Conspiracy theorist Jacob Wohl and an accomplice are accused of trying to convince young men to falsely claim 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg sexual assaulted them in an attempt to tank his pursuit of the Democratic nomination.
According to the Daily Beast, Wohl and lobbyist Jack Burkman described Buttigieg, who is a Democrat and openly gay, as a “terminal threat” to President Trump’s reelection chances in the upcoming 2020 presidential race and were trying to get an unnamed “Republican” individual to claim Buttigieg took advantage of him sexually while he was too drunk to consent. The Daily Beast reported it has an audio recording of Wohl and Burkman discussing their idea with the unnamed “Republican” and quoted an engineering professor from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, who says it is “highly likely” that the recording is of Wohl.
The efforts by Wohl and Burkman coincide with a dubious post on the website Medium by a “Hunter Kelly” who claims Buttigieg sexually assaulted him, but does not give any specifics except that it may have occurred in February. “Kelly” said he would update the accusation in the “days and weeks ahead.” It is the only post by “Kelly,” and a Twitter account with a matching photo was created in April with only four tweets. As of reporting, the Medium account claiming to be “Hunter Kelly” has been suspended.
[Related: Support for Buttigieg growing in New Hampshire, dropping for Biden: Poll]
A Facebook post by a “Hunter Kelly” repudiates the claim, saying he was not sexually assaulted, but was brought to Washington, D.C., “by a political figure” and discussed being a gay conservative. The person Kelly talked to said they would be running a “campaign” against Buttigieg, but didn’t offer any specifics.
“I WAS NOT SEXUALLY ASSAULTED,” Kelly posted. “It’s important for everyone to know that I was not sexually assaulted and would never falsely accuse anyone. To keep it brief for now- I was approached by a political figure to come to DC to discuss political situations from the standpoint of a gay Republican. When I arrived they discussed Peter Buttigieg and started talking about how they would be working a campaign against him. I went to bed and woke up to a fake Twitter @RealHunterKelly and an article that I in no way endorsed or wrote. I have since left and am working on a formal statement to give to everyone including the Buttigieg family. Thank you for standing behind me and knowing that I would never accept or allow any of this.”
Kelly was reportedly contacted by the Daily Beast and acknowledged that it was true that Wohl and Burkman were trying to devise fake sexual assault allegations.
[Also read: Buttigieg awarded ‘most likely to become president’ in high school yearbook]
Buttigieg was asked about the accusation at a campaign stop in New York. The mayor of South Bend, Ind., said it was false and that accusations wouldn’t derail the campaign.
“Buttigieg’s quote about the sexual assault allegation (from a gaggle),” Playboy’s Washington correspondent Alex Thomas tweeted. “‘I’m sure it’s not the first time somebody is going to make something up about me. It’s not going to throw us. Politics can be ugly sometimes but you have to face that when you’re in presidential politics.'”
Buttigieg’s quote about the sexual assault allegation (from a gaggle) — “I’m sure it’s not the first time somebody is going to make something up about me. It’s not going to throw us. Politics can be ugly sometimes but you have to face that when you’re in presidential politics.”
— Alex Thomas (@AlexThomasDC) April 29, 2019
David Wohl, Jacob’s father, tweeted the story, based on a cached embed in the Daily Beast’s report, but has since deleted the tweet. Jacob Wohl’s Twitter account was suspended in February after openly admitting in an interview that he planned to create fake Twitter and Facebook accounts to spread disinformation ahead of the primary elections.
This is not the first time Wohl and Burkman have attempted to create false allegations. In November 2018, the two held a press conference to have a woman claim that special counsel Robert Mueller had sexually assaulted her. The would-be accuser never showed up to the press conference, forcing Wohl and Burkman to abandon the pursuit. Mueller’s team asked the FBI to investigate whether the woman was being paid by Wohl and Burkman to make the accusation.
