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11 June 2012

Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser, and Their Transparent Empire of Lies UPDATE: ‘Anonymous’ Connection

Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser, and Their Transparent Empire of Lies UPDATE: ‘Anonymous’ Connection

Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser, and Their Transparent Empire of Lies UPDATE: ‘Anonymous’ Connection

Posted on | June 10, 2012 | 26 Comments and 155 Reactions
FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Seventy members of the House of Representatives are reportedly prepared to unite in support of Senator Saxby Chambliss’s call for a Justice Department investigation of the “SWATtings” against Mike Stack, Patrick Frey and Erick Erickson.
There is also reportedly interest among Republicans in Congress about the “lawfare” aspect of the Kimberlin case, along the lines of what Ace of Spades talked about Friday: Legislation to prevent a convicted felon from using claims of “harassment” to intimidate people who are guilty of nothing but telling the truth about his criminal past.
Beginning with his lawsuit against Seth Allen in October 2010, Kimberlin and his allies have used this strategy in a number of variations. In some cases, as with Allen and Aaron Walker, legal action seemed chiefly intended to get behind the online aliases of those who were publicizing Kimberlin’s heinous history.
Allen used the pseudonyms “Socrates” and “Prespostericity,” while Walker was known as “Aaron Worthing” in the blogosphere. Once the actual human beings behind those aliases were discovered — I believe the colloquial term for this is “patched” — then Kimberlin and his surrogates could mount personal attacks against these online critics. This could happen two ways: Either by using negative personal information about the critics in an effort to discredit them, or else by contacting the critics’ employer (or, in the case of Walker, their spouse’s employer) to claim that the critic was engaged in wrongful activity by blogging about Kimberlin’s criminality.
The success of Kimberlin in employing this tactic shows one reason, by the way, why using online aliases creates a vulnerability for anyone engaged in what we might call “combat blogging.” There is no such thing as a pseudonym that is totally secure. You may think that your online alias protects your private life, but if you ever get into heavy-duty blogwars — giving an antagonist a motive for wanting to know who you really are – your privacy becomes a weakness.
As soon as I began digging into the Kimberlin story on May 17, I became aware that what Ken at Popehat has called “Team Kimberlin” includes a number of persons operating behind Twitter pseudonyms who were involved in publicizing negative information about Kimberlin’s critics. And I also learned that Team Kimberlin had been trying to “patch” Ace of Spades.
Perhaps readers now see why I have spent the past three weeks in scramble-the-jets mode. “But wait a minute,” you say, “why Ace?”
The answer involves WeinerGate, Kimberlin’s 501(c) Velvet Revolution, the late Andrew Breitbart and a guy named Neal Rauhauser.
Readers who have been following the series of posts I call “The Kimberlin Files” have become familiar with the name Neal Rauhauser. You know about the lunatic conspiracy theory Rauhauser published under the title, “Andrew Breitbart’s ISR Cell?” You know that Rauhauser has described Kimberlin as his “client,” and that Rauhauser accompanied Kimberlin to the May 29 hearing in Maryland at which Aaron Walker was arrested.
Focusing on the Kimberlin-Rauhauser connection is, I think, the key to unlocking a mystery that has puzzled me and others for a while: What are they trying to hide?
The frenzied intensity of attacks we’ve seen from Team Kimberlin in the past three weeks strikes many observers as suggestive of what criminologists call “consciousness of guilt.”
A source familiar with the investigation of “Team Kimberlin” told me that recent exposures caused them to “freak out,” and that certain streams of communication between their team members suddenly went into “radio silence” mode. Meanwhile, certain of their pseudonymous online presences have begun frantically attacking those who are helping shine the light on Kimberlin, even to the point of sending veiled threats and “disinfo” messages to anyone who seems to be connected to the light-shiners.
While it is interesting to speculate on the actual identities behind the various online personas employed by Team Kimberlin, their general mode of operation very much resembles what Neal Rauhauser was doing in the 2010 “TwitterGate” scandal. As I’ve said to several people familiar with the case, we seem to be looking at “Beandogs 2.0.”
Today, I needed to clear my head and relax, so I went driving around and, among other things, visited a fireworks store to do some Fourth of July shopping. But I also made some phone calls, and learned of some interesting evidence showing a direct connection between Neal Rauhauser and the international criminal hacker conspiracy known as “Anonymous.”
Before I show you that, however, let me point out a basic fact: Brett Kimberlin is a liar. He lies to reporters. He lies under oath in court. His apparent compulsive lying is one of the great constants of Kimberlin’s life, going back to when he was convicted of perjury as a teenager. Patterico calls attention to how blatantly Kimberlin lies:
[Kimberlin said] that he does not maintain any online presence and said he and his family have been victims of threats themselves and accused the bloggers of constructing a “false narrative” about him.
“I don’t blog, I don’t comment, I don’t tweet on any blogs at all. This is a right-wing attack on me and my organizations and it’s a smear job. It’s a swift boat action against us,” Kimberlin said.
– Arlette Saenz, ABC News, June 6
“[I]t’s part of my job to, to work on the Internet because it’s basically a social networking job and so I get Google alerts all the time mentioning my my organizations . . .”
– Brett Kimberlin, in Montgomery County court hearing vs. Aaron Walker, May 29
These two statements seem incompatible. If Kimberlin is “on the Internet” doing “a social networking job,” how is it that he never uses Twitter or writes on blogs? With whom does he network on the Internet, and how does he do it without using the most common tools for online social networking?
Ah, but there is that evidence I mentioned earlier, involving Neal Rauhauser and the “Anonymous” hacking conspiracy.
UPDATE: E-mail communications in September 2011, in regard to “Occupy Boston” protests, involving Neal Rauhauser (claiming to speak on behalf of Kimberlin’s non-profit Velvet Revolution) and someone named Gregg Housh:
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Alex Pearlman
Date: Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 3:18 PM
Subject: Re: FYI Clarence Thomas message goes to Occupiers
To: Gregg Housh
Cc: neal rauhauser , Marisa Egerstrom <
megerst…@gmail.com>
We also have the general site, occupyboston.com. I’m part of the
Media/Message team and can get this to them ASAP. Thanks so much!
On Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 3:14 PM, Gregg Housh wrote:
> Also, Boston has this:
>
> https://sites.google.com/site/occupyrevolution/home
>
> On Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 3:13 PM, neal rauhauser wrote:
>
>>
>>   Gregg,
>>
>>   Thanks for the intro – I just put out a ‘clarification’ to the NYGA’s
>> Declaration of Occupation. It’s a bit more literate than what they did and I
>> think I’ve got the overall tone and content about right. Is this something
>> we can get people to discuss? I didn’t have the patience to get to speak in
