Brett Kimberlin’s Heiress Aunt Helping Fund His Tax-Exempt Harassment

Posted on | May 27, 2012 | 161 Comments

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Convicted felon Brett Kimberlin is the nephew of a wealthy Maryland woman who has contributed to a foundation that helped fund a 501(c)3 organization of which Kimberlin is the director. Kimberlin’s activities have recently attracted widespread attention because of his attempts to intimidate and harass bloggers who wrote about his criminal history.

Harriet Crosby, 66, reportedly an heiress to the General Mills fortune, was one of the original donors to the Threshold Foundation, which contributed $20,000 to Kimberlin’s Justice Through Music Project in 2008, according to database research I reported May 19.

The Threshold Foundation was started by a group of wealthy devotees of environmentalism and trancendental meditation. The foundation’s “very liberal” view, researcher Ron Arnold has written, “saw American society as rife with injustice and in need of radical transformation.” Threshold has been affiliated with the Tides Foundation, linked to left-wing billionaire George Soros.

A 2009 profile of Crosby in the alumni magazine of the elite Putney School — a private academy in Vermont, where the annual tuition is $46,900 for boarding students — described her as “active” in the tax-exempt non-profit group Velvet Revolution, which Kimberlin helped start in association with liberal blogger Brad Friedman.

Velvet Revolution gained notoriety by making unsubstantiated claims that Republicans stole the 2004 presidential election through vote fraud. A 2007 Time magazine profile of Kimberlin described how he “found a home in the blogosphere” by “repeatedly asserting as fact things that are not true.” At one point, Kimberlin offered a $100,000 reward for proof of his assertion that President George W. Bush’s re-election was obtained through vote fraud, a reward that was never paid. Velvet Revolution has also unsuccessfully sought criminal prosecution of various public figures including GOP strategist Karl Rove, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the late New Media entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart.

The connection between Kimberlin and Crosby — verified by a 2009 article in the Montgomery County (Md.) Gazette — was reported today by Tee Zieldors, who credits independent blogger Seth Allen (whose Twitter account is @Preposterocity) for the tip.

It was Allen’s writings about Kimberlin that resulted in him being the defendant in a lawsuit brought by Kimberlin. Allen’s lawyer, Aaron Worthing, subsequently drew attention to his own experiences with Kimberlin in a 28,000-word account on May 17.

Kimberlin is scheduled to appear in a Maryland court Tuesday for a hearing about a “peace order” he has sought against Walker.

* * * * *

The National Bloggers Club has created KimberlinFiles.org to help call attention to the Kimberlin case and, as the non-profit goup’s president Ali Akbar says, to enable “supporters to make financial donations to a relief fund as a show of support.”

– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

UPDATE: Linked by Legal Insurrection, Da Tech Guy, The Camp of the Saints, Little Miss Attila, That Innocuous Girl and Daley Gator — thanks! — and welcome, Instapundit readers!

THE KIMBERLIN FILES:

Category: Aaron Worthing, Crime, Terrorism, The Kimberlin Files

Comments

161 Responses to “Brett Kimberlin’s Heiress Aunt Helping Fund His Tax-Exempt Harassment”

Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 5:35 pm

May I have the EIN of Threshold, please? I’ve got 26 results, and I’m pretty sure I can cull out only 8.
teezieldors
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:03 pm

Good piece, but you actually undersell how much money Threshold has given to BK …. There were $200,000+ to Velvet Revolution as well as donations to JTMP all disclosed on Threshold’s website.

Some of those private Fidelity donations may have also been from this ladyhttp://badjournalist.blogspot.com/2012/05/threshold-foundation-donations-to-brett.html
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:15 pm

Extra: Velvet Revolution (suddenly listed as being in Washington DC (huh?), but with the same EIN as always) received $43,000 from Threshold in 2010. Recorded (page 34 of 42 of Threshold’s 990) as: This grant is for your Protect our elections campaign.

I printed the page, and the print is tiny. I’ll be glad to have someone else verify it.
Mike G.
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:22 pm

So this douchebag has a super rich Auntie…and he can’t come up with the money to pay the civil suit against him?
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:24 pm

Oh. In 2011, according to the website for Threshold, Velvet Revolution got $60,904.

In 2010, VR’s whole revenue was approximately $78,000.

Say it with me, now: “What?!”
Hal
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:26 pm

Dianna,

Could you be a little more specific re: Threshold, please, and I’ll get right on it.

