Notorious conspiracy theorists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman will pay up to $1.25 million for perpetuating a bogus robocall campaign in the runup to the 2020 presidential election, aimed at scaring Black voters from casting mail-in ballots, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.
The right-wing hucksters, who have faced numerous other lawsuits and court actions for their MAGA-adjacent activities, were found liable in March 2023 for “transmitting false and threatening messages intended to discourage voting” by Black New Yorkers, James’ announcement said.“[I]n written communications, Defendants referred to the call ‘as the ‘black robo’...and used terms like...‘HIJACK’ the election to refer to their operation,” according to a consent decree filed Monday.
The consent decree will remain in place for eight years, and forbids Wohl and Burkman from violating “ any applicable laws, including but not limited to the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, New York Civil Rights Law § 9, New York Civil Rights Law § 40-c, and New York Executive Law § 63(12).”“Defendants shall refrain from knowingly creating, sponsoring, or transmitting any robocall or other Mass Communication that would intimidate or deter voters from voting by any method in any election,” the consent decree states. “Defendants shall refrain from knowingly creating, sponsoring, or transmitting any robocalls or other Mass Communication containing any false or fraudulent information concerning voting, the right to vote, or the conduct of elections.”
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Wohl and Burkman have been at the center of a slew of spectacularly outlandish schemes, falsely smearing various public figures with laughable claims that almost immediately fell apart under the most rudimentary public scrutiny. In 2018, the pair tried and failed to paint then-Special Counsel and former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a rapist. The following year, the two enlisted a young college student—who quickly exposed the con job as a Wohl and Burkman ploy—to parrot bogus claims of having been sexually assaulted by Pete Buttigieg, who was running for president at the time. The hapless operatives have also floated the absurd notions that Sen. Elizabeth Warren was a sex-crazed cougar with sadomasochistic proclivities, and that now-VP Kamala Harris was carrying on a torrid affair with a 26-year-old boy toy, only to see their hired “accusers” quickly recant. Earlier this year, a Marine Corps veteran sued Wohl and Burkman for $11 million, claiming they ruined his life by falsely accusing him of being a child sex predator.
James brought the case against the pair on behalf of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, along with eight private citizens affected by the scheme. According to the consent decree, one of those contacted during the robocall campaign experienced “severe anxiety and emotional distress, which was so acute that it caused [him] to withdraw his name from the voter rolls and to forgo exercising his right to vote.”
In a statement provided by James’ office to The Daily Beast, the AG said, “The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, and it belongs to everyone. We will not allow anyone to threaten that right. 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… My office will always defend the right to vote.”
James initially filed suit against the duo in May 2021, calling their “Project 1599” a “sham organization.” They flooded the zone with disinformation, telling Black voters that if they mailed in their ballots, they would be “tracked for outstanding warrants, credit card debt, and mandatory vaccines,” according to James. The robocalls reached some 5,500 New Yorkers with messages designed to suppress their right to vote.
“Hi, this is Tamika Taylor from Project 1599, the civil rights organization founded by Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl,” one of the messages said. “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? The CDC is even pushing to use records for mail-in voting to track people for mandatory vaccines. Don’t be finessed into giving your private information to the man, stay safe and beware of vote-by-mail.”
Under the agreement with the AG’s office, Wohl and Burkman must immediately start paying down a $1 million fine, beginning with an initial payment of $20,000, a $30,000 payment by Sept. 1, and a $55,000 payment by Dec. 31, for a total of $105,000. They then must pay $6,000 a month, beginning March 1, 2025, for 48 months, for a grand total of $393,000. If they stick to the schedule, James will forgive the $407,000 balance. If they fail to make each and every payment on time, in full, Wohl and Burkman will be on the hook for $1.25 million.
“This groundbreaking settlement should send an emphatic message to anyone who aims to prevent Black people from exercising their right to vote,” Damon T. Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said in a statement. “Voter suppression and voter intimidation are illegal, immoral, and anti-democratic. Regardless of whether the perpetrators are government actors or private citizens, your actions will have consequences, and you will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
