throbber
Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 1 of 37
`
`
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`HOUSTON DIVISION
`
`KONNECH, INC.,
`
`
`PLAINTIFF,
`
`
`
`v.
`
`TRUE THE VOTE, INC., GREGG
`PHILLIPS, and CATHERINE
`ENGELBRECHT,
`
`
`DEFENDANTS.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`CIVIL ACTION NO. _______________
`
`
`
`
`











`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`TO THE HONORABLE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE:
`
`COMES NOW, Plaintiff Konnech, Inc. (“Konnech”), in the above styled cause, and files
`
`this Original Complaint, and would respectfully show the Court as follows:
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`1.
`
`Defendants True the Vote, Inc., its founder and President Catherine Engelbrecht,
`
`and board member Gregg Phillips (“Defendants”) have intentionally, repeatedly, and relentlessly
`
`attacked Konnech and its founder Eugene Yu with Defendants’ unique brand of racism and
`
`xenophobia by their completely baseless claims that Konnech, its founder, and employees are
`
`“Chinese operatives,” who are spearheading a “Red Chinese communist op run against the United
`
`States,” that Konnech is tied to the Confucius Institute, which Defendants say is part of the Chinese
`
`Communist Party, that Konnech was the subject of a long-running FBI counterintelligence
`
`investigation, that Konnech obtained contracts with certain U.S. city and county voting districts
`
`after bribing public officials, and that the Chinese Communist Party is somehow controlling U.S.
`
`elections through Konnech because its founder and some of its employees are of Chinese descent.
`
`Defendants’ false accusations of treason, espionage, bribery, and election fraud, which they peddle
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 1
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 2 of 37
`
`
`
`to enrich themselves at Konnech’s expense, are completely fabricated and constitute defamation
`
`per se.
`
`2.
`
`The truth is that Konnech is a U.S. company founded and operated by a U.S. citizen
`
`who has no affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party whatsoever. Konnech obtains its
`
`contracts through transparent public government bidding processes, and has never engaged in
`
`bribery or any other criminal activity of any sort. All of Konnech’s U.S. customer data is secured
`
`and stored exclusively on protected computers located within the United States. Konnech’s
`
`software products are not involved in any way in the registration of voters, the production,
`
`distribution, scanning, or processing of ballots, or the collection, counting or reporting of votes.
`
`Indeed, Konnech never handles any ballots and no ballots or other voting counts ever enter any of
`
`Konnech’s computer servers. It thus begs the question how Defendants could believe that
`
`Konnech could ever be involved in election fraud—or how it otherwise could have helped “steal”
`
`the 2020 Presidential Election from former President Donald Trump—when Konnech has had no
`
`involvement with ballots in any U.S. election. But the simple matter is, Defendants have no regard
`
`for the truth or the consequences of their actions, because the truth would not profit them.
`
`3.
`
`Indeed, Defendants are in business to capitalize from their claim that the 2020
`
`Presidential Election was “stolen.” Defendants Phillips and Engelbrecht have been referred to as
`
`the “Bonnie and Clyde” of election fraud1, and they have enriched themselves by spreading
`
`conspiracy theories, which they present as factual in nature, about the 2020 Presidential Election,
`
`largely funded by money funneled through Defendant True the Vote, which some commentators
`
`
`1 See Mimi Swartz, How True the Vote Fabricates Claims of Election Fraud, for Fun and Profit,
`Texas Monthly (Aug. 22, 2022), available at, https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/true-
`the-vote-election-fraud/.
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 2
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 3 of 37
`
`
`
`have called a “big grift.”2 Defendants were in fact the subject of a suit filed in 2020 by a
`
`conservative megadonor, who, after speaking with Defendant Engelbrecht, donated $2.5 million
`
`to help fund Defendant True the Vote’s efforts to fight election fraud. The donor later discovered,
`
`however, that his money was instead siphoned through Defendant True the Vote, and other entities
`
`established by Defendants Phillips and Engelbrecht, for their own personal gain.3
`
`4.
