He expressed an interest in “day trading” crypto, which means buying and selling the currency in a speculative, short-term manner. When not trafficking in disinformation and hate, Microchip liked to post about cryptocurrency, namely Bitcoin, and so-called “altcoins” such as Ripple. Unlike Twitter, Gab did not repeatedly suspend him, making it easier for researchers of the radical right to find his numerous posts in one place. Microchip also posted on the white supremacist-friendly social media platform Gab, where he used a verified account. He told the jury he first joined Twitter in 2015, where he shuffled through numerous accounts as moderators struggled to keep up with his stream of hate-inflected disinformation. He previously told Buzzfeed he lives in Utah. On the stand, Microchip described himself as a mobile app developer. Microchip's Twitter account in March 2016 sharing fake news about senator and then-presidential candidate Ted Cruz. That trolling attitude crept into his testimony, like when he defined the hateful and pro-fascist imageboard website 4chan to the jury as “a place where ‘internet intellectuals’ get together to discuss current events.” Microchip entered court wearing a hoodie, and carried himself with a vague swagger that matched his reputation as an online troll. Online, Microchip favored an avatar featuring an impish young man wearing a MAGA hat and raising an ice cream cone. Everyone in court that day, including Douglass Mackey, Mackey’s family, the jury and the reporters present, saw Microchip’s face. Here is what Hatewatch knows about Microchip and his work as a federal informant: Who is Microchip, really?Īlthough Microchip’s identity remains secret, he showed up in court on March 22 unmasked. “We have a million-dollar campaign in Hillary and they have no idea how I spread like cancer.”
“I can’t believe I’ve gotten away with what I’m doing for so long,” Microchip wrote in a direct message in October 2016, according to testimony in the Mackey trial. The public admission of Microchip’s crime marked the end of an online persona based around being untouchable.
#TRUMP TWITTER TODAY INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE TRIAL#
He testified at trial in March that he pleaded guilty to “a conspiracy against rights,” which is a charge along the lines of what Mackey faced. Microchip has deep connections to the pro-Trump radical right, and his cooperation with unknown FBI investigations could have profound implications for his allies. A 2018 post from Microchip's "Pro" Gab account.
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