Political provocateurs accused of racist robocalls surrender in Michigan fraud case
Quote:
Two alleged right wing provocateurs accused of orchestrating a racist and inaccurate robocall campaign to dissuade people from voting surrendered to Michigan authorities Thursday morning, the Michigan attorney general announced in a news release.
Jacob Wohl, a 22-year-old Los Angeles resident, and Jack Burkman, a 54-year-old resident of Arlington, Virginia, were arraigned Thursday in the 36th District Court in Detroit. They pleaded not guilty on several felony charges related to allegations of voter intimidation and other election law violations.
"These are gentlemen that make a mockery out of our system of government," said Richard Cunningham, chief attorney for the criminal division of the attorney general's office.
"Well, 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."
The pair have denied involvement in orchestrating the robocalls. Both men are known from various reports to routinely stage fake events and purvey conspiracy theories that help far-right conservative causes and President Donald Trump.
Attorney Scott Grabel, representing, Wohl, called the charges ridiculous and politically motivated.
"It's involving a robocall, which is protected speech," Grabel said during the arraignment, conducted virtually and streamed online.
"(Nessel) did her talk show lecture host last week on Rachel Maddow. This is a political stunt."
Magistrate Joseph Boyer ordered the men be held on $100,000 bond and not engage in any more robocalls until after the November election.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, says the pair are responsible for calls that went out to at least 85,000 people, including many in metro Detroit. The calls inaccurately stated law enforcement and debt collectors would use information provided by voters looking to cast an absentee ballot. The calls also said federal health officials would use the same personal information to track down people and forcibly administer vaccines.
None of this is true. The voice in the call directly mentions an organization with which Wohl and Burkman are affiliated, Project 1599, a purported civil rights organization.
The pair faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted, although any eventual sentence could result in substantially less time.
The General Election is Nov. 3, but Michigan voters may request and cast an absentee ballot now.
Peace and zero hunger go hand-in-hand - the UN's World Food Programme wins this year's Nobel peace prize. (In the betting offices, the WHO and climate activist Thunberg were the top favourites.)
0 Replies
revelette1
5
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 07:21 am
@snood,
It is a weird thing they got going on, but then it follows their patter of behavior since Trump became their leader.
0 Replies
revelette1
7
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 07:22 am
What I am amazed about is Trump's seeming recovery. If those experimental drugs and his high powered medicine cocktails really got him cured like he says, it should be made readily available to the rest of the country despite ability to pay. I personally feel resentment when they talk about his miraculous progress considering the rest of the country mounting deaths. And then him talking about how it compares to the flu was just piling on for more resentment.
Scoop: Barr tells Republicans Durham report won't be ready by election
Source: Axios
Attorney General Bill Barr has begun telling top Republicans that the Justice Department’s sweeping review into the origins of the Russia investigation will not be released before the election, a senior White House official and a congressional aide briefed on the conversations tell Axios.
Why it matters: Republicans had long hoped the report, led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, would be a bombshell containing revelations about what they allege were serious abuses by the Obama administration and intelligence community probing for connections between President Trump and Russia.
“This is the nightmare scenario. Essentially, the year and a half of arguably the number one issue for the Republican base is virtually meaningless if this doesn't happen before the election," a GOP congressional aide told Axios.
Barr has made clear that they should not expect any further indictments or a comprehensive report before Nov. 3, our sources say.
Looks like Trump's October surprise landed in his face!!!!
0 Replies
Frank Apisa
3
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 07:38 am
@revelette1,
revelette1 wrote:
What I am amazed about is Trump's seeming recovery. If those experimental drugs and his high powered medicine cocktails really got him cured like he says, it should be made readily available to the rest of the country despite ability to pay. I personally feel resentment when they talk about his miraculous progress considering the rest of the country mounting deaths. And then him talking about how it compares to the flu was just piling on for more resentment.
The operative word here is "seeming," Rev,
There is recovery...and there is recovery.
Trump does not sound like a man recovered to me.
These are moments of impulsiveness that I suspect he may sorely regret, soon.
Trump Collapsing In Internal GOP Polls
October 9, 2020 at 7:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
New York Times: “New polls show Mr. Trump’s support is collapsing nationally, as he alienates women, seniors and suburbanites. He is trailing not just in must-win battlegrounds but according to private G.O.P. surveys, he is repelling independents to the point where Mr. Biden has drawn closer in solidly red states, including Montana, Kansas and Missouri, people briefed on the data said.”
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bobsal u1553115
0
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 08:12 am
Trump got a $21 million tax break for saving the forest outside his NY mansion. Now the deal is under investigation.
Five years ago, Donald Trump promised to preserve more than 150 acres of rolling woodlands in an exclusive swath of New York suburbia prized for its luxury homes and rural tranquility.
