Government

Articles / Courts & Law / Government Lawsuit, Charges Over AI Deepfake Robocalls May Shut Down Various Political Speech Before Election The DOJ will use it to create a “weapon to alter the outcome of the election and keep political speech from being communicated,” Dan Backer said. By: A lawsuit over robocalls containing artificial intelligence “deepfakes” sent by a political consultant before the New Hampshire primary election may result in the shutdown of communications between conservative organizations, Republican campaigns and their supporters ahead of the November election. A “deepfake” is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as media “that has been digitally manipulated to replace one person’s likeness convincingly with that of another, often used maliciously to show someone doing something that he or she did not do.” While a political consultant’s use of AI is the focal point of a civil lawsuit over robocalls, a Republican attorney warns that the case, following the federal government’s interest in it, could affect the political speech of organizations and campaigns that Democratic and left-leaning organizations oppose. Steve Kramer, a get-out-the-vote political consultant who has mainly worked for Democrats, previously admitted to media outlets that he had sent robocalls to thousands of state residents with an AI deepfake of President Joe Biden’s voice ahead of the New Hampshire primary election, NBC News reported. The call, which “spoofed” the caller ID to hide its origin, told them to stay home and “save” their votes for the general election. Kramer had a contract with the campaign of Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., at the time, who was challenging Biden. Both Kramer and Phillips’ campaign denied that the latter had any knowledge of the robocall. Kramer has claimed that he commissioned the robocall to lead to regulations on AI deepfakes. “This is a way for me to make a difference, and I have,” Kramer told NBC News in February. “For $500, I got about $5 million worth of action, whether that be media attention or regulatory action.” Kramer has been sued by the state and the League of Women Voters (LWV) over the robocall, while also facing fines from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In May, the Republican New Hampshire attorney general charged Kramer with 13 felony counts of voter suppression and 13 misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate, based on calls received by 13 New Hampshire voters. After his June bail hearing, Kramer declined to comment as he left the courthouse. His attorney said, “Obviously right now we’re enjoying the presumption of innocence, we’re going to review all the different charges and engage in discussions with the attorney general’s office.” Kramer is separately facing a proposed FCC fine of $6 million for allegedly violating federal Caller ID law by setting up “scam calls” in order “to defraud voters,” according to the federal agency. The FCC is also fining a telecom company involved in the robocalls. On Wednesday, Lingo Telecom, the voice service provider that transmitted the robocalls, reached a settlement with the FCC to pay a $1 million fine. Lingo Telecom also agreed to more thoroughly vet the accuracy of the information provided by its customers and upstream providers and adhere to strict caller ID authentication rules and requirements. Meanwhile, a civil lawsuit was filed by LWV against Kramer in New Hampshire’s federal district court in March, along with telecom and broadcasting companies. LWV argues that “the right to vote free from intimidation, threats, or coercion … was unlawfully infringed upon as a result of the actions and threatened actions” of the defendants. LWV claims that Kramer violated a section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) by sending the robocall with “in an effort to intimidate, threaten, or coerce Democratic voters into not voting in the New Hampshire Primary and thereby suppress their votes.” Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a statement of interest in the case, arguing that LWV has “a private right of action” to sue over the VRA. The DOJ wrote that the section of the VRA cited by LWV in its lawsuit “is enforceable by private plaintiffs.” Republican lawyer Dan Backer told the “Furthermore with Amanda Head” podcast last week regarding Kramer that “The League of Women Voters sued him, civilly, alleging that his conduct constitutes a threat under the Voting Rights Act, and that robocalls are threatening. And then the Department of Justice filed what’s called the statement of interest in this case, arguing that, yes, the Voting Rights Act has a private right of action, so anybody can sue, and that robocalls are threats. And by the way, both of these things are just categorically untrue, completely false.” LWV requested a preliminary injunction in April, “asking the court to stop the defendants from producing, generating, or distributing AI-generated robocalls, text messages or any form of spoofed communication impersonating any person, without that person’s express consent.” Backer explained that if LWV gets “an injunction in this case, against Kramer, they’re going to open the floodgates on every Democratic organization in this country going around and saying that any robocall or live call or text message or email or online ad that in any way references election integrity is actually voter intimidation under the VRA, and they have a right to sue under it, and they are going to go nuts.” While campaigns will fight these lawsuits, the telephone companies “don’t care, and so they’re going to be more than happy to shut down, throttle our traffic, demand audits, and otherwise dramatically reduce the ability of Republicans to communicate their political message in the 30 days before the election,” Backer said. Backer told Just the News last Friday that he believes this legal approach is “unreasonable,” since the DOJ will use it to create a “weapon to alter the outcome of the election and keep political speech from being communicated.” Having other organizations pursue these cases rather than the DOJ would make them “more palatable,” whereas if the DOJ prosecuted them, they “could lose those cases down the road.” As for Kramer, according to court documents filed by the LWV “he has no intentions of ever appearing in this

Articles / Courts & Law / Government South Carolina Rep. Norman: Timing of Trump Trial is A ‘Farce’ After Trump’s verdict, he raised over $50 million, according to his campaign. By: Congressman Ralph Norman, R-S.C., on Wednesday called the timing of former President Donald Trump’s trial a farce and predicted he would win the upcoming presidential election. “The timing for the whole trial… is a farce,” Norman said on the “Furthermore with Amanda Head” podcast. “It’s a kangaroo court built to shift all the attention to so-called felony counts when again, they haven’t even charged him with anything.” A New York jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records during his 2016 presidential bid to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump, who also is the 2024 presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is the first U.S. president to be found guilty of felony crimes. His sentencing date is July 11, just days before he is expected to be formally nominated at the Republican National Convention. “I do think they’ll try to put him in jail,” Norman said. “I think it will skyrocket and he’ll win even bigger. That’s the silver lining in it.” After Trump’s verdict, he raised over $50 million, according to his campaign. TOP STORIES Trump Lawyer Suggests Jack Smith Plead The Fifth In Testimony, Suggests He's Complicit In Crimes NC GOP Chairman Says Democratic Voter Registrations Are Plummeting As Party Has 'Abandoned' Values Johnson Called Biden To Demand More Security For Trump: GOP Rep. Clyde Lawsuit, Charges Over AI Deepfake Robocalls May Shut Down Various Political Speech Before Election Ben Carson Blasts 'Woke' Pastors, Warns Church Has Left People 'Drifting In The Open Sea' LATEST EPISODES Power The Future Founder: 'The EPA is easily weaponized by environmental left; dismantle it & give power back to states' Actor, Filmmaker Sean Stone exposes political agendas in Tinseltown & unmasks media manipulation in new Trump-focused docuseries Ex-Trump Deputy Campaign Chair: First transition ruined by ‘bureaucratic interference,’ now ‘Trump is picking’ his people Restoring Honor: Fmr Acting VA Secretary Peter O'Rourke discusses Trump’s legacy of veteran support & the fight for mental health reform Jack Smith 'committed serious criminal offenses,' says Trump's Attorney, 'if I were representing him I'd tell him to