The Other McCain

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

Imani Gandy, #StopRush and Neal Rauhauser: Confirmation and Credibility

Posted on | June 23, 2012 | 10 Comments

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
The Brett Kimberlin story — necessarily involving the activities of Kimberlin’s associate Neal Rauhauser — keeps moving forward every day. This brings us now to a follow-up on two recent stories:

Neal Rauhauser turns up in those stories as a trusted associate of “Stop Rush” leader Matt Edelstein (aka “Shoq”), who assigned Rauhauser to investigate “Randy Hahn,” a Texan suspected of being an infiltrator of their anti-Limbaugh boycott group.

Those stories were based on interecepted e-mails and recorded phone conversations published by Brooks Bayne at The Trenches.

How do we know that the story was legit? The proof is in the statement issued this week to The Trenches by attorney Imani Gandy.

Gandy was eager to disavow having been closely involved with the “Stop Rush” leadership, and similarly eager to deny having anything to do with the recorded phone call. Why this eagerness? Because if Shoq was in Florida when he recorded that call, the recording would be illegal under Florida law and, as Gandy is a lawyer, it would be a clear-cut ethics violation for her to be complicit in such a crime.

Yet in the process of making those denials, Gandy ended up confirming the authenticity of both the recording and the e-mails published by The Trenches — and this is important why?

Because (a) it confirms that my reporting is accurate, (b) this has the collateral effect of confirming Rauhauser’s involvement with the “Stop Rush” boycotters, and (c) Shoq’s defenders cannot deflect blame by discrediting “Randy Hahn.” Nobody involved in the story trusts “Randy,” and discrediting him does nothing to detract from the legitimate news value of the story. It was the attempt to discover and expose this infiltrator in their midst which revealed key facts about the anti-Limbaugh conspiracy — including the roles played by Edelstein, Rauhauser and MSNBC host Krystal Ball — and the actual identity (or moral character) of “Randy Hahn” is irrelevant to those facts.

This illustrates something basic about journalism that readers need to keep in mind: Facts are facts, and the story is the story, independent of who is telling the story or how the facts are obtained. I don’t have to like my sources — or even trust my sources — in order to obtain facts from them, and you don’t have to like me or agree with my politics in order to accept the credibility of my reporting.

If the stories I report turn out to be false, OK. But if the facts check out and the stories withstand close scrutiny, then whatever credibility is thereby obtained must be extended to the next story.

Only once during the course of this 37-day story have I chased any wild geese: On June 13, I linked and quoted an e-mail sent to Brooks Bayne claiming to identify the perpetrator of the “SWATting” calls. Patterico immediately disputed that claim, and maintains his own clear suspicion that Ron Brynaert was responsible.

Here’s the thing: I don’t claim to have any idea who SWATted Patterico or Mike Stack or Erick Erickson. I’m not a cop, a lawyer or a detective. All I can do is report what’s out there — including assertions by people who may or may not know what they’re talking about — and leave it to the cops and lawyers to do their jobs.

So it doesn’t matter whether I share anyone’s suspicions about the identity or motives of the SWATter. If Britney Spears sent me an e-mail and blamed it on Kevin Federline, I’d report the fact of the claim without pretending to know whether the claim was indeed factual.

That’s something that people need to be clear about, because there’s a lot more of this story left to report, and readers have to exercise judgment just the same as reporters have to exercise judgment.

– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

Category: The Kimberlin Files

FMJRA 2.0: Blow My Fuse

Posted on | June 23, 2012 | 9 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

E-Mails Expose MSNBC Host’s Involvement in #StopRush Boycott

‘Persona Management’ for Wackjobs: Rauhauser’s Methods of Deception

Team Kimberlin’s Busted Hustle Now Beginning to Unravel Rapidly
UPDATE: Perhaps Not a Coincidence

‘Scrubbed’ Writings Show Kimberlin Associate Neal Rauhauser’s Obsessions

Neal Rauhauser: Internet Super-Spy!

BREAKING: Motion Filed Seeking Federal Injunction on Behalf of Blogger

What? Paul Lemmen Challenges My Title to ‘King of Butt-Hurt’ Championship?

Recording: Leader of Anti-Limbaugh Effort Brags About Obama Campaign Ties

The Kimberlin Files: Ali Akbar, the Fight for Liberty and … a Disturbing Silence

Neal Rauhauser’s Criminal Complaint Against Blogger Greg W. Howard

Obama Has Learned Nothing

Slathering S.A.L.V.E On Your Kindle

‘Iowa Boy,’ ‘Stranded Wind’ and the Sadistic Personality of Neal Rauhauser

First Principles Blog Series On Taxation

FMJRA 2.0: Saturday Afternoon Baseball Edition

A: To Justify Fascism

Hey, Greece: Just Remember, Austrian Economics Don’t Work

Announcement: S.A.L.V.E.

LIVE AT FIVE – 06.19.12

Bob Belvedere Hates Trees While Being The Most Beautiful Man On The Planet

MSNBC: The ‘C’ Is for ‘Crazy’

House Committee Approves Contempt Charge, Obama Invokes Executive Privilege, Katie Pavlich Sells More Books

LIVE AT FIVESIX – 06.22.12

Top linkers this week:

  1. (tied) The Conservatory and EBL (10)
  2. (tied) Lonely Conservative, The Camp Of The Saints, and Daley Gator (9)
  3. (tied) Before It’s News and That Mr. G Guy (7)
  4. Da Tech Guy (6)
  5. Hogewash (5)

Thanks to everyone for their linkagery! Links for next week’s FMJRA are due on Friday, June 29.

 

Category: FMJRA Award

Can I Recall A More Pissed Off Whittle Than In This Fast & Furious Essay?
No, I Cannot

Posted on | June 22, 2012 | 18 Comments

by Smitty

Category: PJTV

Good News: Paraguay Demonstrates More Sack Than The U.S. Congress. Bad News: Franco Back In Power

Posted on | June 22, 2012 | 22 Comments

by Smitty

Paraguay’s Congress removed President Fernando Lugo from office after a lightning-quick impeachment trial on Friday that he said was tantamount to a coup but pledged to accept.
Lugo, a silver-haired former Roman Catholic bishop who quit the Church to run for president on a social reform program, was found guilty of mishandling armed clashes over a land eviction in which 17 police and peasant farmers were killed last week.
In line with Paraguay’s constitution, Lugo was quickly replaced by Vice President F. Franco, a fierce opponent of the president. Franco, a centrist Liberal Party politician, was sworn in on Friday evening.

Does this mean Chevy Chase may be funny again?

via Fausta

Category: Fausta

BREAKING: Motion Filed Seeking Federal Injunction on Behalf of Blogger

Posted on | June 22, 2012 | 50 Comments

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
The following press release was just posted:

Walker v. Kimberlin Complaint and Motion
for Emergency Preliminary Injunction
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2012 – The Law Office of Bruce Godfrey, in professional cooperation with Dan Backer, Esquire, of leading Washington, DC, campaign finance and political compliance law firm DB Capitol Strategies PLLC, has today filed a Complaint and Motion for Emergency Preliminary Injunction on behalf of plaintiff and attorney Aaron Walker, Esquire against activist Brett Kimberlin in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division.
Pending the imminent formation of a legal defense fund, the Law Office of Bruce Godfrey is participating in this litigation pro bono publico on behalf of Mr. Walker, due to the paramount constitutional principles at stake in the dispute outlined in the Complaint and Motion for Emergency Preliminary Injunction. No further discussion of the merits of the case would be appropriate here at this time, out of respect for the rights of Plaintiff Walker and Defendant Kimberlin to a fair and unbiased jury trial, which the Complaint requests on issues so triable. The relevant filings are available from the electronic filing and records systems of the United States District Court.
The Law Office of Bruce Godfrey is honored to participate in this case.

UPDATE: It was previously reported by David Hogberg of Investor’s Business Daily that Aaron Walker’s legal team has also filed an emergency appeal in Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit Courty (click here to see to see that filing). Walker was arrested May 29 at a Maryland hearing after Kimberlin had claimed that he was harassed because of Walker’s writings about Kimberlin’s criminal past.

UPDATE II: It is important to remember that Kimberlin’s “lawfare” intimidation against bloggers began in October 2010, when Kimberlin sued progresive blogger Seth “Socrates” Allen, whose complaints about Kimberlin’s tax-exempt group Velvet Revolution resulted in Allen being banned from a number of liberal blogs, including Daily Kos. Walker offered legal assistance to Allen, with the result that Walker himself (who had previously blogged under the pseudonym “Aaron Worthing”) became the object of harassment by both Kimberlin and his associate, Neal Rauhauser.

