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Pay no attention to the man behind the Twitter handle.

Thats the defense that lawyers floated for the anti-Hillary Clinton Twitter troll Douglas Mackey, who is currently on trial for tricking voters into thinking they could text their ballots in the 2016 presidential election for the former first lady.

The governments key witness, who was identified only by his social media handle Microchip, testified that he observed Mackey posting actively on group chats like War Room and Mad Men about the effort to undermine Clintons presidential bid with whatever dirty tricks could be mustered.

Microchip pleaded guilty to the same charge that Mackey now faces conspiracy against rights in regard to election interference.

Mackeys defense lawyer Andrew Frisch called his clients behavior stposting and insisted that the two internet trolls never worked together.

But Mr. Microchip and Mr. Mackey never had a phone call, a message, Frisch told the jury. The government charged and must prove a conspiracy. Without Mr. Microchip, there is no conspiracy. Without Mr. Microchip, all these people on the internet and in chatrooms are just people on the internet and in chatrooms.

Prosecutors showed realistic tweets that promised Clinton supporters could save time by texting their votes.

Avoid the line. Vote from home. Text Hillary to 59925, one Twitter post read.

Frisch said that the government couldnt produce any witnesses that testified that they were tricked by the ruse, but the U.S. Attorneys office in Brooklyn said that 4,900 people texted to the number.

The defense attorney also accused the government of prosecuting Mackey because of his political leanings.

This case is not about free speech, it is not about political speech, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Gulotta said in a rebuttal.

Theres no speech, he added. You cant use your words to commit fraud You cant use your words to trick people out of their right to vote. Imagine a country where that was legal.

Excerpt from:
Anti-Hillary Clinton Twitter troll never conspired to interfere with 2016 presidential election, defense lawyer says - Yahoo News