robo-call
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see wohl of wohl str
see deep fake AI
see dirty trick, left has never done this? has GRU picked it up when too risky post wohl?
MERRI OK
note racism
1020 is this some sort of vulnerability that the alt) rt exploits, familiar tool for grift/scam just re-purpose for politics? you can micro-target even better w/ FB
funny that infrastructure to catch these bozos b/c so unpopular/ minimal consumer action AG can take? THEN RAGA USED IT FOR DC INSURRECTION
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an 4 24
investigators have not ruled out potential felony charges for the two Texas-based companies that used artificial intelligence (AI) in an effort to trick New Hampshire democratic primary voters into not casting ballots.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, who is a Republican, told CBS News that he's considering class B felony charges in response to the roughly 5,000 to 25,000 robocalls that went out to New Hampshire voters ahead of the state's presidential primary earlier this month. Those calls used AI to impersonate the voice of President Joe Biden in calls to voters encouraging them to stay home ahead of the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary.
"Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again. Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday," the fake Biden voice said.
READ MORE:**Arizona looks to regulate AI and 'deep fakes' in elections**
Formella's office traced the calls back to two companies based in Texas: Life Corporation and Lingo Telecom, the latter of which received a cease-and-desist order from the Federal Communications Commission regarding the robocalls. Formella said a criminal investigation into Life Corporation owner Walter Monk is currently underway. In response to the news of a criminal investigation, Lingo Telecom reportedly suspended services to Life Corporation. CBS also reported that federal charges may be in the works.
"Ensuring public confidence in the electoral process is vital. In law enforcement I can say it's one of our highest priorities," Formella told CBS. "We will continue our work to identify and hold all individuals or companies who may be responsible for these acts accountable and we are keeping all enforcement options on the table."
The New Hampshire AG said he aimed for any charges that may emerge from the investigation to serve as a deterrent to any future efforts to use AI to trick voters.
"The consequences to your action will be severe," Formella continued. "We don't want it to be the first of many. We want this to be an example for us to point to, but also an enforcement example for us for anyone who would consider to do the same thing."
READ MORE:['I don't think we can afford to wait': Experts warn AI 'deepfakes' could disrupt elections
Click here to read CBS' full report.
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an 4 23
a new robocall is falsely accusing the three Tennessee Democratstargeted by Republicans for expulsion from the state legislature of being violent "Antifa" radicals.
Audio of the call, which was obtained by the Tennessee Holler, describes Tennessee Democrats Justin Pearson, Justin Jones, and Gloria Johnson as "radical activists posing as elected officials” who purportedly "led an angry mob of Antifa intending violence" to the Tennessee State Capitol building earlier this month.
The robocall also falsely claimed that law enforcement officials confiscated "pipe bombs" from demonstrators protesting against the three Democrats' expulsion.
According to the Tennessee Holler, the calls were funded by right-wing organization Enlighten Tennessee, whose stated goal is to "preserve the Conservative economic principles which make Tennessee the greatest state in the country to live."
Gloria Johnson, the one Tennessee Democrat who survived the expulsion vote, reacted angrily to the robocall, which she decried as "disgusting."
"Antifa? Pipe bombs?" she asked incredulously. "I guess parents brought them in strollers with their babies and toddlers. I didn’t know they made brass knuckles for children. This is disgusting, disgraceful, and it’s going to get someone hurt."
Johnson also hinted at legal action against the call and revealed that she's "already have had my lawyer on the phone" to talk about options.
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an 11 22
During the 2020 election, the team of Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman — two far-right MAGA activists and conspiracy theorists known for their underhanded stunts — were behind racist robocalls aimed at African-American voters. The robocalls, according to prosecutors, were a blatant attempt at voter suppression, trying to convince Black voters that if they voted by mail, the information they provided could lead to legal consequences for unpaid debts.
But Wohl and Burkman were the ones who ended up facing legal consequences. In late October, both of them pled guilty to a felony count of telecommunications fraud. And on Tuesday, November 29, a sentence was handed down in Ohio by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John Sutula.
Sutula, according to Cleveland.com reporter Cory Shaffer, “placed” Wohl and Burkman “on two years of probation, fined each $2500 and ordered them to wear GPS ankle monitors with home confinement beginning at 8 p.m. each day for the first six months of their probation.” And they will be required to “spend 500 hours registering voters in low-income neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C., area,” Shaffer reports.
The 71-year-old judge had scathing criticism for Wohl and Burkman, telling the MAGA Republicans, “I think it’s a despicable thing that you guys have done” and comparing their racist robocalls of 2020 to efforts to bully and intimidate African-American voters during the 1960s.
Sutula’s ruling was strictly for a case in Ohio. Wohl and Burkman have also been facing criminal charges in Michigan and a civil lawsuit in New York State in connection with their racist robocalls of 2020.
Wohl and Burkman weren’t physically present in Judge Sutula’s courtroom in Ohio, but rather, attended the hearing online. And Wohl told Sutula, “I just really want to express my absolute regret and shame over all of this.” Both of them could have been sentenced to up to a year in prison for telecommunications fraud in the Ohio case.
Shaffer notes, “The charge is connected to thousands of robocalls placed in Cleveland in the run-up to the 2020 election between then-President Donald Trump and the Democratic challenger, Joe Biden. The robocalls came at a time when states across the country had expanded the use of mail-in voting as a protective measure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair gained notoriety in recent years by throwing press conferences to levy phony sexual misconduct allegations against prominent Democrats and Republicans who are critical of former President Donald Trump. They are also charged in Michigan and are being sued by a civil rights organization in federal court in New York over the same robocalls.”
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martens
used i360?
