Conviction of man imprisoned for 2016 meme mocking Hillary Clinton is thrown out

In 2021, the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecuted conservative social media user Douglass Mackey over posts that he made prior to the 2016 election.

Although Mackey was later convicted on election interference charges, that conviction was just tossed out. 

Meme maker thanks God, family, and supporters

According to the Daily Caller, Mackey celebrated his exoneration in a Wednesday post to X, writing, “BREAKING: THE SECOND CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS HAS THROWN OUT MY CONVICTION FOR LACK OF EVIDENCE.”

BREAKING: THE SECOND CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS HAS THROWN OUT MY CONVICTION FOR LACK OF EVIDENCE

THE CASE HAS BEEN REMANDED TO THE DISTRICT COURT WITH ORDERS TO IMMEDIATELY DISMISS

HALLELUJAH!

— Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) July 9, 2025

“THE CASE HAS BEEN REMANDED TO THE DISTRICT COURT WITH ORDERS TO IMMEDIATELY DISMISS. HALLELUJAH!” he added.

Mackey also put up another post which read, “I would like to thank God, thank my family, thank my beautiful wife, attorney Andrew Frisch, the incredible attorneys at Jones Day, and YOU—the friends who prayed and donated and spread the word since day one.”

Mackey was sentenced to 7 months in prison

As the Daily Caller explained, Mackey shared memes under the name “Ricky Vaughn,” which suggested that those who supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could vote for her via text.

Former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace accused Mackey in a press release of having “weaponized disinformation in a dangerous scheme.”

“This groundbreaking prosecution demonstrates our commitment to prosecuting those who commit crimes that threaten our democracy and seek to deprive people of their constitutional right to vote,” Peace added.