Thanks.
PaulLemmen
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:35 pm

Kimberlin back to his tax dodging ways it seems, skimming money, under-reporting income, money-laundering. Lots there …
Dr_Tesla
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:44 pm

Hey guys,

Has RSM provided any evidence of his claim his wife was contacted at work, or any evidence that this call was related to Kimberlin. To me, that seems rather farfetched.

I’m writing a story about this, any info you have would be appreciated.
Bob Belvedere
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:46 pm

You go, girl.
Hal
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:50 pm

Hey Doc, why not go to the source himself, huh? With an investigation afoot, why should he reveal to you, me, or any other person unknown?
Bob Belvedere
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:54 pm

You do realize, though you may be a good person, your comments sound just like a Cencern Troll’s.
Guest
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:57 pm

Franklin and Harriet, the Crosby family Story
http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Harriet-Crosby-family-Story/dp/B002QFRPD2/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338159063&sr=1-1
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:57 pm

I’ve got the website – they’re administered by Tides (big surprise). Here’s the URL: http://www.thresholdfoundation.org/index.php?id=244

The 990 I found (most recent is 2010) through Guidestar, is most easily located by entering Threshold’s EIN (13-3028214
) into the search box. Page 34 is the second page of grant listings.
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:59 pm

Far-fetched? When it’s a known practice of Kimberlin’s? See: Aaron “Worthing” Walker’s account.
Dr_Tesla
May 27th, 2012 @ 6:59 pm

@50d592e9e206c3f7d8c2aea645c8a733:disqus
I appreciate the response. RSM got mad about me a few years ago about something that I don’t recall the details of and he banned me from the website so I don’t feel like he’s somebody I can talk to directlly.

I get the impression he was taking about this Kimmerlin story and the swatting stuff and then, then his wife gets a call from some stranger out of the blue! It almost seems like he conveniently placed hiimself into this story. Maybe he didn’t, maybe he’s just paranoid and thinks he could have been a target and thus he took an odd phone call to his wife at work and assumed it was Kimberlin related. Or mabye it is Kimberlin related but to me it just struck me as unlikely that Kimberlin or his associated would know much about RSM and target him. How would they know where his wife works and get her number. It seems like too many improbablities have to be true for this to be a legit story but I’m a dogged reporter and I will seek the truth.
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:01 pm

Don’t I always?
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:03 pm

Do you know if the stocks contributed to JTMP are from her? And can you point me to how you found out about the Fidelity donations? I couldn’t see how from their site, and I’m always a little leery of digging into what’s really private business.
g b
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:08 pm

Let me see if I can get this right.

I have a rich relative who wishes to give me money without the gift tax hangup. I setup a 501 (c3) non-profit with myself as head honcho. My relative gives to a foundation with the gift directed to go to my non-profit. They get a tax deduction and I get more than the $20,000 annual gift allowance and it only shows as from the foundation because of the privacy rules.

Sweet!
Dr_Tesla
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:08 pm

@Bob_Belvedere:disqus,
Cercerned is spelled concerned. I would have let it slide but it didn’t look like a typo, more like ignorance. I have a lot of typos b/c i’m lying down while i type this out but it comes out ok.
ThePaganTemple
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:09 pm

You are aware Kimberlin is connected to George Soros and the Tides foundation, right? These aren’t small potatoes players with limited resources at their disposal.
Adobe_Walls
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:10 pm

Dr_Tesla?
#BrettKimberlin D+2: All In The Kimberlin Family « The Camp Of The Saints
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:11 pm

[…] more background on who exactly is funding Brett Kimberlain as his partners in Leftist thuggery. Do take the time to click here and read the whole report, but here is a highlight: FROM AN UNDISCLOSED […]
Dr_Tesla
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:12 pm

Do you think George Soros is targeting RSM? I don’t think he’s really that big of a name in politics, nothing against RSM but lot of pundits out there
MM
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:13 pm

Riiiight…. A “dogged reporter” who can’t spell and uses poor grammar. Uh huh.
Dr_Tesla
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:15 pm

What exactly did the stranger say to RSM’s wife on the phone? I didn’t see that reported.
Adobe_Walls
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:16 pm

That word improbable, I do not think it means what you think it means. Or dogged reporter for that matter.
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:17 pm

You’re “banned from the website”, yet, here you are? How piquant.
Adobe_Walls
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:18 pm

Any progress on that project?
Datechguy's Blog » Blog Archive » Brett Kimberlin shows why Wikipedia should not be used as a reference » Datechguy's Blog
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:20 pm

[…] You can listen live at TuneIn or at wcrnradio.com Maybe if Brett Kimberlin’s rich aunt can spare the time she can listen too. […]
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:25 pm

If you’re a reporter, I’m suddenly clear on why so many stories are a complete mess.