`
`Defendants most recently capitalized on their claims of election fraud through their
`
`involvement in the production of a so-called “documentary” titled 2000 Mules in which they
`
`sought to convince their followers that people, who they refer to as “mules,” were paid to collect
`
`and deposit fake ballots into ballot boxes for the 2020 Presidential Election which they contend
`
`changed its outcome. The theories peddled in 2000 Mules, however, have been repeatedly
`
`disproven.4 Apparently realizing that their 2000 Mules tale had run its course, Defendants Phillips
`
`
`2 See Cassandra Jaramillo, She Helped Create the Big Lie. Records Suggest She Turned It Into a
`Big Grift, Reveal News (June 8, 2022), available at, https://revealnews.org/article/true-the-vote-
`big-lie-election-fraud/.
`
`3 See Eshelman v. True the Vote, Inc., OSPEC Group, LLC, Engelbrecht, Bopp, Jr., Phillips, and
`The Bopp Law Firm, 4:2020-cv-04034, filed November 25, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the
`Southern District of Texas; see also Richard Salame, Was Election Denial Just a Get-Rich-Quick
`Scheme? Donors’ Lawsuits Look
`for Answers
`(Feb. 6, 2021),
`available
`at,
`https://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2021/02/06/was-election-denial-just-a-get-rich-
`quick-scheme-donors-lawsuits-look-for-answers/.
`
` 4
`
` See Fact Check-Does ‘2000 Mules’ provide evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential
`election?, Reuters (May 27, 2022), available at, https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-usa-
`mules-idUSL2N2XJ0OQ; FACT FOCUS: Gaping Holes in the Claims of 2k Ballot ‘Mules’,
`Associated
`Press
`(May
`3,
`2022),
`available
`at,
`https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-05-03/fact-focus-gaping-holes-in-the-
`claim-of-2k-ballot-mules; Tom Dreisbach, A pro-Trump film suggests its data are so accurate, it
`solved
`a murder.
`
`That’s
`false, NPR
`(May
`17,
`2022),
`available
`at,
`https://www.npr.org/2022/05/17/1098787088/a-pro-trump-film-suggests-its-data-are-so-
`accurate-it-solved-a-murder-thats-fals; Phillip Bump, Even the geolocation maps in ‘2000 Mules’
`are misleading,
`The Washington
`Post
`(May
`19,
`2022),
`available
`at,
`https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/19/even-geolocation-maps-2000-mules-are-
`misleading/.
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 3
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 4 of 37
`
`
`
`and Engelbrecht declared an end to “mules” at an August 2022 True the Vote, invitation-only event
`
`which they called “The Pit.”
`
`5.
`
`The Pit, they promised, would be the event where Defendants would finally release
`
`“devastating information” that would definitively prove the 2020 U.S. Presidential election was
`
`stolen. Instead, Defendants used The Pit as a platform to announce their website, and publicly
`
`launch their attack against Konnech by spreading baseless lies.
`
`6.
`
`In an attempt to bolster their false accusations, Defendants claim that they have
`
`obtained financial and other sensitive personal data of 1.8 million U.S. poll workers—including
`
`social security numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and banking information—from
`
`Konnech’s protected computers. As an initial matter, Konnech has never managed customer data
`
`for that many poll workers or even a small percentage of that many poll workers. But regardless,
`
`based on the extensive security measures Konnech has in place, Defendants could only access any
`
`of Konnech’s data if they illegally hacked into and stole data from Konnech’s protected computers.
`
`7.
`
`Defendants have in fact portrayed their access to Konnech’s protected computers
`
`as unauthorized. Defendant Phillips specifically described on a recent podcast how Defendant
`
`Engelbrecht had an idea and asked him to look into Konnech’s election software, how he then
`
`traveled to a Dallas, Texas hotel room to meet his “analysts,” how they put “towels under the
`
`doors” in an effort to conceal their knowingly unlawful conduct, and then how “analysts,” who
`
`were acting at his direction, successfully hacked into Konnech’s servers and unlawfully
`
`downloaded its data. Defendants even admit they are now the subject of an ongoing FBI
`
`investigation due to their misconduct targeting Konnech. But apparently undeterred, Defendants
`
`
`
`
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 4
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 5 of 37
`
`
`
`have continued their attacks on Konnech and have publicly and repeatedly declared their intent to
`
`release the information they stole from Konnech’s servers.
