The Californians whose scam PACs tricked Trump and Clinton supporters out of millions

The robocalls poured in, tens of millions of them, in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The committees spent almost $2.5 million, Tunstall’s attorney said in court filings, for “millions of minutes of direct canvassing to potential voters and donors.” Prosecutors, though, said Tunstall’s behavior was “tantamount to the historic traveling confidence man, pitching a shingle in a new community until discovery, and then moving on to engage in similar fraudulent conduct.” They urged a federal judge to sentence Tunstall to more than 15 years in prison to deter anyone “tempted to place their own personal gain above the disenfranchisement of those who seek to participate in the political process.” Tunstall was sentenced to 10 years and Reyes seven. A few weeks into the Liberty Action Group operation, Tunstall emailed Reyes: “Yo, let’s get a hillary ad out and see what happens.” Reyes responded: “For sure! Neither do campaigns, he said, and will try to deter PACs from “trying to raise money or speak up.” A note in the memo field of a $30 check to the Liberty Action Group from a Pennsylvania resident read: “I’m trusting you, this is for Donald Trump.” A $50 check made out to “Mrs. In 2018, Tunstall shut down the Liberty Action Group, facing “waning contributor interest, critical media reporting, pending investigative demands and inquiries from the FEC,” prosecutors wrote.