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After Tuesday night’s League of Women Voters “listening session” in Peterborough devolved into an hour of angry White liberals shouting at the lone African American, Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D-Peterborough), some of the attendees now want answers.

In a letter to the LWV, leaders of the activists groups LGB Courage Coalition and Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender expressed their anger over the event, which has received tens of thousands of views over social media.

“You hold responsibility for this debacle. The March 25 event was a betrayal of trust and a squandered chance for meaningful dialogue,” wrote leaders of the activists groups LGB Courage Coalition and Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender.

Instead of a calm conversation about his recent vote in support of girls-only sports, Wheeler found himself in a room packed with people hurling insults and accusing him of killing transgender people. He was called a “fascist,” a “useful idiot” and — perhaps most shockingly for Peterborough state representative — a Republican.

Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D-Peterborough) takes questions at the Peterborough Town Library, March 25, 2025.

“In a room of about 200, Wheeler, a 22-year-old Black legislator, faced shouted accusations of ‘traitor’ and ‘fascist’ from a predominantly White, progressive crowd,” the letter states.

The letter, sent Thursday, demands answers from New Hampshire President of the League of Women Voters Liz Tentarelli as to why and how the event was allowed to spiral out of control.

Conditions inside the room were chaotic and unsafe, the activists wrote. Hundreds of people crammed the meeting room inside the Peterborough Town Library, and some of the pro-transgender audience members acted to intimidate members of the press and people there to support Wheeler. 

“The room became unsafe: you allowed late arrivals—angry, agitated non-supporters—to stand and block doorways, cutting off emergency exits … A journalist reported that her notebook was searched by Jane, the individual at the front of the room who used profanity towards Rep. Wheeler.”

Tentarelli disputes some of the claims in the letter, and blames groups like LGB Courage Coalition and Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender for causing the overcrowding problem. 

“The event was not intended as a platform for out of state groups to promote their views. The time for stating views is public hearings in the legislature,” Tentarelli told NHJournal in an email.

Tentarelli did not attend the event in person.

The journalist getting harassed and intimidated by Jane was witnessed by NHJournal, as were other instances of attendees expressing hostility toward members of the press. Tentarelli did not address the treatment of the press in her response.

Just as bad as the conduct inside the room was the pornographic and racist material flooding the Zoom feed for people who wanted to watch the “listening session” remotely. 

“Hackers flooded the feed with pornographic, racist, and bestiality images, music, and noise, disrupting Wheeler’s remarks. Your failure to secure the platform with basic measures—muting participants or requiring authentication—was inexcusable, and when it crashed, you abandoned it,” the letter states.

Tentarelli acknowledged the problem with the Zoom feed, and she said there are plans to avoid that issue for the next “listening session.”

“The shameful behavior of an unidentified entity who disrupted the Zoom call was appalling. As a result, future listening sessions will likely be recorded for later viewing, rather than be on Zoom,” Tentarelli wrote.

The LGB Courage Coalition and Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender letter accuses Tentarelli and the League of Women Voters of using the event to shame Wheeler and drive him out of office. 

“These failures suggest more than negligence—they point to intent. You set a trap, not a forum,” the letter states.

But Tentarelli disputes that accusation as well, saying she and the League of Women Voters are strictly non-partisan.

“The League of Women Voters never supports or opposes any party or candidate,” Tentarelli said.

Also on Thursday, the University of New Hampshire released a new poll showing 71 percent of Granite Staters support Wheeler’s position backing a ban on males who identify as female competing in women’s sports. Just 21 percent oppose it.

The LGB Courage Coalition and Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender want Tentarelli to commit to a new listening session with Wheeler that actually allows for a civil conversation. That means competent technicians operating a live Zoom feed, a safe in-person environment in which members of the press will not be harassed, and a balanced panel of moderators to steer the conversation. 

The Democratic political consultant behind the robocalls featuring the AI-generated voice of President Joe Biden during the First in the Nation presidential primary campaign got hit with a federal lawsuit Thursday. It was brought by New Hampshire’s League of Women Voters.

“These deceptive robocalls attempted to cause widespread confusion among New Hampshire voters,” said Liz Tentarelli, president of the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire. “As a nonpartisan organization, the League of Women Voters works to ensure that all voters, regardless of their party affiliation, have the most accurate election information to make their voices heard. We will continue to advocate for New Hampshire voters and fight against malicious schemes to suppress the vote.” 

The lawsuit names as defendants Steve Kramer, a consultant working for former Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), as well as the two Texas companies he used to push out the call, Life Corporation and Lingo Telecom.

Kramer’s fake Biden called thousands of New Hampshire voters two days before the primary, telling them to stay home and “save your vote” for November. The stunt amounted to illegal voter suppression, according to Courtney Hostetler, Senior Counsel at Free Speech For People, which serves as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

“Fraudulently made robocalls have the potential to devastate voter turnout by flooding thousands of voters with intimidating, threatening, or coercive messages in a matter of hours,” Hostetler said. “No one should abuse technology to make lawful voters think that they should not, or cannot safely, vote in the primaries or in any election. It is an honor to represent the League of Women Voters and the other plaintiffs in this important case to protect the right to vote.”

Kramer has a history of engaging in questionable campaign activity, including past robocalls using an AI-generated voice, according to the lawsuit. Kramer pulled off a robocall poll in South Carolina using the computer-generated voice of Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states, “Kramer has since claimed that the deepfake robocalls achieved a response rate four times higher than robocalls using a generic automated voice because Sen. Graham’s voice was familiar to South Carolina voters.”

Kramer was sued in 2021 by a candidate for New York City mayor for allegedly faking the signatures he was hired to collect on behalf of the candidate. Kramer was paid $80,000 for the signature drive, according to the lawsuit.

The Phillips campaign paid Kramer’s firm, Get Out The Vote, more than $250,000 to produce robocalls. When Kramer was linked to the calls, the Phillips campaign publicly distanced itself from him.

According to the lawsuit, while with the Phillips campaign, Kramer’s penchant for robocalls was being encouraged.

“Kramer began receiving requests from unspecified consultants, corporations, political action committees (‘PACs’), and Super PACs requesting that Kramer use AI-generated robocalls in connection with unspecified campaigns,” the lawsuit states.

In the fall of 2023, Kramer met with a transient magician, Paul Carpenter, who also did web design and digital marketing. According to the lawsuit, Kramer paid Carpenter $150 to produce the AI-Biden recording.

Kramer then used Life Corporation and Lingo to send thousands of calls to New Hampshire voters. Kramer spoofed the calls so that they would appear to people as coming from the phone of Kathy Sullivan, former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. 

Kramer would later release a statement claiming he engaged in the robocall stunt in order to “raise awareness” about the dangers of AI technology. But, the lawsuit notes he hid payments to Carpenter using a Venmo account associated with his father. 

He also reportedly instructed Carpenter to delete emails connected to the calls. When New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella promised to prosecute those behind them, Kramer told Carpenter to keep quiet, according to the lawsuit.

“On Monday, January 22, 2024, following an NBC News report on the New Hampshire robocalls, Kramer texted Carpenter a link to the story and the message, ‘Shhhhhhh.’ Carpenter responded, ‘Gtfooh’ an acronym for ‘Get the f*** out of here.’ Carpenter subsequently spoke with Kramer over the telephone.

“On the call, Kramer admitted to Carpenter that he had spoofed the New Hampshire robocalls or deliberately falsified the information transmitted via caller ID display to disguise their identity. Kramer also directed Carpenter to delete his emails concerning the robocalls, the lawsuit states.”