The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Conspiracy Theorist ‘Qritiq’ Conspires Against Neal Rauhauser’s Targets

Posted on | June 26, 2012 | 29 Comments

Neal Rauhauser at the ‘Netroots Nation’ Conference

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
How stupid does “Qritiq” think we are, huh? The day after Aaron Walker is SWATted, why would Qritiq (who, several people claim, is actually a New York City schoolteacher named Lane Lipton) decide to publish contact information clearly aimed at getting complaints lodged against Patrick “Patterico” Frey?

Do I even need to cite all the evidence that indicates Qritiq is someone who has been doing the bidding of Neal Rauhauser? Is it necessary for me once again to reference those posts from August 2010 in which Neal Rauhauser explained his entire strategy?

What Rauhauser has been aiming to do, for nearly two years, is to gather (or perhaps we should say, manufacture) “evidence” of a right-wing conspiracy, so that he and his allies, by claiming they are targets of “harassment,” can file civil lawsuits or criminal complaints. Then, as Neal has quite explicitly explained, he expects to use the discovery process (in civil action) or subpoena authority (in criminal cases) to acquire information that can be used to continue this strategy.

Rauhauser is, in essence, attempting to use the legal process to engage in the same kind of “hacking” that LulzSec perpetrated against HBGary (a crime with which Neal was obsessively interested). Apparently now in cooperation with Brett Kimberlin’s 501(c) Velvet Revolution, Rauhauser wants to pursue a fishing expedition that will have the result of putting vast caches of e-mails — private, personal, business, politics, government — into Neal’s hands.

This was, for example, the strategy we saw in action when Rauhauser boasted of hand-delivering a subpoena for James O’Keefe’s e-mails, from the New Hampshire attorney general’s office, to a New Jersey courtroom where there was a case between O’Keefe and Nadia Naffe.

By publishing the contact information for Patterico’s employer, Qritiq is doing her part to advance Rauhauser’s strategy, generating a new wave of complaints and attempting to prompt some kind of investigation that might ultimately make Patterico’s e-mails legal “fair game.”

Anyone who will take the time to research Neal Rauhauser’s conspiracy theories (and his own descriptions of his motives and methods) will understand how everything fits together. Are Rauhauser’s claims of a right-wing conspiracy so ludicrous and implausible as to suggest that Neal is quite literally insane? Yes, but . . .

Despite all that, if Rauhauser can ever get courts and law enforcement agencies to buy into any of his claims, so that Neal gets hold of private information he can use against his enemies, the kookiness of his theories will ultimately be irrelevant: Neal wins.

Having spent 40 days reporting this story — and I was on the phone with four different sources this morning — I am just now beginning to see clearly what is actually happening. The “accuse the accusers” strategy, whereby Rauhauser and Kimberlin introduce zany conspiracy claims via criminal complaints and civil actions, strikes most rational people as lunacy. Yet it is actually much shrewder than it looks, because this tactic steadily creates a sort of bread-crumb trail of legal “evidence” for the existence of the (alleged and entirely imaginary) right-wing conspiracy that would be the premise of a RICO claim.

Google “RICO + Rauhauser,” and you find that Patterico understands exactly what Rauhauser & Co. have been up to, the evidence of which has been piling up on the Internet for months. Why do you think, dear reader, that Rauhauser has been so wildly obsessed with “Zapem”? Because going back to the TwitterGate episode in 2010, Zapem and her friends have been witnesses to how Rauhauser operates, and have been monitoring Neal’s operations ever since — and Neal damned well knows it. Here are a few points to keep in mind:

  • It’s impossible to know everything that people are doing behind the scenes to manipulate this situation. Rauhauser claims to have frequent (friendly) contacts with law enforcement, and may be using those contacts to spread disinformation. But of course, Rauhauser lies so routinely that even when we have e-mails or “scrubbed” online documents in which Neal says he’s done something, these statements might be just more lies and crazytalk. (The possibility that Rauhauser’s trying to prepare an insanity defense is something I can’t rule out.)
  • Law enforcement’s reluctance to take action against what I’ve come to think of as the Kimberlin-Rauhauser Axis may be the result of honest confusion. Neal and Brett seem to think they’re crafty enough to fool the FBI, which I don’t think they are. But they’ve managed to spread enough confusing nonsense — the “Christian Infowars Militia” cell! — that it might be difficult for agents to make a clear-cut case of criminal wrongdoing that they can take to a federal grand jury.
  • We don’t know the extent of cooperation among Kimberlin, Rauhauser and others, including the people behind various “sockpuppet” accounts. For all we know, Rauhauser’s been pushing his nutty schemes independently, without telling Kimberlin what he’s doing, even though we have clear evidence of a client-consultant relationship between them. So pointing the finger of blame at Kimberlin may be a mistake, at least until there is genuine proof that Rauhauser did X, Y, Z at the direction and with the approval of Kimberlin. “Plausible deniability,” you see.
  • The SWATtings are the tip of the iceberg, and we do not yet have clear proof that Rauhauser or Kimberlin were in any way responsible for or complicit in these dangerous hoaxes. There is, of course, evidence that seems to suggest that Rauhauser had early knowledge of the SWATtings, but publicly engaging in speculation beyond the basic facts of this limited evidence is extremely unwise.

