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After widespread setbacks, Tucker Carlson clarified his position against President Trump’s attorney Sidney Powell and encouraged her to provide evidence of software fraud.
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The claim: China has invested $ 400 million in Dominion Voting Systems
A Facebook post on December 7 indicates that Dominion Voting Systems – a voting machine and software industry whose technology is used by dozens of states and municipalities and has been attacked by conservatives since election day – has ties to China, based on a recent financial transaction.
“China invested 400 million in Dominion on October 8, 2020. Should I go ahead?” user Mark Landeene posted.
His is one of the many unfounded claims against the company, linked to conspiracy theories against fraud and levied by supporters of President Donald Trump. In response, attorneys representing Dominion Voting Systems issued notices of litigation to far-right media company Newsmax, Rudy Giuliani and others over defamation claims, USA reported TODAY.
According to Landeene, the evidence of foreign influence in the company is easily accessible, regardless of the denial.
“There are public records for the day on all barter transactions. Go to Google, type in China’s purchase of 400 million shares in Dominion. The original submission to the SEC was October 5 and the transaction was completed 10/7,” Landeene said. told USA TODAY.
There is evidence of recent exchanges of securities with Dominion Voting, but by a US company with an almost identical name to a Chinese company. There was no foreign investment.
More: Dominion says it could sue over conspiracy theories in election
A Progress of the Right Wing
On December 1, Infowars, a far-right news and opinion website, published an article about an investigation – it does not say by whom – which revealed that Dominion Voting had received $ 400 million from a Swiss bank with close ties to the Chinese. government “in October.
“The investigation is about Staple Street Capital, which acquired Dominion Voting Systems in 2018,” the article reads.
Staple Street Capital III LP, a private equity firm in New York, acquired Dominion Voting Systems in July 2018, according to a press release from the company.
Infowars said the UBS Securities bank in Switzerland is the recipient of sales on a Securities and Exchange Commission Form D filed on October 8 by Staple Street.
More: Fact check: Hugo Chávez’s family does not own Dominion Voting Systems
“UBS Securities is a Swiss investment bank that owns 24.99% of UBS Securities Co LTD, a Chinese investment bank. The remaining 75% of UBS Securities CO LTD is owned by the Chinese government,” according to Infowars. alleged owners of UBS Securities Co. Ltd., which includes ‘communist Chinese front groups’.
The claim was picked up by lawyer and Trump supporter Lin Wood in Georgia, who tweeted a link to a Form D notice between Staple Street and U.S. UBS Securities LLC on December 1st. Wood promotes the QAnon loyalist phrase “Where We Go One We Go All” in his Twitter bio.
QAnon is based on the prediction of ‘The Storm’, an event marked by alleged mass arrests of high-ranking Democrats and left-wing celebrities to save the world from a ‘satanic cult’ of pedophiles and cannibals, reports USA TODAY.
Based on Wood’s tweet, BillLawrenceOnline.com, a news and entertainment website run by blogger William Lawrence Sr. created, the blog post wrote on December 1: “China bought Dominion in October.” Recent blogger posts have focused on controversies over elections and Christian themes.
“Staple Street Capital III, MP sold $ 400 million worth of bonds to UBS Securities Co., Ltd. as revealed today, December 1, by attorney Lin Wood in a cryptic tweet following a link to the SEC’s Form D,” reads a statement from the report.
Lawrence’s website was among several that spread the claim. The conservative The Epoch Times and Christianity Daily also spurred the rumor.
A UBS spokesman denied the claim.
Dominion Voting Systems has no Chinese investors
A Form D or a notice of exempt listing of securities is filed within 15 days of the first sale of securities, which are tradable financial assets. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the first investor is contractually obligated to invest on the first sale date.
In Form D, which Wood tweeted, the $ 400 million exchange from institutional investors to Staple Street is set out. UBS Securities, LLC, headquartered in New York, served as an advisor between the company and its investors, not to mention.
UBS Securities is known for mediating transactions between private equity firms, and as an exchange-traded company, UBS has several shareholders, according to its website. The bank has subsidiaries around the world, including UBS Securities Co. Ltd. in Beijing, of which he owns 51%.
Writers who filed the Dominion claim filed the U.S. subsidiary – UBS Securities LLC – with its Chinese counterpart – UBS Securities Co.
“Things have evolved and some of the criticism is legitimate. For example, it is correct to point out that the bonds sold by Staple Street Capital were sent to UBS Securities Co., LLC. It is UBS’s subsidiary in New York,” not the UBS Securities. Co., Ltd. which is openly connected to the Chinese communists, and which we have wrongly quoted as the buyer, ”reads the correction.
Our rating: false
A claim that China has invested $ 400 million in Dominion Voting Systems is FALSE, based on our research. The source of the claim, which is unclear, has New York-based UBS Securities Co. LLC confuses with Beijing-based UBS Securities Co. Ltd. In addition, the US bank mediated an exchange of securities between institutional investors and the private equity firm Staple. Street Capital III MP, but it did not invest in the company.
Our sources for fact checking:
- USA TODAY, December 24: “Direct updates on politics: Dominion says it could sue for conspiracy theories in election”
- Infowars, December 1: “Dominion systems firm receives $ 400 million from Swiss bank account funded by the Communist Chinese government and companies before the election”
- Dominion Voting Systems, 16 Jul. 2018: “Dominion Voting Systems acquired through its management team and Staple Street Capital”
- Lin Wood December 1 tweet
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, October 8: “Form D Notice of Exemption Offering of Securities”
- USA TODAY December 29: “Fact check: posts mention fake records website to allege that Schiff, Pelosi was arrested”
- District Court North District of Atlanta, Division Atlanta, United States, 16 Nov.
- USA TODAY, November 30: “Fantastic allegations, half-truths, misinformation”: Georgian official says Trump supporters deceive “
- BillLawrenceOnline.com, December 1: “China Acquired Dominion in October”
- The Epoch Times, December 15: “Rule Ownership Investigates Unusual Fundraising”
- Christianity Daily, December 3: “Communist Chinese government-linked bank account gave $ 400 million to Dominion systems before US election”
- UBS Securities Co. Ltd: “Welcome to UBS Securities”
- UBS Investor Relations, visited on 31 December: “Shareholder distribution”
- UBS Private Funds Group, visits on 31 December: “About us”
- US Securities and Exchange Commission, on December 26, has access to: “Submission of a Form D Notice”
Associated Press contributed to this story
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