This is a view of the Pennsylvania Capitol 501 N. Third St. Harrisburg, Pa. Monday, March 7, 2022. The statue in the foreground is John Frederic Hartranft, who served as Governor of Pennsylvania from January 21, 1873 to January 21, 1879.
Blaine Shahan / LNP | LancasterOnline
Blaine Shahan / LNP | LancasterOnline
This is a view of the Pennsylvania Capitol 501 N. Third St. Harrisburg, Pa. Monday, March 7, 2022. The statue in the foreground is John Frederic Hartranft, who served as Governor of Pennsylvania from January 21, 1873 to January 21, 1879.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker’s Republican primary opponent is back behind bars after violating the conditions of his parole, according to staff in the probation office at the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania.
Joshua Hall, 24, most recently of Mechanicsburg, was arrested on Tuesday. He had been released from federal prison back in October after serving a portion of a 20-month sentence for threatening to kill a member of Congress from California and to separate charges of wire fraud for impersonating members of former President Donald Trump’s family on social media, where he raised money for a fake political organization.
District court staff in Harrisburg confirmed that Hall appeared for an initial hearing on Wednesday and will remain in custody at least until a Feb. 5 hearing in front of District Judge Christopher Conner.
Staff would not say what conditions of his supervised release Hall allegedly violated, but court documents and Hall’s admitted history of substance abuse might grant some insight.
On Jan. 16, court files show that Conner added a condition to Hall’s parole that he was not permitted to “use or possess alcohol.” Hall told LNP | LancasterOnline earlier this week that he has been seeking treatment for his alcohol addiction at Blueprints for Addiction Recovery in Mount Joy Borough for the past few months.
Campaign paperwork filed with the FEC earlier this month listed the Blueprints facility in Mount Joy as the address for his campaign office. Hall explained that was because he was living in a halfway house at the time and did not have an office. He said he is now living in Mount Joy.
Hall, who said he goes by his prison nickname “Bundy,” said he was a “hardcore alcoholic” when he called the office of U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, and made a threat against the lawmaker. But he said he was sober when he spoke with LNP on Monday.
Since announcing his candidacy to challenge Smucker in the Republican primary, Hall has frequently posted on an account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
There, he regularly asked his 46,000 followers to send him money through popular online wire services Venmo and Paypal. While it’s typical for political campaigns to request money from their supporters, Hall rarely states clearly that the funds given to him are for his campaign.
The requests for money, along with Hall’s criminal history, have led some X users — including one that Hall claims is his uncle — to suspect Hall is running for office as a way to profit personally from supporters’ donations.
“Why are you still soliciting money under false pretenses?” wrote X user @Rossy_Mole, replying to a since-removed post from Hall on Jan. 6. “You’re a sociopath and a pathological liar. Haven’t you learned any lessons?”
Hall responded: “This is my uncle… a leftist loser for big government authoritarianism who calls ME a sociopath. Which I find hilarious. I’m the most selfless guy you’ll ever meet.”
When asked by a reporter about the money he’s raising online, Hall said he would not confirm that any money sent to his accounts would be used for the campaign.
“That’s private information,” Hall said. “I can’t tell you that.”
At least one of Hall’s X followers has given him money since he got out of prison: prominent conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, who was pardoned by Trump for his 2014 guilty plea to making illegal campaign contributions.
A spokesperson for D’Souza confirmed that he gave $1,000 to Hall “for no other reason than to help him” and declined to comment on Hall’s political campaign.
“Mr. (a)nd Mrs. D’Souza give some individuals a modest amount (of) money who are in need,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “Mr. Hall was down on his luck.”
Hall also uses his X account to share far-right conspiracy theories, like unfounded speculation that Michelle Obama is transgender or that Democratic Sen. John Fetterman was swapped out with a body double following his hospitalization for stroke in the summer of 2022. Hall said he plans to run against Fetterman when he is up for reelection in 2028.
Hall also has used the platform to make blatantly sexist and racist comments about prominent nationwide political figures.
In a September post, Hall requested that New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert wear only “tops and thongs” to sessions in Congress. In October, he posted that California Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler, who was appointed to the position by Gov. Gavin Newsom, only received the job because she is a Black woman.
When asked about the posts, Hall doubled down, saying he believed each one of them and proceeded to accuse the reporter of political bias against Republicans.
Hall has until Feb. 13 to obtain 1,000 signatures from voters in the 11th District if he wants to appear on the April 23 primary ballot against Smucker.
Calls to his attorney and a person Hall said is his campaign manager were not returned on Wednesday.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
