Conservative operatives who targeted Black voters with robocalls could pay up to $1.25 million
Source: The Hill
04/09/24 12:11 PM ET
Two conservative operatives who attempted to stop Black voters in New York from voting by mail in the 2020 election have been ordered to pay up to $1.25 million in restitution. Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were found liable in 2023 for targeting Black voters with false and threatening messages intended to discourage voting. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said at the time that the two had violated multiple federal and state civil rights laws.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday that Wohl and Burkman had conceded to a $1 million judgment to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) and individual plaintiffs. James filed the lawsuit against the two defendants in May 2021. If Wohl and Burkman fail to pay at least $105,000 by Dec. 31 and do not address the failure to pay within 30 days, the amount will increase to $1.25 million.
“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, and it belongs to everyone. We will not allow anyone to threaten that right,” James said in a statement Tuesday. “Wohl and Burkman orchestrated a depraved and disinformation-ridden campaign to intimidate Black voters in an attempt to sway the election in favor of their preferred candidate. Now they will pay up to $1.25 million to my office, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and the individuals who were harmed by their scheme. My office will always defend the right to vote.”
Burkman and Wohl pleaded guilty in October 2022 to a single count each of felony telecommunications fraud over the robocalls. They were sentenced in November 2022 to two years probation, six months of electronic monitoring and 500 hours of community service in a voter registration drive.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4582819-conservative-operatives-targeted-black-voters-robocalls-settlement/
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By Amy B Wang
April 9, 2024 at 3:03 p.m. EDT
Right-wing political operatives Jack Burkman, left, and Jacob Wohl at a news conference in Arlington, Va., in 2019. (Dayna Smith for The Washington Post)
Two right-wing political operatives must pay up to $1.25 million in fines after they were found liable for launching a robocall campaign designed to keep Black New Yorkers from voting in the 2020 election, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.
Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, who have a history of concocting conspiracy theories to try to smear Democrats, were found liable last March of orchestrating a robocall campaign that reached about 5,500 predominantly Black New Yorkers in the summer of 2020. Targeted voters received automated calls — purportedly from a “civil rights organization” founded by Wohl and Burkman called “Project 1599” — that sought to dissuade them from mail-in voting. ... The messages included false warnings that mail-in voting would cause their personal information to be given to police departments and credit card companies.
“Mail-in voting sounds great, but did you know that if you vote by mail, your personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts?” one such robocall message stated, according to a transcript provided by the attorney general’s office. “The CDC is even pushing to use records for mail-in voting to track people for mandatory vaccines.” ... The message concluded: “Don’t be finessed into giving your private information to the man, stay safe and beware of vote by mail.”
Under a settlement agreement, Wohl and Burkman must pay a $1 million judgment to the New York attorney general’s office, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and the individual plaintiffs who were harmed by their scheme. All three groups together filed a lawsuit against Wohl and Burkman in 2021.
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By Amy B Wang
Amy B Wang is a national politics reporter. She joined The Washington Post in 2016 after seven years with the Arizona Republic. Twitter https://twitter.com/amybwang
