Breakdown - S9 Ep 12: Breakdown Bonus: What happened in Coffee County, Georgia

S9 Ep 12: Breakdown Bonus: What happened in Coffee County, Georgia

09/27/22 • 41 min

2 Listeners

The latest episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Breakdown” podcast takes a close look at the data breach at the Coffee County elections office which occurred one day after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Podcast hosts Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman interview Mark Niesse, the AJC’s elections and voting rights expert.

Niesse has covered the wild developments surrounding the Coffee County data breach on Jan. 7, 2021, since news of it first surfaced. He explains how it happened, why news of it first came to light this past May and why state elections officials should be alarmed.

The Fulton County special purpose grand jury, which is investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies, has issued subpoenas to Sidney Powell and the data firm SullivanStrickler. Powell, who was once a lawyer for the Trump campaign, oversaw the breach and hired the data firm.

Niesse, who was at the Cobb County audit of absentee ballots, also recalls the unusual and sudden visit by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Meadows was told he could not go inside to see what was going on. And Niesse also discusses the state legislative hearings he covered in December 2020 when Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani testified and presented now-debunked evidence of voter fraud.

Separately, the 12th episode of “The Trump Grand Jury” also explains why the Fulton special grand jury may be interested in hearing from former Georgia congressman and House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer above.

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Podcast hosts Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman interview Mark Niesse, the AJC’s elections and voting rights expert.

You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer above.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

S9 Ep. 11: Will Trump be invited?

Will Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis subpoena former President Donald Trump before the special purpose grand jury?

So far, Willis has sent out-of-state witness subpoenas to Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows; close ally Lindsey Graham, the U.S. senator from South Carolina; and his inner circle of lawyers who tried to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Episode 11 of “The Trump Grand Jury” includes interviews of criminal defense lawyers, law professors and former prosecutors who weigh the pros and cons of trying to compel the former president to come to Atlanta and testify.

Since convening in May, the special purpose grand jury has heard testimony from more than 30 witnesses in its investigation of what happened in Georgia in the weeks and months after the 2020 presidential election.

In light of recent public comments made by Trump, Episode 11 also revisits another hotly disputed presidential election: the 2000 contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore. This race, like the 2020 election, was decided long after election night and only after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Bush v. Gore.

You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer above.

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Next Episode

S9 Ep 13: Who's Rico?

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act has been on the books for more than half a century, and Georgia’s version was enacted in 1980.

The 13th episode of Season Nine of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast — “The Trump Grand Jury” — takes a deep look at RICO. The episode traces its origin as a prosecutorial weapon to take Mafia dons off the streets. It also looks at how RICO has been used in recent years against schoolteachers, a metro Atlanta sheriff and street gangs.

Legal experts following the Fulton County special purpose grand jury investigation into what happened here after the 2020 presidential election say that racketeering charges could ultimately be brought in this case.

Episode 13 — “Who’s Rico?” — also looks at a key member of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s legal team: Don McGahn. McGahn is one of three lawyers hired by Graham who contends the U.S. Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause protects him from having to honor his out-of-state material witness subpoena and testify before the special grand jury.

You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it above.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices