“Italy Did It”: Did They?
Two days ago; a hashtag on Twitter started trending all around the world, #ItalyDidIt.
Let us dive right into this and answer the question, did Italy do it? That is, manipulate US elections for the favor of Joe Biden by switching votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden?
UPDATE
I am very aware of the video being circulated around social media showing Prof. Alfio D’Urso (“Legal Counsel / Supreme Court of Italy — Italian Tax Court / EU Banking Credit Foundation”) supposedly testifying under oath about Italy’s interference in the 2020 presidential election in the United States. I have written an article that I shared on Medium and investigated and took a deeper look into who Alfio D’Urso really is and the affidavit he allegedly prepared.
Link to the article here
Since two days, titles like “IT Expert And Global Defense Contractor Testifies In Italian Court That He And Others Rigged Machines To Switch Votes To Biden In US Election” and “Global defense contractor IT expert testifies in Italian court he and others switched votes in the U.S. presidential race” have been floating around the internet.
Let us investigate further into this claim and determine how true it is.
The Affidavit
An affidavit is a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation, for use as evidence in court. Definition from Oxford Languages.
Here is the picture of the general affidavit prepared by lawyer Prof. Alfio D’Urso detailing “facts as conveyed in several meetings with a high level army security services official” Keep in mind, this is the only document that proves any of what is being circulated is true.
Keep in mind, this is the only document that proves any of what is being circulated is true.
Before we start with Arturo D’Elia, here’s Prof. Alfio D’Urso’s page on the website of the University of Magna Graecia, department of Law, Economics and Sociology.
Signatures
On the left, we have the alleged general affidavit prepared by Prof. D’Urso with his signature at the bottom right. On the right, we have a document found on the University’s website with his actual signature.
What the Affidavit Tells Us
Basically; Arturo D’Elia, former head of the IT Department of Leonardo S.p.A, has been charged by the public prosecutor of Naples for technology/data manipulation and implantation of viruses in the main computers of Leonardo S.p.A in December 2020.
Of course; if we look further into who D’Elia really is, we will find some interesting stuff. Moving on.
Allegedly, this allowed him to switch data from the US elections of 3 November 2020 from significant margin of victory for Donald Trump to Joe Biden. He alleged that he was under instruction and direction of US persons working from the US Embassy in Rome.
He supposedly utilized military grade cyber warfare encryption capabilities to transmit switched votes via military satellite of Fucino Tower to Frankfurt, Germany.
In the affidavit, Arturo D’Elia has also stated he is willing to testify to all individuals and entities involved in the switching of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden when he shall be in total protection for himself and his family.
All of the information mentioned above has been taken directly from the affidavit that is being shared greatly on social media. It even prompted the hashtags #italydidit and #italygate. Now let us look into who Arturo D’Elia is and what he did exactly.
Arturo D’Elia: Who Is He?
According to Arturo’s LinkedIn profile, he has worked at Alenia Aermacchi as an “IT Consultant.” Alenia Aermacchi’s successor is Leonardo S.p.A.
It also shows that D’Elia served as IT security consultant at NATO’s Communication and Information Agency in Rome between 2010 and 2015.
Here is where things get interesting.
The affidavit has been signed by Arturio D’Elia’s lawyer Prof. Alfio D’Urso on January 6, 2021.
However, on December 5, 2020 D’Elia was arrested by Italian Police.
Why? He stole at least 10GB of data from defense firm Leonardo and targeted details of military aircraft.
According to the official Italian police statement released Dec. 5, the two targeted the aerostructure and aircraft divisions of Leonardo.
From the article on D’Elia’s arrest: “The police also said on Dec. 5 they had arrested Arturo D’Elia and Antonio Rossi who had both worked at Leonardo, over their alleged role in hacking 94 computers, 33 of which were located at the group’s Pomigliano plant.”
Furthermore, the article mentioned the reason D’Elia hacked the defense firm. He did it just to show the company that the IT system was vulnerable. Instead of reporting it, he hacked their systems.
Several articles from Italian news sources mentioned that D’Elia managed to “hit a NATO American base on Italian territory with a cyber attack.” From my research, I could not find reputable news sources mentioning this detail.
Conclusion
In conclusion,
- D’Elia was arrested for data theft and stealing no less than 10GB of data from defense firm Leonardo and targeted the aerostructure and aircraft divisions of Leonardo. He has also been charged and detained
- There is no evidence D’Elia had the capability to manipulate US election results
- No presence by the lawyer on social media or the news. So how can we be sure he prepared the affidavit?
- I am very aware of the recording of “Maria Zack, founder of Nations in Action (organization)” being circulated currently on social media. The woman in the recording alleged that D’Elia did not hack Leonardo for any reason other than manipulating the US elections. Here’s my two-cents on this:
a) It would be extremely embarrassing if D’Elia and Rossi managed to manipulate the US elections result themselves by “transmitting switched votes via military satellite”
b) Again, there is no evidence she presented that confirmed any of the allegations she brought up
c) It was a waste of 52 minutes and 16 seconds
