The Republican National Committee (RNC) last week distributed an electronic scripted call to voters’ phones on behalf of new co-chair Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, saying Democrats committed “massive fraud” in the 2020 election.
CNN was provided the script of the call, which was sent to past RNC contributors: “We all know the problems. No photo IDs, unsecured ballot drop boxes, mass mailing of ballots, and voter rolls chock full of deceased people and non-citizens are just a few examples of the massive fraud that took place.”
The script also claimed that “if the Democrats have their way, your vote could be canceled out by someone who isn’t even an American citizen.”
CNN’s KFile — using data from the anti-robocall application Nomorobo — estimated that 145,000 calls were sent with the message from April 1-7.
The popular social media account and political podcast Mueller, She Wrote replied: “This feels like fraud. Wire fraud” and tagged the U.S. Justice Department and the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice.
This feels like fraud. Wire fraud. @TheJusticeDept @DOJCrimDiv https://t.co/BWkPHUTLCC
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) April 11, 2024
Wire fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, is a crime where a “defendant voluntarily and intentionally devised or participated in a scheme to defraud another out of money.” That means the content of a call — leaving alone the technical aspect of whether it “interstate wire communication” — must be in service of getting money. Here the call asks for an “election security gift of $50 or $35 today.”
NOTE: “to prove wire fraud government must show (1) scheme to defraud by means of false pretenses, (2) defendant’s knowing and willful participation in scheme with intent to defraud, and (3) use of interstate wire communications in furtherance of scheme); United States v. Maxwell, 920 F.2d 1028, 1035 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (“Wire fraud requires proof of (1) a scheme to defraud; and (2) the use of an interstate wire communication to further the scheme.”).”
Note: Last year New York Attorney General Letitia James secured a $1.25 million settlement from two political operatives accused of attempting to disenfranchise voters through a robocall scheme.