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The Federal Communications Commission has issued a $5.1 million fine against pro-Trump robocallers who targeted black people with calls promoting a conspiracy theory that the government would use mailed voting data “to track people for mandatory vaccines” . The calls also falsely claimed that mail-in voting would be used by police to “locate old warrants” and by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts.
The FCC voted 4-0 to fine John Burkman (aka Jack Burkman), Jacob Wohl and JM Burkman & Associates LLC for making illegal robocalls to wireless phones, the commission announced yesterday. Burkman and Wohl filed multiple lawsuits and pleaded guilty in one criminal case. If they fail to pay the $5,134,500 fine, the FCC will refer it to the Justice Department for collection.
The FCC fine is for 1,141 calls to wireless numbers without the express prior consent of the recipients. But the robocalls were sent to more than 85,000 people in total, according to a court ruling detailed later in this article.
“The recorded messages identified Burkman and Wohl by name and claimed to have been created by ‘Project-1599,'” the FCC said.
Calling was against US robocall law
The FCC said the parties violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), noting that “the content of the calls is irrelevant to our determination under the TCPA and Commission rules.” The FCC proposed the fine in August 2021, starting a process that gave Burkman and Wohl a chance to contest the charges and fine.
“In response to the Commission’s proposed 2021 fine, Burkman and Wohl argued that the phone companies they hired to make the calls were responsible for alleged violations,” the FCC said. “Still, their own emails show Burkman and Wohl instructing the calling companies on specific details of the calling campaigns, such as which zip codes to call, pricing, and other things related to the robocalling campaign.”
Burkman and Wohl also argued that political robocalls are exempt from the TCPA. But as the FCC said, “the mere fact that a call campaign is political in nature does not shield the caller from liability under Commission rules.”
The FCC noted that “Burkman and Wohl each pleaded guilty to one count of telecommunications fraud for making robocalls in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, for which they were sentenced to 24 months of supervision, fined $2,500 and ordered to 500 hours hours of community service.” The ordered community service consisted of registering voters in minority and low-income communities, the FCC said.
“We commend our law enforcement partners for bringing Burkman and Wohl to justice for their actions, and we will continue our efforts to make it clear that there are significant consequences for this type of behavior,” said FCC enforcement chief Loyaan Egal.
