Allegations Surface: Nancy Mace Accused of Directing Staff to Create Social Media Burner Accounts
Representative Nancy Mace, the Republican congresswoman from South Carolina, frequently highlights her background and expertise in technology, often telling her staff that she is a self-taught coder. This emphasis on her technical acumen aligns with her position as chair of the House subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, where she plays a role in shaping the GOP's policies on technology.
However, recent allegations from former staffers and details emerging from a deposition paint a different picture, suggesting that Mace's tech skills may have been deployed in ways that raise ethical questions, particularly concerning the use of social media for personal political promotion and monitoring. According to these sources, Mace allegedly established and utilized burner accounts across various social media platforms and instructed her congressional staff to do the same to defend her online and track public sentiment.
The Claims from Former Staffers
Several former Mace staffers, who spoke with WIRED on condition of anonymity due to fears of reprisal, described Mace's frequent references to her coding abilities. One staffer noted that Mace's claim of being a self-taught coder was a comment made "at least a weekly comment, if not daily." Another staffer found her high self-regard for her technical skills somewhat inconsistent with their observations of her actual demonstrated abilities.
The most striking allegations from these former employees concern the alleged directive to create and use anonymous social media accounts. "We had to make multiple accounts, burner accounts, and go and reply to comments, saying things that weren’t true—even Reddit forums," one former staffer claimed. This staffer expressed frustration, stating, "We were congressional staff, and there were actual things we could be doing to help the constituents." The implication is that valuable staff time, paid for by taxpayers, was allegedly diverted from official duties to engage in activities aimed at bolstering Mace's personal image and controlling online narratives.
Sydney Long, Mace’s communications director, responded to these specific allegations in an email to WIRED, stating, "It would be a slap in the face to taxpayers across the country for me to spent [sic] time on their dime commenting on my bosses [sic] personal life." Long added, "The only relationship the Congresswoman cares about is her one with South Carolina. She is married to her job and that is all the media should care about." Mace's office reportedly did not provide specific details when asked about her programming language proficiencies or the devices she uses for coding.
Insights from a Deposition
Further details regarding Mace's alleged use of technology for political purposes emerged from an unrelated deposition involving Wesley Donehue, whose firm previously provided consulting services for Mace's 2022 and 2024 reelection campaigns. The deposition, conducted by lawyers for Patrick Bryant, Mace's ex-fiancé, delved into Mace's alleged technological activities, including the use of "Twitter burner accounts."
Donehue, who stated he fired Mace as a client, offered a perspective on her tech interests. "You need to know that Nancy Mace is quite the—when I use the word ‘nerd’ or ‘geek,’ it's always favorable, but a computer nerd or a computer geek," Donehue said in the deposition, which was first reported by FITSNews. He elaborated on her alleged activities: "She programs her own bots. She sets up Twitter burner accounts. This is kind of a thing she does. She sits all night on the couch and programs bots, because she's very, very computer savvy. She controls her own voter database, she programs a lot of her own website, she programs Facebook bots and Instagram bots and Twitter bots. It's what she does for fun.”
Donehue's description portrays Mace as deeply involved in the technical aspects of her online presence and political operations, extending beyond typical campaign activities into the realm of programming automated social media accounts. In a post on X, Donehue publicly stated his reasons for ceasing work with Mace, claiming he stopped because, "I don’t have time for her constant egotistical bullshit and drama in my life.” Donehue did not respond to a request for comment from WIRED regarding the article.
Allegations of Accessing Personal Devices
The deposition also included a specific and serious allegation from Donehue regarding Mace's alleged actions concerning her ex-fiancé's phone. Donehue alleged that Mace attempted to gain access to Bryant's phone after discovering he was using an unspecified dating app. "And because she found that," Donehue explained in the deposition, "she started thinking that he was cheating on her, so she got into his phone. And then when she got back from the Caribbean, she hacked into other apps—and I don't know what those other apps are—and seemingly found hundreds of photos and videos.”
This claim from the deposition aligns, in part, with statements Mace herself made during an explosive speech on the House floor in February. During that speech, where she made a series of allegations against Bryant and three other men, Mace claimed that Bryant "put my thumbprint on his phone" and subsequently gave her "legal access” to his device. She also referenced her past tech experience in the speech, stating, “Patrick Bryant must have forgotten that in my younger days, in my youth, I used to be a computer programmer … know enough about technology.” While Mace framed her access as legal and based on a thumbprint, Donehue's deposition used the term "hacked into other apps," suggesting a potentially different method or scope of access.
Mace's February House speech was notable for the serious nature of the allegations she made, accusing Bryant of physical assault and possessing images of "underage girls," and alleging that three other men had committed crimes including sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and taking videos of sexual acts without consent. Bryant and the three other men have denied Mace’s accusations. Because Mace's comments were made on the House floor, she may be protected from lawsuits related to these statements by the Constitution’s speech and debate clause.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division initiated an investigation into Mace’s "allegations of assault, harassment, and voyeurism" in late 2023, prior to her House speech. The deposition by Bryant's lawyers, where Donehue's statements about Mace's tech activities and alleged phone access were made, is part of the legal proceedings surrounding these complex personal and legal disputes.
Connecting the Dots: Tech Claims, Staff Allegations, and Public Persona
The allegations from former staffers regarding the use of burner accounts and the claims made by Wesley Donehue in his deposition about Mace's programming of bots and alleged access to her ex-fiancé's phone collectively raise questions about the intersection of personal conduct, political strategy, and technological capabilities for a member of Congress. These claims are particularly relevant given Mace's public emphasis on her tech background and her role chairing a key House subcommittee focused on cybersecurity and government technology.
Former staffers' accounts suggest that the alleged use of burner accounts and directives to staff were not isolated incidents but part of a pattern of behavior aimed at controlling Mace's online image and engaging with public discourse in a surreptitious manner. The claim that staff were instructed to create and use these accounts to defend Mace and comment on forums, even saying "things that weren't true," suggests a potential blurring of lines between official congressional duties and personal political activities. Using taxpayer-funded staff time for such purposes, if true, could be seen as a misuse of resources.
Donehue's deposition adds another layer to these allegations by describing Mace's alleged personal involvement in programming bots and managing her online presence at a technical level. His description of her as a "computer nerd" who programs bots "for fun" contrasts with the more rudimentary tools that some staffers believed she was using, such as automating comments on her Facebook page for those who thanked her. One former staffer's comment, "I never saw her coding shit. Ever," highlights a discrepancy between Mace's self-description and the direct observations of some who worked closely with her, although this does not necessarily disprove her technical abilities or the possibility that she performed such tasks independently.
The allegations regarding accessing her ex-fiancé's phone, as described by Donehue, introduce a more serious dimension, involving potential privacy violations and unauthorized access to personal data. While Mace's own account of gaining access differs in its description of legality and method, the fact that this issue arose in both a deposition related to her personal disputes and her public statements on the House floor underscores the entanglement of her personal life, her tech claims, and the controversies surrounding her.
Political Context and Implications
These allegations also fit within the broader context of Nancy Mace's evolving political profile. Mace, who once identified as a "never Trumper," has become a prominent ally of former President Trump on Capitol Hill. This shift has been accompanied by a willingness to engage in highly visible and sometimes controversial actions that garner significant media attention. For example, she introduced a resolution aimed at preventing transgender individuals from using federal building bathrooms aligning with their gender identity, a move she confirmed purposefully targeted Representative Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress. Her legislative work also includes areas like the Modernizing Government Technology Reform Act, which seeks an audit of legacy federal IT systems, demonstrating her engagement with technology policy at a governmental level.
The alleged use of burner accounts and bots for political purposes is not unique in the digital age, but such claims involving a sitting member of Congress, particularly one involved in cybersecurity oversight, raise specific concerns. The potential for using anonymous accounts to spread misinformation, attack opponents, or manipulate online discourse runs counter to principles of transparency and accountability expected of public officials. If congressional staff were indeed directed to engage in such activities, it would represent a significant ethical breach and potential misuse of public resources.
The allegations also highlight the increasing importance of social media in political communication and the lengths to which individuals and campaigns may go to control their online image and influence public opinion. The use of bots and burner accounts can artificially amplify messages, create a false sense of support, and distort public discourse. For a politician who chairs a subcommittee dealing with technology and information, allegations of engaging in such practices are particularly noteworthy.
The deposition by Wesley Donehue, a former consultant, provides a perspective from someone who worked on Mace's campaigns and claims direct knowledge of her alleged tech activities. His description of her programming bots and controlling her own voter database suggests a level of technical involvement that goes beyond typical political staff roles. His public statement about firing her due to "constant egotistical bullshit and drama" adds a layer of personal conflict to the professional relationship, but his specific claims about her tech use remain part of the record from the deposition.
The former staffers' accounts, while anonymous, provide a view from within Mace's congressional office, detailing alleged directives that impacted their daily work. Their frustration at being asked to engage in online activities they felt were inappropriate for congressional staff underscores the potential conflict between personal political work and official duties. The claim that they were asked to post "saying things that weren’t true" is particularly concerning, suggesting a potential attempt to spread false information or misleading narratives online.
The combination of these accounts—from former staffers and a former consultant speaking under oath in a deposition—presents a consistent narrative regarding Nancy Mace's alleged use of technology, including burner accounts and bots, for political purposes. While Mace's office has denied that staff time was spent commenting on her personal life, the broader allegations about her directing staff to use burner accounts for promotion and defense, and her alleged personal programming of bots, remain significant claims.
These allegations are set against the backdrop of Mace's public image as a tech-savvy congresswoman and her role in shaping technology policy. The contrast between her legislative responsibilities and the alleged activities raises questions about the ethical standards applied to online political conduct and the potential for personal tech skills to be used in ways that may be seen as manipulative or inappropriate for a public official. As investigations and legal proceedings related to her personal allegations continue, further details regarding her alleged technological activities may emerge, potentially shedding more light on the veracity and scope of these claims.
The use of social media in politics continues to evolve, and the strategies employed by politicians and campaigns are constantly adapting. However, the alleged practices described by former Mace staffers and Wesley Donehue—specifically, directing staff to use burner accounts and programming bots for promotion and defense—represent a level of alleged manipulation and potential misuse of resources that warrants scrutiny, particularly for a member of Congress tasked with overseeing technology and information policy.
The narrative woven from these accounts suggests a politician deeply invested in controlling her online image, allegedly to the extent of directing staff to engage in potentially misleading online activities and personally programming tools to amplify her message. This story highlights the complex and sometimes controversial ways technology is being integrated into modern political campaigns and the ethical challenges that arise when personal political ambitions intersect with official governmental roles and resources.
Ultimately, these allegations against Nancy Mace, stemming from former staff and a deposition, paint a picture of a congresswoman who allegedly leveraged her self-proclaimed tech expertise not just for legislative work but also for aggressive personal brand management online, potentially crossing ethical boundaries regarding the use of staff time and transparent communication. The claims, if substantiated, could have implications for how the public views her credibility, particularly in her role on the Cybersecurity subcommittee, and could fuel further debate about the standards of conduct for elected officials in the digital age.
The allegations also touch upon the broader issue of authenticity in online political discourse. The alleged use of burner accounts and bots is designed to create an artificial appearance of support or to engage in debates anonymously, obscuring the true source of the communication. This practice can erode trust in online interactions and make it difficult for the public to discern genuine grassroots sentiment from orchestrated campaigns. For a politician, being associated with such practices can damage their reputation for honesty and transparency.
The former staffers' accounts are particularly compelling because they describe direct instructions received while performing their official duties. The idea that congressional staff, whose salaries are paid by taxpayers to serve constituents and support legislative work, were allegedly tasked with creating fake accounts and posting potentially false information online is a serious charge. It suggests a potential misappropriation of public resources for personal political gain, a matter that could potentially be subject to ethics investigations.
Wesley Donehue's testimony in the deposition provides a different, but complementary, perspective, focusing on Mace's alleged personal technical capabilities and her use of these skills for political purposes. His description of her programming bots and managing her own voter database paints a picture of a hands-on approach to digital campaigning and online influence. While the context of the deposition is a personal legal dispute, Donehue's claims about her tech activities are specific and detailed, adding weight to the overall narrative of Mace's alleged engagement in sophisticated online manipulation tactics.
The specific allegation regarding accessing her ex-fiancé's phone, regardless of the differing accounts of how access was gained, highlights the potential for personal tech skills to become entangled in private disputes with serious implications. The use of terms like "hacked" in the deposition underscores the gravity of the claim, raising questions about privacy and legal boundaries in the digital realm.
In summary, the allegations from former staff and a deposition concerning Nancy Mace's alleged use of social media burner accounts, bots, and directives to staff to engage in online promotion and defense present a significant challenge to her public image and raise questions about her conduct as a member of Congress. These claims are particularly pertinent given her role on the House Cybersecurity subcommittee and her emphasis on her tech background. The story underscores the evolving nature of political communication in the digital age and the ethical considerations that arise when technology is used to shape public perception and control online narratives.
The detailed accounts from those who worked closely with her, combined with testimony given under oath, provide a basis for scrutinizing the alleged practices and their implications for transparency, accountability, and the appropriate use of congressional resources. As these allegations continue to circulate and potentially face further examination, they will likely remain a point of discussion regarding Nancy Mace's political career and the standards of conduct expected of elected officials in the digital era.