A lot of people are working behind the scenes to gather and sort through the evidence. There are ongoing private investigations and, I have been told by multiple sources, the FBI is carrying out its own investigation. Citizen-journalists trying to move the story forward must be careful to stick to the facts, and avoid making any false accusations or jumping to premature conclusions.

Finally, to any law enforcement personnel who may read this: The “accuse the accusers” strategy is aimed most directly and intensively at those who pose the greatest threat to Rauhauser’s operation. Patrick “Patterico” Frey has published vast amounts of facts regarding this case, and is prepared to publish much more, and there is every reason to believe that Qritiq’s post is part of an effort to silence Patterico.

UPDATE: Patterico examines some very interesting evidence. Read that and ask yourself, “Why are Kimberlin and Rauhauser acting worried?”

UPDATE II (Smitty): Welcome, Instapundit (AKA ‘Exhibit E‘) readers!

Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

 

 

 


Comments

29 Responses to “Conspiracy Theorist ‘Qritiq’ Conspires Against Neal Rauhauser’s Targets”

  1. Bob Belvedere
    June 26th, 2012 @ 1:51 pm

    One of your best.

  2. robertstacymccain
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:00 pm

    Well, the dots are finally beginning to connect. It’s important to get as many dots as you can get — and there are about a million motherfucking dots in this story — before you start trying to connect them.

  3. Bob Belvedere
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:11 pm

    Just make sure all this doesn’t make you go dotty [although, perhaps, I’m too late: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dotty%5D.

  4. crosspatch
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:14 pm

    They might also believe they are politically “protected” in that if a judge or a law enforcement agency goes after them, there might be a political price to pay among the “progressive” community and even going after them would make law enforcement look like it is part of a “vast right wing conspiracy”. 

    Once crazy gets hold of something, there can be nearly no end to it.  Look at all the 9/11 twoofers and Obama birfers and other fanatics out there.  Simply going against them is “proof” they are right or some such twisted nonsense.

    But there are some things that transcend politics and are just plain wrong … in addition to being against state and federal laws.

  5. MrBK
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:21 pm

    If Qritiq and Shoq spawned a child, would it be called Qroq?

  6. Adjoran
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:37 pm

     In most of the country, news that a public schoolteacher was engaging in this sort of behavior, even on his/her own time, would be scandalous.  In Bloomberg’s New York, it’s just another day at the office as long as she doesn’t bring a Big Gulp to class.

  7. Mike G.
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:38 pm

     Have you looked at the direct link between Neal Rauhauser and Chet Uber? Chet Uber was partially funded by Rauhauser and Uber has bragged about being responsible for bringing Bradley Manning to justice.

    Uber has a so called group of volunteers, Vigilant, that spy on 12 regional ISP’s and supposedly disseminate the information they gather to the government. Suppose Uber’s group is funneling info to Rauhauser and Kimberlin? What do you think they could do with this information?

    Just some questions to ask and look into.

  8. crosspatch
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:39 pm

     Sorry but not in NYC.  You have public elementary school principals engaging in strategy sessions with Occupy movement support groups  in that town.  The North Dakota Study Group has its tentacles deep into the NYC school system.  Such a teacher is probably bucking for a promotion!

  9. Red
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:43 pm

    Breaking out some Samuel L Jackson speech there 😉 I’m betting your wallet says “Bad Muthablogger”

    Remember to take frequent breaks otherwise you’ll go cross-eyed staring at the whole mess. Blog on!

  10. Red
    June 26th, 2012 @ 2:46 pm

    With all the dot connecting and published facts out there between you, Patterico, Worthing, and company, I imagine the FBI could have a crack team ready to bust this thing wide open. I still wax optimistic when it comes to G-men (and women) After all these folks are supposed to be the top of the crop when it comes to busting jerks. Looking forward to the ‘busting it wide open’ report.