On May 17, Walker published his 28,000-word account, “How Brett Kimberlin Tried to Frame Me for a Crime (And How You Can Help!)” and, by the list of links below, you can judge how much news this saga has produced in the past 36 days.

— Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

 

 

 

THE KIMBERLIN FILES:

 


Category: Aaron Worthing, The Kimberlin Files

E-Mails Expose MSNBC Host’s Involvement in #StopRush Boycott

Posted on | June 22, 2012 | 92 Comments

Krystal Ball will co-host MSNBC’s new show ‘The Cycle’ starting Monday.

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
MSNBC host Krystal Ball was in close communication with leaders of an online boycott aimed at advertisers on Rush Limbaugh’s popular radio show, e-mails between the boycott leaders indicate.

Attempting to discover the identity of an infiltrator in their group, the #StopRush leader @Shoq (aka “Shoq Value,” who is believed to be an activist named Matt Edelstein) indicated that Ball had warned another member about the suspected “right wing disrupter.” The other member had “already inquired with Krystal last week, and Krystal said ‘we don’t like or trust this guy,’” Shoq wrote in an e-mail published Thursday by Brooks Bayne at The Trenches.

Bayne said the e-mail was obtained from a Google group, “Social Action Steering,” which was apparently deleted after The Trenches published the correspondence between the #StopRush leaders. The group was attempting to discover the true identity and political leanings of a Texas man, known as “Randy Hahn,” who had joined their anti-Limbaugh effort and caused dissension among the boycotters.

Ball, a Democrat who ran for Congress in Virginia two years ago, is a paid MSNBC contributor who was recently announced as one of four co-hosts of a new daily program, The Cycle, on the left-leaning cable news network. It is unclear whether MSNBC executives were aware of the extent of Ball’s involvement in #StopRush, which used the social network in a campaign to drive Limbaugh off the airwaves by threatening boycotts against advertisers on his conservative talk show, the nation’s most popular syndicated radio program.

Professor William Jacobson’s Legal Insurrection blog has described how the #StopRush effort was evidently coordinated with the tax-exempt non-profit Media Matters for America, apparently using so-called “sockpuppet” accounts in a fake-grassroots “astroturf” campaign.

UPDATE: In attempting to discover the identity of “Randy Hahn,” the #StopRush boycott leader Shoq sought the services of Democrat consultant Neal Rauhauser, the e-mails obtained by The Trenches show. Rauhauser provided the group with extensive documentation about a Houston man named Jason, whose surname was redacted in the version posted by Bayne. Rauhauser then mused about exposing the man to harassment by sending his personal information to online groups.

“I have been sorely tempted to point him out to various actors — a guy like this, he could really produce some high quality entertainment for 4chan, Something Awful, Encyclopedia Dramatica, etc.,” Rauhauser wrote in his e-mail reply to Shoq.

Rauhauser, who was banned from the progressive blog Daily Kos last year, became notorious in 2010 when he was accused of organizing “a group of E-Thugs meant to harass, threaten, provoke, disparage, intimidate, verbally assault, berate & employ hate-speech against those not in agreement with his brand of politics,” as conservative blogger Patrick Read said at the time.

The so-called “TwitterGate” scandal was largely ignored by major news organizations, but Rauhauser has in the past month gained increasing notoriety as an associate of convicted felon Brett Kimberlin.

UPDATE II: After blogging obsessively about Anthony Weiner’s cybersex scandal last year, Rauhauser became involved with Kimberlin’s 501(c) non-profit Velvet Revolution and, last October, described how he was approached by a member of the “Anonymous” computer hacking conspiracy and solicited their assistance in targeting his and Kimberlin’s enemies.

Rauhauser was one of three people — along with Kimberlin and former Raw Story editor Ron Brynaert — whom blogger Patrick “Patterico” Frey named last month as suspected of complicity in a July 2011 “SWATting” incident at his Los Angeles home. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and 85 Republican members of Congress have called on Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the reported harassment of conservative commentators.