In exchange for setting aside this land on his estate known as Seven Springs, Trump received a tax break of $21.1 million, according to court documents.
The size of Trump’s tax windfall was set by a 2016 appraisal that valued Seven Springs at $56.5 million — more than double the value assessed by the three Westchester county towns that each contained a piece of the property.
The valuation has now become a focal point of what could be one of the most consequential investigations facing President Trump as he heads into the election.
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is investigating whether the Trump Organization improperly inflated the value of Seven Springs as part of the conservation easement on the property, according to filings in the case in August. The investigation also scrutinizes valuations, tax burdens and conservation easements at Trump’s holdings in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.
Maybe theRump has promised the Doctor an Admiralship of he just plays along and does what tRump tells him to do?
That's very possible. Considering that Mr. Trump has previously made both CDC and FDA, two prestigious scientific agencies long honored by the world, his tools to serve his political purpose, how could you expect this individual physician stand up to him for his integrity in medical field? Or is this physician really so ignorant as to stuck in traditional knowledge (both SARS and MERS patients spread the virus only after symptoms occured. COVID-19 is different, patients without symptoms can still spread the virus)?
0 Replies
revelette1
2
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 09:04 am
@Frank Apisa,
Well, he has always been erratic and nonsensical, he is even more aggressive than he was before though impossible it would have seemed. Those steroids I suspect. Looking at him last night (as compared to when he was huffing and puffing after "heroically" taking off his mask) he seemed OK for someone who had all that medicine that he had just last week. I mean it was a lot. More than anyone else in the country. I am hoping they actually worked so maybe there will actually be a cure. I just hope (but don't hold out much if he is re-elected again)that the rest of world and our people in our country benefit from it with no cost for those who can't afford it.
0 Replies
revelette1
2
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 09:12 am
The poll I trust the most was the one who closest to right in 2016, Nate Silver.
I hope it works, you may have to be prescribed to 538 youtube thing.
0 Replies
bobsal u1553115
1
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 09:59 am
Chris Wallace is saying on Fox 'News' ...
A major reason the commission on debates changed the next presidential debate to a virtual one is because no one wanted to be in the same room with Donald Trump.
The sound and camera crew were refusing plus the commission was having trouble finding noncommitted voters willing to be in the audience of the townhall to ask the questions.
Even though Trump had to test negative to appear, no one wanted to be in the room with Trump,
so says Chris Wallace ... Fox News.
It is pointless to say that Trump has “devoid” of symptoms.
It is pointless to expect some people who refuse to accept the fact that this disease is not a dangerous killer to turn on the narrative. It targets certain groups. The survival rate for everyone under 70 is near 100%.
Trump is right. It is time to live with it and get back to business. He also thinks Americans can make their own decisions. That has never been popular with Democrats.
Mr.Trump talks about fiction rather than fact. The fact is that "The U.S. accounts for 4 percent of the world’s population, yet for 22 percent of confirmed Covid-19 deaths. And if the U.S. had the same rate of COVID-19 deaths as the world average, 145,000 fewer Americans would have died from the disease." (Source) How poor a job has the Trump administration done for controlling the virus? Trump is horribly wrong. His statement "I don't think science knows" reveals how ignorant he is.
0 Replies
izzythepush
1
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 10:08 am
@bobsal u1553115,
This story may well be apocryphal, but I heard that when Henry VIII died he was laid out in state but after about two days he burst.
I always get the feeling that’s a distinct possibility of that happening with Trump, and he wouldn’t even have to die first.
Thousands of scientists urge end to 'devastating' lockdowns
Signed by the famous Dr Harold Shipmans, Dr Person Fakename, Dr Very Dodgy Doctor, a Mr Banana Rama, Professor Ita Rôle Italy Pudding and dessert expert, Dr Brian Blessed Doctor in Winged Flight, Z-Cars and Booming Laughter, Dr Johnny Fartpants, Professor Notaf Uckingclue ... ...
0 Replies
bobsal u1553115
2
Fri 9 Oct, 2020 11:19 am
@izzythepush,
Not apocryphal. That's happened to quite a few rulers and religious figures.
Should Psychiatrists Refrain from Commenting on Trump’s Psychology?
by Leonard L. Glass, M.D., M.PH.
You might think the answer is obvious, but it isn't.
Obviously "No"
There's a historical basis for objecting to mental health professionals injecting their opinions into public debate: the Goldwater rule. Psychiatrists' painful experience of suffering legal humiliation for authoring their armchair diagnosis of Barry Goldwater in 1964 chastened the leaders of mental health organizations, who then acted to protect their professions' reputation by including in their code of ethics a prohibition against the diagnosis of public figures.
