Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Twitter permanently suspends several accounts tied to the Arizona ‘audit’

Posted By on Wed, Jul 28, 2021 at 10:30 AM

The official Twitter account of the so-called audit and a semi-official account dubbed the “Audit War Room” were permanently suspended by the social media giant Tuesday, as were multiple other accounts related to election reviews in other states. Some organizations that were raising money to fund the efforts also were removed from Twitter.

Twitter said the accounts were suspended for violating rules on platform manipulation and spam, according to a statement the company sent to BuzzFeed News.

The Audit War Room is still on Instagram and has posted about the suspensions there, imploring followers to move to the encrypted messaging app Telegram or the right-wing social media site GETTR.

That account, which has been combative toward journalists and critics — this month, it mocked a constituent whose dog had recently died — was the subject of intense scrutiny by many on Twitter and in the political sphere.

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It is unknown who was behind the account or the five other “War Room” accounts tied to proposed ballot reviews in other states that were suspended by Twitter.

Social media accounts related to fundraising efforts for the audit also were permanently suspended by Twitter for platform manipulation and spam.

The Twitter account for Voices and Votes, a 501(c)(4) created by the host of a Pro-Trump cable news network that has repeatedly spread false claims about the election in Arizona and across the country, was also permanently suspended.

One America News Network’s Christina Bobb launched Voices & Votes which has raised at least $150,000 for the “audit.” Bobb routinely tweets about the fundraising effort and mentions her non-profit on her show, urging supporters to donate.

Bobb has been given exclusive access to the ballot review site that other local and national news organizations have not been granted.

Another group raising money for the “audit” that claims to have raised over $2 million has also been suspended, though it is unclear if the account was suspended for the same reason. Twitter did not respond to Arizona Mirror’s requests for comment. Fund The Audit had a goal of raising $2.8 million. The organization was created by The America Project, a Florida-based 501(c)(4) non-profit started by former Overstock.com CEO and ardent Trump ally Patrick Byrne.

Byrne’s Telegram channel is full of conspiracy theories about the election, and he often shares information from other prominent pro-Trump figures that includes baseless allegations about election fraud. Some of those people, like Jovan Pulitzer, are also a part of Arizona’s audit.

Byrne has been a leading voice in 2020 election fraud claims and has railed against the so-called “deep state”. Some of his claims came after it was revealed he had an affair with accused Russian spy Maria Butina, which he claimed the FBI encouraged him to do. 

Byrne was also present at an hour-long meeting at the White House during the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency in which he, Sidney Powell and disgraced retired Gen. Michael Flynn urged the president to overturn the election.

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The official Twitter account for the Senate’s ballot review promoted the Fund The Audit effort in the past.

According to reporting by the Washington Post, former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett was told to promote the fund by Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan.

Logan’s now-deleted Twitter account retweeted accounts that claimed Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election and lost because of widespread fraud that favored Joe Biden. There is no evidence that happened, and such claims have been refuted by recounts and post-election tests and audits, and courts have consistently rejected them.

Logan also appeared in a film about a book written by Byrne that claimed the election was stolen from Trump via fraud. The film was directed by a man who believes aliens were behind 9/11 and attendees of the film’s premiere encouraged vigilante justice against elected officials

Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com. Follow Arizona Mirror on Facebook and Twitter.