`
`8.
`
`Defendants have pushed their false narrative with social media posts that “ReTruth”
`
`(the Truth Social equivalent of a Retweet on Twitter) conspiracy theories published by armchair
`
`“experts” and anonymous sources. Defendants lead a chorus of online adherents who are
`
`encouraged by Defendants—through social media postings and podcast appearances—to engage
`
`in further attacks against Konnech. Numerous conspiracy theories attempting to affiliate Konnech
`
`with the Chinese Communist Party have appeared online since The Pit. To be clear, Konnech, a
`
`previously relatively unknown entity, has gone viral since The Pit, with countless Tweets and
`
`Truth Social postings using the #Konnech hashtag. But the consequences of Defendants’ actions
`
`are far more serious in that Defendants’ public smear campaign has resulted in repeated death
`
`threats against Konnech’s founder and his family which have forced them out of their home in fear
`
`for their lives.
`
`9.
`
`Defendants’ allegation that a vast international conspiracy concerning the U.S.
`
`Presidential Election would be ignored by the Federal Government—and, in fact, concealed by the
`
`FBI—but proven by conspiracy theorists and con artists using basic internet searches and posts on
`
`social media, demonstrates Defendants’ recklessness and disdain for the truth.
`
`10.
`
`Defendants know what they are doing is wrong, and have tried, in vain, to avoid
`
`responsibility for their misconduct by encouraging and using others to perform their dirty work for
`
`them. But Defendants have already gone too far, and they cannot avoid liability for their own
`
`misconduct and for masterminding this entirely fabricated conspiracy against Konnech.
`
`11.
`
`Absent intervention of this Court, such damaging behavior will continue to occur,
`
`which is particularly problematic in light of the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, for which
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 5
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 6 of 37
`
`
`
`Konnech has contracts to provide election logistics software for voting districts across the country.
`
`Konnech thus files this action to recover damages as a result of Defendants’ defamatory
`
`statements, and interference with Konnech’s current and prospective business relationships, and
`
`seeks a restraining order to immediately and permanently restrain Defendants and those acting in
`
`concert with them from accessing, obtaining, using and/or disclosing any data from Konnech’s
`
`protected computers.
`
`PARTIES
`
`12.
`
`Plaintiff Konnech, Inc. is incorporated in Michigan and headquartered in East
`
`Lansing, Michigan.
`
`13.
`
`Defendant True the Vote, Inc. is a Texas Nonprofit Corporation which is
`
`headquartered in Houston, Texas, at 18720 FM 249, Suite A, Houston, Texas 77070, and can be
`
`served through its registered agent, Registered Agents, Inc., at 5900 Balcones Drive, Suite 100,
`
`Austin, Texas 78731, or wherever else it may be found.
`
`14.
`
`Defendant Catherine Engelbrecht resides at 13909 Track Rd. East, Cat Spring,
`
`Texas 78933, and can be served at said address or wherever else she may be found.
`
`15.
`
`Defendant Gregg Phillips resides at 1752 Coates Pass, Birmingham, Alabama
`
`35244, and can be served at said address or wherever else he may be found.
`
`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
`
`16.
`
`This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
`
`1331, because Konnech has asserted claims against Defendants under the Computer Fraud and
`
`Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030, et seq. This Court also has supplemental jurisdiction over Konnech’s
`
`state law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a). This Court further has subject matter jurisdiction
`
`over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), because the parties have diversity of citizenship
`
`and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 6
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 7 of 37
`
`
`
`17.
`
`Venue is proper in the Southern District of Texas (Houston Division) because a
`
`substantial part of the events giving rise to the claims occurred in Houston, Texas where Defendant
`
`True the Vote is headquartered and Cat Spring, Texas where Defendant Engelbrecht resides, and
`
`a substantial part of the property that is the subject of the action is situated in Houston, Texas
`
`and/or Cat Spring, Texas. Additionally, venue is proper in the Southern District of Texas (Houston
`
`Division) because Defendants and, in particular, Defendants Engelbrecht and True the Vote, have
`
`published defamatory statements that are the subject of this action from within the Southern
`
`District of Texas (Houston Division).
