Posted on 07/09/2025 3:34:42 PM PDT by 11th_VA
NEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a social media influencer who used Twitter posts that resembled Hillary Clinton ads to spread false information about the 2016 presidential election and help Donald Trump win. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said no rational jury could have found that Douglass Mackey knowingly agreed to join a conspiracy to deprive people of their constitutional right to vote.
It overturned Mackey's March 2023 conviction in Brooklyn and seven-month prison sentence, opens new tab, and ordered an acquittal. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella in Brooklyn declined to comment. Lawyers for Mackey did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Two lawyers who worked on his appeal joined the U.S. Department of Justice this year. Mackey, a self-described "troll," was accused of trying to convince Clinton supporters they could vote for the former Democratic secretary of state by text message, which is false.
He had tweeted two memes, one showing a Black woman and another written in Spanish, and retweeted a third post depicting Clinton. All carried the message it was OK to vote from home. Mackey is also known as Ricky Vaughn, Charlie Sheen's character in the first two "Major League" movies. In the appeals court's 3-0 decision, Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston said the mere fact Mackey posted the memes did not mean he conspired with anyone even if he intended to help Trump, a Republican, by suppressing votes for Clinton...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The prosecution of this case likely shut up a lot of people from speaking out.
Basically, the censorship campaign was a success.
“Trying to help Trump” must be a serious crime.
Arrest the prosecutor for malicious prosecution. Throw his ass in jail or crap like this will continue at a later date. At the very least take away his livelihood, which is crime.
“ he intended to help Trump, a Republican, by suppressing votes for Clinton...”
Such BS. It is a decades old joke. He knew nobody would fall for it.
He literally made meme. They created an entire false dossier they aren’t the same.
He made a joke. Garland was a joke.
Yes wow. Are we not entitled to be wrong in our opinions?
“Trial Attorney William J. Gullotta of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erik D. Paulsen and F. Turner Buford and Paralegal Specialist Shivani Parshad for the Eastern District of New York prosecuted the case.”
It took four prosecutors to prosecute someone for a conspiracy of one. If I am on a jury in the future I am going to be really skeptical of the prosecutions case.
This is absolutely horrible journalism.
Wilfully ignoring the plain truth. There is no misinformation in a meme, it is satire and ridicule.
Reuters is so disgusting
He should sue Reuters. Was it ever proven that he was trying to help Trump when he made the meme?
Arrest the prosecutor for malicious prosecution. Throw his ass in jail or crap like this will continue at a later date. At the very least take away his livelihood, which is crime.
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Until the practitioners of lawfare are held accountable, this will continue and get worse.
Agreed. I think Reuters just opened themselves up to a multi-million dollar lawsuit for the title alone!
Amen. The creator of this meme knew that if anyone tried to text the word “Hillary” to a 5 digit number, it would fail, and the sender would know it. Therefore, his motive was not to “help Trump”, or actually suppress the Democrat vote, but to ridicule/annoy Hillary and her supporters. If his lawyer did not get this across at trial, Mackey should sue him too.
The AP author.
NOT the meme he posted.
The irony of Trump attacked as being “dictatorial” as the Left and the Biden administration
<><>dragged Trump through five criminal and civil courtrooms,
<><>fined him over $400 million,
<><>coordinated those legal harassments,
<><>indicted him for 93 felonies.
<><>as they tried to destroy his candidacy, his person,
<><>they tried to bankrupt him, and to jail him.
<><>never before had 25 states tried to take Trump off the ballot.
<><>Nobody had ever impeached a president twice.
<><>Nobody had ever tried a president, unconstitutionally,
<><>he was a private citizen, he had already left office.
<><>No presidential candidate was the subject of two assassination attempts.
<><>No ex-president ever had his home raided by the FBI.
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