Reading comprehension is your friend. Re-read what RSM has written, then get back to us.
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:27 pm

No one has ever said that “Soros is targeting RSM” but you.

We have – and indeed, many 990’s have shown – said that Soros, via Tides, has funded Kimberlin’s JTMP and VR 501 c’s.

It’s that reading comprehension thing again, I guess.
JeffS
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:30 pm

Ummmmm, no, no it doesn’t come out OK. It makes you sound like a lazy illiterate — perhaps a high school journalism student. Who consistently gets “C-” grades. This hardly supports your “dogged reporter” self-description.

As for your ” I don’t feel like he’s somebody I can talk to directlly” [sic] line, you do realize that this is HIS blog, and that you ARE going directly to him? And that he’s not responding?

All in all, you are quite creepy. If you want to be seriously viewed as a “dogged reporter”, you’d best change your approach to interviews.
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:33 pm

Reading comprehension is your friend. Go back and read. Then ask a question that applies.
Bob Belvedere
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:41 pm

Ah! We have an answer…
http://thecampofthesaints.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/troll-doll-01.jpg
Dr_Tesla
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:41 pm

Jeffs,

I appreciate your feedback and I note your legit criticsm and I will do better in the future.

But I think you fail to realize this if RSM is living on the run with his life in danger, he may not have time to monitor this website, until he can find a Fedex Office or Barnes N Noble with wifi that looks safe. 🙂
Dr_Tesla
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:44 pm

Dianna,
I’m read a lot about this stuff but it starts to get tedious and my eyes glaze over. I never saw RSM report any specifics on what was said to his wife in the phone call she received at work. For me to judge the seriousness of RSM’s claims, I need to know what was said in that phone call.
Bob Belvedere
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:47 pm

Don’t feed the troll.
Garym
May 27th, 2012 @ 7:57 pm

This clown spams thread after thread over at HotAir.
Dianna Deeley
May 27th, 2012 @ 8:04 pm

Go back and read what RSM has written. If you’re a “dogged reporter”, you ought to be able to accurately relay what has actually been reported already. Presently, you appear to be trying to plant ideas, not report events.
Dr_Tesla
May 27th, 2012 @ 8:07 pm

@google-a659e61b2e267f4594f8d46eee6288c0:disqus
Why can’t you tell me what the stranger said to RSM’s wife i,n the phone call that prompted him to abandon his house? I didn’t see that information provided in RSM’s post about it, and that’s kind of crucial to the story is’t it?
JD99
May 27th, 2012 @ 8:35 pm

you’re a reporter? for which organization?
Brett Kimberlin being bankrolled by his wealthy aunt? « The Daley Gator
May 27th, 2012 @ 8:36 pm

[…] McCain is all over it FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION Convicted felon Brett Kimberlin is the nephew of a wealthy Maryland […]
JD99
May 27th, 2012 @ 8:38 pm

Tesla seems like a troll. And a dishonest one at that. He should be able to point to where he wants to publish his story. He’ll get some street cred then as a person who takes responsibility for himself.
JD99
May 27th, 2012 @ 8:40 pm

Think of what a trolls life is like. They invest a lot of time in obfuscation and then wonder why their life is all screwed up. the smart ones realize their mistake, the not so smart one look for someone to troll more.
Shawn Gillogly
May 27th, 2012 @ 9:04 pm

Apparently Erick Erickson got a ‘mini-SWAT’ tonight too. The media will be all over that, I’m sure.
Ladd Ehlinger Jr.
May 27th, 2012 @ 9:12 pm

Oh yeah, you’re dogged.
Ladd Ehlinger Jr.
May 27th, 2012 @ 9:15 pm

You’re just a tad creepy there, Doc.
darleenclick
May 27th, 2012 @ 9:21 pm

I see Shawn beat me to it … luckily, Erick had already talked to the cops to expect something since he was writing about Kimberlin – coincidence? I think not.
Ladd Ehlinger Jr.
May 27th, 2012 @ 9:27 pm

Or Ron Brynaert. It makes him write emails.
Instapundit » Blog Archive » SWATTING: Bogus Call Sends Police to Erick Erickson’s House. He reports here. Really, if the go…
May 27th, 2012 @ 9:27 pm

[…] UPDATE: Stacy McCain looks at where Brett Kimberlin gets his money. […]