FRESNO, CA (KMJ) The man who created a bogus web site for a Fresno Mayoral candidate tells KMJ exclusively that he doesn’t fear calls for an investigation into it.
Last Friday the campaign of Andrew Janz for Mayor says it became aware of a web site, WWW.JANZ4MAYOR.COM claiming to be an official on-line location for it — but instead re-directed you to a donation page for his opponent Jerry Dyer.
Janz is now asking the state Attorney General to launch a cyber fraud investigation into those responsible.
But Monday, the anonymous man who claims he launched the satirical web page told KMJ’s Philip Teresi in an exclusive interview that he stands by his on-line creation.
“If Janz wants to be so upset does he really want voters who are dumb enough to read this, say hurrah we love this guy, and stupidly donate to Dyer which is right on the page it’s linked to. Those aren’t really the smart voters. If he’s really upset about it he’s looking for the bottom of the barrel”.
However, he could be in some legal jeopardy. “In 2017, Assembly Bill 1104 was signed into law and makes criminal this type of cyber fraud,” the Janz campaign said in a statement.
Shortly after the interview on KMJ, the link to Dyer’s donation page was scrapped and switched to a link to a video of Rick Astley’s 80’s hit “Never Gonna Give You Up”. This is known as “Rick-Rolling”.
A statement from the Janz campaign read “The California Political Cyberfraud Abatement Act was created to protect the integrity of our elections in the aftermath of Russian interference in our elections in 2016. It’s disappointing to learn that there are still people out there who are using the Trump playbook to mislead voters in order to win an election. We’re calling on Jerry Dyer to condemn the fake website and those behind it,” the Janz campaign said.
The former FPD Chief’s camp issued a statement strongly condemning the bogus web page calling it nothing more than an attempt to deceive the city voters. The creator of Janz4Mayor.com added he does not work for the Dyer for Mayor campaign.
When asked by Teresi why he bought the Janz4Mayor website domain, the anonymous creator said he was listening to Teresi’s show on KMJ and the topic was about unclaimed domains. “I said (to myself) I was bored, I looked at my phone and said I can buy that”. He says he purchased the domain a few months ago.
He also denied trying to deceive voters “It’s all very obvious to anybody above a second grade reading level” the creator said. “It’s not hurting anybody. It’s not a big deal”.
DYER CAMPAIGN STATEMENT ON DECEPTIVE CAMPAIGN WEBSITE
FRESNO, CALIF. – The Jerry Dyer for Mayor campaign issued the following statement regarding a deceiving campaign website featuring mayoral candidate Andrew Janz.
“Saturday, it was brought to our attention that a website purporting to be that of Andrew Janz was published at Janz4Mayor.com. Among a litany of issue statements, the site contained a link that solicited donations for our campaign.
We strongly condemn this attempt to deceive the voters and provoke negative attacks and hostility between both campaigns.
Using false information to deceive voters is nothing short of wrong and California laws on deceptive campaign practices are clear. That is why we are supportive of a complete investigation to determine who is behind this type of negative campaigning.
We look forward to continuing a robust debate on the critical issues facing Fresno – from confronting our growing homelessness, creating good-paying jobs, and revitalizing neighborhoods across our city.”
