Two election fraudsters and MAGA conspiracy theorists, Jacob Wohl and Jack Berkman, are using fake names to run a start-up that promises to integrate AI into lobbying. Politico Report published on Sunday.
Lobbymatic was founded in 2022 by right-wing agitator Wohl (using the alias “Jay Klein”) and his D.C. lobbyist friend Berkman (under the name “Bill Sanders”), according to four former employees who spoke anonymously to Politico to prevent retaliation. Talked in a way. .
Before the 2020 general election, Wohl and Berkman organized a A campaign of robocalls For predominantly black neighborhoods in many states, residents are urged not to attempt mail-in voting. The messages, which claimed that mail-in voting could compromise personal data, mentioned Wohl and Berkman by name, making them easy to identify—and indict for telecom fraud.
The Federal Communications Commission fined the duo $5 million and an Ohio judge ordered them to spend 500 hours registering people to vote. In 2023, a New York federal judge convicted Wohl and Berkman of violating the Voting Rights Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act, and in April, New York Attorney General Leticia James reached a settlement with the pair, ordering them to “pay up”. $1.25 million.”
Perhaps the two swindlers learned not to put their names on their schemes—and apparently created brand new identities to begin their new venture. Still, Wohl and Berkman had trouble keeping their new identities straight. Three former employees told Politico that there were several instances in which people, including Berkman, referred to “Jay Klein” as Jacob.
At Lobimatic, things were not going particularly well. Former employees said the company often missed payroll, and although its website listed job openings, Wohl said they were not hiring.
Instead of hiring actual workers, Wohl appears to have sought out a female vice president named “Pat Smith.” Wohl apparently told the three employees that she didn’t exist and that it was best to use a good-looking blonde woman when trying to make introductions.
Additionally, the company, which was not officially registered in Virginia, lacked occupancy and renovation permits for its offices, according to Politico.
“Jay/Jacob was out of touch with reality,” one former employee told Politico. “Working for them you knew you never got the whole story and often gave up trying to find the truth. If I had to sum up my experience working for them, I would describe them as living with their heads in the clouds and a false reality. is.”
That employee told Politico that he once went with “Sanders” to a house in Arlington, Virginia, that Berkman actually owned. The front steps of the house were the site of some of Wohl’s and Berkman’s notoriety Press conferenceWhere they advanced their foreign conspiracy theories and smear campaigns, including but not limited to claims that Pete Buttigieg and Robert Mueller sexually assaulted and Senator Elizabeth Warren had an affair with a Marine.
An employee who visited Berkman’s home told Politico that they suspected something was amiss after hearing Wohl refer to himself as Jacob and seeing him express reservations about getting a business license. Eventually the employee took a photo of his employer and a quick reverse image search confirmed Wohl’s true identity.
Former employees were able to identify “Sanders” as the same man who appeared in the 2022 Netflix crime docuseries using his real name, Berkman.
According to former employees, Lobimatic had three brand-name clients: Toyota, drug company Lantheus, and Boundary Stone Partners, a consulting firm. Toyota and Lantheus representatives said they would sign up for the company’s three-month free trial, which has since expired. Jeff Navin, co-founder of Boundary Stone Partners, told Politico that the company tried Lobbymatic’s service and “quickly determined that the tool was not working and ended our contract two months ago.”
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