Right-wing salacious-lie peddlers Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman got hit with some bad news on Monday, when senior U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero denied the two men’s attempts to have their civil case delayed until after their criminal proceedings are done. Saying that any delay in the case could harm future elections’ integrity, Judge Marrero refuted all of Wohl and Burkman’s arguments for postponing the civil lawsuit brought against the two men by the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation for violating the Ku Klux Klan Act.
Wohl and Burkman are dealing with a handful of criminal prosecutions stemming from their part in creating and executing a racist and factually incorrect robocall campaign designed to suppress votes in Ohio, Michigan, and New York. Wohl and Burkman’s attorneys have tried to argue that running the two cases concurrently would conflict with the mens’ Fifth Amendment rights. Judge Marrero ruled that that claim is “entirely speculative,” and pointed out that the two men had not had to reveal anything in discovery. More importantly, Judge Marrero explained that the sooner Wohl and Burkan’s trials were dealt with, the sooner our elections’ integrity would be one step closer to secure, as “Prompt resolution of Plaintiffs’ claims will further clarify the acceptable bounds of election-related conduct for activists, voters, and other interested parties, thereby promoting the integrity of future elections.”
The Law & Order blog points out that Judge Marrero has not been a fan of these two, having already blasted the pair last October, saying that the two men incited “fears of these grim consequences, but they baselessly tied the prospects to mail-in voting. The result cannot be described as anything but deliberate interference with voters’ rights to cast their ballots in any legal manner they choose. And the intimidation of individual voters inflicts harm upon the broader public’s interest in selecting elected officials through a free and fair process.”
Wohl and Burkman have been connected to a series of scams and false allegations, usually of a sexual nature, over the years. Their attempts at slandering liberal officials, or officials they deemed anti-Trump and the ultra right-wing agenda have been pathetic but truly craven in nature. The robocalls were particularly odious, spreading false claims that voting by mail would expose registered voters to tax and debt collectors and the execution of possible outstanding warrants. Baseless claims for sure, but targeted so very specifically at suppressing the vote in communities who have been historically mistreated by our government.