[ad_1]
Federal officials have charged Josh Hall of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania with fraud and identity theft offenses after he ran a year -long scheme of impersonating family members of politicians, mainly the siblings of former President Donald Trump.
Hall, who used his impersonation to reinforce his own persona online as Bi Trump Guy, was arrested and taken to a federal court in Harrisburg, PA. He faces a maximum of 22 years in federal prison if he is convicted of the charges.
Related: Caitlyn Jenner refuses to say Donald Trump lost the election and avoided the question of trans rights
Without naming former President Trump or his relatives by name, the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York’s Southern District announced the charges this week after Hall was cautious.
Halls ’story was first reported in December 2020, after he told all in an interview with the New York Times. Hall, who was 21, admitted to pretending to be as many members of the Trump family, especially Donalds brother Robert Trump. He used these accounts to convince fellow Trump supporters to donate to his Gay Voice initiative for Trump, which was not officially authorized and did not seem to go to any actual cause supporting the re -election campaign. by President Trump.
Hall led hundreds of people to believe they were giving to an organization nothing by pretending to be someone he didn’t know, as alleged, FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney said, Jr. in a Justice Department statement. As we continue to investigate fraud in all its various forms, we urge the public to remain aware of the prevalence of online scams and to exercise due diligence when making donations online.
In 2016, Josh Hall was a 17 -year -old high school senior from Pennsylvania, with no interest in politics until Donald Trump ran for President. Hall attended college and pursued a dream of becoming a radio talk host.
Less than four years later, Hall could not hold a job. He appeared to be bisexual, but was also accused of harassment by a radical leftist ex -partner, in his words. He started selling shirts stating that Josh Hall did nothing wrong and even a GoFundMe fundraiser that allegedly went to support his legal fund. That earned him at least $ 815.
At the beginning of 2020, with the impending coronavirus pandemic, Hall is working for DoorDash. He published a how-to book detailing 38 essential rules to live to be happy and successful, but then, his original Twitter account was deactivated.
Hall decided, Anyway, I’m just going to have fun now. So, he decided to make money in a different way: posing as major political figures online.
The Hall began in February with Rod Blagojevich the former Democratic governor of Illinois jailed for selling Barack Obamas former seat in the U.S. Senate after Trump granted clemency to Blagojevich and he was released from prison. From there, Hall will pretend to be Dr. Deborah Birx, the White Houses Coronavirus Response Coordinator for a short time.
He then started researching Trump family members who weren’t online yet, and that’s when he started posing as Robert Trump.
First as @BigRobTrump and, after deleting those accounts, @UncleRobTrump, Hall pushed the QAnon conspiracies for months with the combined compliance of more than 100,000 accounts. He then re -created his own account, @TheBiTrumpGuy, on Twitter and Parler.
He used his impersonation accounts to promote himself, as a good friend and partner in Robert’s evil, and eventually, he went into fake business with him starting in July, with the alleged grassroots organization Gay Voice for to Trump.
Uncle Rob runs Gay Voices For Trump with @TheBiTrumpGuy, Hall tweeted from his pretending account Robert, even though I’m a heterosexual man. These are Trump’s genes that we love women but we try to reach LGBT and other minority voters. Josh is doing a great job so please give him a follower and support him!
From there, Hall even went on to start a GoFundMe fundraiser, this time for field arrangements, events and merchandise for Trump’s LGBTQ supporters. He used his fake account to direct message conservatives online, asking them for their financial support in the name of the President.
Hall admitted that Gay Voice for Trump did not formally exist in any way, though he denied pocketing any money and said he helped register 100 people to vote. I should have used better judgment and stuff. But I don’t intentionally try and dupe people out of money, Hall claims.
He also said the money raised of $ 7,384 in total is still held by GoFundMe, but the company said it has been withdrawn by the organizer, Josh H., who.
Halls ’initial impersonation was shattered when the real Robert Trump, suffering for months from an unrecorded illness, passed away in August 2020. So, he moved on to other family members of Donalds nephew Fred Trump III; Maryanne Trump Barry, her sister and a federal judge revealed privately criticizing her brother in August; and Barron Trump, the presidents 14-year-old son.
He also posed as the father of Kamala Harris, economist Donald Harris, before moving to Donalds farther away, private sister Elizabeth Trump Grau, using the same account. Trump Grau, who married recently, hasn’t spoken publicly in nearly five years but pretending he is, Hall said this election inspired me to break my silence, supporting Donalds ’allegations that election fraud deprived him of victory.
In under 24 hours, he had 20,000 followers, and soon one of his tweets prompted an article from conservative Wayne Duprees ’website. That’s when he caught Donalds eye. Thanks Elizabeth, she wrote in a tweet on November 20 sharing the article, LOVE!
Hall claims he has remorse over how he deceived people with disinformation and none of their money, but he said all accounts are clearly parodies and believes he is not responsible in any way.
I wrote about it. Then I worked to find out who was behind the fake.
Eventually it became very clear: a 21-year-old Trump supporter named Josh Hall. So I called him and he fess up.
I was like, Oh, my goodness. He really thought it was his brother, he remembered. pic.twitter.com/knwtmcBQqO
Jack Nicas (@jacknicas) December 8, 2020
[ad_2]
picture credit