Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Photo: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The Justice Department charged a pro-Trump former Twitter user with election interference for posts encouraging users to vote via text in the 2016 election.
Why it matters: The DOJ believes this is the first criminal case charging an American with suppressing the vote via disinformation on Twitter.
Details: Douglas Mackey, 31, who was known on Twitter as "Ricky Vaughn," was arrested Wednesday morning and accused of conspiring with others to use social media platforms to spread misinformation ahead of the 2016 election.
- He allegedly led a campaign telling people they could vote for Hillary Clinton simply by texting a certain phone number.
Mackey, who was revealed to control the Ricky Vaughn account by the Huffington Post, had 58,000 followers and was named by MIT Media Lab as one of the top influencers ahead of the 2016 election.
- According to prosecutors, the disinformation campaign led to at least 4,900 unique phone numbers attempting to vote by phone.
- The complaint does not identify the conspirators, but the New York Times reported one of them is Anthime Gionet, the far-right figure known as “Baked Alaska" who was arrested for his involvement in the Jan 6 attack of the U.S. Capitol.
What they're saying: "There is no place in public discourse for lies and misinformation to defraud citizens of their right to vote," Seth D. DuCharme, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said a statement.
- "With Mackey’s arrest, we serve notice that those who would subvert the democratic process in this manner cannot rely on the cloak of Internet anonymity to evade responsibility for their crimes."