`
`18.
`
`This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant True the Vote because it is
`
`incorporated in Texas and has its principal place of business in Texas. This Court has personal
`
`jurisdiction over Defendant Engelbrecht because she is domiciled in Texas. This Court has
`
`personal jurisdiction over Defendant Phillips because he availed himself of the benefits and
`
`protections of the laws of the State of Texas by, among other things, committing a tort and other
`
`unlawful misconduct against Konnech while in Texas. Specifically, Defendant Phillips, while
`
`acting in concert with Defendants Engelbrecht and True the Vote, has admitted that he obtained
`
`confidential information and data from Konnech’s protected computers while located in Texas,
`
`and obtained data from Konnech’s protected computers while located in Texas which has also
`
`been provided to Defendant True the Vote which is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
`
`Konnech, Inc.
`
`FACTUAL BACKGROUND
`
`19.
`
`Konnech, Inc. is a U.S. company which is incorporated in Michigan and was
`
`founded by its President and CEO, Eugene Yu, who is a U.S. citizen. Mr. Yu built Konnech on
`
`his own from the ground up. Konnech provides governmental entities in the U.S. with an election
`
`logistics software product called PollChief which those governmental entities use to recruit, train
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 7
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 8 of 37
`
`
`
`and schedule poll workers; coordinate the distribution of equipment and supplies to polling places;
`
`and dispatch support personnel to address technical and other issues. Konnech does not select,
`
`communicate, or otherwise interface with any poll workers. And Konnech’s software products are
`
`not involved in any way in the registration of voters, the production, distribution, scanning, or
`
`processing of ballots, nor the collection, counting or reporting of votes. Indeed, Konnech never
`
`handles any ballots and no ballots or other voting counts ever enter any of Konnech’s computer
`
`servers.
`
`True the Vote’s “The Pit” Event
`
`20.
`
`In the summer of 2022, Defendants advertised an event they dubbed “The Pit,”
`
`scheduled for August 13, 2022, at which they claimed they would disclose “devastating”
`
`information that would be definitive proof that the 2020 Presidential Election was stolen from
`
`former President Donald Trump.
`
`21.
`
`The Pit was hosted by Defendants and attended by over 100 by-invitation-only
`
`guests who were handpicked by Defendants Engelbrecht and Phillips based on who they believed
`
`would be supportive of their conspiracy and who would best spread the disinformation they
`
`planned to disclose. The Pit was also livestreamed on Right Side Broadcasting Network.
`
`22.
`
`The event featured many different speakers, including Defendants Engelbrecht and
`
`Phillips, and served as a pep rally for election fraud conspiracy theorists in anticipation of the 2022
`
`midterm elections. But the main attraction for The Pit was the supposed proof that Defendants
`
`claimed they planned to disclose, which was not part of 2000 Mules, but, in their words, would
`
`serve as definitive proof that the 2020 Presidential election was a sham.
`
`23. While The Pit was still livestreaming, Defendants Phillips and Engelbrecht took the
`
`stage to finally make the big announcement. The announcement, however, was nothing more than
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 8
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 9 of 37
`
`
`
`an advertisement for a website Defendants created, where Defendants claim their subscribers can
`
`log on and view the purported evidence of election fraud.
`
`The Pit Livestream is Turned Off
`
`24.
`
`Upon information and belief, and according to social media posts from those in
`
`attendance at The Pit, Defendants turned off the livestream and then disclosed to attendees that
`
`they had been secretly working on something they called “The Tiger Project”—which is the code
`
`name and hashtag for their campaign against Konnech—during which they sent dozens of FOIA
`
`requests to Konnech’s customers, all in an apparent effort to intimidate those customers or to
`
`otherwise raise customers’ suspicions about Konnech. But even more shocking, Defendants
`
`falsely claimed that they discovered that Konnech had an unsecured server located in Wuhan,
`
`China, which Defendants hacked into and stole data from. Specifically, Defendants claimed to
`
`have illegally downloaded from Konnech’s server personal data on 1.8 million U.S. poll workers,
`
`which they claim is a vehicle for the Chinese Communist Party to breach U.S. elections.
