'Criminal conspiracy': Trump snags Biden backers making 'false' ad
Jokes about voting are common. "Vote early, vote often," is one that's been around forever. It's not really intended to mean, in a serious way, that people commit election fraud.
But last year a Twitter personality was convicted and sentenced to seven months in prison for telling people to vote for Hillary Clinton by text message, which is not possible.
Now that precedent could become more important, as President Donald Trump's campaign has caught an organization supporting Joe Biden's campaign in Pennsylvania promoting an ad with lies about Trump.
The campaign announced it has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Pennsylvania Values PAC "for airing a false television ad that may interfere with the right of Trump supporters to cast their ballots."
"Biden and his allies will stop at nothing to interfere with this election because Crooked Joe is losing nationally and in battleground states like Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Values PAC is peddling lies to prevent voters exercising their right to vote. President Trump has been clear that his supporters should use all legal methods to cast a ballot this election. In just the last two weeks at events in front of thousands of Americans - including in Pennsylvania - President Trump has encouraged supporters to visit SwamptheVoteUSA.com, a website that promotes all legal voting methods. To say otherwise in advertising, as this false TV commercial does, represents an intentional effort to mislead Pennsylvania voters, suppress Trump supporters, and disrupt a fair election this fall," explained campaign adviser Brian Hughes.
An investigation into possible criminal elements also is being requested.
The letter takes issue with the ad supporting Biden that claims "President Trump has asked Pennsylvania voters not to vote by mail."
That, however, "may constitute both a criminal and civil conspiracy to injure the rights of President Trump's supporters to cast their ballots," the letter explains.
It continues, "Federal law makes it a crime from two or more persons to 'conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person ... in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States.' Voting is such a right. The Department of Justice has successfully criminally prosecuted people for conspiring to injure the right of citizens to vote by spreading false information about how to vote."
It added, "On its face, your false advertisement appears materially similar to the communications that resulted in a seven-month prison sentence for Mr. Mackey."
The letter explains further that the "false advertisement" "appears to violate the Klu Klux Klan Act, a law enacted to prevent Democrats associated with the KKK from attempting to intimidate Republican voters."
The Trump advocates also are demanding the Democrats preserve all their records concerning the ad.
"Adequate preservation of ESI requires more than simply refraining from efforts to destroy or dispose of such evidence. You must also intervene to prevent loss due to routine operations and employ proper techniques to safeguard all such evidence. You should immediately identify and modify or suspend features of its operations, information systems, and devices that, in routine operations, operate to cause the loss of documents, tangible items, or ESI," the letter warns.
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