take the Fifth' RELATED ARTICLES Trump Lawyer Suggests Jack Smith Plead The Fifth In Testimony, Suggests He’s Complicit In Crimes NC GOP Chairman Says Democratic Voter Registrations Are Plummeting As Party Has ‘Abandoned’ Values Johnson Called Biden To Demand More Security For Trump: GOP Rep. Clyde Lawsuit, Charges Over AI Deepfake Robocalls May Shut Down Various Political Speech Before Election Ben Carson Blasts ‘Woke’ Pastors, Warns Church Has Left People ‘Drifting In The Open Sea’ Former Trump Spokeswoman Predicts Democrats Will Swap Out Biden Following His Debate Performance Texas Rep. Nehls Urges Trump Reelection To Restore Safety In U.S Gym Owner Who Defied COVID Lockdown Calls Democratic Governors ‘Foot Soldiers’ In Closing States South Carolina Rep. Norman: Timing of Trump Trial is A ‘Farce’ Former Rep. Gohmert Slams Weaponized Justice System, Says Some Judges Abandoned Core Principles

Articles / Courts & Law / Government Trump Lawyer Suggests Jack Smith Plead The Fifth In Testimony, Suggests He’s Complicit In Crimes “If I was representing Jack Smith, I would tell him to take the fifth when it came to any kind of testimony,” Binnall said. By: Former Trump campaign attorney Jesse Binnall suggested Friday that if special counsel Jack Smith were to take the stand, he should plead the fifth in any kind of testimony. “If I was representing Jack Smith, I would tell him to take the fifth when it came to any kind of testimony,” Binnall said on the “Furthermore with Amanda Head” podcast. I think he committed….in my opinion, very serious criminal offenses.” Some of the offenses Binnall suggested included violation of civil rights in the color of law and conspiracy to violate civil rights. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, earlier this week demanded Smith preserve all records related to his prosecutions of President-elect Donald Trump. Jordan issued a formal records preservation request to Smith in a letter. The special counsel has brought criminal cases against Trump, though both are expected to end with his ascent to the presidency. Republicans appear poised to retain the House and the subpoena power that comes with majority control. “Unfortunately for far too long, the lawyers at the Department of Justice believe that they themselves are above the law [and] that they can violate people’s civil rights,” Binnall said. TOP STORIES Trump Lawyer Suggests Jack Smith Plead The Fifth In Testimony, Suggests He's Complicit In Crimes NC GOP Chairman Says Democratic Voter Registrations Are Plummeting As Party Has 'Abandoned' Values Johnson Called Biden To Demand More Security For Trump: GOP Rep. Clyde Lawsuit, Charges Over AI Deepfake Robocalls May Shut Down Various Political Speech Before Election Ben Carson Blasts 'Woke' Pastors, Warns Church Has Left People 'Drifting In The Open Sea' LATEST EPISODES Power The Future Founder: 'The EPA is easily weaponized by environmental left; dismantle it & give power back to states' Actor, Filmmaker Sean Stone exposes political agendas in Tinseltown & unmasks media manipulation in new Trump-focused docuseries Ex-Trump Deputy Campaign Chair: First transition ruined by ‘bureaucratic interference,’ now ‘Trump is picking’ his people Restoring Honor: Fmr Acting VA Secretary Peter O'Rourke discusses Trump’s legacy of veteran support & the fight for mental health reform Jack Smith 'committed serious criminal offenses,' says Trump's Attorney, 'if I were representing him I'd tell him to take the Fifth' RELATED ARTICLES Trump Lawyer Suggests Jack Smith Plead The Fifth In Testimony, Suggests He’s Complicit In Crimes NC GOP Chairman Says Democratic Voter Registrations Are Plummeting As Party Has ‘Abandoned’ Values Johnson Called Biden To Demand More Security For Trump: GOP Rep. Clyde Lawsuit, Charges Over AI Deepfake Robocalls May Shut Down Various Political Speech Before Election Ben Carson Blasts ‘Woke’ Pastors, Warns Church Has Left People ‘Drifting In The Open Sea’ Former Trump Spokeswoman Predicts Democrats Will Swap Out Biden Following His Debate Performance Texas Rep. Nehls Urges Trump Reelection To Restore Safety In U.S Gym Owner Who Defied COVID Lockdown Calls Democratic Governors ‘Foot Soldiers’ In Closing States South Carolina Rep. Norman: Timing of Trump Trial is A ‘Farce’ Former Rep. Gohmert Slams Weaponized Justice System, Says Some Judges Abandoned Core Principles