Free Republic

The case against Douglass Mackey was always a sham. A weaponized DOJ tried to turn a meme into a federal crime. The same DOJ has also gone after January 6 prisoners and President Trump with political prosecutions. Different cases, but the goal was the same. It had zero to do with justice. It was all about political punishment, intimidation, and total control. Yes, Mackey’s conviction was tossed out by an appeals court months ago… and overwhelmingly, by the way. But the story didn’t end there. In the days that followed, prosecutors had the chance to fight back, to appeal, and...

Donald Trump Jr. just broke the news in the Douglass Mackey case, and it’s big. On Donald Trump Jr.’s show, which aired Monday evening on Rumble, Mackey announced that he will be suing the US government for what was done to him. Not only that, but he’s bringing in some serious firepower. Mackey announced that he has retained attorney James Burnham, who previously served as general counsel for DOGE, as well as counsel to the president, the DOJ Civil Rights Division, and the AG’s office. Back in 2020, right after Joe Biden was installed in the White House, one of...

Defendant-Appellant Douglass Mackey (“Mackey”) appeals from a judgment of conviction entered on October 25, 2023 after a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Donnelly, J.). Mackey was convicted of conspiring to injure citizens in the exercise of their right to vote in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241 based on three memes he posted or reposted on Twitter shortly before the 2016 presidential election. These memes falsely suggested that supporters of then-candidate Hillary Clinton could vote by text message. On appeal, Mackey argues, inter alia, that the evidence was insufficient to...

When Joe Biden made his power grab in 2020, he didn’t waste time pretending to be a unifier. As a matter of fact, one of the very first things his weaponized DOJ did, just two days after Inauguration Day, was launch a political hit job on Douglass Mackey, a young conservative mover and shaker who dared to mock Hillary Clinton with a satirical meme back in 2016.. Many believe that move was a test run, a little judicial experiment to see if the regime could jail someone for speech. Could they twist a funny meme into a federal crime? Could...

A man who was convicted for sharing memes during the 2016 election is about to be set free after being sentenced to seven months in prison. Douglass Mackey was found guilty of conspiracy for disseminating memes suggesting that Democrats could vote for then-candidate Hillary Clinton through text messages, social media, and other invalid methods. Prosecutors argued that Mackey conspired with others to post the fraudulent messages on X between September and November 2016. One of the memes featured an “African Americans for Hillary” sign and suggested that voters text “Hillary” to 59925 to “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home.” Another...

Douglass Mackey, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration over a meme, has seen his conviction tossed by the Second Circuit Court of appeals. Mackey broke the news on X, saying in all caps "Breaking: The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out my conviction for lack of evidence. The case has ben remanded to the district court with orders to immediately dismiss."

The law is the law, and Jimmy Kimmel broke it. Or at least, he broke the law as it has been outrageously interpreted according to President Joe Biden’s Justice Department, which prosecuted and jailed Douglass Mackey for making an almost identical joke to the one Kimmel made on Wednesday night. During his monologue, Kimmel said, “If you want to vote for Trump, vote late. Vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday or maybe Friday.” Get it? He’s joking about how he hopes Trump voters don’t vote in time. But is it a harmless joke or a case of “election...

The 7-month prison sentence of Douglass Mackey has been stayed per a federal judge. He was convicted in March for circulating a satirical meme that encouraged Hillary Clinton voters to cast their votes via text in the lead up to the 2016 election. The Motion Order reads: "granting motion for release pending appeal, at docket entry 16 Mackey's surrender date is stated. The District Court is ordered to determine the appropriate terms of release, without prejudice to the government's making a future request for detention, on behalf of Appellant Douglass Mackey, It is further ordered that this appeal is expedited....

Nearly 5,000 people sent in an SMS "voting" for Hillary Clinton after a man the US Office of Public Affairs characterized as a "social media influencer" promoted it as an option. According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), Douglass Mackey, who is also known as Ricky Vaughn, was this week sentenced to seven months in prison and handed a $15,000 fine for trying to trick voters into believing they could vote by text message. The Florida man (no, not that one) had faced up to 10 years for his scheme to deprive American citizens of their constitutional right to vote....

It took an FBI investigation, a three-week trial, and lots of taxpayer dollars, but the government finally got what it wanted this week: A Florida man is heading to federal prison for disseminating trollish memes during the 2016 election season that prosecutors alleged "deprive[d] people of their constitutional right to vote." In the months leading up to Election Day, Douglass Mackey, an erstwhile far-right social media influencer, posted a series of photos on his Twitter profile—which had about 58,000 followers under the name "Ricky Vaughn"—encouraging Hillary Clinton–supporters to cast their votes by phone. That obviously didn't go so well for...