...Red Flag # 2:At least three of the “nonprofit” groups that fomented the Big Lie that the election had been stolen and actively solicited thousands of people to turn out for the January 6 event were funded by Koch Industries or its front groups.
According to the TrumpMarch.com website, which was sponsored by Women for America First, its “Coalition Partners” for the January 6 event at the Capitol included the Rule of Law Defense Fund; the Tea Party Patriots; and Turning Point Action, among others. The TrumpMarch.com website has since been taken down but it was captured on January 2, 2021 (give it a little time to load) by the Internet Archives’ Wayback Machine.
Rule of Law Defense Fund is the dark money arm of Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), a group that is raising millions of dollars from corporate felons in order to elect the highest law enforcement officers at the state level. (See our in-depth report of January 14, 2021.) According to IRS filings made byRAGA, it has received $511,400 from Koch Industries and a subsidiary since 2014.
A division of Koch Industries, i360, has a massive voter database that some suggest is far more sophisticated than that of the Republican National Committee.The database includes phone numbers of people likely to turn out for an event of this nature. Its program, Predictive Dialer, says it can “scale call volume quickly so you aren’t let down as you ramp up your campaigns, from hundreds of outbound calls per hour to more than 100,000.” The Congressional Committees that are investigating the attack at the Capitol need to ascertain if Koch’s i360 services were used to make robo calls for the event.
As originally reported by Jamie Corey at the watchdog group, Documented, the dark money arm of RAGA made robo callsto boost turnout for the January 6 event at the Capitol. The message was as follows:
“I’m calling for the Rule of Law Defense Fund with an important message. The ‘March to Save America’ is tomorrow in Washington D.C. at the Ellipse in President’s Park between E St. and Constitution Avenue on the south side of the White House, with doors opening at 7:00 a.m. At 1:00 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on congress to stop the steal. We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections. For more information, visit MarchtoSaveAmerica.com. This call is paid for and authorized by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, 202-796-5838.”
Another of the Coalition Partners, Turning Point Action, Tweeted that it was “honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president.” The Tweet was first reported by DailyDot.com.
Turning Point Action is a dark money group that does not report its donors to the Federal Election Commission. However, according to the Center for Media and Democracy, its sister group, Turning Point USA, has received $610,000 from Donors Trust since 2017. (We should note that the IRS has not posted the 990 tax filings as yet for Donors Trust’s tax years of 2019 and 2020 so it is quite possible that the cash haul is far greater than $610,000.)...
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igor salon
https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/glenn-youngkin-2655355138/
A billionaire Trump donor who funded a group that marched on the Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is bankrolling a dark-money group boosting Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's attacks on Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe.
The Republican-aligned Restoration PACthis week launched
attacking McAuliffe, who served a previous term as governor, over crime rates. (Virginia's unusual term limits restrict governors to one term, but does not bar them from running again after leaving office.) The PAC has spent $1.767 million funding ads against McAuliffe, making it by far the largest independent expenditure group in the race.
The group is funded almost entirely by Republican mega-donor Richard Uihlein, co-founder of the Wisconsin shipping supply giant Uline. Uihlein contributed $24.5 million to the group in the 2020 election cycle, making up 97% of its funding, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. He put another $1.5 million into the group in May, according to FEC filings.
Uihlein and his wife Liz are among the biggest Republican donors in the country, having given more than $65 million to former President Donald Trump,Republican candidates and conservative groups since 2019. The Uihleins have also contributed $4.3 million over the past five years to theTea Party Patriots, including $800,000 in October 2020, making them by far the group's biggest donors.
The Tea Party Patriots participated in the "March to Save America" rally that preceded the Capitol riot and were one of 11 groups listed as part of the "#StopTheSteal coalition," according to WBEZ. The group also contributed to Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., who was accused by "Stop the Steal" organizer Ali Alexander of helping plan the rally, which Brooks has denied. Tea Party Patriots also contributed to Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who led objections to the certification of Electoral College results in the Senate.
Restoration PAC last month also gave $942,000 to Women Speak Out Virginia — 2021, a PAC affiliated with the anti-choice Susan B. Anthony List that launched a $1.4 million campaign to attack McAuliffe on abortion.
Uihlein's foundation also contributed $275,000 to Trump booster Charlie Kirk's Turning Point Action between 2014 and 2016. The group was listed as a participant in the Capitol protest and Kirk took credit for "sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president" in a since-deleted tweet.
Turning Point Action also previously received $50,000 from the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative dark-money group that helped Trump fill federal courts with conservative judges and is pushing to restrict voting. The group also funds theRepublican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), giving it $2.1 million last October and a total of $12.7 million since 2014. RAGA's fundraising arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund,**sent out robocalls**urging supporters to "march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal" on Jan. 6.
The Judicial Crisis Network has multiple legal aliases it uses for other initiatives, including The Concord Fund and Free to Learn Action.That latter group has launched a $1 million ad campaign focused on "critical race theory" in schools, an issue Youngkin and other conservatives have seized on. The group is spending $1 million attacking McAuliffe for arguing that parents should not dictate school curricula.
The Judicial Crisis Network is also closely aligned and shares staff with the Judicial Education Project and its Honest Elections Project, a conservative initiative pushing voting restrictions. The Judicial Education Network is almost entirely funded by the Donors Trust, a dark-money group backed by the Koch network. Donors Trust in 2019 gave more than $20 million to at least a dozen groups who would later question the results of the election. Last year, the Honest Elections Project announced a six-figure ad campaign stoking fears of a "brazen attempt to manipulate the election system for partisan advantage" before the election even happened.
