Post by the Scribe on Aug 25, 2021 17:36:58 GMT
Conservative hoaxers face $5.1M fine for election robocalls
www.yahoo.com/news/conservative-hoaxers-face-5-1m-152755529.html
FILE - In this. Oct. 8, 2020 image from video provided by the 36th District Court in Detroit, Jacob Wohl, left, and Jack Burkman, shown in the center left photo, are seen during an arraignment being conducted over Zoom in Detroit. The two conservative hoaxers face a record $5.1 million fine for allegedly making illegal robocalls to wireless phones without the owners' consent in the 2020 election. The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2021, that the proposed fine for Wohl, Burkman, and Burkman's lobbying firm would be the largest ever for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (36th District Court/Zoom via AP Rile)
Jack Burkman
Jacob Wohl
DAVID EGGERT
Wed, August 25, 2021, 8:27 AM·2 min readIn this article:
Jack Burkman
American lobbyist and conspiracy theorist
Jacob Wohl
American far-right conspiracy theorist, fraudster, and internet troll
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two conservative hoaxers face a record $5.1 million fine for allegedly making illegal robocalls to wireless phones without the owners' consent in the 2020 election.
The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday that the proposed fine for Jacob Wohl, Jack Burkman and Burkman's lobbying firm would be the largest ever for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-21-97A1.pdf
The men already face criminal charges in multiple states over allegedly organizing 85,000 robocalls that falsely warned people in predominantly Black areas of New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan that information gleaned from mail-in ballots could lead to their arrest, debt collection and forced vaccination.
apnews.com/article/election-2020-technology-arrests-michigan-voting-rights-5f035e2a68394f9765d9c0d500538d94
The FCC said federal law prohibits making prerecorded calls to cellphones without the permission of those receiving the calls. The agency, which determined 1,141 calls went to mobile phones on Aug. 26 and Sept. 14, proposed a $4,500 fine for each one.
Regulators launched their investigation following consumer complaints and concerns raised by a national civil rights group, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
The FCC said it worked with the Ohio attorney general's office to obtain subpoenas from two dialing service providers showing emails from Burkman and Wohl, including ZIP codes to target and “the tape we want to go out.” They will have an opportunity to respond before the commission takes action.
In an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Wohl said the Biden administration is looking to distract people from the U.S. pullout of Afghanistan and other woes, “but we will not be deterred or discouraged.”
apnews.com/article/europe-poland-d395c4ffd6cc93072bc5d5d40e59fa34
A message seeking comment was left for Burkman.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose office is prosecuting the men, said “this massive fine properly reflects the seriousness of the allegations these two political operatives face.”
The FCC said it was the first time it issued notice of a fine without first issuing a citation, citing a 2019 change in the law.
___
Follow David Eggert at twitter.com/DavidEggert00
twitter.com/DavidEggert00
www.yahoo.com/news/conservative-hoaxers-face-5-1m-152755529.html
FILE - In this. Oct. 8, 2020 image from video provided by the 36th District Court in Detroit, Jacob Wohl, left, and Jack Burkman, shown in the center left photo, are seen during an arraignment being conducted over Zoom in Detroit. The two conservative hoaxers face a record $5.1 million fine for allegedly making illegal robocalls to wireless phones without the owners' consent in the 2020 election. The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2021, that the proposed fine for Wohl, Burkman, and Burkman's lobbying firm would be the largest ever for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (36th District Court/Zoom via AP Rile)
Jack Burkman
Jacob Wohl
DAVID EGGERT
Wed, August 25, 2021, 8:27 AM·2 min readIn this article:
Jack Burkman
American lobbyist and conspiracy theorist
Jacob Wohl
American far-right conspiracy theorist, fraudster, and internet troll
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two conservative hoaxers face a record $5.1 million fine for allegedly making illegal robocalls to wireless phones without the owners' consent in the 2020 election.
The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday that the proposed fine for Jacob Wohl, Jack Burkman and Burkman's lobbying firm would be the largest ever for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-21-97A1.pdf
The men already face criminal charges in multiple states over allegedly organizing 85,000 robocalls that falsely warned people in predominantly Black areas of New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan that information gleaned from mail-in ballots could lead to their arrest, debt collection and forced vaccination.
apnews.com/article/election-2020-technology-arrests-michigan-voting-rights-5f035e2a68394f9765d9c0d500538d94
The FCC said federal law prohibits making prerecorded calls to cellphones without the permission of those receiving the calls. The agency, which determined 1,141 calls went to mobile phones on Aug. 26 and Sept. 14, proposed a $4,500 fine for each one.
Regulators launched their investigation following consumer complaints and concerns raised by a national civil rights group, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
The FCC said it worked with the Ohio attorney general's office to obtain subpoenas from two dialing service providers showing emails from Burkman and Wohl, including ZIP codes to target and “the tape we want to go out.” They will have an opportunity to respond before the commission takes action.
In an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Wohl said the Biden administration is looking to distract people from the U.S. pullout of Afghanistan and other woes, “but we will not be deterred or discouraged.”
apnews.com/article/europe-poland-d395c4ffd6cc93072bc5d5d40e59fa34
A message seeking comment was left for Burkman.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose office is prosecuting the men, said “this massive fine properly reflects the seriousness of the allegations these two political operatives face.”
The FCC said it was the first time it issued notice of a fine without first issuing a citation, citing a 2019 change in the law.
___
Follow David Eggert at twitter.com/DavidEggert00
twitter.com/DavidEggert00