`
`
`
`25.
`
`To be clear, however, all of Konnech’s U.S. customer data is secured and stored
`
`exclusively on protected computers located within the United States. Konnech controls access to
`
`its offices, enters into confidentiality agreements with its customers and employees, and uses two-
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 9
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 10 of 37
`
`
`
`factor authentication, restricted access, and other security measures to control access to its
`
`protected computers. Only a select group of Konnech employees that have been provided with
`
`that two-factor authentication have authority to access the protected computers which contain poll
`
`worker data.
`
`26.
`
`Defendants additionally claimed that they brought all of their information to the
`
`FBI and made a formal complaint. Unsurprisingly, Defendants sought to capitalize on certain
`
`public sentiment against the FBI on the heels of the recent raid on Mar-a-Lago, and claimed that
`
`the FBI turned the tables on them, and began an investigation of Defendants for hacking Konnech’s
`
`protected computers and stealing its data.
`
`27.
`
`Then, to ensure maximum damage from their defamatory statements, Defendants
`
`encouraged The Pit attendees, as documented in the following social media post, to spread what
`
`they learned at the event, to do their own research on Konnech, to publish their findings on the
`
`internet and, moreover, to continue attacking Konnech:
`
`
`
`And as things typically evolve with the internet in the 21st century, the conspiracy theory and
`
`attacks against Konnech—all of which were initiated by Defendants at The Pit—quickly spread,
`
`and the previously relatively unknown Konnech went viral.
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 10
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 11 of 37
`
`
`
`28.
`
`Sadly, as a foreseeable consequence of Defendants’ malicious and baseless attacks
`
`against Konnech, Mr. Yu has been the target of repeated death threats, which have forced him and
`
`his family to leave their home in fear for their lives:
`
`
`
`Defendants Continue to Defame Konnech
`
`
`29.
`
`Following The Pit, Defendants went on a media blitz to publicize their newly
`
`fabricated conspiracy theory in an unabashed effort to enrich themselves at the expense of
`
`Konnech, all under the guise of being “Patriots” who are supposedly uncovering election fraud—
`
`which one can supposedly learn about, but only by subscribing to Defendants’ various web-based
`
`platforms.
`
`30.
`
`Defendants have further perpetuated their attacks by posting and ReTruthing
`
`articles of purported research compiled by anonymous posters which associate Konnech to
`
`everything from Mark Zuckerberg, to George Soros, the Chinese Communist Party, and even the
`
`origins of COVID-19.
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 11
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 12 of 37
`
`
`
`31.
`
`As one example of many, on August 15, 2022, True the Vote posted an article which
`
`falsely claims, among other factually incorrect assertions, that Konnech built software for the
`
`Confucius Institute, an organization which they claim is linked to the Chinese Communist Party,
`
`and further encouraged its followers to “keep digging.”:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 12
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 13 of 37
`
`
`
`32.
`
`On August 17, 2022, True the Vote posted to Truth Social representing that
`
`everything they said at The Pit was a factual matter and, again, encouraged others to continue to
`
`research Konnech and further expand the ever-growing conspiracy theory:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 13
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 14 of 37
`
`
`
`33.
`
`On August 21, 2022, True the Vote directly accused Konnech of unlawful acts in
`
`connection with a government contract and handling of ballots, even though Konnech has never
`
`handled ballots in any U.S. election:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 14
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 15 of 37
`
`
`
`34.
`
`On August 27, 2022, True the Vote posted an article claiming that Konnech is
`
`“owned by the Chinese Communist Party,” even though Konnech is owned by U.S. citizens who
`
`are not affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, and claiming that Konnech is involved in the
`
`“subversion of our elections” which is tantamount to falsely accusing Konnech of election fraud,
`
`treason, and espionage:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 15
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 16 of 37
`
`
`
`35.
`
`On August 26, 2022, Defendant Phillips also ReTruthed allegations that Konnech
`
`is directly connected to a “jump” of votes for President Biden even though Konnech has never
`
`handled ballots in any U.S. Election:
`
`
`
`36.
