The wife of a Donald Trump supporter targeted by disinformation after the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol has become the subject of renewed conspiracy theories online. Robyn Epps does not work for Dominion Voting Systems, a firm falsely accused of rigging the 2020 election — she worked for nearly 30 years at a marketing services firm called Dominion Enterprises.
“Just a coincidence,” says text in a photo shared March 20, 2024 on Facebook. “Robyn Epps is Ray Epps wife, she is the National Director of Sales and Development for none other than Dominion. Well, well.”
The post appears to reference Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology firm targeted by false claims of election rigging in the 2020 presidential election.
The same claim has circulated elsewhere on Facebook, Instagram and X since at least July 2022.
Ray Epps, a supporter of former president Trump who was filmed at the US Capitol riot, has been the subject of numerous baseless conspiracy theories since the January 6, 2021 attack — most notably that he was a federal agent who helped incite the violence.
After pleading guilty to one count of disorderly conduct, Epps was sentenced in January 2024 to one year of probation for his presence at the insurrection, which sought to disrupt Congress’s certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. The Arizona man has also sued Fox News for defamation.
The network in April 2023 settled another lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over spurious claims of fraud in the 2020 race, agreeing to pay the Toronto-based company some $787 million. AFP has debunked numerous claims about the firm.
Conspiracy theories tying Robyn Epps to Dominion Voting Systems are also inaccurate, as multiple independent fact-checking outlets have reported.
“Robyn never worked at or for, or was in any way associated with, Dominion Voting Systems,” Michael Teter, a lawyer for Ray Epps (archived here), told AFP in a March 29, 2024 email.
The company has confirmed that (archived here).
“Any claims about a business or financial relationship between Dominion Voting Systems and Ms Epps are completely false,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The social media posts appear to conflate Dominion Voting Systems with Dominion Enterprises, a Norfolk, Virginia-based marketing services company.
Robyn Epps worked at the latter firm from October 1990 to June 2018, according to her LinkedIn profile (archived here) — which says she is now retired. In 2007, she was promoted to national director of sales and development in the For Rent Media Solutions division at Dominion Enterprises, according to a press release (archived here).
Spokesperson Susan Blake previously told USA Today that the company has “no relationship, association or business dealings with Dominion Voting Systems.”
AFP contacted Dominion Enterprises for further comment, but a response was not forthcoming.
AFP has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about US politics here.