Two right-wing operatives with a history of peddling conspiracy theories are now facing the consequences of orchestrating a more real conspiracy of their own.
Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman agreed to pay up to $1.25 million to the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James after being charged with overseeing a 2020 election robocall campaign aimed at suppressing Black voter turnout, NBC News reported. The speaker on the robocalls identified herself as "Tamika Taylor of Project 1599," and falsely told around 5,500 Black voters in New York that casting ballots by mail would alert creditors and put the them on a public database used by police departments to track down people with outstanding warrants.
"Don't be finessed into giving your private information to the man, stay safe, and beware of vote by mail," the speaker warned on the call.
Wohl and Burkman were already facing criminal charges in Michigan and Ohio for the robocall scheme when the New York attorney general filed charges in 2021. She initially hoped to make the pair pay up to $2.7 million in penalties. Amid the ongoing New York lawsuit, the Federal Communications Commission slapped them with a $5.1 million fine in June 2023.
The deceptive robocall was one of many plots headed by Wohl and Burkman with the aim of promoting Donald Trump and the MAGA movement's political interests. The New York Times reported in 2018 that they were behind a series of emails that offered women money in exchange for smearing then-Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller with sexual misconduct claims.
"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," James said in a press release. "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." The press release later states that one voter suffered "severe anxiety and distress," later withdrawing their voter registration.
Under the terms of the agreement, Wohl and Burkman are responsible for $1 million in damages, though the amount can be reduced to $393,000 if $105,000 of the damages is paid by December 31, or increased to $1.25 million if they miss that deadline.
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