(Ken Silva, Headline USA) An appeals court has signaled that it might overturn the conviction for Douglass Mackey, who was found guilty of election interference earlier this year because he posted a meme in 2016 about voting for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton via text message.
After he was found guilty of election interference in March over his actions, Mackey was sentenced to seven months imprisonment in October.
He was supposed to report to prison in January. But in a major win, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted him bond on Monday.
“The Second Circuit Court of Appeals just overruled the District Court in granting our motion for bond pending appeal. This ruling is huge because it means that the appeals court decided that my appeal presents ‘substantial’ and ‘debatable’ issues of law that, if resolved in my favor, will result in my conviction being vacated,” Mackey said on Twitter.
“The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that my appeal was frivolous and that this was a typical election crime case like any other in U.S. history. This is a very encouraging step towards vindication.”
BREAKING NEWS: Second Circuit Court of Appeals grants bond pending appeal in the Douglass Mackey meme case
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals just overruled the District Court in granting our motion for bond pending appeal. This ruling is huge because it means that the appeals…
— Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) December 4, 2023
Mackey’s appeal brief is due by Jan. 5, while the government must respond by Feb. 5.
Mackey has maintained that the memes were clearly satire, while the U.S. government claims his actions were designed to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.
During the trial, one of the government’s testifying witnesses was an FBI informant who still actively operates anonymous right-wing Twitter accounts. According to prosecutors, the informant operates accounts similar to the Ricky Vaughn account. They claimed that the two worked in tandem to spread “misinformation.”
The informant plead guilty to the same charge that Mackey has been found guilty of. His identity has been protected because he is allegedly still working with the FBI in respect to other Twitter users.
“The [informant] is presently involved in multiple, ongoing investigations and other activities in which he or she is using assumed internet names and ‘handles’ that do not reveal his or her true identity,” prosecutors said during the criminal proceedings.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
