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Judge: Peroutka's political operatives guilty in 2014 robocall
Judge: Peroutka's political operatives guilty in 2014 robocall
ByMegan Brockett
mbrockett@capgaznews.com
February 22, 2017
A District Court judge on Tuesday said Anne Arundel County residents had a right to know who was behind a contentious robocall made during a 2014 County Council race, finding two Republican strategists from Virginia guilty of violating state election laws. ... Dennis Fusaro, former campaign manager of Councilman Michael Anthony Peroutka, and Stephen Waters, an independent political consultant, were sentenced to a year in jail with all but 30 days suspended for misdemeanors charges of violating and conspiring to violate the authority line requirements of Maryland election laws. They were also sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation and a $1,000 fine.
....
The charges against Fusaro and Waters stemmed from a 2014 robocall that McKenna said Tuesday the two consultants were clearly behind, based on the evidence and testimony during the trial. ... Many viewed the robocall as an attempt to smear Peroutka's Democratic opponent in the District 5 race, Patrick Armstrong, who is gay. Armstrong has said he believes the robocall, which went to about 5,000 Anne Arundel County residents days before the election, cost him votes. He lost to Peroutka by 1,932 votes.
The robocall stated it was paid for by a group called Marylanders for Transgenders. The prosecution argued that wasn't true – that Fusaro and Waters were behind the call. Witnesses for the state said a Google search showed no evidence of the group existing.
Attorneys for Fusaro and Waters made sweeping arguments during the trial that challenged both the constitutionality of the charges as they related to free speech and various technical issues, including whether robocalls constitute campaign material, as defined by the state.
ByMegan Brockett
mbrockett@capgaznews.com
February 22, 2017
A District Court judge on Tuesday said Anne Arundel County residents had a right to know who was behind a contentious robocall made during a 2014 County Council race, finding two Republican strategists from Virginia guilty of violating state election laws. ... Dennis Fusaro, former campaign manager of Councilman Michael Anthony Peroutka, and Stephen Waters, an independent political consultant, were sentenced to a year in jail with all but 30 days suspended for misdemeanors charges of violating and conspiring to violate the authority line requirements of Maryland election laws. They were also sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation and a $1,000 fine.
....
The charges against Fusaro and Waters stemmed from a 2014 robocall that McKenna said Tuesday the two consultants were clearly behind, based on the evidence and testimony during the trial. ... Many viewed the robocall as an attempt to smear Peroutka's Democratic opponent in the District 5 race, Patrick Armstrong, who is gay. Armstrong has said he believes the robocall, which went to about 5,000 Anne Arundel County residents days before the election, cost him votes. He lost to Peroutka by 1,932 votes.
The robocall stated it was paid for by a group called Marylanders for Transgenders. The prosecution argued that wasn't true – that Fusaro and Waters were behind the call. Witnesses for the state said a Google search showed no evidence of the group existing.
Attorneys for Fusaro and Waters made sweeping arguments during the trial that challenged both the constitutionality of the charges as they related to free speech and various technical issues, including whether robocalls constitute campaign material, as defined by the state.
March 1, 2017 at 12:55 pm EDT | by Steve Charing
Peroutka’s operatives guilty in Arundel robocalls
Dennis Fusaro, former campaign manager of anti-LGBT Council member Michael Anthony Peroutka, and Stephen Waters, an independent political consultant, were found guilty on Feb. 21 by Anne Arundel County District Court Judge John P. McKenna Jr. stemming from robocalls made against Peroutka’s gay opponent.
Both men, who are from Virginia, were sentenced to a year in jail with all but 30 days suspended for misdemeanor charges of violating and conspiring to violate the authority line requirements of Maryland election laws. They were also sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation and a $1,000 fine, according to the Capital Gazette. The ruling is being appealed.
Patrick Armstrong, then 31, an openly gay candidate who ran unsuccessfully for the District 5 Council seat in Anne Arundel, was a victim of robocalls on Oct. 31, 2014. The call, which stated it was from “Marylanders for Transgenders,” a fake group, asked voters to call his mother’s house where he had lived at the time to thank him for coming out of the closet and his support for “all transgenders” in the Fairness for All Marylanders Act “so that they can go to any bathroom of their choice based their own confused gender identity.” ... The message also said, “Call Patrick today and thank him for his bravery in coming out of the closet.”
Armstrong’s opponent, Republican Michael Peroutka, 64, is a Christian Reconstructionist and secessionist. He had allegedly said that gay people are out to “recruit your children” into their “death style” and that legislators’ passing of marriage equality “violates God’s law.” .... Approximately 5,000 calls were made to Anne Arundel County residents. Armstrong lost by fewer than 2,000 votes though he was ahead in the polls. He told WJZ-TV that the call was a dirty trick.
Peroutka’s operatives guilty in Arundel robocalls
Dennis Fusaro, former campaign manager of anti-LGBT Council member Michael Anthony Peroutka, and Stephen Waters, an independent political consultant, were found guilty on Feb. 21 by Anne Arundel County District Court Judge John P. McKenna Jr. stemming from robocalls made against Peroutka’s gay opponent.
Both men, who are from Virginia, were sentenced to a year in jail with all but 30 days suspended for misdemeanor charges of violating and conspiring to violate the authority line requirements of Maryland election laws. They were also sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation and a $1,000 fine, according to the Capital Gazette. The ruling is being appealed.
Patrick Armstrong, then 31, an openly gay candidate who ran unsuccessfully for the District 5 Council seat in Anne Arundel, was a victim of robocalls on Oct. 31, 2014. The call, which stated it was from “Marylanders for Transgenders,” a fake group, asked voters to call his mother’s house where he had lived at the time to thank him for coming out of the closet and his support for “all transgenders” in the Fairness for All Marylanders Act “so that they can go to any bathroom of their choice based their own confused gender identity.” ... The message also said, “Call Patrick today and thank him for his bravery in coming out of the closet.”
Armstrong’s opponent, Republican Michael Peroutka, 64, is a Christian Reconstructionist and secessionist. He had allegedly said that gay people are out to “recruit your children” into their “death style” and that legislators’ passing of marriage equality “violates God’s law.” .... Approximately 5,000 calls were made to Anne Arundel County residents. Armstrong lost by fewer than 2,000 votes though he was ahead in the polls. He told WJZ-TV that the call was a dirty trick.