BREAKING: Kimberlin Associate Liberal Grouch Tries to Threaten Patterico’s Job

This is the latest post in what I half-jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  The short version is that Kimberlin has been harassing me since last December, his worst conduct being when he attempted to frame me for a crime.  I recognize that this might sound like an incredible claim, but I provide video and documentary evidence of that fact; in other words, you don’t have to believe my word.  You only have to believe your eyes.  So, if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

Ever since I called the Liberal Grouch (LG) on his vile conduct (see here, here and here) he has been doing his level best to perform brass-knuckle reputation management, beating his chest, claiming somehow that accurately quoting him and then expressing the opinion that his words amount to a threat, is libel.  And now he is trying to threaten the employment of Patrick “Patterico” Frey for supposedly lying about him.  More Kimberlin-style thuggery from one of his associates.

But I have long made a sardonic observation about my life: I have been blessed with stupid adversaries.

You see what LG is complaining about is not only not libelous, but LG has actually said it was not libel.

But let me back up for a moment and fill in some of the holes.  First, yesterday I wrote that LG had threatened Lee Stranahan with rape and that I suspected that this was why Lee was abandoning his home in Texas.  He does have an infant son, after all.  When he whined about my piece, I added the following update to my post:

BREAKING: Lee Stranahan Flees His Home

This is the latest post in what I half-jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  The short version is that Kimberlin has been harassing me since last December, his worst conduct being when he attempted to frame me for a crime.  I recognize that this might sound like an incredible claim, but I provide video and documentary evidence of that fact; in other words, you don’t have to believe my word.  You only have to believe your eyes.  So, if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

Update (IV): Thanks to twitchy for the link!  They have much more on this story.

Update: This tweet seems to verify my theory as to the cause:

Short Version:increasing intensity of the threats + public reveal of our address by a Kimberlin-y nut = problem @aaronworthing @rsmccain
— Lee Stranahan (@Stranahan) September 6, 2012

More as it develops.

You might remember a few months ago that Robert Stacy McCain felt the need to flee his home in the face of Brett Kimberlin’s intimidation tactics.  Well, now Lee Stranahan has fled his home too.

My family is being forced to move because of the recent intimidation tactics used against us. More on this soon...
— Lee Stranahan (@Stranahan) September 6, 2012

I have called and tweeted to him seeking a definitive statement about the cause.  I will let you know if there is any definitive answer, but he would seem to be alluding to the recent threats of rape to himself and his wife by Occupyrebellion who is definitely a member of Team Kimberlin and the Liberal Grouch (see here and here). (Update: read where Patrick quotes LG's language and see if that sounds like a threat to you) 

And of course he has been viciously attacked by Brooks Bayne’s crew for months.

In any case, while of course I do want you to donate to my Blogger’s Defense Team auction/raffle, I am honor-bound to promote Lee’s plea for a little financial help.

If you want to help out with these sudden moving expenses, you can send a donation via PayPal to stranahan@gmail.com
— Lee Stranahan (@Stranahan) September 6, 2012

And remember folks, this is a sign we are winning.  They would not resort to these kinds of tactics if they thought they were winning.  This kind of lashing out is a sign of their ultimate impotence.

Update (II): Once again, Liberal Grouch doesn’t like being called on his own language.  Here’s what I considered a rape threat:

But maybe it would be nice for a pro-rape asshole such as yourself to understand the fear a woman faces at the concept of rape.

How many men do you figure it would take to hold you down, Stranny.

I bet one could do it.

As I wrote the other day when Occupyrebellion was making threats against Lee:

Threats don’t have to be “I plan to do X to you” or “do this or I will do X.”  For instance, in Virginia v. Black, the Supreme Court held that merely burning a cross on another person’s yard can be interpreted as a threat, given the historical meaning of the act.  Twelve people of common sense can recognize that even if the magic words are not said, some words are intended as a threat.  In other words, the law is not an idiot.

I think certainly speculating about how easy it would be to rape a person qualifies as a threat.  That’s my opinion, my conclusion based on the facts which I cited.  And just because there is cause to think LG himself can't carry it out, doesn't make it less of a threat. It just suggests he would have to recruit someone else to do it. And indeed Lee was concerned enough about this and other threatening conduct to abandon his home.

The fact is the Liberal Grouch and Occupyrebellion have slipped up.  It is never wise to threaten another or to talk of harming another, even if you don’t mean it.  Seth Allen learned this the hard way back in 2011 (he didn’t technically threaten, but he ruminated about harming Kimberlin), and now they are about to learn this as well.  How long will Occupyrebellion remain anonymous now?

Tick, tick, tick, as Mr. Hoge is wont to say.

