Letitia James

Two conspiracy theorists who tried to suppress Black voters ahead of the 2020 election have lost a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

James filed a lawsuit in federal court against Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman in May 2021 after an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Wohl and Burkman, while hiding behind their organization “Project 1599,” violated state and federal laws by orchestrating robocalls to threaten and harass Black communities through disinformation, including claims that mail-in voters would have their personal information disseminated to law enforcement, debt collectors, and the government.

The Wohl and Burkman robocall campaign reached approximately 5,500 New Yorkers. Damages and relief will be determined at a later date.

In August 2022, Attorney General James announced a settlement with robocalling platform Message Communications for its role in sending out the illegal robocall designed by Wohl and Burkman.

Wohl and Burkman robocalled roughly 85,000 voters across Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio in the summer of 2020.

In Ohio, the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas court sentenced them in November 2022 to two years of probation, six months of monitoring with a GPS ankle bracelet, $2,500 each in fines and 500 hours of registering voters in Washington, D.C.