Social Media Influencer Sentenced for Election Interference in 2016 Presidential Race

A social media influencer was sentenced today to seven months in prison and fined $15,000 for his role in a conspiracy to interfere with potential voters’ right to vote in the 2016 presidential election.

According to court documents, by 2016, Douglass Mackey, aka Ricky Vaughn, had established an audience on Twitter with approximately 58,000 followers. A February 2016 analysis by the MIT Media Lab ranked Mackey as one of the most significant influencers of the then-upcoming presidential election. Between September 2016 and November 2016, Mackey conspired with other influential Twitter users and with members of private online groups to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media, which was legally invalid. 

For example, on Nov. 1, 2016, in or around the same time that Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting “black turnout,” Mackey tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an “African Americans for Hillary” sign. The ad stated: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” and “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.” The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: “Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.” The tweet included the typed hashtag “#ImWithHer,” a slogan frequently used by then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. On or about and before Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “Hillary” or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which had been used in multiple deceptive campaign images that Mackey and his co-conspirators tweeted.

Several hours after tweeting the first image, Mackey tweeted an image depicting a woman seated in a conference room typing a message on her cell phone. This deceptive image was written in Spanish and mimicked a font that the Clinton campaign used in authentic ads. The image also included a copy of the Clinton campaign’s logo and the “ImWithHer” hashtag. 

A federal jury in Brooklyn previously convicted Mackey at trial for conspiracy against rights.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York, and Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll of the FBI New York Field Office made the announcement. 

The FBI investigated the case. 

Trial Attorney William J. Gullotta of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erik D. Paulsen and F. Turner Buford and Paralegal Specialist Shivani Parshad for the Eastern District of New York prosecuted the case.