Critics ask whether DOJ will give Jimmy Kimmel the Douglass Mackey treatment for 'election interference'

Critics are wondering whether the Biden-Harris Department of Justice will hold Jimmy Kimmel to the same standard to which it held pro-Trump social media influencer Douglass Mackey, who was convicted for supposed "election interference" and sentenced to prison last year for memes.

There is cause to be skeptical. After all, the DOJ has a habit of holding conservatives to a higher standard than its ideological allies.

Former Trump advisers Stephen Bannon and Peter Navarro were convicted for supposed contempt of Congress, whereas Attorney General Merrick Garland and former Attorney General Eric Holder got off scot-free. The proudly pro-abortion DOJ has almost exclusively targeted pro-life activists when it comes to FACE Act charges. The same DOJ adopted a draconian and in some cases "fact-free approach" when prosecuting Jan. 6 protesters after previously treating Black Lives Matter rioters with kid gloves.

The titular host of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" has recently made a number of desperate appeals to potential voters, asking them to get out and vote — just not for President Donald Trump.

In his monologue Wednesday, the Harris booster said, "You have to vote. If you can vote early, vote early. If you can't vote early, vote on time. If you want to vote for Trump, vote late. Vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday or maybe Friday."

'Biden's DOJ sent Douglass Mackey to prison for sharing this same joke.'

Libs of TikTok responded, "Wasn't Douglass Mackey sentenced to prison for doing something similar? Will @TheJusticeDept investigate Jimmy Kimmel?"

Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) noted, "Douglass Mackey was sent to prison for this."

"Biden's DOJ sent Douglass Mackey to prison for sharing this same joke about Hillary," tweeted former Salomon Brothers and Citigroup investment banker John LeFevre. "Another example of the weaponized lawfare and two-tiered justice that awaits us if Kamala wins."

Mackey chimed in, tweeting, "Jimmy Kimmel told his joke to an audience of millions. The joke meme I sent out didn't even reach more than 100 people until Buzzfeed and Wired reported on it."

Mackey was arrested in 2021, convicted in New York for supposed "election interference," and sentenced in October 2023 to seven months in prison by an Obama-appointed judge, Ann M. Donnelly.

At the time, Trump said, "They're putting Douglass Mackey in jail for sharing a joking meme about Hillary Clinton seven years ago. Nobody ever heard of anything like that."

According to the Biden-Harris DOJ, "Between September 2016 and November 2016, Mackey conspired with other influential Twitter users and with members of private online groups to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to 'vote' via text message or social media which was legally invalid."

The Intercept noted that there is no federal law against lying about election mechanisms or the electoral process. Mackey was instead indicted under a Reconstruction-era statue known as Section 241 or the "Ku Klux Klan Act," which prohibits conspiring to "injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person" trying to exercise a constitutionally or federally protected right.

The DOJ was evidently proud of the mental gymnastics required to charge the Clinton critic, stating that his prosecution was "groundbreaking."

Mackey is appealing his case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court, should that fail.

According to Mackey and amici curiae, "The First Amendment tolerates narrow, clear statutes that target knowingly false speech concerning the time, place, and manner, or other technical mechanics of an election. But Section 241 is not such a statute. This Court should reverse the decision of the district court."

"When I made an election joke, the Deep State used it as a pretext to conduct a fishing expedition against me, subpoenaing all financial records, leases, employment information and pay stubs, and email accounts. Will Jimmy Kimmel enjoy the same?" Mackey tweeted on Thursday.

'Force these scumbags to live by their own rules.'

One X user noted that Kimmel's "violation is worse than what [Mackey was] convicted for, and he transmitted this over federally licensed airwaves. The @FCC, @FBI, #FEC and #DOJ should be contacted, @ABC should be immediately sanctioned, and @Jimmykimmel needs to be investigated. Anything less is selective and preferential justice."

Rob Eno, Blaze Media's director of content marketing, quipped, "It would be a real shame if everyone flooded the US DOJ crime tip line and ask them to charge Jimmy Kimmel with the same crime they charged Douglass Mackey with. A real shame. I'm not telling you to to go this link and do it."

Conservative commentator Matt Walsh tweeted, "I'm dead serious when I say if Trump wins he should have Jimmy Kimmel arrested and jailed. Force these scumbags to live by their own rules."

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