out and coordinated by many of the same individuals and entities.”

The letter describes a “web of cooperation among key Trump allies and election deniers” that worked together to overturn the 2020 election. The list includes Sidney Powell, Doug Logan, Stephanie Lambert Junttila, Misty Hampton, Matt DePerno, Ben Cotton, Jeff Lenberg, and the cyber forensics firm Sullivan Strickler. The letter notes this is only a brief summary, and that the network extends further.

It also explains that the Fulton County District Attorney’s indictments are not a substitute for a federal investigation: “The Fulton County District Attorney does not have the authority to investigate the full scope of the alleged voting system software heists across the country. Nor is her office responsible for investigating and ascertaining how widely the misappropriated software has been shared, nor whether it has been provided to hostile nation-state or domestic actors. Nor is the Fulton County District Attorney resourced or authorized to gather evidence and information about any potential plans to disrupt or corrupt future elections, or to take action to prevent any such schemes. These matters are the responsibility of the Department of Justice, Special Counsel, FBI, CISA, and perhaps other federal agencies.”

The experts call on the DOJ and FBI to immediately initiate an investigation into the multi-state effort by Trump allies to improperly obtain voting system software, warning that the plot has serious security implications for the 2024 elections.

“People that actively tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election have crossed legal lines to obtain copies of voting system software, and they have had it now for nearly three years,” said Susan Greenhalgh, senior advisor for election security at Free Speech For People. “Our federal law enforcement agencies cannot ignore the threat this poses to future elections, and must initiate an investigation immediately.”

“It’s no surprise that Georgia’s law enforcement failed to investigate how the Coffee County breach connects to the larger, multi-state plot to access voting software by Trump operatives since these attacks specifically target Black and Brown communities,” said Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter. “We are deeply concerned about election security, especially when democracy deniers are actively trying to suppress the votes of Black voters in Georgia and all across the country. We are demanding that the Department of Justice, Special Counsel and the FBI act now and open a full investigation into this breach and secure our elections ahead of the 2024 presidential election.”

Read the letter here.