Alleged Democrat Vote Suppressor Attempts to Escape Charges

CONCORD, NH - A Democratic Party activist who reportedly attempted to derail the campaign of a Republican state representative candidate in a special election last year is now attempting to escape felony charges by saying he had a constitutional right to impersonate the woman’s campaign with a phony press release, according to court documents.

Attorneys for Carl Gibson, a self-proclaimed investigative journalist and activist, filed a motion to dismiss brief in Merrimack Superior Court earlier this year attempting to get voter suppression and attempted voter suppression charges that he was indicted on in October 2015 dropped.

Gibson, a former Concord resident, reportedly admitted to sending out a hoax email to media outlets covering the Rockingham District 32 special election race (Candia, Deerfield, Northwood, and Nottingham) claiming that the Republican nominee – Yvonne Dean-Bailey – would be dropping out of the race. The email cited Dean-Bailey’s age – 19 – and busy college schedule as the reason for dropping out a week before the election. Gibson was a former staffer for Dean-Bailey’s opponent – former state Rep. Maureen Mann, the nominee for the Democrats. The press release looked professional and came from an email address which featured Dean-Bailey’s name.

Republican activists confirmed that the email was fake, Dean-Bailey was not dropping out, and Gibson reportedly owned up to the fake email. During an interview with the Concord Monitor, he reportedly blamed “one too many beers” at 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon and adding that he “thought it was funny” and didn’t think it would be taken seriously.

The New Hampshire GOP filed an election complaint against Gibson for the alleged fraud, Dean-Bailey went on to win the election, and about a week later, Gibson was arrested by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office for voter suppression and distributing a false document.

Motion to dismiss

Gibson’s attorney, Michael Iacopino, of Brennan, Lenehan, Iacopino, & Hickey, filed the motion to dismiss in late January stating that the charges violated Gibson’s First and 14th Amendment Constitutional rights as well as Part 1, Article 22, of the New Hampshire Constitution.

In the brief, Iacopino stated that the charges violated Gibson’s free speech rights and cited case law and previous rulings that even false speech shouldn’t be restricted, likening the phony email to a prank, something Gibson reportedly admitted to when speaking with the Monitor reporter. The attorney noted that while federal and state constitutional free speech rights might be subjected to reasonable and non-discriminatory regulation, the government didn’t have the power to restrict the expression because of the message, ideas, subject matter, or content. The brief claimed that the voter suppression laws in New Hampshire were “narrowly tailored to promote a compelling state interest” and the email was “not defamatory, obscene, or pornographic, and does not constitute incitement.” The prank aspect of the email should not be criminalized, Iacopino added.

“Although the content of Mr. Gibson’s speech is alleged to have been false or misleading, such alleged falsity, does not in and of itself, take Mr. Gibson’s purported speech out of the realm of protected speech,” he wrote.

Iacopino stated that the suppression indictments “do not allege any contact between the defendant and any voter” and the press release was “not contained verbatim in the indictment” and therefore can be construed as protected speech and commentary about the candidate’s age and distractions of being a college student that might detract from the state Rep. position. Iacopino added, “Journalists are normally required to fact check press releases that are forwarded to them. Fact checking the press release in this matter would likely have led to a discussion about the young age of the candidate and her conflicting obligations as a college student.”

Amicus Curie Brief by Ed Naile

New Hampshire activist Ed Naile, a registered Democrat involved with the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers who has been tracking allegations of voter fraud for a number of years, filed an Amicus Curie Brief with the court outlining some of Gibson’s previous activities including a phony press release targeting General Electric and arrest coverage during Occupy Wall Street.

The 20-page brief was submitted, Naile stated, “to add evidence of what I believe is Carl Robert Gibson’s long established record of political theater and activism, some of which borders on deliberate criminal action.” Naile cited Gibson’s record of registering to vote in numerous states and allegations of drive-by voting in New Hampshire when he had reportedly established domiciles in Connecticut, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

“When taking an objective look at Gibson’s past political actions,” Naile wrote, “it is clear he is no hapless volunteer who, after a few beers, engaged in a foolish prank. Gibson is a seasoned, professional campaigner and political activist who knew full well that making a specific public utterance, with calculated timing, would suppress the total vote of the targeted candidate.”

Naile requested that the court take into consideration the facts – “which are only a sample of what can be found regarding Mr. Gibson and his aggressive political activities.” He added, “Everyone has a right to engage in politics but not in diminishing others’ rights by false claims and picking and choosing elections in which he wants to vote, through interstate voting and multiple registrations.”

Gibson’s trial is scheduled to start in May.