>> one GA, can’t imagine how to do outreach to a whole bunch all at once w/o
>> begging assistance.
>>
>> http://www.scribd.com/doc/66968871/NYCGA-Declaration
>>
>>   Keep in mind I work with the guy who triggered the investigation into
>> Clarence Thomas over the Citizens United payoff and there is a lot of
>> similar stuff like that sitting around here. Those groups get in the mood to
>> clean house, we’ve got the treasure map for them.
>>
>>                  Neal
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 2:04 PM, Gregg Housh wrote:
>>
>>> Ive been in on the Boston planning.  The people you want to talk to for
>>> it to start to get any sort of cohesion will probably be these two:  “Marisa
>>> Egerstrom” , alexnpearl…@gmail.com
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 7:25 AM, neal rauhauser wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>   We’re getting in position to drive part of the narrative for the
>>>> Occupiers. Here is how it’s being done.
>>>>
>>>>    Overnight I created a fairly complete list of the OccupyWhatever
>>>> Twitter accounts.
>>>>
>>>> http://twitter.com/#!/list/WeOccupyAmerica/occupations
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    There is now a paper.li so we can see what they are talking about:
>>>>
>>>> http://paper.li/WeOccupyAmerica/1317378132
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    And we have our Press Agent running on @WeOccupyAmerica. This account
>>>> had 2,500 hand picked followers, mostly Progressives, no bots, no junk, no
>>>> wingnuts. It’s picked up 300 followers in the last day and since I’m using
>>>> it in this fashion now I can’t be aggressive about policing who follows.
>>>>
>>>>    This is what we’re doing message wise:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   1. Continuous low speed trickle of Eight Rules, nonviolent engagement
>>>> advice from Cynthia Boaz
>>>>
>>>> http://weoccupyamerica.blogspot.com/2011/09/eight-rules.html
>>>>
>>>>   2. We can use the list of accounts to send them individual public @
>>>> messages, so far we have said:
>>>>
>>>>      a. please help us find the rest of you
>>>>      b. please look at Andrew Krieg’s article on 20 House members
>>>> pushing investigation of Clarence Thomas (started 9/30 early AM, will run
>>>> all day)
>>>>
>>>>   3. Next steps with this will include some of the following
>>>>
>>>>      a. other Velvet Revolution activities – American Crossroads seems
>>>> most likely to draw their eye
>>>>      b. If we can get Seema Kalia’s work on Wall Street corruption
>>>> positioned right that will be HIGHLY inflammatory
>>>>      c. Keep an eye on progress against Thomas & labor uptake, maybe we
>>>> get a shot at Scalia for this NLRB/Boeing stuff he & his son do
>>>>      d. taking suggestions from the folks in the bcc: on what else needs
>>>> attention, as well as from @Occupier accounts
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    I’ve personally visited the Wall Street occupation, to establish some
>>>> grassroots cred specific to this movement, to renew contact with old
>>>> friends, and to meet new ones. I’ve got my fingers into the D.C. planning
>>>> and I’m going to make a run to Baltimore to help get that one moving, too. I
>>>> may well go back to New York for a bit if it’s warranted and I’m going to
>>>> check my Amtrak miles to see if I can swing a trip to Boston.
>>>>
>>>>    There are already back channels developing but it’s so chaotic I
>>>> can’t discern which ones are important. I would greatly appreciate those of
>>>> you who have an occupation near you skulking a bit, and bringing me half a
>>>> dozen contacts for each. If you’re actually getting involved up close and
>>>> personal, well, let’s *talk*.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     The visible emails are Jen Preston of New York Times, Mark Ames of
>>>> ExiledOnline, and Adrian Chen from Gawker – three of the four journalists I
>>>> know who don’t suck. The rest of you down in bcc: are free to hit reply if
>>>> you have something you want to give one of them, and I’ll validate you as a
>>>> source. If you’re feeling sneaky you can pass me stuff and I’ll hand it off
>>>> to them.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    So … reform or bust, what say you?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> –
>>>> mailto:nrauhau…@gmail.com//
>>>> GV: 202-642-1717
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> –
>> mailto:nrauhau…@gmail.com//
>> GV: 202-642-1717
While the readers begin to dissect the information in that e-mail thread, I’ll clue you in: Gregg Housh is well-known as an operative of “Anonymous,” and has been involved in a business partnership with someone who was raided by the FBI this year.
UPDATE II: To make explicit what this means: First, in November 2011, it was announced that Gregg Housh had agreed to co-author a book about “Anonymous” with the group’s public spokesman, Barrett Brown, for a reported six-figure advance.
Second,  Housh has been described as a “seventh-grade dropout, devout atheist, and proud computer troll” who once served “three months . . . in federal prison for copyright infringement via software piracy.” Third, in March of this year, the feds busted the “Anonymous” offshoot known as “LulzSec” and, apparently in connection with those arrests, the FBI raided Barrett Brown in Texas.
Now, read that e-mail thread I’ve posted very closely, and tell me what you see about the connection between Rauhauser and Housh. I’ll be back to explain more, in case you don’t immediately spot the key bit of information.
UPDATE III: Did you spot it? “Gregg, Thanks for the intro.”
That is to say, when Rauhauser was looking for an introduction to the leaders of “Occupy Boston,” he asked Gregg Housh — with whom he clearly had a prior acquaintance — to make the introduction. Housh has a federal felony record and had a co-authorship deal with Brown, the “Anonymous” spokesman raided by the FBI in March of this year. And at some point prior to September 2011, Rauhauser and Housh were already good enough buddies that Neal could ask his buddy Gregg for a favor, namely this intro to the leadership of “Occupy Boston.”
Rauhauser proposed to transact official business of Kimberlin’s 501(c)3 Velvet Revolution with the “Occupy” movement via this connection obtained via his contacts with “Anonymous” operative Gregg Housh. And why would a paid agent of a tax-exempt non-profit organization have this kind of connection? Why was Rauhauser interested in “Anonymous,” and how did that interest overlap with the activism of Velvet Revolution?
Let reporters start asking those kinds of questions.
Let members of Congress start asking. Let the FBI start asking. And the next time Neal Rauhauser shows up at one of Brett Kimberlin’s court proceedings, how about somebody start asking Kimberlin about Neal, and then start asking Rauhauser about Brett. Who knew what, and when did they know it?
How about a little hint?
In a June 2, 2011, post at Daily Kos (where he used the pseudonym “Stranded Wind”), Rauhauser offered this bizarre claim:
Congressman Anthony Weiner was stalked, set up, smeared, and this was coordinated to protect Clarence Thomas from scrutiny.
What did Rauhauser link? A petition by Kimberlin’s Velvet Revolution demanding impeachment and prosecution of Justice Thomas. Read more background on Raushauser here.
Is there more? Oh, yeah — lots and lots more. But I think readers will agree that this is enough to push the story forward one more day, and you can chew on this until Monday afternoon, when I plan to peel this onion just a bit more.
-– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown


THE KIMBERLIN FILES:
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07 June 2012

CNN Gets Scooped on Its Own Storybr / UPDATE: ACLJ Joins the Fight!

CNN Gets Scooped on Its Own Storybr / UPDATE: ACLJ Joins the Fight!

CNN Gets Scooped on Its Own Story
UPDATE: ACLJ Joins the Fight!

Posted on | June 7, 2012 | 2 Comments and 0 Reactions
FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Very busy today, awaiting developments on The Kimberlin Files. However, Da Tech Guy cleverly points out that CNN allowed Arlette Saenz of ABC to beat them on reporting this story, even though the reported SWATting of CNN on-air personality Erick Erickson was a central element of the story.
For that matter, CNN contributor Dana Loesch is well-informed about the Kimberlin story, and could put CNN’s reporters in direct contact with many others who are involved. But maybe the executives at CNN would rather continue being No. 3 in cable news ratings, and let their competitors scoop them on such an important story, because they are more interested in playing politics than reporting the actual news.
Jeff Goldstein mocks Brett Kimberlin’s self-proclaimed victimhood.
Obviously, having spoken to Saenz about my own role in the story, I owe The American Spectator a follow-up on my May 29 article, “Terror By Any Other Name.” So . . .busy day.
UPDATE: Almost forgot — but Bob Belvedere has reminded us — that Eric Holder testified today before the House Judiciary Committee. Did committee members ask the Attorney General any questions about Senator Chambliss’s inquiry?
UPDATE II: Michelle Malkin breaks the news that the American Center for Law and Justice will defend Ali Akbar:
“Free speech is under attack,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. “Conservative writers are now facing threats against themselves, their families, and their livelihoods merely because they’ve aggressively investigated the history and funding of radical liberals. The ACLJ has a long history of successfully defending free speech, and we look forward to defeating this latest attempt to threaten and intimidate conservatives into silence.”
Busy, busy, busy . . .
– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown
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06 June 2012

Walker Files Appeal in Kimberlin Case;br / Ali Akbar Says: ‘We’re Not Stopping.’

Walker Files Appeal in Kimberlin Case;br / Ali Akbar Says: ‘We’re Not Stopping.’


Did Brett Kimberlin Stalk BlogCon?

Posted on | June 6, 2012 | 1 Comment and 0 Reactions
FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
New developments today in the story of convicted terrorist bomber-turned-progressive activist Brett Kimberlin: Sources report that conservative New Media activists believe that Kimberlin — whose activities are funded by the tax-exempt 501(c) non-profits Velvet Revolution and the Justice Through Music Project — showed up in April at BlogCon, a conference sponsored by FreedomWorks and the Franklin Center.
The incident was uncovered by @JDonels, who reported on his Tumblr blog that a person using the Twitter alias “Robert Slydell” appears to have been involved in the incident:
Did a left-wing activist infiltrate BlogCon Charlotte? Try to intimidate bloggers on Twitter? Did this person know someone who may have hacked Twitter accounts, and have his real name accidentally exposed in the process? And did this person know of efforts to put conservatives in TwitterGulag?
A photo of Kimberlin was circulated among online activists and, sources say, it was confirmed that Kimberlin showed up at the hotel in Charlotte, N.C., where BlogCon was held. Sources say Kimberlin was seen collecting information about the conference proceedings and was eventually escorted from the premises by hotel security.
Kimberlin has been accused of engaging in a campaign of harassment and intimidation against conservative bloggers, including Patrick “Patterico” Frey, Aaron Walker and National Bloggers Club president Ali Akbar. The case has drawn widespread attention, and major news organizations are taking increased interest in the story. Bestselling author Michelle Malkin wrote today:
[Award-winning conservative blogger] Ace of Spades has called for a National Day of Blogger Silence this Friday to focus Capitol Hill’s attention to this vital free speech fight.
EXPECT UPDATES . . .
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Category: The Kimberlin Files

Walker Files Appeal in Kimberlin Case;
Ali Akbar Says: ‘We’re Not Stopping.’