UPDATE III: Thursday’s revelation of e-mails between #StopRush leaders was the second consecutive scoop by The Trenches on the anti-Limbaugh group’s infiltration by “Randy Hahn.” Bayne previously posted recorded excerpts of a conference call in which the leader Shoq berated the suspected interloper by boasting of his connections to Organizing for America (OFA), President Obama’s re-election campaign: “Randy, I can pick up the phone and call the director of OFA, can you? I can pick up the phone and call the … battleground state director of OFA. Can you?”

If Shoq’s claims are accurate, the latest reports may suggest multiple connections between the Limbaugh boycott, MSNBC, the Obama campaign, Democrat operatives like Rauhauser, and tax-exempt groups like Media Matters and Kimberlin’s Velvet Revolution.

UPDATE IV: Linked by Legal Insurrection, Patterico, The Conservatory and Hot Air Headlines — thanks! — and welcome, Instapundit readers!

There are many developments in the Brett Kimberlin story today, which I hope to aggregate in a new post later. But here’s your headline: “Kimberlin vs. Walker: Walker Fights Back.”

Stay tuned. One source told me today that there may be “something big” coming, but I’m not sure what the source meant by that.

UPDATE V: Linked by Darth Chipmunk, That Mr. G Guy, Before It’s News, Liberty News Network, Newsbeat1, The Ulsterman Report, Tony Katz and The Lonely Conservative — thanks!

UPDATE VI: Michelle Malkin has more on the latest action in the Kimberlin-vs.-Walker legal battle, and Ace of Spades has more with a FoxNews.com column by Committee for Justice executive director Kurt Levey. What really caused me to take the Kimberlin story seriously was when I learned that Internet Super Spy Neal Rauhauser was stalking Ace via his IP address on the Forest Moon of Endor.

OK, maybe some of the readers didn’t get that inside-blogger joke. Forgive me, but it’s been a long, long day. Please hit the tip jar.

UPDATE VII: “Something big” turns out to be, “BREAKING: Motion Filed Seeking Federal Injunction on Behalf of Blogger.” So now Walker’s legal team is fighting back against Brett Kimberlin in both state and federal court.

– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

 




 

 


Category: MSNBC, Rush Limbaugh, Talk Radio, The Kimberlin Files

LIVE AT FIVESIX – 06.22.12

Posted on | June 22, 2012 | 10 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho



TOP NEWS
Standoff At Afghan Resort Over, 17 Dead

UH-60 Blackhawk flies near the Spozhmai Hotel

Most of dead were civilians

Moody’s Cuts Ratings Of 15 Big Banks
Citigroup, Bank of America hardest hit; ratings for these two one step above junk



Romney Seeks Common Ground On Immigration
Making everyone unhappy at NALEO convention



POLITICS
Boehner Takes Hard Line On Holder Contempt Vote

Attorney General Holder

No compromise with Administration over “Fast & Furious” documents

Liz Warren Celebrates Birthday With Fundraiser

Obama To Address NALEO Today


Polygamous Towns Face DoJ Lawsuit For Religious Discrimination

Commerce Secretary Resigns Following Seizures

Obama’s “Endorsement” Of Gay Marriage Does Little To Shift National Opinion

Kansas Board To Rule On Revocation Of Doctor’s License In Abortion Cases



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Economy Continues To Suck, Oil Continues To Fall: NYMEX $78.20, Brent $89.23
Auditors: Spain’s Banks May Need $78 Billion
Factory, Jobs Data Highlight Struggling Recovery
Mongolia’s Uneven Economic Boom
Dollar Rebounds As Global Growth Jitters Hit Risk
Arch Coal Idles Three Mines, Cuts 750 Jobs
Monster Beverage To Replace Sara Lee In S&P 500
Nintendo Announces Jumbo 3DS With Double The Screen Size, Longer Battery Life
Wait For WinPhone 8 Or Buy Samsung Galaxy S3?
Hacker Group Claims It Crashed Twitter
Microsoft’s Surface Tablet Initially Wifi Only
Flipboard For Android Officially Released
Texas AG Accuses Google Of Withholding Evidence In Internet Search Probe
No Physical Keyboard For Blackberry 10



