By Harold Pease, Ph.D.
Investigative journalists from TrueTheVote were just released from jail after a week of incarceration for refusing to identify their confidential FBI informant source for inside evidence on Konnech, a Chinese affiliate computer election software programs company accused of manipulating the 2020 Presidential Election through their software. Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht, refused to disclose their confidential source to Judge Kenneth Hoyt who promptly ordered them confined indefinitely until they did.
In addition, Judge Hoyt “ORDERED that defendants … reimburse the United States Marshall Service for in custody… at a rate of $85.61 a day, … for everyday they are housed, and further, the totals of any such sums be paid in advance of any release, under civil contempt charges.” This constituted detention without trial or bail” (X22 [hereafter not cited], Ep. 2915b, Nov. 2, 2022, 33:55).
Days prior to this order Eugene Yu, CEO of Konnech, had been arrested in Los Angeles by the LADA for the transferal “of personal data on thousands of the election workers to developers in China who were writing and trouble shooting software, according to a court filing that Los Angeles County prosecutors made.…” Was this in preparation for the 2022 midterm elections? “Since searching Konnech’s offices and Mr, Yu’s home, the prosecutors have also accused him of conspiring with others to commit a crime, according to the new filling”—with whom, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? (Ep. 2899b, Oct. 14, 2022, 41:25).
The evidence discovered in Los Angeles witnessed against Konnech’s defamation lawsuit against TrueTheVote but Judge Hoyt refused to even confer with the prosecutors of Yu. Supporters of the journalists believe he should have dropped it then, or recused himself. Instead, his efforts appeared aimed at the journalists disclosing Konnech, and thus China’s role in US elections. Instead of investigating Konnech, he was trying to break the TrueTheVote investigative journalists (Ep. 2915b, Nov. 2, 2022, 33:55).
Amplifying the potential for election interference is the collusion among Chinese tech giants, “Patent transfers, employee profiles, and domain registrations divulge that Konnech is also profoundly connected to another Chinese software firm named Jinhua Hongzheng Technology,” which has partnered with numerous Chinese tele-com giants with state ties, including Huawei, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile” (Ep. 2904b, Oct. 20, 2022, 28:40).
Journalist KanekoaTheGreat summed up their influence on Kanekoa News, with an article “Konnech’s Shocking ‘Back-Door’ Access into US. Election Data:Network Diagram.” In this “Los Angeles County prosecutors allege ‘Chinese contractors’ had ‘super administration’ access to ‘astounding’ amounts of data in what is ‘probably the largest data breach in United States history,’” Oct. 18, 2022.
The journalists appealed Judge Hoyt’s penalty to the 5th Circuit Appeals Court which agreed that the detention was unconstitutional and ordered them released immediately. Gregg Phillips wrote on Nov. 5, “This maybe the first time in US history that Americans have been jailed in a federal civil defamation suit” (Ep. 2918b, Nov. 6, 2022, 37:00).
One positive note revealed by investigative journalist Brian Cates respecting the release of the reporters is that, “TrueTheVote got it on the record with the 5th Circuit Court that KONNECH TRIED TO CONCEAL THEIR DOMAIN SERVER ACTIVITY IN CHINA BY MOVING THE DOMAINS BACK TO THE US after they knew their illegal activity had been discovered by FBI contractors,…they got caught and they tried to cover it up” (Ep. 2919b, Nov. 7, 2022, 37:33).
Yet another positive of the TrueTheVote exposure of Konnech is that several cities, such as Detroit, and counties such as Fairfax, Virginia terminated their use of Konnech elections managing programs after learning that Konnech shipped its election data to China. In that termination, however we learned something about the duration of the influence. Detroit had used Konnech’s “various poll management and logistics systems over the course of several elections” —at least since 2008 (“Detroit terminates contract with election software company named in data breach investigation,” by Eli Newman, Oct. 7, 2022, NPR Station).
So what information besides voter data, does TrueTheVote believe has been shipped to China by Konnech? Apparently every person that has worked on a local election in the United States in recent years is already known to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), his information housed in a data base and server, of all places, Wuhan, China. Yes,“1.8 million Americans who volunteered to participate in local elections in their counties. All have their personal information on a server in Wuhan, China, data which, under Chinese law, belongs to the CCP.” Not just “their names, pictures, addresses, names of their kids, etc. but down to the schematics and detailed maps of the building they worked in and more. Down to how the elections work and who works in the elections.” China has weaponized our elections. “The CCP has an incredible amount of information stored about these election workers and their families that it has been using for more than a few years now in order to learn everything there is to know about how local elections are being run inside the United States.” (See “China Interfered in the 2020 Presidential Election, After All,” By Harold Pease, Ph.D. LibertyUnderFire.com).
So “2000 Mules” investigative journalists Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips are no longer incarcerated but it will still take a while before Chinese election interference is fully disclosed. Until then they are likely to continue “electing” our leaders.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. Column # 687. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www. www.LibertyUnderFire.org
Subscribe now for free columns at above address. Help preserve our Republic while we still can.