July 14, 2011: Andrew Breitbart Receives Menacing Phone Call from Someone Pretending to Be (But Almost Certainly Not) from Media Matters
It occurs to me that I never talked publicly about the menacing phone call Andrew Breitbart received on July 14, 2011 — two weeks after I was SWATted. The following is an email Andrew sent me at 3:21 p.m. that day, 11 minutes after the call came in:
Threatening Phone Call:
At 3:10pm PDT July 14 got cell phone call from computer altered male sounding voice:
‘We’re coming after you. (Pause) This is Eric. (Pause) Are you scared?’
They then hung up.
Just searched for the number as it came up on my cell phone (202-756-4100):
Media Matters for America
1625 Massachusetts Ave Nw Ste 300
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 756-4100http://www.local.com/business/details/washington-dc/media-matters-of-america-12436027/
I spoke to Andrew on the phone shortly after he received the phone call, and told him that I believed the phone number was almost certainly spoofed. The caller could not possibly have been Eric Boehlert, I said. He agreed. We decided someone was trying to punk him, and cause him to make a public claim that he had been somehow threatened by Media Matters.
I suspected it could be connected with the SWATtings, and advised him to contact his local police if he hadn’t already — not to report the phone call, necessarily, but to warn them that he was a potential future SWATting victim. Whether he ever told police he might get SWATted, I have no idea. He didn’t seem interested in reporting the phone call to police and I don’t think he ever did. He did authorize me to pass along word of the incident to the FBI agent working up my SWATting case, which I did.
I thought about this tonight for the first time in a while — I’m not sure why — and decided there was no harm in making it public. Not sure what it means, but there you have it.
UPDATE: The headline initially read “claiming to be,” but I changed it to “pretending to be” — which is, I think, slightly more accurate. The caller did not explicitly claim to be from Media Matters; rather, he was posing as Eric Boehlert.
Weird, huh?
Patterico (feda6b) — 7/24/2012 @ 8:38 pmOut of curiosity, was MM/Boehlert ever informed of this?
Dana (292dcf) — 7/24/2012 @ 8:44 pmI didn’t tell them. No idea if Andrew did.
Patterico (feda6b) — 7/24/2012 @ 8:45 pmI have so little respect for Boehlert, I figured he would find some way to be snarky about it. I was not interested in listening to snark.
Patterico (feda6b) — 7/24/2012 @ 8:46 pmI’ll tell you what’s weird: This is all they have to spend their time on? And they say the right is full of crazies?
I understand this really didn’t come from Media Matters. Regardless, couldn’t whoever did this go have a beer with an Occupy loon and crap on a police car for fun?
The banality of it approaches psychosis.
Ag80 (b2c81f) — 7/24/2012 @ 8:51 pmWell they were, or had been, messing around with Tommy X just prior, hadn’t they? He had inadvertently left them a bit thwarted on the “get Bretbart” angle, even before he had caught on that the girl socks and Reidsocks were socks trying to get one over on him. The plot hole with MAs DMs had to be accounted for, and the Nikkisock’s story had to adjust.
Perhaps they weren’t done messing with Media Matters any more than you or Breitbart.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 7/24/2012 @ 9:21 pmFine! I’ll say it. Neal Rauhauser.
Jeff Jefferson (239c89) — 7/24/2012 @ 9:23 pmCan anyone account for the whereabouts of ABC News’s Brian Ross at that time?
I don’t know whether it means anything and haven’t investigated it yet. Just wondering.
Collatinus (660245) — 7/24/2012 @ 9:30 pm@Collantinus I believe there is an Eric Strauss that works for ABC Must be him. /sarc
crosspatch (6adcc9) — 7/24/2012 @ 9:37 pmI have so little respect for Boehlert, I figured he would find some way to be snarky about it. I was not interested in listening to snark.
Understood re lack of respect for him, but I wonder how he would have responded if he knew his name was being used as the i.d. of such a caller, and to Breitbart of all people…
Dana (292dcf) — 7/24/2012 @ 10:01 pmI think he mentioned this in his interview with Hugh Hewitt the day before (or the day of ???) he passed away. Hugh has the interview in his archives.
aquaviva (8616b0) — 7/24/2012 @ 10:24 pmI miss Breitbart.
mg (44de53) — 7/24/2012 @ 11:02 pmYeh, I don’t think Eric would have thought it a fine joke having a crimina,l threatening phone call made by someone posing as himself. But maybe I overestimate him.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 7/25/2012 @ 6:09 amIf later today you see a headline at MM that reads “Conservative blogger makes false assertion of ‘menacing’ phone call from Eric Boehlert to Andrew Breitbart” then you will have your answer.
Icy (fdf16c) — 7/25/2012 @ 6:39 amI’m sure this has nothing to do with “convicted Speedway bomber Brett Kimberlin and Democratic Party activist/self-proclaimed hacker Neal Rauhauser.” Nuthin at all.
Actually there are
ukuleledave (c59551) — 7/25/2012 @ 6:49 amthousandshundredsdozens of people it could be. The world is full of nutjobs.Which is why we all miss Breitbart.
Does this present any foreshodowing of the fatal “heart attack” suffered by Breibart? Was this an attempt to “scare him off,” intimidate him, before “direct action” had to be taken? Were these any other calls or similar events?
Joseph F. McNulty (477ccb) — 7/25/2012 @ 8:06 amIf it wasn’t someone at MediaMatters trying to trap Breitbart, then maybe it was someone who views himself as the left’s cyberwarrior. Maybe someone who would view acts like this as a necessary evil in the larger battle, with the added benefit of a possible new client if Breitbart were to publicly accuse MediaMatters.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 7/25/2012 @ 8:16 amCreate a problem, sell the fix.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 7/25/2012 @ 8:25 amThis is an important datum. We’ll know how it fits in later. I don’t think anybody has any nearby pieces of the jigsaw puzzle right now.
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11. I recall a link to the interview was posted (embedded) by Patterico.
It is at:
http://townhall.com/talkradio/audioplayer/635515
Sammy Finkelman (f560b6) — 7/25/2012 @ 9:09 amI think it is time to repeal the statutes against dueling.
AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92) — 7/25/2012 @ 9:16 amIf you are going to tell me who you are, why disguise your voice? If you are disguising your voice and tell me that your identity is someone, I am going to be, uhm, let’s say, skeptical of that announcement.
crosspatch (c58f80) — 7/25/2012 @ 11:54 amI continue to be impressed with how this theory answers a lot of questions.
Dustin (73fead) — 7/25/2012 @ 3:58 pmCreate a problem, sell the fix.
Wasn’t that the theory behind the Reichstag fire?
AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92) — 7/25/2012 @ 4:11 pmstill don’t believe Breitbart’s death was due to “natural causes”…just don’t buy it.
Marie (c30a45) — 7/25/2012 @ 5:10 pm“We decided someone was trying to punk him, and cause him to make a public claim that he had been somehow threatened by Media Matters.” – Patterico
That M.O. sounds a lot like what I surmised was the scheme behind Nikki Reid & company…. Try to get Breitbart, or an ally like Pat, to take the fake bait and go public with a stories that would be demonstrably false, in order to undercut Breitbart et al’s credibility as media sources. Pat went with those stories for a time, but backed off as it became more evident what was afoot….and after the SWATtings.
Thanks for letting us know about this fake call to Breitbart. It fits right into the puzzle.
Saturnian (62b020) — 7/29/2012 @ 9:12 pmWeird–or not weird?
MCreamer (51db55) — 7/30/2012 @ 7:58 am