Posted on | June 6, 2012 | 12 Comments and 0 Reactions
Press release from the National Bloggers Club:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2012
Contact: Ali Akbar
ali@blogbash.org (888) 308-3606
NATIONAL BLOGGERS CLUB ANNOUNCES THAT JAILED
BLOGGER AARON WALKER HAS APPEALED AGAINST
CONVICTED DOMESTIC TERRORIST BRETT KIMBERLIN
WASHINGTON, DC — The National Bloggers Club, Inc. is announcing that it will continue to raise funds to provide financial relief to member Aaron Walker. An appeal to the peace order granted by Judge C.J. Vaughey was filed Monday.
Last week the Maryland judge issued a 6-month peace order and jailed attorney Aaron Walker, preventing him from mentioning Brett Kimberlin in public. A Blogger and Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney wrote of this order that, “this is a clear-cut case of a First Amendment violation — about as clear-cut as you’ll ever hear.” Since then, Walker has been working with a new legal team and the National Bloggers Club to legally restore his free speech rights.
“We’ve got over a dozen lawyers coordinating on this now, volunteering their time. Aaron’s first amendment rights are being violated when he is barred from even being able to publicly mention the case or Kimberlin’s violent past,” said Bloggers Club president Ali A. Akbar.
Akbar continued, “Yesterday they came after the Bloggers Club and my family — my family. We’re not stopping. We’ve got to raise $5,000 more dollars to continue to stand with Aaron Walker and I’m positive supporters will continue to step up.”
The National Bloggers Club is working to promote KimberlinFiles.org where supporters continue to give financial and written support to this cause.
In keeping with the ruling of the court, Walker’s response was simply, “thank you”.
- * – * – * -
Lots of important background from Michelle “The Boss” Malkin:
When I asked Ali Akbar of the National Bloggers Club for help with a website/infrastructure to support the blogger targets of convicted bomber/online terrorist Brett Kimberlin two weeks ago, he didn’t hesitate or waver. He stepped up to the plate because he believes in free speech and new media. I knew and respected him from his past work on grass-roots conservative campaigns and online projects. I was honored to join the NBC board of directors when he asked me late last year. There is no vast, deeply-funded conspiracy behind how it all came together — as some deranged progressive operatives (who habitually indulge in such rancid psychological projection) are claiming. I simply asked for help with organizing/fundraising tasks that were way beyond my paygrade. Ali volunteered to help and hasn’t stopped. The blogosphere owes him bottomless thanks.
Despite threats made to Ali’s family by Kimberlin associates and new legal threats waged by one Kevin Zeese, he and the NBC are not backing down. They are standing with the Kimberlin targets who continue to fight these ongoing menaces. Joining the battle: many, many excellent First Amendment lawyers (including Eugene Volokh, who on Tuesday noted his pro bono involvement at his blog.) . . .
Please read the whole thing. Ali’s role in this emergency has been crucial and The Boss has been on fire for the past two weeks.
There is much, much more to this story, and major national news organizations are taking notice of one of the most fascinating political dramas of this wild and weird year.


THE KIMBERLIN FILES:
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05 June 2012