`
`On September 5, 2022, True the Vote hosted a “Q&A” podcast concerning their
`
`“Tiger Project,” which claimed to be an event where Defendants would reveal “How the CCP is
`
`Breaching US Elections.” The podcast, however, merely summarized the same baseless rhetoric
`
`against Konnech, and Defendants did not produce any evidence to support their baseless
`
`accusations:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 16
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 17 of 37
`
`
`
`37.
`
`And on September 8, 2022, Defendant Phillips ReTruthed an article claiming that
`
`the “FBI Conceals Chinese Infiltration of U.S. Election Software,” and quotes a prior statement
`
`by Phillips that “[t]his is a red Chinese communist op run against the United States by Chinese
`
`operatives and it’s a disaster”:
`
`
`
`38.
`
`Defendants’ attacks on Konnech, however, are not just limited to social media
`
`postings. Defendants—who constantly seek publicity—have also made numerous appearances on
`
`their own and others’ podcasts where they have further spewed and perpetuated their lies about
`
`Konnech and, in fact, repeatedly confessed to hacking Konnech’s protected computers and stealing
`
`its data.
`
`Defendants Falsely Accuse Konnech of Bribery
`
`39.
`
`For example, Defendants have falsely accused Konnech of bribing the City of
`
`Detroit to obtain a contract simply by making campaign contributions of an unstated amount.
`
`Specifically, on an August 15, 2022 podcast titled “Devolution Power Hour – Gregg Phillips
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 17
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 18 of 37
`
`
`
`Interview,” Defendant Phillips (pictured below on the right) falsely implied that Konnech only
`
`received its contract with Detroit because Konnech bribed the officials there: “The two biggest
`
`donations . . . were from, guess who, Konnech. And then all of a sudden, they get, they get this
`
`fast ballot counting software contract and, and next thing, you know, the election counting stops[.]”
`
`But, as explained throughout, Konnech does not, and has never, performed any ballot counting,
`
`scanning, or processing in any U.S. election. And Konnech has never engaged in bribery of any
`
`form and a legal campaign contribution, if any, is not a bribe.
`
`
`
`
`
`Defendants Falsely Accuse Konnech of Maintaining Unsecure Chinese Servers and Admit to
`Hacking and Stealing Konnech’s Data
`
`
`40.
`
`Defendants have also falsely accused Konnech of maintaining unsecure Chinese
`
`servers for their election logistics software and, in the process, admit to hacking and stealing
`
`Konnech’s data. For example, on an August 23 podcast titled “Prophets and Patriots,” Defendant
`
`Phillips described meeting his “guys” at a hotel room in Dallas, where they put “towels under the
`
`doors” like “some kind of a James Bond kind of thing,” and proceeded to hack into a Konnech
`
`server. Indeed, Defendant Phillips admitted on that podcast that “[w]e took [Konnech’s data]
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 18
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 19 of 37
`
`
`
`directly” and that Defendant True the Vote plans to publicly “release all of [Konnech’s] data”
`
`through “drops” to subscribers of Defendants’ website.
`
`41.
`
`Defendant Phillips repeated these claims on an August 30, 2022 podcast titled,
`
`“Here’s How They’ll Try to Steal the Midterms,” where Phillips described, once again, traveling
`
`to Dallas, Texas to meet his so-called “analysts,” where they “plugged one of their computers into
`
`the television” and began “scrolling through millions and millions of records about Americans,”
`
`all of which he claims to have obtained by gaining unauthorized access to Konnech’s protected
`
`computers. Defendant Phillips also described how he “immediately drove down to Houston” and
`
`got Defendant Engelbrecht “to come over and meet [him]” that next morning, where they came up
`
`with a plan to file a complaint with the FBI and turn over the data they stole.
`
`42.
`
`Likewise, on a September 2, 2022 podcast hosted by Defendant Phillips called
`
`“Patriot Games”—during which he admits the FBI accused him of being “the thief that stole the
`
`Chinese internet”—Defendant Engelbrecht (pictured below on the right) confessed to how
`
`Defendants conspired to unlawfully access Konnech’s protected computers, and how she and True
`
`the Vote “pulled in [Defendant Phillip’s] team, and asked them to take a deeper dive” around the
`
`security of Konnech’s software. Defendant Phillips told The Pit attendees that they accessed
`
`Konnech’s alleged Chinese server by using a password after finding vulnerabilities in the server.