Recently, the American Psychiatric association Ethics Committee expanded the interpretation of the Goldwater rule to prohibit any comment by psychiatrists on a public figure that included references to their professional status.
Other "no" arguments opposed to such a diagnosis are essentially variations on the theme of protecting the guild from disgrace: mental health professionals might speak in biased, uninformed, or merely disparate ways, and this could discredit the psychological professions, which are always vulnerable to critique and off not taken seriously, as seen in cartoons in the New Yorker and in other, less affectionate forms of ridicule.
But, Less Obviously, "Yes"
But where there is no doctor patient relationship, the duty to warn is more metaphoric – that is, we professionals can "connect the dots" and alert the public to what appears to us to be a pattern of irrationality, impulsivity, and intolerance of divergent views that suggests a dangerous vulnerability in a man occupying the most powerful of positions. Our duty to warn is an expression of our concerns as citizens possessed of a particular expertise; not as clinicians who are responsible for preventing predictable violence from someone under our care.
The public could benefit from psychologically expert commentary on phenomena that are, on the face of it, confusing. For instance, what do you make of a person who characteristically proclaims his successes and never acknowledges his mistakes, who instead inflames and vilifies others.... While it may seem obvious to some that such a person is driven to inflate himself out of insecurities, some not very psychologically sophisticated segments of the public may take his boasts at face value. Thus, it is precisely the role of trained professionals to offer expert perspective to the public at large.
While it's true that, in the case of Donald Trump, we professionals don't have the data that we traditionally rely on in a clinical setting, it's also true that, thanks to Trump's facility in garnering public attention, the many years he has been in the news, and most especially the abundance of videotaped evidence of his behavioral reactions, there is an impressive quantity of Donald Trump's emotional responses and spoken ideation for us to draw on.
By attempting to preclude psychiatry as a profession from the public discussion, the American Psychiatric association is, inescapably, devaluing the relevance and importance of the very profession it imagines it is protecting.
Why I Choose to Speak Out
These are frightening times. The current occupant of the White House is widely perceived as erratic and vindictive.... Yet those very elements of his character may very well have endeared him to his base. He speaks without hesitation or reflection, and repudiates "political correctness." That convinces some that he is authentic, saying things that they've felt but have fear to say out loud. He appears to be easily moved to anger and heedless retaliation. That, too, could be appealing to people who feel powerless and oppressed by an economic system and the societal changes that haven't preserved their status or allowed them to fulfill their dreams and potential. I can identify with those feelings - ironically, even better now, because I am experiencing a variation on the powerlessness I've just described. It would be comforting to believe I had a forceful advocate who possess the authority and motivation to fix what worries me. Alas, the shoe is on the other foot. (Although, I have profound doubts about how sincerely motivated the Mr. Trump is to pursue the interests of the truly powerless.)
The Essentially Dangerous Nature of Donald Trump as Commander in Chief
What I and many others discern in Mr. Trump's behavior and speech is a pattern of impulsivity that leads to vengeful attacks on those who challenge him. He doesn't seem to pause to consider the validity of facts and perspectives that are unfamiliar or just pleasing to him. He presents himself as "knowing more than the generals" and having "great" plans that are sure to succeed: "You will be sick of winning," he has said. This combination of overconfidence and rash reactions may have been an asset in in the world of real estate deals, where the stakes are financial, personal, and presumably recoverable. But "shooting from the hip "without feeling the need to obtain a genuine understanding of complex matters has much graver consequences when the safety of the nation and the global environment are on the line.
Viewed from a mental health perspective, a person who constantly extols his abilities and feels driven to diminish and ridicule others (and here I'm not speaking of political campaigning, where promoting oneself viking vis-á-vis one's opponents is part of the game) often arises from profound insecurity, the very opposite of the supreme confidence that is being projected.
This may seem contradictory, that someone who has succeeded in one realm of life will keep insisting that he is masterful in unrelated areas, areas where he has, in fact, no demonstrated competence, but it soothes such a person's inner doubts and, simultaneously, may appeal mightily to those who crave an all powerful ally.
To put it another way, operationally and day-to-day, we don't know and can't tell if Mr. Trump knows that what he is saying is demonstrably not true. What we do know is that he can't be relied upon to recognize having been wrong; nor does he seem to be able to learn from experience such that he could avoid repeating the same untruth or another the next day, possessed as he appears to be of the same absolute conviction that characterized his previous error.
Conclusion:
Donald Trump's presidency confronts the psychiatric profession and, much more important, our country with the challenge of dealing with an elected leader whose psychological style (marked by impulsivity, insistence on his own infallibility, vengeful retaliation, and unwarranted certainty in uncertain circumstances) is a profound impediment to sound decision-making and presages the erratic and ill-considered exercise are enormous power.