Fear and Loathing on Capitol Hill: The GOP Caucus Is Decadent and Depraved

Fear and Loathing on Capitol Hill: The GOP Caucus Is Decadent and Depraved

Fear and Loathing on Capitol Hill: The GOP Caucus Is Decadent and Depraved

Posted on | June 5, 2012 | 6 Comments and 0 Reactions
“They are our representatives; we would like some representation.”
– Ace of Spades, June 4, 2012
FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
“Where are those spineless Republican bastards in Congress when we need ‘em, huh?” I shouted, trying to explain to a couple of young Beltway professionals the concept behind National Day of Blogger Silence. “They expect us to carry their message and fight their fights, and here we’ve got bloggers getting SWATted and bloggers going to jail and not a single Republican on Capitol Hill has said a f–king word! Not so much as a g–d– two-minute floor speech or a two-sentence press release statement!”
A couple of passersby on the sidewalk glanced over at the patio of the Pennsylvania Street bar where I was, uh, exercising my First Amendment rights — not to say ranting like a madman — earlier this afternoon. Having come to Capitol Hill for a meeting, I’d bumped into these two D.C. professionals who are young friends of mine, though not quite protegés, although one of them was someone whom I once advised to stay away from the Culture 11 debacle. She didn’t listen, and now doesn’t even mention on her LinkedIn profile her involvement in that infamous New Media catastrophe. But I digress . . .
Avoiding the temptation to tell my side of the Brett Kimberlin situation in straight-out gonzo mode has been easier than I thought. Obviously, the sheer craziness of this bizarre three-week saga — forced into a fugitive existence because I was covering the story of a notorious terrorist-turned-pseud0-progressive activist — lent itself to a Thompsonesque telling. Your average Republican doesn’t understand the gonzo method, however, and the story is serious enough that it deserves to be told in the measured tones and straightforward narrative style of Neutral Objective Journalism, even while my life turned into a freakish carnival of high-intensity weirdness.
Then on Monday the demented swine behind “Breitbart Unmasked” decided it would be a clever idea to go after Ali Akbar, and Ace of Spades announced his Day of Silence plan, which a lot of people don’t seem to understand.  So I decided to come to Washington, D.C., today, wearing a Serious Business Suit for a meeting where I had about two minutes to try to explain to Serious People what this is all about and why it matters.
Kind of a stressful experience and, in retrospect, it probably wasn’t a wise decision to grab a tall cup of strong coffee during the meeting, seeing as how it was my fourth or fifth cup of the day. I did OK in the actual meeting — anyone familiar with the convoluted Kimberlin/Rauhauser story can appreciate the difficulty of boiling it down to a two-minute impromptu pressentation — but afterward, I was a bit torqued up, so when one of the young professionals expressed mystification at the Day of Silence idea, I went off like a skyrocket.
“Maybe you don’t understand it, but I understand exactly what Ace is saying,” I said, puffing a Marlboro outside a Capitol Hill tavern. “It’s not that we’re not going to blog at all on Friday, but that we’re all going to put up one big post about this Kimberlin situation and nothing else.
“No election news, no policy stuff, no snarky jokes at the expense of the usual MSNBC douchebags — just one post about the way these left-wing monsters are attempting to silence us, and that’s it for the whole f–king day. Because, see, there’s some guys in Congress who owe us, big time, and Ace damned well knows it.
“You may not remember the ‘Crazed Ewok’ stuff Ace was posting about GOP challengers during the 2010 mid-terms, but I do. We’ve been carrying their water all this time, raising money for campaigns and pushing their message, and now when we need some help, those cowardly motherf–kers act like they never even heard of us? They’re going to sit up there in their offices and let us be gobbled up by these monsters and not say Word One about it?  Oh, hell no.”
It was at that point that one of the young professionals said that maybe Darrell Issa could do something.
“What?!” I roared. “You don’t think Issa’s people know all about this crap? Oh, yeah, like maybe we can get a briefing on the Hill or a meeting with some staffers next week or whatever. F–k that! We need action. We need action now — not next week or next month — now! Today! Immediately!”
The young D.C. professionals were clearly disturbed by the vehemence of my discourse, which was loud enough to be overheard by passersby on the sidewalk next to the patio.
“Hey, I’m sorry I got a little worked up there,” I said, putting out my cigarette and quieting my voice. “Probably shouldn’t have had that cup of coffee. You see how serious this is.”
Yes, of course they could. And so I said good-bye to my friends and got in my car and drove over here to an Undisclosed Location on K Street, where big-shot lobbyist types in $1,500 suits are lighting up Cohibas and laying down enormous bets on Scott Walker’s margin of victory tonight in Wisconsin.
If Walker wins by less than 5 points, these guys will be short a few grand tomorrow morning, but as long as Walker wins — and my Cohiba-smoking lobbyist pals are 100% certain he will — they’ll be happy even if he doesn’t “cover the spread.”
“Just imagine,” one of them said to me, “the look on Ed Schultz’s face — that fat blowhard is going to be the biggest idiot on TV!”
My big-shot K Street pals have offered to buy the drinks at their private Scott Walker Victory Party here in D.C. tonight, and my wife says she understands I need a break from all this stress, so it looks like I’ll be forced to accept their invitation. Surely my readers won’t begrudge the fugitive this one night of leisurely amusement, laughing it up at Ed Schultz’s embarrassed explanations of why Scott Walker stomped the crap out of that doofus Democrat from Milwaukee and his corrupt union buddies.
Living well is the best revenge, they say.
– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown
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Ali Akbar Says, ‘World War Three’

Ali Akbar Says, ‘World War Three’


Ali Akbar Says, ‘World War Three’

Posted on | June 5, 2012 | 19 Comments and 0 Reactions

Ali Akbar with Tea Party candidate Doug Hoffman, October 2009
FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Monday afternoon I was off the grid when Ali Akbar called to tell me that “Breitbart Unmasked” had published a photo and the address of his mother’s home in Texas in a viciously mendacious attack on the National Bloggers Club. While I had no Web access at the time, I was able to send a Tweet from my cell phone, and pardonnez mon français.

Does the phrase “Don’t mess with Texas” ring a bell? Maryland courts have been incredibly lenient with the Kimberlin/Rauhauser axis, but Ali assures me that Texas won’t take too kindly to the purposeful harassment of one of its law-abiding citizens. Ali’s mother has harmed no one, and whoever thought up this sick stunt might find themselves prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law — Texas law. IYKWIMAITYD.
As to the absurd delusions propagated by “Breitbart Unmasked” that the National Bloggers Club is rolling in mega-bucks from Republican fat cats — it’s simply not true.
The truth, to the best of my knowledge, is this: Melissa Clouthier began working last year to organize the National Bloggers Club. If conservative bloggers were Cub Scouts, Melissa would be our den mother. And she also has also played a key role in helping Ali in put on the annual “Blog Bash” at CPAC. This year’s Blog Bash was such a monster success in terms of sponsorships that they finished with a couple thousand bucks surplus, and it was agreed that this money would be used to fund the start of the National Bloggers Club.
So any disinformation you hear about the National Bloggers Club being lavishly funded by secretive Republican gazillionaires is bunk.
The Kimberlin/Rauhauser axis are experts at disinformation, and another lie they’ve told is that the National Bloggers Club is shoveling big money to Aaron Walker and others, myself included. It’s simply not true. The National Bloggers Club is trying to help Aaron, especially in terms of providing him with legal assistance in his court fight against Brett Kimberlin, but nobody’s getting rich off this and, as for me, I haven’t asked for a cent from the Club yet.
Nobody’s sued me and I haven’t sued anybody. Our readers here have been extraordinarily generous in hitting the tip jar to help with the extraordinary expenses, and I’m doing OK so far. But nobody knows what will happen next in this rapidly escalating online war, so it’s nice to know that the Club is available to help — and, we must hope, their ability to support and defend conservative bloggers in situations like this will prove valuable in the future.
The point is that the “Breitbart Unmasked” attack on Ali is as misguided as it is dishonest, and if Brett Kimberlin or Neal Rauhauser or any of their evil trolls think Ali is going to be intimidated by their vicious games, they’ve got another think coming.
What kind of liar is Brett Kimberlin? Check out Patterico’s post about the lies Kimberlin told to get Aaron Walker arrested.
Expect blogging to be light here today, as the Undisclosed Location will be re-locating temporarily while I conduct some important and highly relevant business.
One other note: Sources inform me that Aaron Walker filed Monday for an appeal of Judge Vaughey’s ruling in last week’s Maryland hearing. No word yet on when the appeal will be heard.
Please give generously to the National Bloggers Club, and also remember Ali and his family in your prayers.
– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown
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Next victim, please