To borrow one of Joe Biden’s most frequent lines, “Not a joke.” Actually, it was. A Florida man posted memes and he’s going to jail for it. Douglass Mackey, a.k.a. Ricky Vaughan online, was sentenced to seven months for posting some memes about voting for Hillary Clinton back in 2016. We suppose it’s obvious that United States District Judge Ann M. Donnelly didn’t get the joke because she — let’s just call her Karen — punished Mackey for election interference. Great, now do Hillary. Indeed, it is beyond ironic that Clinton interfered in the 2016 election — though we suppose...

Today, America First Legal (AFL) launched an investigation into potential U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) involvement in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) underhanded attempt to sabotage the trial of Douglass Mackey. The Department of Justice indicted Douglass Mackey in February 2021–shortly after the Biden Administration came into office–on one count of “Conspiracy Against Rights,” alleging that satirical memes Mr. Mackey posted on Twitter constituted a “conspir[acy] to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate one or more persons in the free exercise and enjoyment” of a constitutional right. On March 13, 2023, jury selection for Mr. Mackey’s trial began. On that...

Friday, a federal jury in New York convicted 33-year-old Douglass Mackey of the grave offense of “conspiracy against rights.” This conviction means that Mackey is liable for as many as 10 years in federal prison at sentencing. So, what was this “conspiracy against right”? Mackey made a Twitter meme mocking Hillary Clinton and the stupid people who voted for her, among whom undoubtedly included the judge, jury, and prosecutors.How a Twitter Meme Became a Federal FelonyThis is how the fascists heading this persecution of a political opponent describe the offense:“Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers...

A federal jury on Friday convicted pro-Trump troll Douglass Mackey of plotting to trick voters out of casting a ballot during the 2016 presidential election. The case, which sought to address if any of the toxic stew of Internet disinformation during the 2016 election rose to the level of a crime, has been closely watched by both anti-extremist groups and right-wing politicians and pundits. Mackey, 33, of West Palm Beach, Fla., who gained fame on the Internet as the Twitter user “Ricky Vaughn,” posted two images made to look like fake Hillary Clinton ads telling people they could vote by...

Douglass Mackey is alleged to be one of the many anonymous Twitter users who made the 2016 election so different, so memorable, and so important. Like other anonymous internet memesmiths (anons), Mackey had no external reason that anyone should care what he said. He held no office. He had no byline at an elite publication. He had no vast pool of wealth that conferred legitimacy, deserved or undeserved, on what he had to say. Mackey’s notability, like that of Bronze Age Pervert or Libs of TikTok, came exclusively from what he had to say, and that people found it funny...

Ricky Vaughn” was among the most prolific far-right Twitter users working to spread disinformation during the 2016 election cycle. He posted racist and anti-Semitic photos and memes and routinely retweeted the @TEN_GOP account, which purported to belong to the Tennessee Republican party but, Special Counsel Robert Mueller revealed two years later, was actually run from St. Petersburg by the Internet Research Agency troll farm. In the MIT Media Lab’s ranking of top political influencers in 2016, Vaughn came in at #107—above NBC and CBS. Vaughn has now been arrested—and, as it turns out, his name isn't Ricky Vaughn after all....

Fox News host Tucker Carlson reported a former business partner of Hunter Biden's criminal defense attorney has been picked as a top Justice Department official in President Biden's new administration. It has already been revealed that Nicholas McQuaid, a former federal prosecutor, was picked as acting chief of the Justice Department’s criminal division. Hunter Biden confirmed in early December, after his father won the 2020 election, that he was under federal investigation. Carlson said on his show Friday night that McQuaid worked with Christopher Clark as partners at Latham & Watkins and worked on cases together right until McQuaid took...

....31-year-old Mackey was arrested in West Palm Beach on one charge of conspiracy against rights and faces up to 10 years in prison. According to the unsealed indictment, Mackey conspired with others on Twitter to encourage black people to cast their votes via text message.... Far-left activist and “comedian” Kristina Wong posted the same fake voting meme on Twitter in 2016 — but she targeted TRUMP SUPPORTERS! Her tweet is still live on Twitter — via Jack Posobiec!...

Twitter troll Douglass Mackey, aka Ricky Vaughn, was arrested on Wednesday and faces ten years in prison for "tweeting" and "retweeting" joke memes on Twitter telling people they can "text" in their votes.