Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Jacob Wohl, a conservative operative whose clumsy and unethical schemes have earned him notoriety, is now wanted in California for illegally selling securities, the Daily Beast reported Wednesday.

Wohl has become a vigorous defender of President Donald Trump, often concocting bogus smear campaigns to target the president’s perceived enemies. Most notable of these operations were his attempt to convince a young man to falsely accuse South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg of sexual misconduct and his effort to push an unsubstantiated and baseless accusation of misconduct against Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Wohl had already been banned for life by the National Futures Association after determining that he had misled investors.

Matthew Johnson, his former business associate, has been accused alongside Wohl of the new felony.

The Daily Beast reported:

Wohl has not been arrested yet on the charge, according to the court docket. Prosecutors recommended $5,000 bonds for both Wohl and Johnson.

The allegation that Wohl and Johnson unlawfully sold securities centers on one of Wohl’s financial companies, Montgomery Assets. A warrant application filed by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office notes that the three-year statute of limitations on the case was set to expire at the end of August 2019, meaning prosecutors had to file by the end of last month if they wanted to pursue charges.

The report also noted that Wohl often pushes “the legal and political envelope to seemingly absurd lengths.”