Next victim, please


Next victim, please

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Posted by    Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 10:32am

Now they’re going after Ali Akbar, who is one of the leaders of the National Bloggers Club helping to defend Aaron Walker and others.
As reported by Stacy McCain:
Monday afternoon I was off the grid when Ali Akbar called to tell me that “Breitbart Unmasked” had published a photo and the address of his mother’s home in Texas in a viciously mendacious attack on the National Bloggers Club.
Twitchy has Akbar’s tweet:
It also looks like their trying to intimidate David Hogberg at IBD.
Meanwhile, Patterico has more on how Kimberlin managed to get Walker arrested on false premises.
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Gauntlet Thrown Down @alibr/UPDATE: An SMS From RSM

Gauntlet Thrown Down @alibr/UPDATE: An SMS From RSM


Gauntlet Thrown Down @ali
UPDATE: An SMS From RSM

Posted on | June 4, 2012 | 58 Comments and 50 Reactions
by Smitty

Ace of Spades: National Day of Blogger Silence — This Friday
On Friday, this site will be absolutely dead-silent, which is what Brett Kimberlin and his stalker crew seeks, and what the media and our supposed Representatives in Congress would permit.
The only post on Friday will be a bold-faced Open Letter to Congress, urging them to act and not attempt to pass the buck to others.
They are our representatives; we would like some representation.
They vowed to defend and protect the Constitution; they can honor that vow now.
I will post links of Congressmen’s and Senator’s email addresses and offices and phone numbers, and urge every concerned American citizen to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that a crime in progress against the First Amendment (and people’s safety) is occurring, and we humbly request they take this seriously.
They are literally going to get someone killed. That is their endgame here.
Will the media and Congress pretend “we didn’t know” when this happens?
ABCNews knows.
The Weekly Standard knows.
The Daily Caller knows.
And many, but not yet all, Congressmen and Senators know.
This blog will (likely) follow Ace’s lead. I’m sure my Congressman will listen to a polite petition. He could surprise me and take action, too. That hope exists.
Update: linked at The Daley Gator
Update II: More at American Power. Furthermore, Stacy spoke to Ali and got this quote:

“World War Three.”

The nature of the offense is that the allegedly Brett Kimberlin-linked site “Breitbart Unmasked” (no linky love for these clowns) apparently thought it was cool to post photos of the location of some family members of Ali.
Now, I have not ever seen Ali in an other-than-gentlemanly mode. I shall strive to keep it that way.
Update III: linked at The Camp of the Saints
Update IV: linked at The Conservatory, Da Tech Guy, and The Lonely Conservative. Plus reporting at Twitchy.
Update V: linkage from The Fellowship of the Perpetually Aggrieved, hogewash, Ameryx le Gallois, Conservative Hideout, and The Rio Norte Line.
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Audiotapes From Aaron Worthing's 'Peace Order' Hearing in Maryland

Audiotapes From Aaron Worthing's 'Peace Order' Hearing in Maryland


Monday, June 4, 2012

Audiotapes From Aaron Worthing's 'Peace Order' Hearing in Maryland

William Jacobson posted a vital reminder yesterday on the importance of keeping the spotlight on the Brett Kimberlin story. William praised Robert Stacy McCain for his investigative reporting: "Good job." And William also points us to the latest developments this morning: "Another good job."

It turns out that Patterico has the transcriptions from the Aaron Worthing hearing. See: "Audio and Transcripts from the Hearing Where Aaron Walker Was Arrested for Blogging About a Public Figure."

And Michelle Malkin has a shout-out: "Contempt: Free speech-trampling judge in Kimberlin case exposed; help Aaron Walker fight back."

Now, checking back over at The Other McCain, Robert has a new post up: "‘A Faint Whiff of Vigilante Hysteria’: Weinergate’s Kimberlin Connection."

Recall that I visited my congressman's office last week: "Is Convicted Terrorist Brett Kimberlin Abusing Tax-Exempt Status? Calling for Congressional Hearings on Continuation of Section 501(c)(3) Benefits."

I urge others to contact their representatives and keep blogging and tweeting this story. Keep the pressure on. As Michelle notes:
This isn’t just a one-day commitment. It’s an ongoing battle for free speech. Every voice, every blog post, every tweet, every e-mail counts.
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04 June 2012

