The latest installment of NBC Nightly News’s “Justice for All” series (a series about criminal justice and reform), anchor Lester Holt complained about the case of Crystal Mason, who according to the Tarrant County, Texas district attorney, “knew she wasn't eligible to vote and voted anyway.” That’s right, NBC was upset someone was prosecuted for illegally casting a ballot.
Holt used gracious language from the start, like when he spoke about how “she saw it as a civic duty, Crystal Mason recalling the 2016 election and the vote that would change her life.”
According to the story, Mason’s mother encouraged her to go vote but when she arrived her name was not included in the voter rolls, and was instructed to fill out a provisional ballot. “But that sealed provisional ballot sealed her fate, landing her behind bars for illegal voting,” Holt stated dramatically.
It was then that Holt admitted that Mason had once “been convicted of tax fraud. She was sentenced to five years in federal prison and three years supervised release.” He would go to explain that “in Texas, felons can vote after completing their sentence, parole, and probation. But when she voted, Mason was still on supervised release.”
“She was convicted of illegal voting and sentenced to five years in state prison, plus ten additional months on her federal sentence,” he seemed to lament.
Holt then seemed to suggest something unjust or untoward befell Mason in her case. First, the NBC anchor spoke with NBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos, who suggested: “A felon who comes in and votes when they're not legally allowed to vote, that's not really a prosecution you see very often.”
Going further down that conspiracy road, Holt recalled the case of a white woman in Iowa who “was convicted of voting twice in the 2016 election and was sentenced to two years probation and a $750 fine.” Mason is black.
Only towards the end of his report did Holt share what the district attorney’s office had to say about the case:
Tarrant County District Attorney Sharon Wilson declined an on-camera interview, but issued a statement saying, in part, “Our office offered Mason the option of probation in this case which she refused. She chose to have a trial by judge, and the judge found beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence that she knew she wasn't eligible to vote and voted anyway.”
“Mason is out on bond and living off donations,” Holt added.
The liberal media literally calls the duly elected President of the United States a threat to democracy, then turns around and decries the prosecution of people who knowingly vote illegally.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
August 1, 2019
7:13:09 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: We'll turn now to our ongoing series “Justice for All”, and the controversial case of a Texas woman sentenced to five years in prison for casting a vote in the 2016 presidential election while she was out on probation. I spoke to her as she waits for a decision on her appeal.
[Cuts to video]
She saw it as a civic duty, Crystal Mason recalling the 2016 election and the vote that would change her life.
CRYSTAL MASON: I remember what my mom told me the night before and it was, “Crystal, this is the last day. Don't forget to go vote.”
HOLT: But at the polling place, she learned her name was not on the rolls and was told to fill out a provisional ballot.
MASON: She said if you're at the right location, it will count. If you're not, it won't.
HOLT: But that sealed provisional ballot sealed her fate, landing her behind bars for illegal voting. Because in 2012 Mason had been convicted of tax fraud. She was sentenced to five years in federal prison and three years supervised release.
So, you understood that if you were serving time you couldn't vote.
MASON: Yeah, I know that while you're incarcerated you couldn't vote.
HOLT: In Texas, felons can vote after completing their sentence, parole, and probation. But when she voted, Mason was still on supervised release. She was convicted of illegal voting and sentenced to five years in state prison, plus ten additional months on her federal sentence.
Would you have ever cast that ballot knowing it was illegal?
MASON: I didn't get out and get a decent job, go to school, graduate from school to cast a ballot to leave my kids, my family again.
DANNY CEVALLOS: A felon who comes in and votes when they're not legally allowed to vote, that's not really a prosecution you see very often.
HOLT: Her supporters point to Iowa where a woman was convicted of voting twice in the 2016 election and was sentenced to two years probation and a $750 fine. Tarrant County District Attorney Sharon Wilson declined an on-camera interview, but issued a statement saying, in part, “Our office offered Mason the option of probation in this case which she refused. She chose to have a trial by judge, and the judge found beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence that she knew she wasn't eligible to vote and voted anyway.”
Mason is out on bond and living off donations.
MASON: This has impacted a lot on my life as well as my family's. This has been a total nightmare.
[Cuts back to live]
HOLT: And if you're wondering, Mason's vote was never counted.
