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Fringe political activists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman have pleaded not guilty after surrendering to authorities Thursday on voter intimidation charges.
Wohl, 22, and Burkman, 54, were hit last week with a range of charges by Michigan’s attorney general that largely stem from a robocall scheme that targeted majority-black voters in urban areas, including Detroit and cities in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois.
The calls, of which about 85,000 were made, warned that voting by mail would make that individual’s personal information available on a special database used by law enforcement and credit card companies to track old warrants and outstanding debts.
“Don’t be BS’ed into giving your private information to the man,” the call said, in part. “Stay safe and beware of vote-by-mail.”
The pre-recorded messages also lied in stating that the information would be used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track people for mandatory coronavirus vaccines.
A judge set the bond at $100,000 for the two, whose attorneys fought with state prosecutors over their request for bail to be set at $1 million.
The men were also ordered not to engage in any more robocalls until after the November election.
Neither Wohl nor Burkman spoke during the court proceedings.
“Is this a CSC 1?” Burkman’s lawyer, Scott Grabel, asked, referencing the shorthand term for a sexual assault charge. “It involves a 20-second call that involved no threats. It did not deter any voting.”
The attorney went on to denounce the charges as politically motivated and unlikely to stand up in a court of law.
“The chance of conviction here, in my opinion, is zero, absolutely zero. It’s involving a robocall, which is protected speech,” Grabel said.
In total, the two face charges ranging from conspiracy to commit an election law violation to using a computer to commit election law crime, as well as others.
If convicted on all charges, they would face a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison.
“These are gentlemen that make a mockery out of our system of government,” Assistant Attorney General Richard Cunningham said while making his argument that the men should be given a higher bail.
“I think it’s very important to send a message that what is fundamental in our system is the right for everyone to participate in an election, and an attempt to deter people from doing so will not be tolerated.”
With Post wires