‘A Faint Whiff of Vigilante Hysteria’: Weinergate’s Kimberlin Connection

‘A Faint Whiff of Vigilante Hysteria’: Weinergate’s Kimberlin Connection


‘A Faint Whiff of Vigilante Hysteria’: Weinergate’s Kimberlin Connection

Posted on | June 4, 2012 | 14 Comments and 48 Reactions

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
The phrase quoted in the title is from a Firedoglake diarist who accurately calls the Brett Kimberlin story a “complex saga, as densely peopled and subplotted as a 19th century Russian novel.” While I resent the suggestion that I’m involved in any sort of “hysteria” — vigilante or otherwise — I’m linking the FDL diary because it offers a rather concise summary of how this story connects to the WeinerGate scandal.
As explained in a previous post, Neal Rauhauser’s involvement with Brett Kimberlin apparently began in 2011. In February of this year, Rauhauser published a bizarre eight-page document (“Andrew Breitbart’s ISR Cell?”) expressing the belief that he and Kimberlin were targets of a conspiracy involving Andrew Breitbart and many others, including Mike Stack, who played a key role in exposing Democrat Rep. Anthony Weiner’s online sexcapades.
Rauhauser is a fanatical “Weiner Truther,” believing in a conspiracy theory version of the WeinerGate scandal in which the congressman was the victim of a “set up” hoax perpetrated by Andrew Breitbart and/or shadowy Republican operatives. This left-wing tinfoil-hat stuff doesn’t really interest me, but it explains Rauhauser’s apparent obsession with Mike Stack, who is believed to be the only person who knows the true identity of “Dan Wolfe,” the guy who first spotted the incriminating Twitter message from Weiner. It also explains some other things, as reported by Rosie Gray at BuzzFeed in her story on the “Weiner Truthers”:
A major locus of modern Weiner trutherism is BreitbartUnmasked.com, a site “dedicated to unmasking the underbelly of Andrew Breitbart and his crew of rogues, criminals, wannabe journalists, various right wing extremists and the religious intolerant,” per its “About Us” section. Breitbart Unmasked features a large GIF of Breitbart’s face morphing into a mask, and lists the name of everyone in Breitbartworld, from editors of Breitbart.com to people only tangentially related.
One of its related Twitter accounts, @OccupyRebellion, regularly tweets about Weinergate and the alleged conspiracies therein. . . .
[Joseph Cannon observes:] These twilight warriors are obsessed with hacking and related matters. Some of them claim to have worked with Anonymous and LulzSec and allied organizations.
There is widespread suspicion that Brett Kimberlin is behind the “BreitbartUnmasked” site, which has access to information that could only have come from Kimberlin, and which is fixated on Kimberlin’s enemies to the exclusion of nearly everything else.
Now ask yourself: Why would hackers who claim affiliation with Anonymous and LulzSec be so obsessed with the WeinerGate scandal?
Rather than suggest an answer to that now, let’s trace back how it was that Kimberlin and Rauhauser became allies. In late 2009, the non-profit Velvet Revolution (a partnership between Kimberlin and blogger Brad Friedman) launched “StopTheChamber.com,” offering a $200,000 reward “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue.” Fox News quoted a lawyer involved in that effort:
“On every issue, the Chamber is kind of the lead corporate advocate for the status quo,” said Kevin Zeese, a lawyer who sits on the board for Velvet Revolution, calling Donohue a “knee-jerk reactionary” and the Chamber a “right-wing extremist group.”
Liberal blogger Seth “Socrates” Allen noted at the time that he was suspicious of Friedman and Kimberlin’s bona fides, explaining that Velvet Revolution (VR) had previously raised money and gained publicity by offering rewards for proof of Republican vote fraud in the 2004 election, claiming that Karl Rove was part of a conspiracy to suppress such evidence. In September 2008, VR’s “Prosecute Rove” site urged its supporters:
Tell Congress to investigate Karl Rove’s cyber strategy to illegally manipulate elections. . . . [S]end an email to your Congress Members demanding immediate public hearings on whistleblower allegations that Rove architected and directed illegal attacks on Democratic candidates through the improper use of corporate funds channeled through fake Web-based front organizations, the improper political use of the Justice Department to prosecute opposition candidates, and the use of Internet based IT networks to alter election results.
Crazy? Sure. But notice something else from that site:
One of our targets is the US Chamber of Commerce which has spent close to a half billion dollars on lobbying since George Bush was inaugurated. The attorneys assert that Rove has used the Chamber to bankroll many of the illegal attacks using fake front groups posing as advocacy organizations.
The Chamber of Commerce, then, was a demonized scapegoat in VR’s rhetoric for many months prior to their offering a reward for “evidence” against the Chamber’s CEO.
Meanwhile, in September 2009, Breitbart had launched BigGovernment.com with the undercover ACORN “sting” videos by James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles. In July 2010, Kevin Zeese — the same Velvet Revolution lawyer who had called the Chamber of Commerce a “right-wing extremist group” — send a letter to Maryland authorities demanding the prosecution of O’Keefe and Giles.
On Oct. 11, 2010, Breitbart published Mandy “Liberty Chick” Nagy’s 3,600-word exposé of Kimberlin’s criminal background, “Progressives Embrace Convicted Terrorist.”
When Patterico published a post based on Nagy’s article, Kimberlin responded with an e-mail threatening to sue Patterico:
Please take this email as an intent to sue you for your Oct 11, 2010 post on Patterico.com which has defamed and libeled me. I have just sued Socrates on which you rely for cyber stalking, defamation, libel, violation of privacy and interference with business. Socrates has been banned from many sites and forums for stalking many people including me. He is under criminal investigation for cyber bullying and cyber stalking. By corresponding with him and relying on his defamatory posts, you are conspiring with him and are just as liable as he.
Notice that Kimberlin accuses Patterico of “conspiring with” Socrates (Seth Allen’s online moniker), even though Patterico’s post was based on reporting by Nagy, an experienced researcher who had cited multiple published sources, including accounts of Kimberlin’s crimes in the Indianapolis Star, a 2007 article by Time magazine’s Massimo Calabresi and Mark Singer’s 1996 book, Citizen K: The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin.
On Dec. 2, 2010, Kimberlin’s Velvet Revolution announced a new site called “Indict Breitbart” with the avowed purpose “to seek accountability for the violations of criminal law committed by Andrew Breitbart, James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles.”
