Somehow, Jacob Wohl Has Returned, And He's Running A Start-up Trying To Integrate AI Into Lobbying

Jacob Wohl, a convicted fraudster and something of a comic relief character from the cast of Trump-era online personalities, has reentered political discourse after it was reported by Politico that he and partner-in-crime Jack Burkman – under the pseudonyms "Jay Klein" and "Bill Sanders" – are running a startup in D.C. attempting to pitch the use of artificial intelligence in lobbying.

Wohl was a prominent Donald Trump supporter on Twitter / X best known for lying and trolling online. His first viral (likely) lie was that in 2018, he entered a "hipster coffee shop packed with liberals" talking about how great Trump did in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After that, he and Jack Burkman promoted a string of lewd, easily disprovable lies about Democratic politicians and government officials, including Robert Mueller, Anthony Fauci and, perhaps most humorously, Elizabeth Warren, who they claimed was having a tawdry "cougar"-style affair with a 24-year-old marine.

Somehow, none of these schemes landed them in legal trouble. Ultimately, Wohl and Burkman were convicted of running a robocall scheme in Michigan, New York and Ohio in an attempt to suppress votes for President Joe Biden in the 2020 Election. They were ordered to pay over $5 million for their crimes but avoided jail time.

After Politico scooped Wohl and Burkman's new endeavor, Wohl posted a video to Twitter (from an account called "@TheLobbyistGuy") explaining his change in professional direction, as well as explaining what his AI-lobbying startup called "LobbyMatic" does.

Explaining the situation pic.twitter.com/MwpTww17G8

— TheLobbyistGuy (@TheLobbyistGuy) September 2, 2024

Lest this gives off the impression that Wohl and Burkman have turned over a new leaf and are now committed to living an honest life, follow-up reporting by 404 media revealed that "LobbyMatic" is boasting about having clients that in reality have never heard of the company.

Pfizer, Microsoft, Palantir, Home Depot, Lockheed Martin and Holland & Knight, which appear in LobbyMatic's product demo as example clients, confirmed they do not work with LobbyMatic. One company that actually did use the service, Boundary Stone Partners, told Politico the product did not work and they quickly terminated their contract with Lobbymatic.

Furthermore, "Pat Smith," LobbyMatic's "VP of Growth" who was advertising the product on Medium, is an AI-generated blonde woman who does not exist.