Update (III): I meant to say this in the post, but I will add it now.  I spoke to Lee the other day about their claim that he was somehow “pro-rape.”  I knew him and his accusers well enough to assume it was not true, but I had no idea how Orwellian the charge was.  According to Lee, Occupyrebellion started accusing him of supporting rape when Lee was responding to the Akin “legitimate rape” controversy.  By Lee’s telling all he did was point out how common actual rape is in the Occupy protests.  So by his telling, he was not only not making a pro-rape comment, he was making an anti-rape comment (showing more concern for the real thing than someone's words about it), and their dissembling about the Occurape problem at best downplays a serious problem.  Which is not the same as bring pro-rape on their part, but it is certainly not taking the issue as seriously as it deserves to be.  Rape, as with any violence, should be a non-partisan issue.

Convicted Terrorist Brett Kimberlin Doesn’t Want to Play Anymore; In Court Today John Norton Clears His Name

This is the latest post in what I half-jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  The short version is that Kimberlin has been harassing me since last December, his worst conduct being when he attempted to frame me for a crime.  I recognize that this might sound like an incredible claim, but I provide video and documentary evidence of that fact; in other words, you don’t have to believe my word.  You only have to believe your eyes.  So, if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

So today John Hoge of Hogewash and I took a field trip to watch the Kimberlin v. Norton hearing.  But let me take a moment to fill in some of the back story.  On June 15, 2012, something happened.  To hear Kimberlin tell it, Norton was lurking in his bushes when Kimberlin went to pick up his daughter from a friend’s house.  Of course all allegations from Kimberlin are presumptively false and indeed this allegation sounds just too clichéd.  I mean lurking in the bushes?  Really?  It sounds like something from a Michael Jackson video where he depicts the press as evil hound dogs...

The Blogger’s Defense Team Auction and Raffle Begins Today

This is the latest post in what I half-jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  The short version is that Kimberlin has been harassing me since last December, his worst conduct being when he attempted to frame me for a crime.  I recognize that this might sound like an incredible claim, but I provide video and documentary evidence of that fact; in other words, you don’t have to believe my word.  You only have to believe your eyes.  So, if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

Update: I accidentally misspelled the name of the piece.  It is “Last Supper” not “Last Summer.”  Do’h.

And I want to thank Blazing Catfur, Protein Wisdom and Hogewash for the links.  (I’ll add more without a separate update when I get them.)  And of course thanks to all the nice people who have been tweeting it out twitter.

You might have heard from other places about the extremely generous donation by Chris Muir of day-by-day.  He previously made cartoons like this:

Well, he has created three copies of a print called “Last Supper (America) Red v. Blue.”  This is what it looks like:

Then he asked many of the Titans of Blogging to sign it and they have.  From the site:

Each 11" x 19" print has been signed by the following giants of the Blogosphere: Michelle Malkin, Glenn and Helen Reynolds (Instapundit and Dr.Helen), Bill Whittle (Afterburner), Jeff Goldstein (Protein Wisdom), Ed Morrissey (Hot Air), Robert Stacy McCain (The Other McCain), and Mandy Nagy (Liberty Chick).

And now you can get a copy of the print in one of two ways.  Two of them will be raffled off.  The third will be auctioned off.

And all proceeds will go to the Blogger’s Defense Team.  That would be the donation site created by Dan Backer to defray the legal expenses related to fighting off Brett Kimberlin and company’s attempt at lawfare against me (see, e.g. here).  As I have said before, Kimberlin has victimized many people, but in my situation, we have the best single chance to hold Team Kimberlin accountable to come along in a long time, if only because I have this powerful evidence against him:

In this sense, Backer has created something akin to the NAACP’s “Ink fund” which helped tear down racial segregation.  This litigation is designed to vindicate our sacred right to freedom of expression and as such represents a just cause.

Because what is at stake here is nothing less than the terms of our national discourse.  Do we want our national debates to be settled by logic, facts and argument?  Or do we want it to devolve into who engaged in the dirtiest tricks, used the greatest amount of intimidation, and the most criminal conduct?  If Team Kimberlin is allowed to get away with what they have done to me, then others will seek to emulate him, both on the left and the right.  Is that a nation we wish to live in?

So if you want to contribute to the cause—or if you just want a truly unique keepsake—go to this site and donate, purchase a raffle ticket, or just bid.

And let me say something else.  No one has ever had an obligation to cover this story or to help me in this cause.  Before I first came out with my story, I honestly didn’t know if very many people would care.  The outpouring of support has been a pleasant surprise and is deeply appreciated.

So I want to thank publicly every single person who donated to this—Mr. Muir for his artwork, and Mrs. Malkin, Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, Mr. Whittle, Mr. Goldstein, Mr. Morrissey, Mr. McCain (no, not John McCain, the other one), and Mrs. Nagy for their signatures.  Many of these kind people have actually become my friends because of this ordeal.  And whether they are friends or respected acquaintances, all of their help is appreciated.

And for those who have or are about to donate, I thank you, too.