Youngkin has tried to walk a fine line on Trump's election lies as he tries to solidify his Republican base without alienating independent and suburban voters in the increasingly blue state. He refused to acknowledge President Biden's election victory while seeking the Republican nomination, doing so only after he had already triumphed over Republican rivals. And while Youngkin has said he would have voted to certify the election results, he is nonetheless calling for an "audit" of voting machines in Virginia (something the state already does) and boosting election conspiracy theorists.
Youngkin, the former CEO of the private equity firm the Carlyle Group, is also the primary funder of Virginia Wins, contributing $1 million to back Republican candidates in down-ballot races. The PAC has funneled tens of thousands to candidates who attended the Stop the Steal rally, organized transportation for others to attend the event, defended Capitol rioters or pushed election conspiracy theories, Mother Jones reported on Thursday.
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PAXTON SPOKE
https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/state-attorney-general
As more and more detail emerges about the events in the nation's capital Wednesday, it becomes clearer that this was a planned revolt and that it was organized within the Republican establishment. So much so that the Republican Association of Attorneys General (RAGA)—the chief Republican law enforcement officers for their states—used its dark money group to help organize the mob. The Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF), a "nonprofit" set up by the RAGA, appears in a list of groups "Participating in the March to Save America" along with Stop the Steal, Turning Point Action, Tea Party Patriots, and others.
The RLDF sent out a robocall to activists saying: "The march to save America is tomorrow in Washington D.C. at the Ellipse in President's Park between E St. and Constitution Avenue on the south side of the White House, with doors opening at 7:00 a.m." So they're making sure everyone knows where to go. It gets worse. "At 1:00 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on congress to stop the steal. We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections." The call gives a web address, MarchtoSaveAmerica.com, and concludes: "This call is paid for and authorized by the Rule of Law Defense Fund." Again, this is coming from state attorneys general, the people elected to uphold and enforce the rule of law.
RAGA's chair, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, insists he "unequivocally had no knowledge or involvement" in the robocall and "is working diligently to determine how this situation occurred and ensure that it does not happen again."
The executive director of RAGA, Adam Piper, had the gall to issue a statement saying that the RAGA and RLDF "had no involvement in the planning, sponsoring or the organization of Wednesday's event" despite the fact that they are listed on the website as an organizing entity of the event and they sent the goddamned robocall telling everyone where to go and what the agenda for the coup would be. So that's believable. He added: "No Republican AG authorized the staff's decision to amplify a colleague speaking at the event."So we had nothing to do with it, but if we had anything to do with it, it's the staff's fault.
Few are buying that load, particularly the Democratic Attorneys General Association. Co-Chairs Massachusetts AG Maura Healey and Nevada AG Aaron Ford released a scathing statement:
"The continued peddling of conspiracy theories and pandering to President Trump's dangerous lies by the Republican Attorneys General Association, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, and some current and former Republican Attorneys General has gone unchecked for too long. Current and former Republican AGs have been directly involved with efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election, and now the party of so-called 'law and order' played a role in recruiting the domestic terrorists who breached the U.S. Capitol to attack Vice President Mike Pence for doing his Constitutionally-mandated job to certify the Electoral College.""RAGA, RLDF—and the Republican AGs who blindly take their support—have no legal or moral ground on which to stand here: the organization paid for robocalls to recruit attendees, it was listed as a sponsor of the event, its former Chair spoke at the rally that incited a mob, and former GOP AG Josh Hawley led the effort in Congress to undermine the election."
The DAGA is calling out every state Republican attorney general to "publicly distance themselves from the Republican Attorneys General Association and its leadership," and for every donor to the group, corporate or individual to "abstain from further supporting an organization that makes such a mockery of the rule of law and our beloved democracy." Speaking of those corporate donors, they're a who's who of dark money, including "Koch Industries ($375k), Comcast Corporation ($200k), Walmart ($140k), Home Depot ($125k), Amazon ($100k), TikTok ($75k), 1-800 Contacts ($51k), Chevron ($50k), The National Rifle Association ($50k), Monsanto ($50k), Facebook ($50k), Fox Corporation ($50k), Uber ($50k), Coca Cola ($50k), Exxon ($50k), and Google($25k)."
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https://www.alreporter.com/2021/01/08/alabama-ag-says-hell-investigate-his-groups-role-in-deadly-riot/
no lnx
Alabama AG says he’ll investigate his group’s role in deadly riot
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said he’s unaware the group he leads was involved in the rally.
Eddie Burkhalter Published 24 hours ago on January 8, 2021By Eddie Burkhalter
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall in a statement to APR on Friday said he was unaware the nonprofit he leads made “decisions” with regard to the rally that later devolved into an insurrection at the Capitol on Wednesday in Washington D.C.
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Marshall heads the Republican Attorneys General Association’s policy branch, the dark-money nonprofit Rule of Law Defense Fund, which is listed as a participating organization for the March to Save America on the march’s website, as are the groups Stop the Steal, Tea Party Patriots and Turning Point Action.
Prior to the protest, RLDF sent out robocalls detailing when and where citizens should meet, which was first reported by Documented.
“We will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” the robocall says, as recorded by Documented. “We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections. For more information, visit MarchtoSaveAmerica.com. This call is paid for and authorized by the Rule of Law Defense Fund.”
Marshall said in a statement:
“I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week’s rally. Despite currently transitioning into my role as the newly elected chairman of RLDF, it is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions. I have directed an internal review of this matter. As I said yesterday, I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the actions of those who attempted to storm the U.S. Capitol, a place where passionate but peaceful protestors had gathered and lawmakers debated inside.Our country is built upon the foundation of the rule of law. American democracy guarantees the right of peaceful protest. Those who chose to engage in violence and anarchy should and will be held accountable under the law.”
“We have no further comment,” reads a message from Marshall’s communications director, Mike Lewis, which accompanied Marshall’s statement.
