Weaponizing The Department Of Justice

Oh No, Not That!

Last month, Kamala Harris warned voters that if elected, Donald Trump will weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies. 

This is, of course, another case of her side projecting--Kamala Harris's Department of Justice has already been weaponized against her political enemies, including Donald Trump. But the first victim of the politicized Biden-Harris Department of Justice wasn't Trump--it was a formerly pseudonymous Twitter poster named Douglass Mackey. Mackey was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for making essentially the same joke Jimmy Kimmel just did last week.

Below is a guest post by Mackey about that. Before we get to it, two brief programming notes. 

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Now on to Douglass Mackey's guest post. 

The Right To Bear Memes

It’s hard to believe, but here we are. Sharing a joke—a meme meant to poke fun at Hillary Clinton supporters—has become a criminal offense. I posted a satirical meme in 2016, telling Hillary supporters they could skip the line by “voting by text.” It was an obvious joke, something that should have been protected under the First Amendment. Yet, the Biden regime has weaponized our justice system to punish me, labeling this obvious satire as “election interference.” Meanwhile, just recently, Jimmy Kimmel used his late-night TV show—broadcasted over federally licensed airwaves—to joke about Trump supporters voting on the wrong day. But there’s no FBI beating down his door, no threat of prison time for him. This glaring double standard makes it crystal clear: the justice system is being wielded as a weapon against anyone who dares challenge the regime’s narrative.

On January 27, 2021, five days after Joe Biden’s inauguration, FBI agents knocked at my door. I was the man behind the popular pro-Trump Twitter account @RickyVaughn99. Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York claimed that I violated 18 USC 241, which punishes conspiring to "injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person" for exercising their constitutional or federal rights, with penalties of up to ten years in prison. The statute is designed to prevent violent voter suppression. It has never been used to prosecute speech. In 2023, I was convicted at trial in the Eastern District of New York and sentenced to seven months in prison. During my trial, the DOJ couldn’t produce a single person who failed to vote because of the meme I shared. Not one single person. They even admitted my case was about setting a precedent, a “test” to criminalize satire that steps out of line. Scary, dystopian stuff.

The district court denied my request for an appeal bond despite the strength of the appeal. That decision was reversed by a bipartisan panel at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. My appeal was officially filed in January of this year and argued in April of this year.

But his isn’t just about me; it’s about every American’s right to free speech and to criticize those in power without fear of prosecution. A favorable ruling in this milestone First Amendment case would severely curtail the ability of the federal government to weaponize the DOJ against conservative political speech­–or really, any speech unfavorable to the administration in power. In fact, according to a Reuters article based on FBI and DOJ sources, my prosecution is a test case designed to set “the stage for new 'misinformation' and 'disinformation' cases against more prominent conservative actors" that the government doesn’t like. At trial, the Justice Department could not produce a single person that did not vote because of the meme, claiming that all they needed to do was to prove that a “conspiracy” to disenfranchise voters existed. Proof of such a “conspiracy” was entirely circumstantial–no direct evidence was offered that I conspired to create this meme, distribute it, or actually intended to disenfranchise any voters. My cause has been championed by President Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump, Jr., and many other political figures. The Harvard Law Review recognized the prosecution as a grievous attack on satire. My appeal in the 2nd Circuit featured an amicus brief by prominent First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh, among others.

But legal battles are costly, especially when facing the deep pockets and power of the federal government. I need your help to keep fighting, not just for me, but for everyone’s right to speak freely---all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary. You can support my defense by donating to the Meme Defense Fund at memedefensefund.com, a project of the registered 501(c)3 non-profit foundation the American Cause. Donations are tax-deductible. Check and cash donations can be made out to “American Cause—Meme Defense—10321 Hunt Farm Ln, Oakton, VA 22124.” Other options to donate, including sending cash or crypto, are available at douglassmackey.com. This case isn’t just mine—it’s ours, and it’s about the future of free speech in America.