by Mark Schwendau
Last October 4, LA County District Attorney’s office announced that Eugene Yu had been arrested and was taken into custody for suspected theft of information about American voters stored on servers in Communist China.
“Konnech, Inc. distributes and sells its proprietary PollChief software, which is an election worker management system that was utilized by the county in the last California election. The software assists with poll worker assignments, communications, and payroll. PollChief requires that workers submit personal identifying information, which is retained by the Konnech.
Under its $2.9 million, five-year contract with the county, Konnech was supposed to securely maintain the data and that only United States citizens and permanent residents have access to it.”
Then, on October 31, during their Konnech defamation case brought against True the Vote, Federal Judge Kenneth Hoyt held True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht and True the Vote investigator Gregg Phillips in contempt of court.
They refused to identify a confidential informant who helped them obtain information that led to the discovery and, later, evidence that the East Lansing, MI-based election software company Konnech was storing election-related data on servers in China.
True the Votes’ Engelbrecht and Phillips dropped a bombshell about the arrest of Eugene Yu, CEO of Konnech, Inc. software company. The company responsible for the software used in managing elections in several states that stored the personal information of over 1 million Americans in its database had that information unlawfully on computer servers in communist China.
Konnech, much like Dominion, almost immediately sued True the Vote as a way to intimidate and silence them to keep them from speaking out about the bombshell information they provided to reporters.
Then, on November 10, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon dropped all charges against Eugene Yu, the CEO of the Michigan-based election software company, relative to the unlawful theft of personal information. Gascon cited “potential bias” in the investigation as part of his reasoning.
On April 17, True the Vote founder Catherine Englebrecht announced that the Konnech v. True the Vote lawsuit is heading toward discovery. She wrote, “Konnech has accused us of defaming them, hacking their servers, and pursuing them out of racist and xenophobic intent. None of this is true.”
Catherine Engelbrecht announced that the defamation suit against them had been dropped.
HOUSTON, TX – Yesterday, Konnech dismissed all pending defamation and unlawful computer access litigation against True the Vote, Inc, Catherine Engelbrecht, and Gregg Phillips in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The case number is 4:22-cv-03096.
True the Vote issued this comment: “Konnech’s litigation was meritless and intended to harass this organization. They have failed. We are evaluating our options with regard to holding them accountable for their unwarranted actions. We believe Konnech dismissed its lawsuit because it saw that it would lose.”
True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht said of the dismissal, “Konnech’s aggressive litigation to shut down all conversation about their activities resulted in the wrongful imprisonment of Gregg Phillips and me. It required the intervention of a higher court to release us. We are more dedicated than ever to our mission of fostering a public conversation about voting integrity.”
Gregg Phillips said, “This was an unfounded defamation and unlawful computer access case that saw us strip searched and placed in solitary confinement. While it is encouraging to see progress being made, the serious issues surrounding the spread of misinformation, improper detainment, and judicial misconduct cannot be overlooked. Our commitment to seeking justice remains steadfast.”
Phillips and Engelbrecht refused to give up the name of the FBI informant who helped them discover how Konnech, Inc. allegedly sent sensitive US election data to a server in China.
Phillips was asked about the national security risk their discovery posed, and he responded he believed it was possibly the most serious data breach in American history. And yet when the two of them brought this massive data breach to the attention of the FBI they were both sent to prison in what many in the legal community are calling an unprecedented and unlawful move by a judge. They hold they refused the judge’s order to give up the name of their FBI informant to protect his life from harm.
“The Fifth Circuit’s powerful ruling lays bare the excesses of Konnech, their attorneys, and the lower court. The impermissible demands of Konnech, which were rubber-stamped by the district court, caused great harm to True the Vote as an organization, as well as Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, who were imprisoned for over a week by Konnech and the court’s actions.
“In addition, Engelbrecht and Phillips’ rights to openly speak on matters of public interest were impeded under the color of authority. But hear them clearly today; the investigation of Konnech and their activities continues across America. Catherine and Gregg offer their profound gratitude to the Fifth Circuit’s vindication and are committed more strongly than ever to defending the integrity of American elections.”
Copyright © 2023 by Mark S. Schwendau
Mark S. Schwendau is a retired technology professor who has always had a sideline in news-editorial writing where his byline has been, “Bringing little known news to people who simply want to know the truth.” He classifies himself as a Christian conservative who God cast to be a realist. His website is www.IDrawIWrite.Tech.