APR’s attempts to contact RLDF and Marshall, through his office, on Thursday were unsuccessful, but RAGA’s executive director, Adam Piper, sent a statement to APR blaming staff for the nonprofit’s role in the rally:
“The Republican Attorneys General Association and Rule of Law Defense Fund had no involvement in the planning, sponsoring, or the organization of yesterday’s rally. No Republican AG authorized the staff’s decision to amplify a colleague speaking at the rally. Organizationally and individually, we strongly condemn and disavow the events which occurred. Yesterday was a dark day in American history and those involved in the violence and destruction of property must be prosecuted and held accountable.”
Wednesday’s riots and insurrection resulted in one woman’s death after she was shot by police while entering the Capitol, and the deaths of three others due to “medical emergencies” during the riot, including one Alabama man, Kevin Greeson of Athens. Another Alabama man, 70-year-old Lonnie Coffman of Falkvillle, was arrested near the Capitol and charged with firearms crimes. The New York Times reported a 70-year-old Alabama man was arrested with a gun and ingredients to make Molotov cocktails.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Thursday after being injured by rioters during the Capitol siege Wednesday, Capitol Police said.
The website for the rally — marchtosaveamerica.com — is now down, but from the earliest archived version available, on Jan. 3, RAGA is listed as one of the 10 “coalition partners.” Later that same day, in a separate archived version of the site, RAGA was no longer listed as a participant but was instead replaced with RLDF.
Marshall isn’t the only state attorney general distancing himself from any connection to planning the rally that resulted in violence and death. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, an executive board member at RAGA, denied any knowledgeof the group and its policy arm being involved in the rally, according to the Arkansas Times.
“I had no knowledge or role regarding any efforts made by RAGA or RLDF as to this issue. Contact RAGA or RLDF for any further questions,” Rutledge told the outlet in a statement.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a former RAGA chairman and former RAGA executive committee member, spoke at the Wednesday rally just before riots broke out.
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“The message goes on. We will not quit fighting,” Paxton told the crowd.
Marshall in a statement on Wednesday condemned the violence at the Capitol:
“I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the actions of those who today attempted to storm the Capitol, a place where passionate but peaceful protestors had gathered and lawmakers debated inside. Our country is built upon the foundation of the rule of law. American democracy guarantees the right of peaceful protest. Those who chose to engage in violence and anarchy should and will be held accountable under the law. I stand by the brave men and women of law enforcement as they work to restore order. God bless the Capitol Police and all members of law enforcement who, as always, have showed such great courage in protecting their fellow man.”
Marshall was named to RAGA’s executive committee in November 2018, and became a member of the organization after being appointed the state’s attorney general by Gov. Robert Bentley in February 2017.
“I am honored to lead RAGA’s policy branch, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, and bring conservative attorneys general together in promotion of federalism, freedom, and the rule of law,” Marshall said in a Nov. 10 statement to RAGA.
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/listen-democratic-voters-are-receiving-suspicious-calls-in-effort-to-suppress-votes-on-election-day/
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/listen-democratic-voters-are-receiving-suspicious-calls-in-effort-to-suppress-votes-on-election-day/
no lnx
listen: Voters in at least 6 swing states are receiving robocalls designed to spread election misinformation
Meaghan Ellis November 03, 2020
Voters in multiple states have received suspicious calls urging them to "stay home and stay safe" on Election Day — an effort state and local officials say is an attempt to suppress votes across the country.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to raise awareness about the robocalls reported by residents in Flint, MI. She made it clear that the calls were completely false as she described the tactic as "an effort to suppress the vote."
"Getting reports of multiple robocalls going to Flint residents that, due to long lines, they should vote tomorrow," Nessel tweeted, adding, "Obviously this is FALSE and an effort to suppress the vote. No long lines and today is the last day to vote. Don't believe the lies! Have your voice heard! RT PLS."
Getting reports of multiple robocalls going to Flint residents that, due to long lines, they should vote tomorrow.… https://t.co/PbNzaKJuu1
— Dana Nessel (@Dana Nessel)1604418091.0
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has also chimed in with her report about the robocalls. She tweeted, "We received reports that an unknown party is purposefully spreading misinformation via robocalls in Flint in an attempt to confuse voters. Let me be clear — if you plan to vote in-person, you must do so, or be in line to do so, by 8PM today."
Statement from Secretary of State @JocelynBenson on correcting misinformation being shared in Flint… https://t.co/kq5cBzhgUb
— Michigan Department of State (@Michigan Department of State)1604421495.0
Audio of the call has also begun circulating on social media platforms. The six-second clip features an automated voice that tells voters: "Time to stay home. Stay home and stay safe."
Listen to the clip below:
Deen Freelon · voter suppression voicemail 11/2/2020]
In addition to the calls reported by Flint, MI, residents, calls have also been reported in multiple other states. Ahead of the election, residents in other battleground states including Nebraska, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania have also reported suspicious robocalls.
According to The Washington Post, there are a number of reasons why the disturbing calls have also caught the attention of the tech company, YouMail.
Upon further investigation, the tech company — which boasts its own robocall-blocking application for smartphones — has reported that the "reach and timing" of the mysterious calls signals the possible involvement of foreign operatives.Multiple robocalls have been conducted to people in approximately 280 of the United States' 317 area codes.
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/right-wing-fraudsters-jacob-wohl-and-jack-burkman-get-criminally-charged-in-election-conspiracy
Right-wing smear artists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman will face four counts in an alleged criminal scheme to influence the 2020 election after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed charges on Thursday.
Nessel accused the pair of intimidating voters, conspiring to break election law, using a computer to commit an election crime, and using a computer to carry out a conspiracy.