`
`
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 19
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 20 of 37
`
`
`
`Defendants Falsely Claim Konnech is the Subject of a Long-Running FBI Investigation
`
`43.
`
`Additionally, Defendants have falsely claimed that Konnech is the subject of a
`
`long-running FBI investigation, and that a grand jury indictment against Konnech is imminent.
`
`Specifically, during the “Prophets and Patriots” podcast, Defendant Phillips claimed to have been
`
`“involved in a major and mature counterintelligence operation with the FBI” investigating
`
`Konnech.
`
`44.
`
`And during the “Patriot Games” podcast, Defendants claimed that they are working
`
`with people “to bring this work to, to a grand jury for the first time,” and that they have the “support
`
`of, of a major prosecutorial office in the United States . . . and [that] they are moving this along,”
`
`thus further claiming, as a factual matter, that Konnech has committed unlawful acts worthy of
`
`prosecution.
`
`45.
`
`But contrary to these unfounded accusations, Defendants admit they are the ones
`
`who are the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation, which they have freely and repeatedly
`
`admitted (if not boasted about) at the Pit and in each podcast on which they appear.
`
`Defendants Falsely Accuse Konnech of Storing U.S. Poll Worker Data on Chinese Servers
`
`46.
`
`Further, Defendants have falsely accused Konnech of storing sensitive and personal
`
`data—including social security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, and banking
`
`information—on 1.8 million U.S. poll workers on servers in China, and otherwise running their
`
`election logistics application through Chinese servers. For example, on an August 31, 2022
`
`podcast called “Stealing the Chinese Internet w/ Gregg Phillips of 2000 Mules,” Defendant Phillips
`
`falsely claimed that he found an “unbelievable amount of data from a US company run by a
`
`Chinese national . . . Yeah, the CCP. We later found out that there’s all kinds of data on this server.
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 20
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-03096 Document 1 Filed on 09/12/22 in TXSD Page 21 of 37
`
`
`
`There’s, there’s data from counties all over the United States where the servers installed, there’s
`
`all sorts of other related software.”
`
`47.
`
`And during the September 5, 2022 “Tiger Project” podcast advertised by
`
`Defendants, Defendant Phillips falsely claimed that Konnech “left a database open that had the
`
`personal identifying information of over a million Americans living on an open server in China.”
`
`48.
`
` Similarly, on the “Here’s How They’ll Try to Steal the Midterm” podcast
`
`mentioned above, Defendant Phillips falsely claimed that Konnech’s election software “apps were
`
`running from China, the database is running in China. It’s on the Chinese internet, meaning the
`
`Chinese own it.”
`
`49.
`
`And on the “Prophets and Patriots” podcast mentioned above, Defendant Phillips
`
`falsely claimed that Konnech has “done military ballots,” and has “online voting systems that
`
`they’ve created,” and that they were all “created by Chinese programmers[.]”
`
`50.
`
`But the truth of the matter is, all of Konnech’s U.S. customer data is secured and
`
`stored exclusively on protected computers located within the United States. Konnech does not,
`
`and has never, stored any actual customer or poll worker data on any server in China as Defendants
`
`falsely claim. Konnech does not, and has never, performed any ballot counting, scanning, or
`
`processing in any U.S. election. And furthermore, Konnech has never managed customer data for
`
`1.8 million poll workers, or even a small fraction of that number, despite Defendants’ claiming to
`
`find 1.8 million U.S. poll worker records on a Konnech server in China.
`
`Defendants Falsely Accuse Konnech of Being a Vehicle for the Chinese Communist Party
`
`51. Moreover, Defendants have maliciously and dangerously claimed that Konnech
`
`and its founder and CEO are members of and, in fact, spies for the Chinese Communist Party, who
`
`are using Konnech to spy and commit fraud in connection with U.S. elections.
`
`PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
`
`
`
`
`PAGE 21
`
`

`

`Case 4:22-cv-

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket