The Wall.St Journal 21Feb2020

A4| Friday, February 21, 2020 PWLC101112HTGKRFAM123456789OIXX ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

sumer consent. Verizon says

messages sent through other

channels risk getting flagged

as spam. “We’re trying to

make sure that text messaging

doesn’t go the way of out-of-

control robocalling,” said Ta-

mara Preiss, vice president of

federal regulatory affairs.

AT&TInc. doesn’t want to

risk blocking political mes-

sages. The carrier is working

on a code that would let them

all go through, people familiar

edge of his candidacy likely

comes from his extensive ad-

vertising spending, which to-

tals $131.6 million in Super

Tuesday states alone on TV

and radio, according to Kan-

tar/CMAG.

Mr. Bloomberg, who is self-

funding his bid, poured $463.

million into his campaign be-

tween late November and the

end of last month, according

to a Federal Election Commis-

sion report filed Thursday. The

sum doesn’t include the

amount he put into ads and

payroll in February.

Wednesday’s debate was the

most-watched Democratic de-

bate ever, according to Nielsen

Fast National Data. The two-

hour event averaged 19.7 mil-

lion TV viewers on NBC News

and MSNBC. The live stream

generated nearly 22 million

video views across all plat-

forms, averaging 417,000 views

across those platforms.

The attacks on Mr.

Bloomberg started early and

continued throughout the de-

bate, with Massachusetts Sen.

Elizabeth Warren setting the

tone in the first few minutes.

“I’d like to talk about who we

are running against: a billion-

aire who calls women fat broads

and horse-faced lesbians, and

no, I’m not talking about Donald

Trump,” she said. “I’m talking

about Mayor Bloomberg.”

Throughout the debate,

he stressed his management

experience, repeated his apol-

ogy over stop-and-frisk—

which gave police officers

wide latitude to stop people

whom they suspected of crimi-

nal behavior—and argued he is

best positioned to take on Mr.

Trump.

“I know how to take on an

arrogant con man like Donald

Trump that comes from New

York. I’m a mayor. I was a

mayor. I know how to run a

complicated city, the biggest,

most diverse city in this coun-

try,” he said.

Mr. Bloomberg stumbled his

way through some responses

and at times provided fodder

for future attacks. “None of

them accuse me of doing any-

thing other than maybe they

didn’t like a joke I told,” he said

when pushed on the allegations

in lawsuits against his finan-

cial-data and media company

and whether he would release

some former employees from

nondisclosure agreements. He

said the deals had been

reached “consensually,” which

drew groans from the audience.

Asked about when he would

release his tax returns, he said

he would do so but noted his

enormous wealth meant it

would take time and that he

couldn’t use TurboTax.

Mr. Trump, who watched

the Democratic debate from

Air Force One during a trip

west, criticized Mr. Bloomberg

on Twitter, calling his perfor-

mance “perhaps the worst in

the history of debates.”

At a campaign event in Salt

Lake City, Utah—a Super Tues-

day state—on Thursday, Mr.

Bloomberg said Mr. Trump

was the “real winner” of

Wednesday night’s debate. He

veered off his usual speech to

also draw a contrast with Ver-

mont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“I worry that we may very

well be on the way to nomi-

nating somebody who cannot

win in November,” he said.

“And if we choose a candidate

who appeals to a small base,

like Sen. Sanders, it will be a

fatal error.”

—John McCormick

and Emily Glazer

contributed to this article.

Campaignsgather

listsofvoterinformation,

includingcellphonenumbers,

fromvoterfiles,surveys

and/orevents.

...Opn Sesame and RumbleUp

thatworkwithRepublicans

Campaignssharethose

numberswithpolitical

texting firms,suchas...

...Hustle and GetThruthat

workwithDemocrats

Insomecasesmessages

aresentinanautomated

fashion.

Volunteers,political

staffersorcallcentershit

sendontextmessages.

Thesefirms

partner with platforms,

suchasTwilioand

Bandwidth,tocarry

messagesto...

Recipientswhowantto

engagecantextbackandforth

withthevolunteerorstaffer.

Thesefirmshost databaseswithphonenumbers,andhave

softwarethatallowsindividualstopresssendonthemessages.

...largecarrierslikeAT&T

andVerizon,whichdeliver

messagestovotersand

potentialsupporters.

By machine By human

Reaching out

Howpoliticalcampaignssendtextmessagestovoters.

Sources: interviews with

companies; lawyers; campaigns;

political consultants

with the matter said. A

spokesman for the carrier re-

ferred queries to the CTIA in-

dustry group, whose best

practices state political organ-

izations should secure con-

sumers’ consent before they

start sending messages.

Matt Gerst, vice president

of regulatory affairs at the

CTIA, said it wants to balance

emerging communications

channels with consumer pro-

tection. “Our experiences with

robocalling and emailing led

us to this place,” he said.

AppleInc. andAlphabet

Inc.’s Google allow most mo-

bile phone users to filter spam

texts.

Autodialed texts aren’t al-

lowed without prior express

consent, according to the Fed-

eral Communications Commis-

sion. But the regulator and

Congress have stopped short

of defining what constitutes

an auto-dialer. Courts have is-

sued differing opinions on the

matter.

An FCC spokesman said the

agency is still reviewing

whether peer-to-peer mes-

sages are subject to the fed-

eral law governing contact

with mobile phones.

California in January

started requiring more disclo-

sure in text messages, includ-

ing whether they are sent

from paid staff.

RumbleUp, which works

with Republican and center-

right political campaigns and

groups, added to its platform

an explainer of the rule and a

template with proper disclo-

sures for text messages sent to

California area codes, said

Thomas Peters, who leads the

texting firm. It is in the pro-

cess of adding one for relevant

ZIP Codes.

Florida resident Shehan

Wijesinha sued antiabortion

group Susan B. Anthony List

Inc. in July 2018 after he re-

ceived a text message from the

organization about President

Trump’s Supreme Court selec-

tion. Mr. Wijesinha said he

hadn’t provided the group with

consent and reached a class-ac-

tion settlement with the group.

A spokeswoman for Susan

B. Anthony List said the or-

ganization denied wrongdoing

and settled to avoid expensive

and drawn-out litigation. It

agreed to pay $5 to each mem-

ber of the settlement class

who submitted timely and

valid claims with a cap of

around $1 million, and said it

received $20,055 in claims.

—Tarini Parti

contributed to this article.

ing out to people through

textsandisexpectedtosend

hundreds of millions of mes-

sages leading up to the No-

vember election, people famil-

iar with the efforts said.

Democratic presidential

contenders, including those

who have dropped out of the

race, have already sent at least

tens of millions of texts, cam-

paign aides said. Michael

Bloomberg’s campaign is hir-

ing workers in California to

post on social media and send

text messages to their friends

about him, The Wall Street

Journal has reported.

Political texting firms serv-

ing presidential campaigns

have for months built strate-

gies to reach voters or poten-

tial supporters through what

they describe as peer-to-peer

texting, in which messages are

sent manually to individual

voters. Those messages are

usually sent by volunteers or

political staffers holding

smartphones, and at times by

workers at desktop computers

hired by campaigns to broaden

their reach.

Many messages are pre-

written, though certain details

like names can be customized.

They typically focus on orga-

nizing supporters, asking for

money or sharing event infor-

mation. As it gets closer to the

election, they will turn toward

getting out the vote.

“This isn’t Nike trying to

sell people shoes or Ray-Ban

trying to sell people sun-

glasses,” said Daniel Souweine,

founder and chief executive

GetThru, which is working

with Democratic campaigns.

“This is political campaigns of

all stripes reaching out, up

and down the ballot.”

At the heart of the brewing

conflict is whether political

text messages are, in fact,

peer-to-peer messages, or if

they involve automation that

makes them subject to a tele-

phone consumer protection

law that requires explicit con-

sent from recipients and can

lead to stiff financial penalties

for violations.

Political campaigns and the

technology firms that help

them distribute messages say

text messages are peer-to-peer

because a human manually

hits send. Consumer advocates

say many political texts rely

on systems that can be used to

make robocalls and are there-

fore subject to the federal law.

Verizon Communications

Inc. asks political campaigns

to use a text message distribu-

tion system that requires con-

Jane Cline has been bom-
barded by political texts from
different Democratic 2020
presidential campaigns. She
doesn’t recall signing up for
any of them.
Americans, particularly in
early nominating and battle-
ground states, are already re-
ceiving millions of texts from
Democratic and Republican
political campaigns, with fund-
raising messages and calls to
action regularly lighting up
their smartphone screens.
Ms. Cline, a 58-year-old re-
tiree, hasn’t responded to any
of the messages she’s received
out of fear she will just get
more. “I don’t like them,” she
said in January at an Ames,
Iowa, event for Joe Biden
ahead of the state’s caucuses.
“I guess it’s just replacing the
telemarketer on the phone.”
Political texts have grown
increasingly important as
some campaigns pulled back
from digital advertising after
certain technology platforms
such asTwitterand Google
changed their policies. The
text messages capture voter
attention more effectively
than emails, mailers or calls,
advocacy groups and cam-
paign organizers say.
Many campaigns scrape
data, including voter registra-
tion files, event attendee lists
or survey respondent records
for reams of phone numbers
that belong to individuals likely
to be interested in their mes-
sages, whether or not those
people have explicitly agreed
to receive texts. In late Janu-
ary, the Democratic National
Committee said it purchased
tens of millions of cellphone
numbers to better reach voters.
Within the complex plumb-
ing that delivers those politi-
cal text messages, however,
texting service providers,
wireless carriers and con-
sumer advocates are divided
over what permission, if any,
is necessary, to ping a voter.
There are no federal guide-
lines clarifying whether these
messages require consent.
In the 2018 midterm elec-
tion, Democratic campaigns
and politically adjacent organ-
izations sent 350 million text
messages through the two
largest left-leaning political
texting companies, Hustle and
GetThru, according to an anal-
ysis by progressive nonprofit
Tech for Campaigns.
President Trump’s re-elec-
tion campaign has been reach-

BYEMILYGLAZER
ANDSARAHKROUSE

Voters’ Phones Get Flooded by Political Texts

U.S. NEWS

In his first appearance on a
debate stage in the Democratic
presidential-primary race, Mi-
chael Bloomberg apologized,
rolled his eyes, occasionally
got booed and stayed mostly
silent unless he was respond-
ing to an attack from another
candidate.
The former New York City
mayor, who has been on the
rise in recent polls after $
million in ad spending, was
grilled by moderators and his
Democratic rivals at the Las Ve-
gas debate on a laundry list of
issues his campaign knew
would be problematic for him,
according to people familiar
with it. Those included a con-
troversial policing tactic under
his administration known as
stop-and-frisk and recently re-
leased audio of him defending
it, his comments regarding a bi-
ased housing practice, and law-
suits from women who worked
for his company alleging sexual
discrimination and harassment.
In round one with his Dem-
ocratic rivals, Mr. Bloomberg
was unable to quash questions
on those issues. That means
they are likely to come up
again in two more debates
planned in the coming weeks
and could receive new scrutiny
from voters and the media
ahead of the March 3 Super
Tuesday primaries on which
he has bet his candidacy.
The billionaire hadn’t partic-
ipated in a debate since 2009,
when he was running for a
third mayoral term. Unlike
other candidates, Mr.
Bloomberg doesn’t take ques-
tions from voters at his cam-
paign events—although his ad-
visers said after the debate
Wednesday that could change.
He often uses a teleprompter to
give a short speech before mov-
ing to his next stop.
Still, many voters’ knowl-

BYTARINIPARTI

On Stage, Bloomberg Plays Defense

Michael Bloomberg is likely to face more questions from rivals on

issues including the New York City stop-and-frisk policing policy.

MARK RALSTON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Warren Will Accept

Super PAC Support

LAS VEGAS—Sen. Elizabeth

Warren said a new super PAC

supporting her presidential

candidacy was a political ne-

cessity, marking an about-face

for a candidate who has long

sought to distance herself

from outside money in politics.

Asked Thursday if she

wanted the super PAC backing

her to stand down, Ms. Warren

told reporters: “So, here’s

where I stand: If all the candi-

dates want to get rid of super

PACs, count me in. I’ll lead the

charge. But that’s how it has

to be. It can’t be the case that

a bunch of people keep them

and only one or two don’t.”

The Massachusetts Demo-

crat’s comments came after a

new unlimited-money group,

Persist PAC, began airing about

$1 million in Nevada ads lead-

ing up to the state’s caucuses

on Saturday.

The new group has the po-

tential to undercut one of the

pillars of Ms. Warren’s cam-

paign—that she is different

from her top rivals because

she doesn’t have outside help.

Now, Persist PAC is spending

more on Nevada ads than any

other outside group involved in

the race, data from ad tracker

CMAG/Kantar show.

Ms. Warren’s remarks

Thursday about the PAC came

after Wednesday night’s presi-

dential debate in Las Vegas—

with her performance widely

praised—and her shift in posi-

tion on PACs follows a disap-

pointing finish in New Hamp-

shire’s primary earlier this

month.

—Joshua Jamerson

and Julie Bykowicz

WASHINGTON—President

Trump lashed out at his acting

director of national intelli-

gence, Joseph Maguire, earlier

this month after learning that

one of his subordinates had

briefed the House Intelligence

Committee about Russia’s ap-

parent preference for Mr.

Trump in the 2020 presiden-

tial contest, people familiar

with the matter said.

The Oval Office confronta-

tion occurred after Mr. Trump

learned that Shelby Pierson,

the top election-security offi-

cial in Mr. Maguire’s office, de-

livered information on election

interference in a classified

hearing before bipartisan

members of the House panel,

alongside national security of-

ficials from other federal agen-

cies, three of the people said.

During that hearing, Ms.

Pierson said Russia appeared

to favor Mr. Trump over Demo-

cratic challengers and might

seek to act on that preference,

two of the people said, in a

move that would reprise Mos-

cow’s efforts during the 2016

election to boost his candidacy.

Mr. Trump grew irate after

learning that the classified

hearing, which took place on

Feb. 13, occurred before his

own meeting on election inter-

ference, which occurred the

next day, those people said.

The president also expressed

his agitation over the sub-

stance of what Ms. Pierson told

lawmakers about Russia’s pos-

sible interest in interfering on

his behalf, these people said,

with one person describing it

as a prolonged and pointed in-

terrogation of Mr. Maguire.

Mr. Trump on Wednesday

said he was replacing Mr. Ma-

guire, a retired Navy vice admi-

ral, as acting director of na-

tional intelligence with Richard

Grenell, the current ambassa-

dor to Germany. Mr. Grenell

has scant experience with in-

telligence matters and is

viewed by Democrats as an ar-

dent loyalist to the president.

Mr. Maguire had been rumored

to be in the running to be nom-

inated to the position full-time.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump

told reporters that among the

candidates he is considering to

serve as permanent director of

national intelligence is Rep.

Doug Collins, a staunch de-

fender of the president who is

running against Sen. Kelly

Loeffler to be the GOP candi-

date for a Georgia Senate seat.

The chairman of the House

Intelligence Committee is Rep.

Adam Schiff, a California Dem-

ocrat who led the House’s im-

peachment case against the

president in the Senate. The

Republican-controlled Senate

earlier this month acquitted

Mr. Trump of charges of ob-

struction of Congress and

abuse of power related to his

efforts to press Ukraine to an-

nounce investigations that

would benefit him politically

in his re-election campaign.

Mr. Trump mentioned Mr.

Schiff during the Oval Office

meeting as a reason he was ir-

ritated lawmakers were

briefed first, one of the people

familiar with the meeting said.

One of the people familiar

with the matter said Mr. Ma-

guire was unlikely to be

tapped for the permanent di-

rector of national intelligence

position regardless of the Oval

Office clash last week.

The White House had been

discussing nominees for the

job even before Mr. Maguire’s

ouster and will make an an-

nouncement on or before the

March 11 deadline, according

to a White House official.

The Office of the Director of

National Intelligence and the

House Intelligence Committee

declined to comment. The

White House didn’t respond to

requests for comment. Mr.

Trump’s rebuke of Mr. Ma-

guire was earlier reported by

the Washington Post.

—Rebecca Ballhaus

and Andrew Restuccia

contributed to this article.

BYDUSTINVOLZ

Trump

Rebuked

Spy Chief

Last Week

The president was

said to be irate that

a House panel was

briefed before him.