In February 2011, “Anonymous” hackers illegally obtained nearly 70,000 e-mails from HBGary, a security firm that had been working with two other firms to prepare a proposal to help the U.S. Chamber of Commerce fight its critics, including Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks. The contract was never awarded and the HBGary plan was never implemented, but the e-mails revealed suggestions of what Andy Greenberg of Forbes called “Nixonesque tactics.” One of the hacked e-mails, sent in November 2010 from HBGary’s Aaron Barr to Patrick Ryan of Berrico Technologies, included a link to Mandy Nagy’s article about Kimberlin with the note, “We could do so much with this.”
Nagy discussed the HBGary hacking in a Feb. 14, 2011, post at Breitbart, as did Patterico at his site. Rauhauser has described himself as a “hacker,” and in 2011 Rauhauser (blogging as “Stranded Wind” at Daily Kos) started showing interest in the “Anonymous” hackers and their targets at the Chamber and HBGary:
Meanwhile, in a May 25 post at Daily Kos — two days before the WeinerGate scandal broke — we find Rauhauser linking Kimberlin’s “Indict Breitbart” site, and boasting that Breitbart had responded to him on Twitter. A few days later, Rauhauser began blogging constantly about Weiner at Daily Kos:
Rauhauser consistently promoted the hoax-hack theory of the WeinerGate scandal, continuing to argue that Weiner had been the victim of some devious hacker, even after Weiner admitted his guilt and resigned from office. Rauhauser also repeatedly linked Kimberlin’s “Indict Breitbart” site and, along the way, made several interesting statements. For example, in his May 30 post, Rauhauser bragged about having FBI connections:
OK, kids, in addition to being a mouthy blogger I’m also an Infragard member and my day job gets me occasional meetings with the FBI. I just called the agent for my district who covers cybercrime and we need to get this muddle distilled down for him.
In his June 2 post, Rauhauser offered this bizarre claim:
Congressman Anthony Weiner was stalked, set up, smeared, and this was coordinated to protect Clarence Thomas from scrutiny.
What did Rauhauser link? A petition by Kimberlin’s Velvet Revolution demanding impeachment and prosecution of Justice Thomas.
In his June 3 post, Rauhauser invokes two of his Twitter nemeses and threatens to get Dana Loesch fired from CNN:
When you read this, Ms. Loesch, and I know you will, I have a personal request for you. Go get with discredited, disorganized dullards @SwiftRead and @GregWHoward of Twittergate fame, and then show me those pretty, pouty lips of yours saying my name on PJTV again. That’s the only TV outlet you are gonna have, honey, because we’re going to make it impossible for CNN to keep you …
Uh, “Twittergate fame”? The MSM never covered TwitterGate, the 2010 episode in which Rauhauser was accused of organizing a crew of online thugs to harass Tea Party activists on Twitter, and so the “fame” of the participants exists only in Neal Rauhauser’s warped mind — but there seem to be a lot of things that exist only in Neal Rauhauser’s warped mind, eh? Right-wing super-hackers who can hijack a congressman’s Blackberry to send pictures of the congressman’s wang over Twitter as part of a genius scheme to protect Clarence Thomas, for example. Also, the “Christian Infowar Militia“:
Congressman Weiner was stalked and set up by a Christian Infowar Militia cell based largely in Oklahoma City.
I’m sure residents of Oklahoma City were deeply alarmed to discover that this particular figment of Neal Rauhauser’s depraved imagination was located in their midst. The “Christian Infowar Militia cell” delusion eventually faded, however, as Rauhauser’s attention focused on the real villain of WeinerGate: Los Angeles deputy district attorney Patrick “Patterico” Frey!
By July 27, 2011, Rauhauser declared that Patterico “looks to be a pretty good candidate for the planner/operator behind Weinergate.”
Patterico had been one of Kimberlin’s prime targets since October 2010, and by late July 2011, Rauhauser was using his DailyKos diary to attack Patterico every other day. If you’ll read Rauhauser’s July 4 post, you’ll find that this isn’t exactly a coincidence:
Who has been in sight, frantically flogging explanations that don’t add up, is Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Patrick Frey . . .
And when someone forwarded me the complaint regarding Frey running a cyberstalking campaign in conjunction with South Easton, Massachusetts resident Seth L. Allen, well, maybe this whole situation is about to become much clearer.
Click. Three days later, on July 7, Rauhauser announces on DKos his plan to move from Illinois to Washington, D.C., for a job that would “provide for me more in a week than I make for a whole month at my part time day job here in Illinois.” And in October 2011, Rauhauser described himself as doing “protective service work” for a client who is “the head of a Washington D.C. NGO.”
This description fits Kimberlin, whose 501(c)3 Justice Through Music Project has collected about $1.8 million in contributions since its founding in 2005. In December 20, 2011, Seth Allen himself made that connection in a post titled, “Sadistic Cybersmearing and the Roots of Blogging Fascism.”
Having pointed out all these dots in the pattern, do I really need to connect them for the perceptive reader? Rauhauser’s February conspiracy-theory treatise (“Andrew Breitbart’s ISR Cell?”) shows his ongoing obsession with the HBGary “Anonymous” hacking as well as WeinerGate– and the “Weiner Truthers” at the “Breitbart Unmasked” site are “obsessed with hacking and related matters.”
Kimberlin has been targeting Patterico since October 2010, and it was evidently Rauhauser’s anti-Patterico blogging that brought him into Kimberlin’s orbit so that, by October 2011, Rauhauser seemed to be describing Kimberlin as his client.
As Investors Business Daily reporter David Hogberg observed at Aaron Walker’s hearing last week, Rauhauser is now accompanying convicted felon Brett Kimberlin to court.
Another coincidence: What do “SWATting” victims Patterico and Mike Stack have in common, other than the fact that, as Patterico himself notes, Rauhauser hates their guts?
Is Rauhauser being paid by Brett Kimberlin — with proceeds from tax-exempt non-profits — to pursue these vendettas?
Back in October 2010, when his “beandogs” scheme was blowing up in his face, Rauhauser boasted that he is armed with a pistol. Is it really wise to leave such a man, clearly obsessed with getting revenge on his enemies, running around with a firearm?
Far be it from me to encourage “vigilante hysteria,” but if Rauhauser and Kimberlin aren’t under investigation by the FBI yet, why not?
– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

 

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin is up for a fight over Aaron Walker’s case in Maryland. Patterico has transcripts of last week’s Walker hearing.


THE KIMBERLIN FILES:
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