The charges center on a robocall scheme the Nessel said was an attempt to "discourage voters from participating in the general election." According to the press release, the scheme targeted urban areas, including Detroit, and was focused on "areas with significant minority populations."
Wohl previously denied to CNN that he or Burkman were involved in any robocall schemes.
"It's believed around 85,000 calls were made nationally, though an exact breakdown of the numbers of calls to each city or state are not available," according to Nessel's office. Similar robocalls reportedly were made in New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, the last two of which are swing states in the presidential election.
The robocall allegedly attempted to make voters afraid to cast their ballots, telling them to not be "finessed into giving your private information to the man" [JOK SUPERFLY PIMP STRIKES AGAIN] and that they should "beware of vote by mail." The press release explained:
The caller, who claims to be associated with an organization founded by Burkman and Wohl, falsely tells people that mail-in voting, in particular, will allow personal information to become part of a special database used by police to track down old warrants and by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts. The caller also deceptively claims the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will use the information to track people for mandatory vaccines. However, none of that is true.
"This effort specifically targeted minority voters in an attempt to deter them from voting in the November election," said Nessel. "We're all well aware of the frustrations caused by the millions of nuisance robocalls flooding our cell phones and landlines each day, but this particular message poses grave consequences for our democracy and the principles upon which it was built."
Burkman and Wohl have made themselves notorious with a series of stunts that included trying to smear former Special Counsel Robert Mueller and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg with bogus and sexual assault allegations.
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wapo For years, Oprah Winfrey’s campaign rally appearances and political endorsements have posed a difficult question for anyone who happens to be advocating for the candidate on the other side: How do you contend with the star power of a billionaire Queen of All Media who is also one of the world’s most influential people?
For one robo-call producer speaking into a microphone in what we can only assume is a dark basement, the answer is clear: an 11th-hour infusion of good old-fashioned racism.
“This is the magical Negro Oprah Winfrey asking you to make my fellow Negress Stacey Abrams the governor of Georgia,” the robo-call begins, before spewing nearly 60 seconds of racism coupled with a dash of anti-Semitism. Georgians began hearing the call last week, according to the Hill.
The video is made by TheRoadToPower.com, an anti-Semitic video podcasting website that the Anti-Defamation League says “has zeroed in on divisive political campaigns across the country,” including two of the three races that feature a black candidate for governor. It’s unclear how many Oprah Winfrey robo-calls have been received.
The robo-call labels Abrams “a poor man’s Aunt Jemima,” a reference to the black lady on the front of the pancake mix box, an image that has itself been derided as a racist symbol. It suggests that Winfrey is a media construction made to trick fat, white women into voting. And it mocks what Winfrey has called one of her all-time happiest moments in media.
“And so I promise that every single person who votes for Stacey Abrams, you’re going to get a new car! So you get a car! And you get a car! And you get a car! And you get a car! Everybody gets a car!”
[Oprah Winfrey says a 2020 presidential run ‘would kill me’]
In a statement, the Abrams campaign called the robo-calls a desperate and “vile” attempt to sway voters using “poisonous thinking.”
“It is not surprising that in a race that has consistently been very close, we’ve seen several weeks of increasing desperation from many dark corners trying to steal the election, cheat, lie, and prey on people’s fears rather than having the respect to listen to voters and speak to their hopes,” Abrams spokeswoman Abigail Collazo said in the statement, which tried to link the robo-calls to a tone set by President Trump and Abrams’s Republican opponent, Brian Kemp.
In a statement emailed to the Hill, Kemp called the robo-call “vile,” “racist” and “absolutely disgusting.”
"I stand against any person or organization that peddles this type of unbridled hate and unapologetic bigotry,” he said.
But Abrams said Monday that Kemp has been racially insensitive in the past.
“I think it’s a little late for him to repudiate racist remarks given that he’s stood with someone wearing an anti-Islam T-shirt,” she said on CNN. “He refused to denounce the same man earlier who accused black veterans of not being people who support our country.”
She also addressed the racist attacks in the robo-call.
“Regardless of any racist tropes that are out there, I believe in what is best for Georgia,” she said. “Yes, I am changing the face of what leadership looks like, but I’m doing so having the greatest experience of anyone on the ballot.”
The insidious tone of the poor-audio call was at odds with Winfrey’s words on the campaign trail.
She and Abrams are both black women from Mississippi, and the media titan spoke of the sacrifices their ancestors had to make to obtain the right to vote.
...
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...week 35 state attorneys general[looks bi-part eg bondi, brnmovich sp] issued a joint letter (PDF) urging the federal government to step up efforts to fight illegal robocalls. They called on the Federal Communications Commission to further strengthen rules to let telecommunications service providers block certain categories of robocalls, specifically spoofed calls.
“Spoofing” allows scammers to disguise their identities, making it difficult for law enforcement to bring them to justice. Just about everyone has received spoofed calls: You see an incoming call from an unknown phone number that carries your area code, and sometimes even the next three digits of your phone number, in an obvious ruse designed to trick you into answering.
“Virtually anyone can send millions of illegal robocalls and frustrate law enforcement with just a computer, inexpensive software, and an internet connection,” the attorneys general wrote in their comments to the FCC.
In response, the FCC said it “is considering taking additional action to empower service providers to block illegal robocalls,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to Consumer Reports.
The Robocall Arms Race
In November 2017, the FCC adopted new rules allowing phone companies to proactively block certain calls. They allowed firms to block calls that are likely to be fraudulent because they come from suspect phone numbers, such as invalid numbers and valid numbers that are not allocated to a voice service provider, among others.
