Jacob Wohl reportedly tried to get people to invest in a plan to manipulate elections and make winning bets on them
- Jacob Wohl tried to get people to invest in an operation to manipulate elections and make money on them through political betting markets, according to documents obtained by the Daily Beast.
- The plan drew inspiration from Russian "troll farms" that manipulated the 2016 election in President Donald Trump's favor.
- Wohl also recently participated in plots to smear Robert Mueller and Pete Buttigieg with fabricated sexual assault claims.
- A conservative investor told the Daily Beast he declined to participate in the pitch, fearing a "Jussie Smollett kind of deal."
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Wunderkind conservative conspiracy theorist Jacob Wohl has reportedly been trying to get investors for a new harebrained scheme to fight Democratic politicians.
According to a fundraising document obtained by the Daily Beast, Wohl came up with a plan to interfere with elections by "planting stories" in news outlets and maintaining online "troll farms" to spread damaging narratives about Democratic candidates. The organization would also infiltrate "every major Democratic 2020 Presidential campaign" to spy on them in an attempt to help President Donald Trump win reelection.
The company, named the Arlington Center for Political Intelligence, would make money for investors by gambling in political betting markets — even as it proposes to bend the odds.
The fundraising document gives Russia credit for pioneering part of the plan, which Wohl's alleged company would build upon.
"As the Russian Internet Research Agency proved in 2016, building up leftwing internet properties that aim to ultimately suppress turnout is an effective strategy," the document says.
Wohl, famous for tweeting about overhearing pro-Trump conversations in hipster coffee houses, in 2018 attempted to accuse Robert Mueller of sexual assault. He, along with the conservative strategist Jack Burkman, offered women $20,000 to make up sexual assault accusations against Mueller. He promised one woman would come forward. But at a press conference he and Burkman hosted, no one did.
More recently, Wohl and Burkman were allegedly behind a sexual assault claim made against Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a Democratic presidential candidate. Hunter Kelly, the man whose name was behind the claim, said he didn't write the post making the assault claim and said Wohl made the whole thing up.
Wohl also spreads conspiracy theories on social media, like the claim that movie executives are covering up a massive pedophilia ring. He first became famous in conservative circles for his unflagging support of Trump on Twitter and for dubious stories about overhearing liberals quietly praise the president in coffee shops.
Wohl didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment. The Daily Beast reported that it obtained a copy of an email from Wohl's account making a pitch for the The Arlington Center for Political Intelligence.
A conservative investor who received the pitch told the Daily Beast he declined to get involved because he feared it would become a "Jussie Smollett kind of deal" after he researched Wohl and found out he became the youngest-ever person to be banned from trading futures after he was implicated in financial fraud.
- Read more:
- 21-year-old conservative activist Jacob Wohl allegedly tried to smear Pete Buttigieg with false sexual assault claims — here's everything you need to know about him
- Pete Buttigieg was falsely accused of sexual assault in a stunt concocted by conspiracy theorist Jacob Wohl
- Jacob Wohl may have reported a death threat to the police that he faked himself
- The brothers who say they were hired to stage the Jussie Smollett hate crime are suing his lawyers for allegedly lying about the story