Exclusive: Brett Kimberlin Shows His Contempt for the Maryland Court of Appeals

Or: "How Brett Kimberlin Tried to Get Another Person Killed"

This is the latest post in what I half-jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  The short version is that Kimberlin has been harassing me since last December, his worst conduct being when he attempted to frame me for a crime.  I recognize that this might sound like an incredible claim, but I provide video and documentary evidence of that fact; in other words, you don’t have to believe my word.  You only have to believe your eyes.  So, if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

As massive as my monster post was back in May, there were things I left out just because my story was long enough already.  Today we fill in another piece.

In April, Brett Kimberlin lost his first petition for a peace order on appeal.  That much you know.  You can read the transcript below but experienced lawyers can tell you that a number of things happened in that hearing.

First, Kimberlin stumbled all over the rules of evidence requiring authentication.  He kept trying to introduce writings allegedly by me (as well as hearsay), but he didn’t understand that he had to first prove to the court that I actually wrote them.

And then Kimberlin foolishly rested without asking me to authenticate the documents that were allegedly by me.  (I didn’t highlight this mistake when discussing the case because I hoped he would continue to make that mistake.)  At that point, my able attorney, Reginald Bours III stood up and said:

I’m going to ask that you [the court] make a finding now that the petitioner [Kimberlin] has not met, even initially, the burden of proof required under the statute.

In other words, Bours felt that Kimberlin’s presentation was so feeble that a defense was not necessary.  Every person is presumed not to have violated the peace order statute until they have been proven by the petitioner to have done so.  And further, an appeal to the circuit court it is a trial de novo, which means it is an entirely new trial, with the presumption I am “innocent” until proven “guilty” just like in the first trial.  (Or more precisely they presume I did nothing justifying a peace order until Kimberlin proves I had.)  The court agreed and dismissed the petition.

Kimberlin had foolishly assumed that my attorney would automatically put on a defense and call me to the stand, giving Kimberlin the opportunity to authenticate whatever writings he believed was harassing.  So when my attorney asked for a ruling that Kimberlin had put on such a poor case that no defense was necessary (and it was granted), he effectively prevented Kimberlin from introducing any evidence of my supposed harassing writings.

And of course it is worth noting that Kimberlin did not make the same mistake in the July 5 hearing.  (Which is why I feel free to point out this mistake now.  I will hold back details when revealing them will help Kimberlin abuse the system more skillfully.)

So, then after that, Kimberlin filed for a stay of the decision, pending appeal.  And I will let it speak for itself:

Breaking: Liberal Grouch Threatens Me With Lawfare (Updated)

This is the latest post in what I half-jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  The short version is that Kimberlin has been harassing me since last December, his worst conduct being when he attempted to frame me for a crime.  I recognize that this might sound like an incredible claim, but I provide video and documentary evidence of that fact; in other words, you don’t have to believe my word.  You only have to believe your eyes.  So, if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

Update: Oh my, this is getting comedic.  The Liberal Grouch has emailed me again with even more ALL CAPS.  I think I might have even seen an “eleventy” in there somewhere.  Anyway, most of it is more of the same but a few colorful highlights.

First, he bizarrely claims I said he is faking his disability.  I said no such thing.  I have no doubt he has Parkinson’s but it is obvious that this doesn’t prevent him from blogging and tweeting in any relevant manner.  My post focused on that online behavior and thus doing a disability minstrel show before a court is not likely to elicit sympathy, especially after he threatened to do exactly that.

Second, his email grants me an absolute defense to his charges of defamation.  But first I have to educate this man, who claims to have been a journalist for some three decades, what “actual malice” is in the law.  From NYT v. Sullivan:

with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

So he has to prove that my asserted facts—and not my opinions or conclusions based on acknowledged facts—are written with knowledge that they are false, or with reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of it.  And that is important because he also wrote this:

Seventh.  I deleted the post because I thought better of it after I cooled down.  I knew some dickhead would likely misconstrue it, much in the same way as you right wingers lie about everything else.  The fact that you have a screen cap of it is happenstance.

So he just admitted that we would misunderstand his intent.  And now he is mad at me because... I supposedly misunderstood his intent?  Well, that would seem like a complete defense, wouldn’t it?

And of course the only evidence that I misunderstood him is... his word that I have misunderstood him.  He had no good reason to expose Lee’s address.  And I am allowed to conclude that it was a bullying tactic and he is simply upset at me for calling him on it.

We now resume our original post, as is.

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So today I get an email from Liberal Grouch (hereafter LG) threatening me with lawfare.  This was all related to a post I wrote here, where I said (updates included):

Of course the other day Occupyrebellion threatened Lee Stranahan’s wife—a threat that Joe Brooks documented had started with a monumentally stupid blogger/twitterer, named Liberal Grouch (see here and here), who then carried out Occupyrebellion’s threat.  Update: Liberal Grouch is dishonestly claiming I have said he raped Lee's wife.  Occupyrebellion's precise threat, as demonstrated in all of the links above, was to reveal where Lee lived so that rapists could harm Lee's wife.  Liberal Grouch has done exactly that--reveal where Lee lived.

