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(WWJ) Two conservative activists were arraigned in Detroit on Thursday, accused of making threatening robocalls that went out to 85,000 voters across several states.
The calls claimed voting absentee would expose the voters' private information to police and credit agencies, as well as health departments for mandatory vaccines. Around 12,000 Detroit residents got the calls, in what authorities say was a scheme to suppress the vote in the upcoming general election.
Jacob Wohl of Californa and Jack Burkman or Virginia appeared in court via video from the Mound Road Detention Center.
Burkman, 54, and Wohl, 22, are each charged with:
• One count of election law – intimidating voters, a five-year felony;• One count of conspiracy to commit an election law violation, a five-year felony;• One count of using a computer to commit the crime of election law – intimidating voters, a seven-year felony; and• Using a computer to commit the crime of conspiracy, a seven-year felony.
Defense attorney, Scott Grabel, called the charges a "political stunt" and became irate when the assistant Attorney General requested a $1 million bond.
"The do not have the ability to post a high financial bond, and I don't appreciate him smearing either one of these gentlemen with false allegations," Grabel told the judge. "They come here, your honor, cloaked in a presumption of innocence."
Grabel said his clients were exercising their constitutional rights, , saying the allegations are about "potential harm" to one of the most fundamental elements of American society.
"The chance of conviction here in my opinion is zero," said Grabel, adding: "It involves a robocall, which is protected speech."
The judge settled on $100,000 cash bond and ordered the pair to avoid making any robocalls until the election.
Wohl and Burkman have been behind a series of recent hoaxes, according to authorities, including paying actors to dupe the Washington Post into reporting that there was an FBI raid on Wohl's home, and paying a man to accuse Democratic Presidential Candidate Pete Buttagiej of sexual assault.
The Michigan Attorney General encourages anyone in Michigan who received the robocall on or around Aug. 26 to contact her office by calling 517-335-7650