MORE ON ROBOCALLS
Consumers Union Campaign to End Robocalls
A New Threat to Your Finances: Cell-Phone Account Fraud
FCC Approves New Rules to Block Robocalls
How Phone Companies Handle Robocalls
These, however, are the easiest numbers to block, says Gerry Christensen, a telecom expert and CEO of Mind Commerce, a research company that specializes in phone systems and networking technology.
And robocallers have stayed a step ahead of the law, especially with the advent of neighbor spoofing. These robocalls are the most difficult to block because they display a real phone number—often that of one of your neighbors—Christensen says. They are not only tough for humans to detect but also very tough for our technology to detect.
“Current solutions rely upon analytics software and/or artificial intelligence, which can be problematic,” he says.
And as the amount of robocalls increases—4.4 billion in September alone, according to the most recent numbers from YouMail, a provider of voicemail and call-blocking services—so, too, is the pressure to do something about this scourge.
“The robocall problem is out of control, and it’s time for the FCC and the phone companies to take more action, so all consumers have the protections they deserve. We believe the FCC should require phone companies to implement caller ID authentication by a reasonable deadline so that phone companies can stop unwanted spoofed calls from reaching consumers,” says Maureen Mahoney, a policy analyst for Consumers Union, the advocacy division of Consumer Reports.
Telecoms Strike Back
Rather than outright blocking robocalls, many phone carriers have begun to offer their own branded caller ID services, which notify customers if an incoming call could be a scam or a fraud. These services leave it up to the customer to decide whether or not to answer the phone. Other providers may offer more aggressive services from third-party providers, such as Nomorobo, which say they can block robocalls altogether.
Even more robust solutions are under development. One, Shaken and Stirred, is a joint effort supported by the telecom industry. It’s essentially an authentication system that sniffs out incoming calls to ensure that they are legitimate when they reach your carrier and before they get to your phone, says Paul Florack, vice president of Transaction Network Services, a provider of telecommunications services based in Reston, Va.
Though this technology promises to help prevent robocalls, implementation could take years, Florack says. Carriers need to agree to use the system, and it could cost them tens of millions of dollars each to roll out.
Regulators have also begun to get tougher on robocallers who are flouting the law. This year the Federal Trade Commission has announced a number of enforcement actions against robocallers, including a $120 million fine against a Florida-based timeshare marketing operation for spoofing.
However, enforcement is not enough, because many robocall outfits are located overseas and they hide behind digital firewalls that make it difficult for the authorities to reach them, Christensen says.
How to Avoid Robocalls
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https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/11/ajit-pai-slams-sprint-charter-and-centurylink-for-poor-robocall-effort/
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai yesterday criticized Sprint, Charter, CenturyLink, and four other phone providers for not committing to adopt a new system for blocking robocalls.
Pai issued a press release and sent letters to wireless carriers and other phone providers, saying that certain companies "have not yet established concrete plans to protect their customers" using the new "SHAKEN" and "STIR" robocall-blocking protocols. ...SHAKEN stands for Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs, while STIR stands for Secure Telephone Identity Revisited. The new industry standard isn't expected to completely eliminate robocalls, but it may make a sizable difference and is expected to be implemented by carriers starting in 2019.
Under the SHAKEN/STIR framework, calls traveling through interconnected phone networks would be 'signed' as legitimate by originating carriers and validated by other carriers before reaching consumers," Pai's press release explained. "The framework digitally validates the handoff of phone calls passing through the complex web of networks, allowing the phone company of the consumer receiving the call to verify that a call is from the person supposedly making it."
Pai's letters say that seven phone providers apparently do "not yet have concrete plans to implement a robust call authentication framework" and asked those carriers to answer a series of questions by November 19. Those carriers are CenturyLink, Charter, Frontier, Sprint, TDS Telecom, US Cellular, and Vonage.
Pai's letters yesterday came a month after 35 state attorneys general urged him to act more aggressively on robocall blocking.
Pai thanked other phone providers for committing to implement SHAKEN/STIR. The carriers that already committed to adopt SHAKEN/STIR are AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Comcast, Bandwidth.com, Cox, and Google, according to Pai's letters. He also asked those providers for more details on their plans.
Robocallers “evolved” to sidestep new call blocking rules, AGs tell FCC
Carriers that haven't committed to deploying SHAKEN/STIR received a different letter.
"Despite these industry-wide efforts, I understand from Commission staff that Charter does not yet have concrete plans to implement a robust call authentication framework," Pai wrote in his letter to Charter. "I hope that is no longer the case."
Explain yourself
The letter to Charter was almost identical to those sent to Sprint, CenturyLink, Frontier, TDS Telecom, US Cellular, and Vonage. The letter asked the following questions, requesting detailed responses by November 19:
- What is preventing or inhibiting you from signing calls today?
- What is your timeframe for signing (i.e., authenticating) calls originating on your network?
- What tests have you run on deployment, and what are the results? Please be specific.
- What steps have you taken to work with vendors to deploy a robust call authentication framework?
- How often is Charter an intermediate provider, and do you intend to transmit signed calls from other providers?
- How do you intend to combat and stop originating and terminating illegally spoofed calls on your network?
- The Commission has already authorized voice providers to block certain illegally spoofed calls. If the Commission were to move forward with authorizing voice providers to block all unsigned calls or improperly signed calls, how would you ensure the legitimate calls of your customers are completed properly?
We contacted the seven carriers about Pai's letters last night. Sprint told Ars that it has "received the letter and will respond to Chairman Pai directly." US Cellular answered similarly, saying it "will be responding to the chairman's letter."
CenturyLink told Ars that it "understands consumers' concern" about robocalls and "will continue to work with our industry colleagues to identify and address the sources of illegal robocalls." TDS said it is "currently investigating our options for implementing a call authentication framework on a multitude of platforms." Frontier told Ars, "We are reviewing the Chairman’s letter and look forward to continue working collaboratively with the FCC and industry to fight the bad actors placing these bothersome, invasive and deceitful calls."
Vonage said it "take[s] this matter very seriously" and that it is "working closely with our third-party carrier partners and the FCC to respond to the Chairman’s letter directly."
We haven't received a response from Charter yet.
Today, Pai followed up with letters to business voice providers that he said are not participating in "industry efforts to trace scam robocalls that originate on or pass through their networks." Those companies are 382 Communications, Global Voicecom, IP Link Telecom, R Squared Telecom, Talkie Communications, Thinq, TouchTone Communications, and XCast Labs
Sprint complained about cost
In previous filings with the FCC, some carriers noted that SHAKEN/STIR won't entirely solve the robocall problem, and they questioned whether the FCC has provided proper authorization to use SHAKEN/STIR.
Sprint told the FCC in October that "SHAKEN/STIR will be helpful to carriers battling illegal robocalls but is not a complete solution."
Sprint also complained about the cost of implementing the system. "Sprint is also concerned about the costs of implementing the certificate management requirements of SHAKEN and encourages the Commission and industry to explore more cost-effective alternatives to the central repository process originally contemplated in the development of SHAKEN," Sprint wrote.
Sprint and others noted that SHAKEN/STIR needs widespread adoption by carriers to be effective. Sprint wrote that "SHAKEN tells us nothing about the content of a call or whether it is legal. It just authenticates origination of the call path and the Caller ID information of individual calls. Without universal adoption of SHAKEN from originating carrier to completing carrier, call authentication will not be passed to the terminating carrier."
Charter's filing in September said it partners with call-blocking company Nomorobo to offer robocall blocking to customers but suggested it needs further authorization to use SHAKEN/STIR.
"As the industry finalizes and implements the SHAKEN/STIR framework, the Commission should adopt rules that permit providers to block calls that fail authentication in cases where both the calling and terminating voice providers have implemented the SHAKEN/STIR protocols," Charter wrote. "Given the robust testing of the SHAKEN/STIR framework that is currently underway, the Commission can be assured that such calls are 'highly likely to be illegal.'"
Though T-Mobile has already committed to using SHAKEN/STIR, it pointed out potential shortcomings in its filing.
"First, SHAKEN/STIR can only provide a positive affirmation of the source of a given call," T-Mobile told the FCC. "It cannot provide confirmation of the opposite—that is, that a call is definitively 'bad' or fraudulent. This is particularly true where calls are carried by international providers that do not participate in SHAKEN/STIR and send calls to the United States through wholesale partners."
T-Mobile further noted that the majority of fraudulent calls likely originate from outside the US and that "adoption must go beyond domestic carriers to also include international carriers to have a real effect on the onslaught of fraudulent calls." Finally, T-Mobile noted that SHAKEN/STIR requires IP interconnection. "[T]us, legacy networks will not be able to source or transmit verification data for calls," T-Mobile wrote.
Disclosure: The Advance/Newhouse Partnership, which owns 13 percent of Charter, is part of Advance Publications. Advance Publications owns Condé Nast, which owns Ars Technica.
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F
ake Oprah stars in racist robocall in Georgia in final days of Abrams ...
https://www.cbsnews.com/.../fake-oprah-stars-in-racist-robocall-in-georgia-stacey-abra...
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Oprah Winfrey robocall: 'Magical negro' message targets Georgia ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../racist-magical-negro-robo-call-oprah-targets-stacey-...
2 days ago - For one robo-call producer speaking into a microphone in what we can only assume is a dark basement, the answer is clear: an 11th-hour ...
Robocall - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocall
2.
Ajit Pai slams Sprint, Charter, and CenturyLink for poor robocall effort ...
https://arstechnica.com/.../ajit-pai-slams-sprint-charter-and-centurylink-for-poor-roboc...
1.
State AGs Push for Faster Action to Fight Robocalls - Consumer Reoorts
https://www.consumerreports.org/robocalls/best-ways-to-fight-robocalls/
1.
Latest racist robocall claims to be from Oprah, targeting Georgia's ...
https://www.businessinsider.com/latest-racist-robocall-claims-to-be-from-oprah-targeti...
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Web results
The Robocall Nightmare Is Only Getting Worse—But Help Is ... - Wired
https://www.wired.com/story/robocall-getting-worse-but-help-is-here/
It's an insult to consumers who are fed up with these nuisance calls." Verizon has been charging $3 per month for a robocall blocking service ...
How robo-callers outwitted the government and completely wrecked ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/...robo-call...call.../52c769b6-df7a-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e...
Jones sustained his lifestyle by spamming people with robo-calls. He worked with a revolving cast of co-workers under the auspices of about a ...
Epidemic of robocalls: Why your mobile phone is under siege and ...
https://www.mercurynews.com/.../epidemic-of-robocalls-why-your-mobile-phone-is-un...
Kristie Karkanen cringes whenever a call comes in from an unfamiliar number. Which con artist or telemarketer will it be this time — a phony ...
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Some am ed automated calls in recent weeks that claimed to be from a group supporting President Donald Trump, warning them to stop making negative online posts about the president. Turns out, the calls actually originated from a prank phone call service.
The calls spooked some people, who reported that the Trump for Office Foundation had phoned them to tell them to “lay off” the derogatory posts. The messages stated:
“Hi, this is Russell calling from the Trump for Office Foundation. How are you doing today? Great. Well, we’re calling in regard to a problem we had with recent activity on your social media accounts. Do you have a second to talk about this matter? We’ve been monitoring some of your posts and it does seem that you’ve been making some rather negative comments about President Trump. Is that correct? Listen. We’re going to have to ask you to lay off on the negative and derogatory posts about President Trump, OK? What’s your problem, anyways? Don’t you want to make America great again? Well, you’ve been warned. We’ll be keeping an eye on you. Have a nice day.”