The only change I made to that language was in adding the update as indicated.  So here’s the email LG wrote to me, with his email address omitted.

Exclusive: Convicted Terrorist and Serial Litigant Brett Kimberlin Doesn’t Want to Play With John Norton Any More

This is the latest post in what I half-jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  So if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

So today I took a field trip to Maryland and obtained copies of Brett Kimberlin’s attempt to dismiss the appeal of John Norton’s peace order.  Contrary to my originally erroneous reporting (since corrected), this appeal was filed by Norton of the peace order against him.  Kimberlin, for his part, apparently doesn’t want a peace order against Norton any more.  The main ground for this request is that the Kimberlin contends that the case is moot.

Mootness is a doctrine in law that refers to when a case was no longer relevant.  For instance imagine a woman is in a coma and on life support.  Some members of the family believe that the woman should have her life support removed; others believe that she should be kept on life support.  So the family members seek injunctions in court to enforce their views.  If the woman then suddenly died, the case would be moot and it would be typically dismissed for those reasons (and voluntarily by both parties).

Now on the surface that would seem to apply here.  The order expired on August 1, and thus would have expired nearly a month ago.  But John Norton might still be suffering the effects of that Peace Order.  He is stigmatized by a finding that he criminally harassed Brett Kimberlin, suggesting to friends, family and current and potential employers that he might pose a danger to others.   It is due to that ongoing stigma that Norton has a right to appeal this decision.

And Kimberlin seems to understand that this is an issue.  Below the break I will embed both his motion to dismiss and Norton’s answer.

Breaking: Convicted Terrorist Brett Kimberlin Fails to Comply With Discovery (Update: Twitchalanche?)

This is the latest post in what I call jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  So if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

Update: Twitchy links!  Can you break my code now?

That is the upshot of the latest press release from the Blogger’s Defense Team—a group of lawyers that is defending myself and others against Team Kimberlin’s ongoing lawfare tactics another related efforts to suppress Freedom of Expression.

But that takes a few moments to explain.  In my last post on this subject I said that discovery had been served.  What I didn’t know is that it had been served much, much earlier than I realized, so that it was due...  on August 10.  That would be almost a week ago.  So yes, I was posting we had served him with discovery two days before it was due.  In fact he was already informing my attorneys by then he would not comply.

Glenn Reynolds once observed that in a promised lawsuit by Brandon Darby against Neal Rauhauser that “the discovery process should be productive.”  Well, apparently that is precisely what Kimberlin doesn’t want in this case: productive discovery.  The deadline has passed and Kimberlin has refused to comply, to any degree, with legally mandated discovery requests.  He hasn’t produced one relevant document, answered a single interrogatory, and so on.

Perhaps some intrepid reporter who knows something of the law should ask Kimberlin why he is not complying.  I know his stated reason but my attorneys have asked me not to disclose it, but I will say that it is frivolous as a matter of law.

And of course we are not taking this lying down.  The Blogger’s Defense Team has served Kimberlin with a motion to compel requiring him to actually, you know, comply with the law.  Imagine that!

Before I released my monster post laying out how Brett Kimberlin attempted to frame me for a crime and kicking off this story, one of my family asked me, “why does it have to be you doing this?”  Why not someone else?

The answer I gave them is because this represents the best opportunity in a long time to hold him accountable.  I knew that he has left a years-long trail of destruction in his wake.  He has abused our courts to ruin many peoples’ lives; one can only speculate just how many people have experienced his harassment.  But my case was unique because the conduct is egregious—he tried to trick Maryland officials into imprisoning me for up to ten years—and best of all, I can absolutely prove it.  You only have to look at this video...

...and you will see with your own eyes that Kimberlin tried to frame me for a crime.  And so this represents the best chance in a long time to get justice, not just for myself but for the untold number of others who have been victimized by him.

But while justice cannot be bought, it is expensive.  That is why I need people to donate to the Blogger’s Defense Team, so they can continue to hold Kimberlin to account.

Kimberlin’s entire strategy is built around trying to outlast  his opponents.  Recall what he said to Patrick Frey when threatening him with a frivolous defamation suit:

I have filed over a hundred lawsuits and another one will be no sweat for me. On the other hand, it will cost you a lot of time and money[.]

(Emphasis added.)  Kimberlin’s goal is to exhaust us, financially and in terms of time.  So by giving to the Blogger’s Defense Team you are helping to ensure that his strategy of delay and obstruction will fail.  Show him that however long he drags this out, we will see this through.

So please, hit the donate button on the right, or go to their website.  And for that matter, here is the press release.

In other news, the default judgment hearing related to Neal Rauhauser and Ron Brynaert will be on August 31, in the Prince William County, Manassas, Virginia.

