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Social Media Influencer Charged with Election Interference Stemming from Voter Disinformation Campaign
Department of Justice ^ | 1/27/2021 | Office of Public Affairs

Posted on 01/27/2021 9:04:44 PM PST by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

A Florida man was arrested this morning on charges of conspiring with others in advance of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election to use various social media platforms to disseminate misinformation designed to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.

Douglass Mackey, aka Ricky Vaughn, 31, of West Palm Beach, was charged by criminal complaint in the Eastern District of New York. He was taken into custody this morning in West Palm Beach and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart of the Southern District of Florida.

“According to the allegations in the complaint, the defendant exploited a social media platform to infringe one the of most basic and sacred rights guaranteed by the Constitution: the right to vote,” said Nicholas L. McQuaid, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This complaint underscores the department’s commitment to investigating and prosecuting those who would undermine citizens’ voting rights.”

“There is no place in public discourse for lies and misinformation to defraud citizens of their right to vote,” said Seth D. DuCharme, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “With Mackey’s arrest, we serve notice that those who would subvert the democratic process in this manner cannot rely on the cloak of Internet anonymity to evade responsibility for their crimes. They will be investigated, caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

(Excerpt) Read more at justice.gov ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: 1moretime; doj; fbi; florida; policestate
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Here it comes. Bidern's "Unite" boils down to "jail all those who disagree."

I have a screenshot of a Hollywood Dem who tweeted that #MAGA people should not vote in the GA runoffs and guess what? He was not arrested. but as I understand it, nothing at all from twitter is allowed on FR.

1 posted on 01/27/2021 9:04:44 PM PST by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

Bkmrk.


2 posted on 01/27/2021 9:07:11 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

This reminds me when comrade obama developed the brownshirt website calling all comrades to turn in their neighbors if they hear untruths about obamacare.


3 posted on 01/27/2021 9:07:48 PM PST by patriot torch (Ashlie Babbitt-say her name)
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

Democrats can lie as a joke. We can’t.

Democrats can riot. We can’t.

Democrats can run votes through counters multiple times. We can’t even ask questions about it or get a court that’ll hear evidence.

Got it?

You can post an image using html here.


4 posted on 01/27/2021 9:08:05 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

So simply telling democrats to vote Wednesday gets you in trouble my goodness no wonder they are so against voter ID anything that requires that requires an IQ above the third grade level severely complicates their get out the vote operation


5 posted on 01/27/2021 9:08:31 PM PST by Lod881019
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

For humorous memes!

“Vote Wednesday!” kinda stuff.


6 posted on 01/27/2021 9:09:21 PM PST by Uncle Miltie (Allegations of vote fraud cause you to 1)Provide contrary evidence or 2)Censor and erect razor wire)
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

Say goodbye to your 1st Amendment Rights.

The 2nd Amendment rights will follow.


7 posted on 01/27/2021 9:09:39 PM PST by Trumpisourlastchance
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

Anybody dumb enough to follow any advice on Twitter is too stupid to vote.

Didn’t the courts rule a couple years ago that it was perfectly fine for politicians to lie, since that was protected by the 1st amendment?


8 posted on 01/27/2021 9:10:08 PM PST by GreyHoundSailor
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

Another reason to hate New York.
Ridicule is the mightiest of all weapons...


9 posted on 01/27/2021 9:10:16 PM PST by glasseye (It's okay to hate democrats...)
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To: TigerClaws
OK, here is the image of the Hollywood leftist who DID NOT get arrested for "election interference"


10 posted on 01/27/2021 9:13:38 PM PST by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (Re-imagine the media!)
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

Tucker covered this apparently he’s charged with making memes.


11 posted on 01/27/2021 9:14:05 PM PST by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant)
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

It is becoming quite clear what the Bolsheviks have in mind for dissenters.


12 posted on 01/27/2021 9:16:31 PM PST by windsorknot
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To: Williams

I don’t think Hannity mentioned this. Has a lot of praise for the FBI.


13 posted on 01/27/2021 9:17:46 PM PST by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (Re-imagine the media!)
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To: Williams
Tucker covered this apparently he’s charged with making memes.

Watching it right now on my DVR. Disgusting.

14 posted on 01/27/2021 9:18:28 PM PST by windsorknot
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

The complaint alleges that in 2016, Mackey established an audience on Twitter with approximately 58,000 followers. A February 2016 analysis by the MIT Media Lab ranked Mackey as the 107th most important influencer of the then-upcoming Election, ranking his account above outlets and individuals such as NBC News (#114), Stephen Colbert (#119) and Newt Gingrich (#141).

As alleged in the complaint, between September 2016 and November 2016, in the lead up to the Nov. 8, 2016, U.S. Presidential Election, Mackey conspired with others to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages designed to encourage supporters of one of the presidential candidates (the “Candidate”) to “vote” via text message or social media, a legally invalid method of voting.

For example, on Nov. 1, 2016, Mackey allegedly tweeted an image that featured an African American woman standing in front of an “African Americans for [the Candidate]” sign. The image included the following text: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home. Text ‘[Candidate’s first name]’ to 59925[.] Vote for [the Candidate] and be a part of history.” The fine print at the bottom of the image stated: “Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by [Candidate] for President 2016.”

The tweet included the typed hashtags “#Go [Candidate]” and another slogan frequently used by the Candidate. On or about and before Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “[Candidate’s first name]” or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which was used in multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by the defendant and his co-conspirators.

The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erik Paulsen and Nathan Reilly of the Eastern District of New York, and Trial Attorney James Mann of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.


15 posted on 01/27/2021 9:19:37 PM PST by gunsequalfreedom
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

Douglass Mackey, aka Ricky Vaughn May not be convinced by the federal prosecutor but there is a good chance his will be bankrupted.

Their goal is not to convict but to destroy.

And they use your tax dollars.


16 posted on 01/27/2021 9:20:36 PM PST by Meatspace
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas

Ok this is insane he made fake online posters telling people they could vote by text. People texted to the number he advertised. They assume this joke meant those people were deprived of their right to vote.

Sounds to me like he was being sarcastic.

But Twitter Facebook Amazon could censor the Hunter Biden scandal and tell people it was Russian disinformation, and that’s not a crime.


17 posted on 01/27/2021 9:21:09 PM PST by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant)
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To: Trumpisourlastchance

Hmmm privilege not right


18 posted on 01/27/2021 9:23:07 PM PST by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas
This is what is acceptable election behavior to a Democrat ...


19 posted on 01/27/2021 9:23:47 PM PST by TigersEye (Everyone knows)
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To: All
Stealing elections is OK. Tricking stupid people to vote on the wrong day is not.


20 posted on 01/27/2021 9:26:15 PM PST by TigersEye (Everyone knows)
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