The Federal Communications Commission proposed Tuesday a $5 million fine against John Burkman, Jacob Wohl and other conspiracy theorists for their hundreds of robocalls that spread misinformation about 2020 elections.
The FCC proposed that Burkman and Wohl be subject to a $5,134,000.500 fine for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Voters were informed by the violators of pre-recorded phone calls that their personal data would be included in a public database. This would allow police departments to locate old warrants and credit card companies to collect any outstanding debts.
According to a Tuesday press release, it is the largest TCPA penalty the FCC has ever proposed.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel brought four felony charges against Burkman, Wohl and others last October. The pair were accused of discouraging Detroit residents to vote in the 2020 election. The case alleges that they targeted voters in Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania with around 85,000 calls in August. According to the Michigan Attorney Generals Office the calls were claimed to have come from Project 1599, which was a civil rights group founded by the couple and targeted areas that had large Black populations.
Nessel stated that the government is committed to protecting democracy from misinformation spreading in an effort to undermine free and fair elections.
An official trial date has not yet been established.