Breaking: Brett Kimberlin Loses (Again)

This is the latest post in what I call jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  So if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

Previously I shared with you the criminal complaint against Martin Maher, a Florida resident accused or less of making harassing phone calls to Kimberlin, various people in his family and to his neighbors.  I had been keeping an eye on the case and saw the he had a court date he was supposed to show up for a few weeks ago (probably just an arraignment), but then... nothing happened.  And normally if you miss an arraignment, they put out a warrant for your arrest.

Well, today on the Maryland Judiciary Case Search website we get the disposition of the matter.  The prosecutors have dropped the case:

The Blogger’s Defense Team Goes on the Offensive Against Team Kimberlin (Update: Instalink!)

Update: Glenn Reynolds links and declares "He chose... poorly."

Well, I have long argued that his choice of targets was influenced by bigotry.

And long-time blog ally Blazing Catfur has linked as well.  Catfuralanche?

Update (II): More linkage from Hogewash, Patterico, and Twitchy.  Cool.

Yes, please hit the freaking donate button!!!

We now resume the original post as is.

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This is the latest post in what I call jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  So if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

That’s the upshot of the latest press release from the Blogger’s Defense Team, a group I introduced about a month ago.  This is not a picture of them:

(Always be happy warriors, folks.)

This is a basically an initiative led by Dan Backer and his firm designed to defeat this threat to Freedom of Speech represented by convicted terrorist Brett "Speedway Bomber" Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser, Ron Brynaert and others through litigation.  And in today’s press release they are pushing forward on the Virginia suit I shared with you.

There are several things you can pick up from today’s press release.  First, remember on Monday when Robert McCain revealed the defamatory emails sent by Neal Rauhauser to various members of Congress?  In his post, McCain noted that Darby was threatening to sue Rauhauser and Glenn Reynolds had this observation: “the discovery process should be productive. . . .”  Funny you should say that, Mr. Reynolds, because the discovery process has already begun in my case.  Kimberlin has been served with discovery and has twenty-one days in which to comply.

And we won’t be revealing what we served on him just yet, but I have seen it.  I chuckled at the sight of it.  He’s going to hate every minute of this.  He has plainly screwed with the wrong people.

Second, while Brett Kimberlin has improperly answered my complaint at least he answered; both Ron Brynaert and Neal Rauhauser have ignored it, which is never a wise thing to do when you are being sued.  This is despite the fact that they have actual knowledge of the lawsuit and indeed Brynaert was all over twitter in February beating his chest about how he looked forward to fighting this suit.  So we have moved for a default judgment against both of them.

Third, the Blogger’s Defense Team don’t emphasize this too much but we do need to raise more money to keep this suit going.  Do you want to see if Brett Kimberlin has the gonads to commit perjury in Virginia, where they might not be so lenient on convicted terrorists?  Then please donate.  It’s the first button on the right, or just go to their site.

Anyway, you can read the entire press release, here.  Or read below the fold:

Exclusive: What the Official July 5 Hearing Transcript Tells You About Convicted Terrorist Brett Kimberlin’s Attempt to Get My Wife and I Killed

This is the latest post in what I call jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  So if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

I have been waiting to write this post for a while, to pick the moment that felt right, and I think this is it.  I want to talk a little more about how convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin tried to get my wife and I killed (in my opinion).

So last week I got a copy of the final transcript of the July 5 hearing.  For those not following along, Brett Kimberlin has been on a nine month campaign of harassment that has included attempting to frame me for a crime.  When I revealed this conduct to the world, he obtained an abusive peace order against me forbidding me from talking about him on the internet for six months on the theory that by merely writing that he engaged in reprehensible conduct, I was inciting violence against him and thus could be stopped with an injunction.  This is not the law, and indeed the judge in that case, Judge Vaughey, actually disregarded controlling Supreme Court precedent by name.  That part of the injunction was vacated even before appeal was heard (after which I was SWATted), and then on July 5, we heard the full appeal.

I have previously reported on the hearing and even made my own attempt to transcribe parts of it, but I have not yet released the official transcript.  So let me give that to you, now:

Exclusive: Convicted Perjurer Brett Kimberlin’s Answer to My Virginia Complaint

This is the latest post in what I call jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  So if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

A bit back I shared with you the complaint in my Virginia lawsuit against Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser and Ron Brynaert.  Now I am going to share with you Brett Kimberlin’s answer to it.

For the most part, I will let it speak for itself, but here’s some set up for those who don’t know everything about civil procedure as it is practiced in most states, including Virginia.  Bluntly most lawyers can skip this and go straight to the document.

A lawsuit is initiated by a complaint.  It sets out facts and the law in a plea for damages.  And as you saw last time, the paragraphs of the complaint are numbered.  There is a purpose in that numbering.

You see the Defendant is then required to file an “Answer” (or another responsive pleading) and the answer is supposed to acknowledge and respond specifically to each and every numbered paragraph.  So for each one, you are supposed to admit, deny, state that you don’t know, and so on.