  11. Swatting update « Newsbeat1
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  12. Dustin
    June 26th, 2012 @ 3:15 pm

    God bless you for your perseverance.  

  13. Tennwriter
    June 26th, 2012 @ 3:55 pm

    My mind swims and my eyes spin just reading this stuff, and trying to make sense of it.  My hats off to those who are bright enough to figure it out, and explain it to lesser lights like myself.

  14. I Know the Feeling.
    June 26th, 2012 @ 5:32 pm

    […] RSM: What Rauhauser has been aiming to do, for nearly two years, is to gather (or perhaps we should say, manufacture) “evidence” of a right-wing conspiracy, so that he and his allies, by claiming they are targets of “harassment,” can file civil lawsuits or criminal complaints. Then, as Neal has quite explicitly explained, he expects to use the discovery process (in civil action) or subpoena authority (in criminal cases) to acquire information that can be used to continue this strategy. . . . […]

  15. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    June 26th, 2012 @ 5:55 pm

    This is a very difficult story to understand.  So I can understand the difficulty for law enforcement.  When the investigators have a hard time wrapping their heads around the issue–how in the hell do you explain it to some Assistant U.S. Attorney or Prosecutor (and then have them explain it to a jury).  You can understand why they might pass on something like this at first.  

    But you are putting it together so the pattern is emerging.  And it is a BFD as Joe Biden would say.  

  16. Brett Kimberlin Used Picture of Glenn Reynolds as Exhibit E in Response to Aaron Walker’s Motion | The Lonely Conservative
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  17. Placitas
    June 26th, 2012 @ 7:07 pm

    Seriously, I’m of the mind that too much information is diluting this horror and a major problem is keeping the MSM and law enforcement from digesting and solving it.  Google “Lane Lipton” and you come up with a pathetic third tier avant gard wannabe lefty moonbat high school teacher best ignored at this point in this narrative.  The guy is a zero and he gets blogging crumbs as far as I can see.

    If there is ever to be a resolution on the First Amendment violations and bodily harm behaviors like SWAT’ing it’s going to boil down to BK and his close disciples that collaborate to do this.  It’s going to happen in the court room and with law enforcement. Even a sympathetic press would have a hard time digesting this ever increasing overly tiered narrative.

    A rule that I teach young folks in mental health, especially when I was in the psych emergency room or when time is an issue in other settings, is drill it down and give me/us the story in your best three sentences. Believe me it galvanizes the mind and is appreciated. I realize that the BK saga isn’t that easy, but, staying focused on the main players and issues is paramount.  LE, the press and probably many courts are simply not going to wade through all of the smaller intrigues and and third tier players. 

  18. The #BrettKimberlin Report D-32 Part II: The 21st Century Schzoid Man And His Associates [Updates Below] « The Camp Of The Saints
    June 26th, 2012 @ 8:17 pm

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  19. richard mcenroe
    June 26th, 2012 @ 8:54 pm

     Stacy McCain on the Job!
    http://youtu.be/7fubf60Nons

  20. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    June 26th, 2012 @ 9:13 pm

    Lesbian lovers are fine…oh wait.  You were talking about a soda.  Nevermind.  

  21. JPK
    June 26th, 2012 @ 10:08 pm

    Not seriously, is that a picture of Gerard Depardauhauser? 
    Seriously, what Placitas said above.   It’s all too convoluted to digest. 
    And seriously from me, God bless you, RSM, and your family. 

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  23. Hugh Jass
    June 26th, 2012 @ 11:10 pm

    Someone tell Neal that he needs to see a dentist.

  24. Dianna Deeley
    June 26th, 2012 @ 11:14 pm

     Hold the center – Kimberlin – and remember that all the others are minions scurrying about trying to create the impression of a large, amorphous conspiracy.  So long as one does not allow one’s attention to wander, it all works out rather well.

    “Never mind his eyes! Watch his hands!”

  25. CRD
    June 27th, 2012 @ 12:15 am

    Godspeed RSM et al., but please do not put much faith in anything you think the FBI might do, it ain’t your father’s FBI.  

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  28. razor419
    June 27th, 2012 @ 5:36 pm

    fwiw, nyt reporter jennifer preston sent me a DM last july telling me qritiq was a woman named lane lipton. of course, preston is a clueless idiot too, so i don’t know if that proves anything.

  29. Under the Fedora: Nightmares, Fast and Furious and then some
    June 29th, 2012 @ 9:42 am

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