'Conspiracy theory' criticized by NY Times confirmed one day later: CEO of election-software company arrested for allegedly giving poll worker data to communist Chinese government

On October 3, the New York Times' Stuart Thompson criticized so-called "Far-right election deniers" for a "Conspiracy theory" alleging that Konnech, an election software company based in East Lansing, Michigan, had "Secret ties to the Chinese Communist Party and had given the Chinese government backdoor access to personal data about two million poll workers in the United States." According to Gascón's office, while Konnech was required to store sensitive election-related data in the United States and only make it accessible to citizens and permanent residents, the company had stored data on servers in China. True the Vote, a Texas-based nonprofit founded in 2009 with a mandate to bolster election integrity, was sued by Konnech last month for defamation, after True the Vote claimed the company was guilty of that for which Yu has now been arrested. Konnech sells a proprietary software called PollChief, an election worker management system. The NY Times reported that, according to Konnech, the company had "No ties to the Chinese government." Konnech Inc. filed a defamation lawsuit against True the Vote on September 12, suggesting that the group's accusations of wrongdoing were damaging and would prove "Particularly problematic in light of the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, for which Konnech has contracts to provide election logistics software for voting districts across the country." Konnech and members of the media who reported on the lawsuit suggested that True the Vote leaders' intimations that Yu may have been cooperating with Chinese communists were racist and xenophobic and that the claim Yu was spearheading a "Red Chinese communist op run against the United States" was not an expression of geopolitical concern but of bigotry.