ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Two conservative political operatives who orchestrated a robocall campaign to dissuade Black people from voting in the 2020 election have agreed to pay up to $1.25 million under a settlement with New York state, Attorney General Letitia James said Tuesday.
The operatives, Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, were accused of making robocalls to phone numbers in predominately Black neighborhoods in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois that told people they could be subjected to arrest, debt collection and forced vaccination if they voted by mail.
“Don’t be finessed into giving your private information to the man, stay safe and beware of vote by mail,” the automated recording told potential voters in the leadup to the election.
Wohl and Burkman pleaded guilty to felony telecommunications fraud in Ohio in 2022. The pair were sued in New York in 2020 by a civil rights organization, The National Coalition on Black Civil Participation, along with people who received the calls and the state attorney general.
An attorney for Wohl and Burkman did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment.
Prosecutors have said the robocalls went out to about 85,000 people across the U.S., including around 5,500 phone numbers with New York area codes, as officials were coordinating unprecedented mail voting campaigns because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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In the New York lawsuit, attorneys for Wohl and Burkman had argued the calls were protected by the First Amendment and said the effort didn’t target specific ethnicities. The defense also said there was no evidence Wohl or Burkman were trying to discourage people from voting.
The consent decree orders Wohl and Burkman to pay $1 million to the plaintiffs, with the sum increasing to $1.25 million if the pair does not hand over at least $105,000 by the end of the year. The agreement does allow Wohl and Burkman…
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