Brett Vanderbrook, an Uber driver who supports LGBT rights, told Gizmodo he was shocked when he got the call. “It was kind of threatening. I was dumbfounded at first and then creeped out,” Vanderbrook, who lives in Dallas, Texas. “Then I was angry and that’s when I decided to share it.”
The messages spurred some on social media to report political harassment, but the private company Ownage Pranks confirmed to Snopes that somebody had used their service to send out the calls as a prank.The company allows users to request and send prank calls, but its terms of service prohibit using the app to call anyone with whom the user hasn’t had a personal interaction with.
“Although the scripts are often cartoonish and often outlandish,” reads the company’s rules. “Some of the scripts may be scary or misleading to people who may not be expecting these calls or who cannot get a personal, friendly explanation about the nature of the call.”
mike schmitt
@mikeschmitt11
@BobSMueller Let it be known that I just received a robocall from The citizens who support Donald Trump. The number was listed as an unknown number are (805-219-6720). They warned me that they do not like the negative posts I have put on Facebook and Twitter regarding Trump.
2:40 PM - Nov 27, 2017
12 12 Replies 83 83 Retweets 65 65 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
A spokesperson for Ownage Pranks said that anyone who received a call also received a follow-up message that said, “You’ve been pranked by ownagepranks.com” and gave them the option to block the company’s number.
The Federal Communications Commission voted on November 16 to allow phone carriers to block robocalls that appear to be fraudulent, especially those that manipulate caller ID to make a phone number look more recognizable and thus more enticing to pick up. Experts say this new decision will likely only block around 10 percent of robocalls, but could prevent some of the worst calls that aim to scam people.
Jeffrey A Ellis-Lee
@mrellisleetoo
Has anyone else received a Robo-Call from Citizens for Trump? Well I just did. The voice said they had been watching my social media accounts and asked if I had a problem with the president.
I WILL NOT... repeat NOT... be intimidated!!! This is the number 619-320-2096.
3:46 PM - Nov 29, 2017
149 149 Replies 964 964 Retweets 887 887 likes
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It appears that the pro-Trump prank call was meant to be relatively harmless, but Ownage Pranks is changing their policy nonetheless, given how many people were alarmed when they felt their social media accounts were being monitored.
“We’ve changed the nature of the call since,” said the spokesperson, “because these things are supposed to be goofy, not serious.”
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- Records Indicate a ‘Jaime T. Phillips’ Had Her Mortgage Broker License Suspended in September 2016
Jaimie Phillips alongside two others at a Trump event.
There is an entry a mortgage broker in Atlanta, Georgia under the name “Jaime Tennille Phillips.” In the entry on the website, it states that Phillips is a “registered mortgage broker” employed by Amerisave Mortgage Corporation in Atlanta. It said that she’s been a mortgage broker since August 1, 2013 and reports under another name, Jaime Tennille Kahl, the name she used after marriage.
Phillips claimed to be employed at a company called NFM Lending, located in Westchester County, New York. However, when reporters from The Post contacted them, staff said they had no record of a person under her name being employed there.
In a monthly summary of mortgage activities for the period ending in June 2016, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance released a document stating that a “Jaime Tennille Phillips” had a license as of June 2, 2016 for NFM, Inc.
An entry in a monthly summary of agents.
Just a few months later, though, in the September 2016 summary release, Phillips’ license was noted as “surrendered/cancelled” as of September 20, 2016.
- Phillips’ Interviews Came After Voters in Alabama Received a Robocall Encouraging Women to Come Forward With Damaging Information About Moore in Exchange for Money
The story which was believed to be faked by Phillips and told to The Post came just under two weeks after reports surfaced that voters in Alabama were receiving robocalls from a recorded voice claiming to be The Post reporter Lenny Bernstein.The voice on the other end of the recorded message encouraged females “between the ages of 54 to 57” to come forward with damaging information of Moore in exchange for a reward of $5,000-$7,000.
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Hi, this is Lenny Bernstein, I’m a reporter for the Washington Post calling to find out if anyone at this address is a female between the ages of 54 to 57 years old willing to make damaging remarks about candidate Roy Moore for a reward of between $5000 and $7000 dollars. We will not be fully investigating these claims however we will make a written report. I can be reached by email at albernstein@washingtonpost.com, thank you.
The message was deemed false by The Post‘s Baron, who said in a written statement to WKRG News that he was baffled someone would stoop to such a low level to try and undermine factual reporting.
“The Post has just learned that at least one person in Alabama has received a call from someone falsely claiming to be from The Washington Post,” the statement said. “The call’s description of our reporting methods bears no relationship to reality. We are shocked and appalled that anyone would stoop to this level to discredit real journalism.”
The real Lenny Bernstein commented on the matter on his personal Twitter account, saying thanks to those that have supported him.
Lenny Bernstein
@LennyMBernstein
Hi, @elliothannon: Unless you know something I don't, I definitely do work at the Post. Best, Lenny
6:34 PM - Nov 14, 2017
1 1 Reply 1 1 Retweet 9 9 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Lenny Bernstein
@LennyMBernstein
To all who've been in touch: Thanks for the support. For the record, I definitely DO work at the Post and we definitely DON'T report that way. Appalling effort to discredit the great work the Post and other journos do.
6:41 PM - Nov 14, 2017
25 25 Replies 137 137 Retweets 502 502 likes
John Rodgers of the Roy Moore for Senate campaign denied it had anything to do with the phone call and added that it’s the first time he’s ever heard of this type of robocall. Moore is going against Democrat Doug Jones in the December 12 general election.
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