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Conservative activist Jacob Wohl accused of creating a bogus company with fake employees in a ploy to level false sexual-misconduct claims against Robert Mueller

Grace Panetta   

Conservative activist Jacob Wohl accused of creating a bogus company with fake employees in a ploy to level false sexual-misconduct claims against Robert Mueller
Politics3 min read

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 08: Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speaks at the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS) on August 8, 2013 in New York City. The ICCS, which is co-hosted by Fordham University and the FBI, is held every 18 months; more than 25 countries are represented at this year's conference. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
  • The office of the special counsel Robert Mueller has asked the FBI to investigate a plot reportedly led by conservative activists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl to offer women large sums of money to lie under oath about Mueller committing sexual misconduct.
  • As part of the ploy, Wohl is accused of creating a completely bogus company, "Surefire Intelligence," to pose as a private investigative agency to frame Mueller.
  • The domain name for their website is registered to Wohl, a phone number on the site directs to his mother's voicemail, and LinkedIn profiles for supposed employees use edited photos of celebrities.  

The office of the special counsel Robert Mueller has asked the FBI to investigate a suspected plot linked back to GOP activists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl to pay women large sums of money to lie about having been sexually harassed by Mueller.

Evidence points to Wohl having created a fictitious company as part of his efforts. 

On Monday night, journalist Scott Stedman posted a Twitter thread detailing his experience being contacted by a woman claiming a GOP lobbyist had offered her money to lie about being harassed by Mueller, but being evasive and refusing to talk on the phone, leading him to question whether there really was such a woman at all. 

On Tuesday, The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand confirmed Stedman's previous reporting and suspicions, writing that the woman emailed several journalists claiming to have been offered the money by GOP operative Jack Burkman, who hired a firm called "Surefire Intelligence" to pay women to sign sworn affidavits claiming misconduct by Mueller.

A person who identified themselves as a woman named "Lorraine Parsons" told The Atlantic "a man with a British accent" contacted her offering to pay her $20,000 and pay off her credit-card debt to say she was sexually harassed by Mueller, allegedly when the two worked at the same law firm in the 1970s. The firm denied that such a person ever worked there.

An email sent from a Surefire Intelligence account linked to a person named "Simon Frick," to one of the law professor Jennifer Taub, asked Taub to speak about "past encounters" involving Mueller. Taub told The Atlantic she has never met Mueller. 

According to its website, Surefire is a "private intel agency that designs and executes bespoke solutions for businesses and individuals who face complex business and litigation challenges" which several Twitter users easily linked to Wohl.

Wohl, who is best known for being banned from the National Futures Association at the age of 19 for defrauding his investors, and for his posting inflammatory, pro-Trump messages on social media, vehemently denied any involvement with the plot.

But several journalists and Twitter users were quick to uncover a clear paper trail between Wohl and Surefire, which, by all appearances, is a fictitious company created to serve as a front for Wohl's activities.  

The domain name for Surefire's website is registered under Wohl's email address, jacob.wohl@nexmanagement.com. And when NBC News reporters tried to call one of the phone numbers listed on Surefire's website, it directed them to Wohl's mother's voicemail. 

When Stedman visited the Southern California address listed as the location of Surefire Intelligence, he found the building housed a law firm. A representative for the law firm told Stedman they had never heard of Surfire. 

A LinkedIn profile for a Surefire employee named "Matthew Cohen" appears to be a heavily edited picture of Wohl himself, as New Yorker reported Jane Mayer pointed out. 

LinkedIn profiles for several of Surefire's supposed employees turned out to be using poorly edited photographs of actors or models instead of plausible employees. 

The LinkedIn profile of supposed Surefire "financial investigator" Simon Frick, who purportedly "emailed" Taub, uses a photograph of actor Christoph Waltz, and the profile for their "Tel Aviv Station Chief" uses a photograph of Israeli supermodel Bar Rafaeli. 

Furthermore, the sworn affidavit Wohl and fellow conservative activist Jim Hoff reportedly wanted the women contacted to sign accuses Mueller of committing a rape at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City on August 2, 2010.

But as The Washington Post reported, on that exact day, Mueller was summoned to DC Superior Court for jury duty - not in New York, but in Washington, DC. 

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