Sex-scandal hoaxer Jacob Wohl accused of trying to smear presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg

Jacob Wohl, who became notorious after his attempt to set up special counsel Robert Mueller on fake rape charges imploded, has been accused of targeting Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg with a similar stunt.

Wohl and Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman reportedly attempted to convince several young Republican men to claim Buttigieg, the gay South Bend, Indiana mayor who has been climbing the Democratic ranks in 2020 presidential polls, sexually assaulted them, according to the Daily Beast, which claims to have spoken to two of the dynamic duo’s would-be partners. 

One of the would-be victims supposedly provided the Beast with a recording of his meeting with Wohl and Burkman, in which Wohl refers to Buttigieg as a “terminal threat” to the re-election of Donald Trump. The comedy of errors that ensues is almost too ridiculous to be believed - Wohl and Burkman introduce themselves with obvious fake names, attempt to seduce the mark with promises of wealth, fame, and stardom (using Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford as an example of the superstardom awaiting the mark if he just gives a press conference accusing Buttigieg of sexual assault), and promise the mark that there are plenty of “actual victims” just waiting for him to be first. When he demurs, they ask him if he has any friends that would do it.

“This is the Fyre Festival of political operations,” the anonymous dupe told the Beast.

Meanwhile, Wohl’s father, attorney David Wohl, retweeted a now-deleted Medium post from an account named Hunter Kelly which reportedly told the story of his own “victimhood” at Buttigieg’s hands. Reached by phone, Kelly told the Beast the Medium account was an imposter, then posted on his Facebook that not only had he never been sexually assaulted, but that he was “working on a formal statement to give to everyone including the Buttigieg family” and would never falsely accuse anyone. He had gone to Washington, but only “to discuss political situations from the standpoint of a gay Republican,” a premise that doesn’t sound sketchy at all. The Advocate confirmed his story, posting a screenshot of a text with Wohl and a plane ticket. 

Twitter was abuzz with talk of the boneheaded scheme, finding it almost too absurd to be believed.

Most people marveled at how Wohl could pull what appeared to be flagrantly illegal schemes and never go to jail...

(though a minority insisted stupid wasn’t a crime)

News outlets like Gateway Pundit that had attempted to signal-boost the original “Hunter Kelly” accusations slyly edited their articles to reflect the new reality.

Even Wohl’s dad appeared to be ashamed, deleting his retweet of the “Hunter Kelly” post.

But a few people pointed out that getting duped by Wohl was nothing compared to spending two years hammering away at “Russian collusion.”