Conservative operatives who targeted Black voters with robocalls could pay up to $1.25 million

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.

Wohl and Burkman used a fake organization called Project 1599 to reach approximately 5,500 New Yorkers during the 2020 election cycle. Targeted voters received calls falsely claiming that voting by mail would cause the voter to be tracked for outstanding warrants, credit card debt and mandatory vaccines.

According to the OAG, one such call from “Tamika Taylor” tells voters, “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 [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] 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.”

One New York voter who received the robocall suffered “severe anxiety and distress” and ultimately withdrew his voter registration, according to James’s office.

As a result of the calls, the NCBCP redirected resources to address the false claims made in the call.

“These men engaged in a conspiracy to suppress Black votes in the 2020 general election,” said Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of NCBCP. “They used intimidation and scare tactics, attempting to spread harmful disinformation about voting in an effort to silence Black voices. Their conduct cannot and will not be tolerated. This settlement serves as a marker for those who seek to engage in such efforts. There will be consequences for their actions. They will pay for the harm they cause to our democracy.”

The OAG litigated the case, alongside co-plaintiffs of voters who received the robocall and the NCBCP. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP represented all plaintiffs, individual and institutional, in the case.

The settlement should send an “emphatic message” to those who want to prevent Black Americans from voting, said Damon T. Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

“Voter suppression and voter intimidation are illegal, immoral, and anti-democratic,” Hewitt said. “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. At a time when orchestrated voter intimidation and disinformation campaigns are on the rise, we must all remain vigilant in working to ensure that access to the ballot is fair, easy, and accessible.”

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