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Jacob Wohl (left) gives an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2, 2023. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images), Jack Burkman (right) invents allegations against special counsel Robert Mueller (Credit Image: © John Middlebrook/CSM via ZUMA Wire) (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)
A federal Ku Klux Klan Act lawsuit against right-wing hoaxers Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman over a “racially coded” robocall campaign ahead of the 2020 election is set to end with a million-dollar fine, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) revealed Tuesday.
A proposed consent decree that hit the docket on Monday shows Wohl and Burkman would be on the hook for up to $1.25 million in fines in order to end the lawsuit that James filed in 2021.
At the time, James was pursuing a $2.75 million fine for Wohl and Burkman’s “allegedly discriminatory efforts to impair New York citizens’ voting rights,” as a judge described the scheme when allowing the lawsuit to move forward.
Separately, the duo has faced criminal liability in Ohio and even more fines for robocall scamming in several states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and, of course, New York.
The calls included messages like this:
Hi, this is Tamika Taylor from Project 1599, the civil rights organization founded by Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl. 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 proposed consent decree to resolve the AG James lawsuit, which comes more than a year after Wohl and Burkman were found liable “on all claims,” Wohl and Burkman will acknowledge they “made false and threatening claims about mail-in voting ‘contain[ing] racially coded language”” that was “imbued with numerous harmful racial stereotypes about the Black community.”
“WHEREAS, in written communications, Defendants referred to the call ‘as the ‘black robo’… and used terms like … ‘HIJACK’ the election to refer to their operation,” the court filing detailed.
The decree would remain in place for eight years once a court signs off on it, and it would apply to Wohl, Burkman, “Burkman and Associates, Project 1599, and any other successor company or entity controlled or operated by Defendants[.]”
The number of years appears to be designed to deter Wohl and Burkman from “knowingly creating, sponsoring, or transmitting any robocall or other Mass Communication that would intimidate or deter voters from voting” based on “false or fraudulent information” in the next two presidential election cycles.
Further, the proposed consent decree includes a waiver of Burkman and Wohl’s right to appeal the decree itself and rulings in the case.
“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, and it belongs to everyone. We will not allow anyone to threaten that right,” AG James said in a statement on the latest development. “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.”
The attorney general noted that the defendants would be on the hook for $1 million to her office, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and individual plaintiffs in the case, including Gene Steinberg, whom James’ office said was disturbed by the robocall to such an extent that he decided not to vote.
“WHEREAS, the August 2020 robocall harmed Private Plaintiffs, and caused Plaintiff Gene Steinberg to experience severe anxiety and emotional distress, which was so acute that
caused Mr. Steinberg to withdraw his name from the voter rolls and to forgo exercising his right to vote,” the court filing said.
If the defendants don’t pay $105,000 by the end of the year, they could face an additional penalty.
“Under the agreement, Wohl and Burkman conceded a $1 million judgment to OAG, NCBCP, and individual plaintiffs. If Wohl and Burkman fail to pay at least $105,000 by December 31, 2024, and do not address the failure to pay within 30 days, the amount will increase to $1.25 million,” the AG’s office said in a press release.
Read the proposed consent decree here.