The idea is to whittle the suit down to what is really at issue: what facts are disputed and what are not.  You might have a suit involving an accident where it is admitted there was a collision, the amount of damages are not disputed, but fault is at issue.  Or there might be another accident case where there is no question that there was an auto accident, that the defendant was at fault, but the defendant claims the plaintiff is asking for too much in damages.  So this process is designed to systematically identify what is truly at issue.

And every single allegation I have made that is not denied by Brett Kimberlin is admitted to.

Exclusive: My Virginia Complaint Against Convicted Terrorist Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser and Ron Brynaert

This is the latest post in what I call jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  So if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

In Alex Pareene’s awful piece on The Kimberlin Saga^®, there was one particular lie Kimberlin told that I didn’t rebut as fully as I could have.  Here’s what Pareene said that Kimberlin said:

Kimberlin claims that Walker has now filed a suit against him in Virginia seeking a permanent injunction against Kimberlin that would bar him from ever mentioning Walker’s name, which would be a neat bit of irony.

So if Pareene is accurately representing Kimberlin’s words—and I call on him again to release the raw recordings—then this means that Kimberlin is lying, again.

I will give you five minutes to get over your shock.  Here’s some music while you recover:

Joking aside, here’s what my Virginia Complaint actually asks for in relevant part:

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff request[s] an injunction against the Defendants enjoining them from 1) identifying the Plaintiff as the pseudonymous author known as Aaron Worthing or A.W., or posting personal information about the Plaintiff including but not limited to his home address, his current employer or his work address, 2) requiring the Defendants to remove all references from public view identifying the Plaintiff as the pseudonymous author known as Aaron Worthing or A.W., or providing personal information about the Plaintiff including but not limited to his home address, his current employer or his work address, 3) prohibiting the Defendants from contacting the Plaintiff or his immediate family or his current employer, 4) prohibiting the Defendants from approaching within 1,000 feet of the Plaintiff, his wife, his current employer and any future employer, 5) prohibiting the Defendants from conspiring with others to accomplish the above prohibited acts[.]

It also asks for damages up to two million dollars, too, which considering what all Kimberlin has put me through, and the malice involved, is low-balling it.  Something tells me that twelve ordinary Virginians are not going to be very tolerant of this convicted domestic terrorist’s antics.

And bear in mind that on the very next page you see that this was filed on January 30, 2012, at a time when I was not yet thoroughly outted as Aaron Walker.  As I said to Pareene, obviously much of that request for an injunction is moot now, though certain parts are still valid.

But it all highlighted to me again that I needed to get off my behind and share this document with you.  I mean Kimberlin had lied to other reporters about this before and unlike Pareene, they didn’t publish Kimberlin’s falsehoods about my case without, you know, actually reading the complaint or otherwise seeking my rebuttal.  You know, doing due diligence as we lawyer types say.  But obviously Pareene has proven that you cannot depend on the diligence of reporters.

Otherwise, I am mostly going to let it speak for itself for a number of strategic reasons, below the fold.  I will note that there is a lot of cutting and pasting going on here in my writing.  Indeed I noticed that at one point two pages were almost exactly identical, except the paragraph numbers and the name of one state changed, which made me smile.

I will also note that under Virginia practice you don’t have to share all you know in a complaint.  So don’t think for one moment that this is all I have to prove my case.  This is all I have chosen to share in the complaint.

Anyway, without further ado, the Virginia Complaint, broken into two parts:

Exclusive: Brett Kimberlin Threatens to File Criminal Charges Against Me, Again

This is the latest post in what I call jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  So if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

So thirteen days ago I met Brett Kimberlin in court on an appeal of an abusive and unconstitutional peace order he obtained against me and I walked out with it nullified.  What I didn’t know until yesterday is that he sent an email to my attorney that afternoon, threatening to file new criminal charges against me.  Yes, really.  He’s like the Energizer Bunny of lawfare: he keeps going, and going, and going...

Here’s the full text of that email:

BREAKING: Kimberlin v. Norton Has Been Appealed (Update: Major Correction)

Update and Major Correction:  What can I say?  I strive to be accurate but sometimes I get things wrong.  And when I do, I believe the correction should be as prominent as the original mistake and you should generally be open about making your mistake.

I made a mistake in my original version of this post.  I wrote that Brett Kimberlin appealed the case of Kimberlin v. Norton where he got a peace order against John Norton for about a month.  But as “Anonymous” in the comments pointed out, there was no indication in the electronic records who filed the appeal.  So it could have just as easily been John Norton as Brett Kimberlin.

I could blame a lack of caffeine or the fact that a family member first told me that, planting an assumption in my mind that I left unchallenged.

I could point out that in part my assumption was based in part on the fact that it made very little sense for Norton to appeal.  The peace order will have expired long before the circuit court is likely to hear the appeal, so at best he is likely to get a moral victory only.  I guess that is valuable to him, too, but I think he could get the same practical benefit in the “court of public opinion” by just showing anyone who asks this video...