SPORTS
Heat Take Second NBA Title With 121-106 Win

Fish Stink: Bullpen Fails As Red Sox Rally For 6-5 Win And Sweep

NHL Draft More Of Trade Show; Buzz More About Deals Than Picks

Get Ready For Road Rage In Sonoma

Jacobs Repays Six-Year-Old Fan

David Ortiz Tired Of All The Drama

Mets Ponder Pitching Knuckleballer Dickey Every 4 Days Instead of Usual 5

Blue Jackets Still Fielding Offers For Nash

Espinosa Whacks Peralta For Game-Winning Double, Nats Take Rays Series With 5-2 Win; Losing Pitcher Also Gets Eight-Game Suspension For Wednesday’s Pine Tar Incident



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
“Glee” Casts Jessica Sanchez?

American Idol's Jessica Sanchez

In talks for Season 4 story arc

Republicans Making It Look Like Alec Baldwin Attacks Paparazzi
No end to the crazy

Miley Cyrus: I Love Being A Fiancee
Also apparently fond of half-ass Daisy Dukes

Double Indignity For Ann Curry

Wife Ends Search For Missing Actor Nick Stahl

Meredith Vieira Turns Down Offer To Replace Curry On “Today”

Alec Baldwin, David Letterman Drop Pants On “The Late Show”

MTV Brings Back “Daria”, “Laguna Beach”, And “The Hills”



FOREIGNERS
Mexican Marines Detain Suspected Son Of Drug Lord
Defense Lawyers Argue Norway Killer Breivik Is Sane
Syrian Pilot Flies Fighter To Jordan, Defects
100 Could Be Lost As Asylum Boat Capsizes
Ecuador’s President Correa Ponder Assange Asylum Request
Egypt Braces For Protests As It Awaits Election Results
Burma’s Suu Kyi Warns Country Needs Britain, Others To Act As Watchdogs For Reform
Putin Seeks To Reassure Foreign Investors
Merkel, Opposition Reach Deal On Fiscal Pact
Court Gives Umar Patek 20 Years In Bali Bombing
Death Blow: ACTA Suffers Fifth Rejection Vote In Europe



BLOGS & STUFF
Legal Insurrection: So Who Hasn’t Pre-Recorded Their ObamaCare Decision Analysis?
Gateway Pundit: Boehner Says No Spiking The Football If SCOTUS Strikes Down ObamaCare
Volokh Conspiracy: Ezra Klein Still An Ignorant Idiot
Allahpundit: Romney’s Cold War Strategy Against Obama Working?
Riehl World View: AP/GFK Poll Says Romney, Obama Even
Villainous Company: Just Follow His Nose…Wherever It Grows
Heritage Foundation: Supremes Uphold Workers’ Right Not To Fund Union Politics
Gateway Pundit: SCOTUS Rules Against SEIU
NewsBusters: New MSNBC Host Spews – “Racist Conservatives Fear Obama Taking Money From White People”
Power Line: Major Lawsuit Challenges Constitutionality Of Dodd-Frank
Ed Morrissey: Four-Week Jobless Claim Hits New High In 2012
Weasel Zippers: UN Official Tells ACLU Conference Obama Has Committed War Crimes With Drone Strikes
NRO Corner: The Rise Of Rand Paul
TVNewser: NYT Rips “Fox & Friends”
Beltway Confidential: Worldcom Felon Gets $7.5 Million Loan From Oabam Stimulus
Astute Bloggers: Hey, Blacks – The Obama Administration Is Bad For You
Washington Free Beacon: David Duke Endorses Charles Barron In NY Dem Primary

Category: Live at Five

‘Iowa Boy,’ ‘Stranded Wind’ and the Sadistic Personality of Neal Rauhauser

Posted on | June 21, 2012 | 24 Comments

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
What kind of creep publicly accuses his ex-wife — an accomplished professional academic administrator — of being an addict? What kind of creep would brag about using martial arts against a woman?

Read the shocking story of how Neal Rauhauser maligned the mother of his two children using his “Iowa Boy” alias at Daily Kos.

When you’re through reading that, permit me to remind you of the vicious harassment Rauhauser’s “beandogs” inflicted on Tea Party activists in the 2010 TwitterGate scandal. And did I mention that Neal once wrote that he would “pop a cap into Dick Cheney”?

You really must read the whole thing.

– Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

 

Category: The Kimberlin Files
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