New York Attorney General Letitia James celebrated a $1.25 million victory on Tuesday after conservative activists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman reached an agreement to compensate James’ office and others for organizing a voter suppression effort during the 2020 election.
In May 2021, James filed a lawsuit against Wohl and Burkman, accusing them of attempting to suppress Black voters before the 2020 election. Following an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General, it was revealed that Wohl and Burkman had orchestrated a widespread voter suppression campaign. Their tactics included using robocalls to spread election-related misinformation and discourage voting among Black voters and other groups. In March 2023, a federal judge ruled in James’ favor, recognizing the efforts made by Wohl and Burkman to suppress Black voters.
The federal judge had held the two individuals accountable, stating in a ruling last year that they “set into motion a full-scale voter suppression operation during the summer of 2020 to discourage eligible voters from voting by targeting mail-in voting in the 2020 election.”
On Tuesday, Wohl and Burkman reached a $1.25 million settlement with James’ office, the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation, and other individual plaintiffs, agreeing to pay the judgment to them.
“The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy and belongs to everyone. We will not let anyone threaten that right. Wohl and Burkman planned a wicked and disinformation-fueled campaign to scare black voters in order to tilt the election in favor of their favorite candidate. In a statement announcing the settlement, James announced that they will now pay up to $1.25 million.
In response to the arrangement, James took to X, formerly Twitter, to welcome the decision, stating that voting is a right she will continue to defend.
“Conspiracy theorists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman must pay up to $1.25 million for their racist and deadly voter intimidation effort against black voters. “Voting is our most fundamental democratic right, and I will always fight to preserve it,” James wrote on X.
While a judge must still approve the arrangement, if the two men “fail to pay at least $105,000 by December 31, 2024, and do not address the failure to pay within 30 days, the amount will increase to $1.25 million,” according to James’ office.
Meanwhile, David Schwartz, an attorney for Wohl and Burkman, said in a statement that his clients are happy with the settlement and are “pleased to put this case behind them, so they can focus on their families and careers.”
Wohl and Burkman previously faced penalties for using similar tactics during the 2020 election, leading to the settlement.
In 2022, after Ohio authorities accused the two men of orchestrating a voter suppression effort across numerous states, an Ohio judge ordered them to spend 500 hours registering low- and middle-income voters in the Washington, D.C., area.
Furthermore, in 2021, the Federal Communications Commission sought the largest-ever robocalling penalty of $5 million against them after an investigation revealed that they appeared to have broken US robocall rules. Under oath, Wohl and Burkman admitted to making and paying for the robocalls that reached voters in Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, according to the FCC.