...and then any reasonable reader will know not to trust any claims by Brett Kimberlin.  But the point is I didn’t think that was very logical on Norton’s part to go to all this trouble for just a moral victory and thus I was quick to believe Kimberlin filed the appeal instead.

But no, the buck stops here, with me, Aaron Walker.  It was my fault.  And as a result of my fundamental error, almost every word in the original post is unsupported to a degree.  Of course, if I find out that Kimberlin did file the appeal, then everything I wrote will be correct, but even if I turn out to be accidentally right, it doesn’t justify what I wrote today.  Right and wrong is determined by the information at your hands at the time, not with 20/20 hindsight.

So the entire original post—including the original title—is below the fold, in the name of openness.  And I thank the anonymous commenter for pointing out my error, and I apologize to my readers for the error.  Indeed, if Brett Kimberlin is still obsessively reading everything I write about him to a general audience, I apologize to him, too.

Because while there is a good case to be made that Brett Kimberlin is “defamation proof”—that is, his reputation is so poor it is impossible to further defame him—I still strive to be as accurate as possible in this story.  And so in that spirit I reiterate that if anyone comes forward (in email or in comments) with proof that I got any fact wrong—or in his case, proves something I stated was unsupported by known facts—I will promptly and prominently correct the error, just as I have.  And a note to Kimberlin’s defenders: an assertion supported only by Kimberlin’s honor is not proof of anything.

Anyway, the original but incorrect post is below the fold.  And once again I apologize for the error, and thank the commenter who pointed it out.

Saxby Chambliss Urges More Action From Holder on SWATting

I was just about to go to bed, when I saw this via Insty at the Georgia Tip Sheet:

U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss strongly criticized the Department of Justice on Wednesday for its “notably silent” response to a string of anonymous pranks wherein authorities have been dispatched guns ablaze to the homes of conservative commentators after bogus shooting claims.

Aides to the Peach State pol circulated a letter he sent earlier in the day to the nation’s top law man, Eric Holder, bearing an unusually firm hed: “Chambliss slams attorney general for insufficient response to SWAT-ting.”

As they say, read the whole thing.  And below the fold, I have embedded his letter.

Exclusive: The State’s Attorney Has Given Brett Kimberlin a License to Perjure Himself and He Used it in Kimberlin v. Norton

I Transcribe Much of the Peace Order Hearing Between John Norton and Brett Kimberlin

I have been a little under the weather, with a summer cold, so it has been light blogging, but this was too good not to blog about.  Today in the mail I got a copy of the audio from the peace order hearing between John Norton and Brett Kimberlin, which I talked about here, and here.  I got a copy of this because Kimberlin accused me of somehow controlling Norton’s conduct in a document I shared with you here, so I wanted to see what else Kimberlin would say about me in this hearing and plus I was just curious in general.

Now, I am basing this report entirely on the audio itself.  So, for instance, I am unsure of the name of Norton’s attorney.  It sounded something like “Shiller” but I am not certain enough to go on record on that.  And I don’t know who the judge was.  All of this could be easily verified by trying to get in contact with Mr. Norton, but for legal reasons it is a really bad idea for me to get in contact with Mr. Norton, even in my capacity as a reporter, so I won’t.  But I will leave it to other journalists to do that kind of work.  I will reiterate that I didn’t even know the man existed until Kimberlin filed a peace order against him.

And, of course, all the caveats that applied to the last post transcribing from the peace order hearing apply here.  And indeed I suspect that having witnessed the July 5 hearing live, my transcription is more likely to be accurate than one I didn’t see live.  I will add that the judge had a tendency to make a lot of small comments like, “yeah,” and “I see” barely under his breath as a way verbally encouraging people to talk.  I decided to skip the tedium of transcribing all of that.  (And don’t take this as a knock on the judge.  I do it, too, as does something like 90% of the population in my opinion.)

But there is a real bombshell here.  Brett Kimberlin perjured himself, again, and it is fairly egregious.  It comes when Norton’s attorney (who I just designate as L for lawyer), is cross examining Kimberlin:

Blogger Defense Team Launches a Website to Fight (In Court) the Tactics of Team Kimberlin

As visitors of this site have known, Brett Kimberlin has been on a campaign of harassment in retaliation against me for 1) briefly and slightly representing someone who he was suing, and 2) for pointing out that he had committed perjury on November 14, 2011.  This has included attempting to get my wife and I killed, attempting to frame me for a crime, getting me arrested on false charges, and filing abusive peace orders against me in Maryland (see here).

After I was arrested, Dan Backer arranged with me to provide pro-bono legal help with this.  His big idea is that he wanted to not only defend my right to freedom of speech, but to put Brett Kimberlin on the defensive, both to vindicate my rights, and to vindicate others.  I cannot disclose all that he has planned—we cannot give the other side warning—but keep an eye on them.  They will be making news in the next few weeks.

But while it is free to me, it is not free to them.  I mean how long would you work at your job for free—when you have bills to pay and mouths to feed?  So in all bluntness, the more you donate to this cause the more they will be able to do.  So they have formed the Blogger’s Defense Team (BDT)...

(Note: This is not actually what they look like, nor do they have these uniforms.)

…And, joking aside, they have launched a website for this effort.  So bookmark them, spread the word around and if you can, please give to them.

And this is in supplement to the efforts of the National Bloggers Club, which is has set up a relief fund to help as well.

And thanks to everyone.  Thank you to Dan Backer (BDT) and Ali Akbar (NBC) for organizing these respective funds and to all of you who have given and will give.

And most of all, thank you to OccupyRebellion for being such a thug he/she/it has motivated people to give over $700 to BDT...

Their official press release sent out by email follows below the fold:

Exclusive: Transcribing the Audio from Thursday’s Hearing in Kimberlin v. Walker

This is a follow up to this post; so I suggest you read there, if you have not been following along.  But let me give you the basics in the background.  Last Thursday, July 5, 2012, I had a peace order hearing against Brett Kimberlin.  This was what we call a de novo appeal—a whole new trial—of a district court decision granting Kimberlin a peace order that not only forbade me from going to his house or his employment (which I never tried to do, anyway), and from contacting him as the term is ordinarily understood (directed communications, such as phone calls, letter, email, text message, etc.), but Judge Vaughey then went even further into truly unconstitutional territory:

Respondent shall not contact the [petitioner] in person, by telephone, in writing, or any other means. And “any other means” is putting it on a blog, a Tweet, a megaphone, a smoke signals—what else is out there—sonar, radar, laser.  Nothing.

All of this was based on the theory that writing bad things about Brett Kimberlin on the internet was inciting others to violence.  The district court drew this conclusion explicitly rejecting Supreme Court precedent that requires, among other things, that the person accused of incitement actually has to advocate for violence or other lawlessness, something I have never done.

As I outlined in a series of posts called “The Story I Couldn’t Tell” (introduction, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5) this was flagrantly unconstitutional, and I so argued in a motion for a stay I filed almost two weeks ago, which was promptly granted by Judge Rupp.  And it is worth noting that after that victory I was SWATted—that is, someone called in a false report to emergency services claiming to be me, claiming I had shot my wife, with the hope of prompting a dangerous police response.  There is much more in the prior posts on all of these subjects and about the day of, but that should be enough for you to follow along.

So Friday, I took a drive to Rockville, Maryland, and obtained copies of the audio from yesterday’s hearing.  Now, first, court rules prevent me from just uploading the audio and letting you listen.  This is unfortunate, because mere text will never convey just how angry Brett Kimberlin was at one key moment.  Indeed I really wish we had courtroom video so you could see his body language.  But perhaps the other journalists there, David Hogberg and John Hoge* can back me up on the key parts.

Second, I am not crazy enough to transcribe every word, but I will give you some important parts.  I transcribe a lot of it, but not all of it.

Third, I will note that I am not a professional transcriptionist.  I am just a guy listening and doing his best to capture what is heard.  There might be subtle conventions of how transcripts are made that I miss, and I simply might hear things differently.  For instance at a key moment there is so much cross talk, I didn’t know how to capture it.  When I get the transcript, I will upload it myself, and I will almost certainly defer to it as the definitive version of what was said, unless there is a particularly egregious and material mistake.  But I also promise you that I will make my transcriptions as accurate as possible and my mistakes will be honest ones.

And I will note that I generally left out the ums and ahs and just plain stuttering that occurs, in everyone’s speech involved, making this a relatively clean read.  Sometimes a person would say fully formed words in very incomplete ways, and I captured that as best I could so you could decide for yourself what you think they were trying to say, because it does create some ambiguity.  But other than that I cleaned up everyone’s speech, including Brett Kimberlin’s.  And on very rare occasions, I will add words in brackets to further clarify what I think is being said.  I will not delete or substitute words in that fashion, though.

But using that recording, I am going to give you the most complete version of Thursday’s events so far, and I am even going to correct a couple errors I had made.

For starters, the hearing actually took about an hour, not forty five minutes.  I had thought it had started at 11:00 a.m. and went to about 11:45.  It actually started at 10:50 ish, and went to 11:50ish, give or take a few minutes.  And my line in the last post about Kimberlin claiming that The Army of Davids was some kind of “extremist Christian militia” was wrong.  He called them a “Christian group” with the “extremist militia” part being implied, rather than being stated outright, as you will see.  I apologize for the error and particularly apologizing to anyone who relied on it.

But let’s dive into the hearing itself.  All of this is in chronological order.

Just a Reminder: Team Kimberlin Still Wants to Ruin My Life

Ken at Popehat is right to mock @OccupyRebellion for her “delicious tears” in her twitter feed following Kimberlin’s loss this morning.  You know how to read this—from bottom to top: