Franklin Center Caves to Brett Kimberlin Lawfare
Cowards.
By all appearances, the Franklin Center has caved to Brett Kimberlin. PACER contains the following docket text from today:
NOTICE of Dismissal with prejudice as to Defendant The Franklin Center by Brett Kimberlin. (aos, Deputy Clerk)
That can mean only one thing: an ignominious settlement. Confirming this suspicion, one notes that this link: http://franklincenterhq.org/5546/holding-political-terrorist-brett-kimberlin-accountable/ now results in a 404 error.
What did they remove? Here’s what these losers took down, via the Wayback Machine. Quotable:
Free speech is why America is free. Those who expose truth need to be protected. Patrick Frey was right: This could have been any of us. It’s our job to fight for free speech and a free press. If the legacy media refuses to tell the truth, we’re obligated to do so.
What a stirring call to action! All hail the courage of the Franklin Center!!!
Except that the post containing that inspiring language has been taken down, to settle an utterly frivolous lawsuit with zero chance of success.
When the going gets tough (not all that tough, really, to be honest), the Franklin Center gets going. And look! there they go!! Slinking right out the door.
When The American Spectator caved to this cretin and removed blog posts that contained zero defamation, Ken White said:
[T]his surrender will, and should, eviscerate its credibility with its target audience and its readers. First, how can it be taken seriously as an institution willing to speak truth to power if it caves to a frivolous lawsuit by a domestic terrorist? Second, how can they be taken seriously as a conservative institution that will question liberals, when they yield to a blatant attempt to abuse the legal system to retaliate against conservative viewpoints?
No. They’re done.
I don’t see why this should not apply with equal force to the Franklin Center. They are a bunch of hypocrites, and they deserve nothing — no donations, no respect, no attention. Just scorn and ridicule.
UPDATE: Also taken down: this post announcing a webinar with Mandy Nagy, Lee Stranahan, and Aaron Walker. The Wayback Machine version is here. (I have saved both Wayback Machine copies in case they disappear in the future.) Thanks to BKWatch for the tip.
(Fun fact: Kimberlin claims in his latest filing that I participated in this webinar — which I most certainly did not do.)
Ding.
Patterico (9c670f) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:41 pmThanks again to you and your counsel.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 12/9/2014 @ 7:44 pmSorry for the repeat posts. Here is Neal Rauhauser trying – and failing – to brag about the Franklin Center settlement:
BKWaych (e5315e) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:22 pmhttps://twitter.com/RealityForger/status/542434192542281729
Tons of thanks from me.
mg (31009b) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:22 pmIndividuals with the courage to fight wrong, make my day.
Thanks again.
I bet they didn’t pay Kimberlin a dime. I don’t think anyone has. But it’s still cowardly for them to cave.
Have you followed Neal’s lawsuit in Texas? He claims to be out something like $150,000 in legal fees. Where does he get that kind of money?
Anyway, Neal, I’m out nothing. I think Nadia owes me some money, actually.
Great idea to tangle with us, Neal. You guys are geniuses, seriously.
Patterico (9c670f) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:25 pmShame on them.
SarahW (267b14) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:31 pmAgree Franklin likely paid nothing.
Neal is essentially a con man who pretends to be either an analyst or a hacker. Except rather than producing analysis or hacks, he produces childish twitter sockpuppetry and smear campaigns. His skills are enormously overestimated by almost everyone but most of all by Neal Rauhauser. Having said that, I believe his BullyVille strat will be to continue to be a fugitive on the run and pre-emptively brag about imagined damages awards that will never happen.
Neal is somewhat on my radar, though less so than the OTHER pedophilic rapist he aids, Thomas C. Retzlaff (who, interestingly, is declared by Texas courts to be a vexatious litigant).
For now I am glad to give whatever aid I have (admittedly noy much, and little talent to back it) to Brett Kimberlin victims, while Neal can rant and pander impotently on twitter and his much-deleted-from blog.
BKWatch (e74071) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:39 pmFranklin Center probably got scared by those Team Themis conspiracy allegations I bet Neal persuaded Brett to add to his Second Amended Complaint. Pure comedy gold right there.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:43 pmI woyld like to emphasize that, whatever Brett Kimberlin may have paid Neal Rauhauser to run Brett’s harassment campaign for him, that money rightly belonged to Brett’s surviving bombing victim, Sandra DeLong. As well as Brett’s Prius which his “charity” “bought” “for” him.
And someday we can also take care of his obligations to the Julia Scyphers estate.
BKWatch (ff4e19) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:49 pmIf Ben Franklin was like The Franklin Center’s board of directors, America would still be a colony.
Craig Mc (299f38) — 12/9/2014 @ 8:51 pmR.I.P. Mary Ann Mobley
Icy (697310) — 12/9/2014 @ 9:36 pmPussies.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 12/9/2014 @ 9:44 pmFunny, Mike K. — I’ll waive attorney/client privilege to the very limited extent that I will say I used that exact word when I first mentioned this to my lawyer today.
Patterico (9c670f) — 12/9/2014 @ 9:50 pmI was hoping it was just a 404 due to housekeeping or something, but alas it seems to be just the one link. Dang, I liked the Franklin Center.
max (4fdf98) — 12/9/2014 @ 10:04 pmReminder to all: Brett is extremely persistent. He will keep this battle going UNLESS Team Free Speech completely defeats him, or they give up and walk away. Either outcome could take a long time and Brett has a long and storied history of hanging on to vindictiveness in battles he gets himself into. Therefore we are called upon to be even more tenacious in our aid to any and all of his victims who ever ask for it, past present and future.
I am no legal expert but my attitude toward the legal system is that it generally does the job OK and its problems are best fixed with minor tweaks rather than huge ground-up revolutions. That said, one of the areas where the legal system most needs tweaks is with a small percentage of exceptionally bad faith vexatious litigants. The legal system is not well tuned to dealing with them properly. Thus, the defendants have a heavy burden in certain respects. It is not so heavy to them if enough of us help, and keep helping, and keep helping, even if it takes years. And spread the word. This is important and it’s something YOU can actually do something about, personally, and make a difference. Don’t expect some big faceless institution to do anything about it, it’s just people like you and me who care about justice enough to sacrifice our time, effort, and funds.
BKWatch (62e901) — 12/9/2014 @ 11:31 pmPlease forgive my double-posting, I am really a one-subject poster if there ever was one. I found another article the Franklin Center deleted: https://web.archive.org/web/20131029043251/http://franklincenterhq.org/5833/franklin-center-joins-lee-stranahan-popehat-aaron-walker-mandy-nagy-and-others-to-discuss-protection-of-the-free-press/
And I asked the original author if she knows anything about it.
BKWatch (21e28b) — 12/9/2014 @ 11:41 pmPussies, indeed.
SPQR (4764ea) — 12/10/2014 @ 12:02 amWas franklincenterhq paying legal fees? Or pro bono as well? Maybe he couldn’t afford them anymore? I know Hoge,Worthing,Stacey, & Ali won but they’re being sued again by BK.
I find this whole case upsetting don’t get me wrong, but did anyone try to reach out to find out why franklincenterhq caved in? .
By the way Patterico, what the hell is going on with the SWAT incident? FBI not interested? Shame. If a District Attorney can’t get justice, who can?
Lisa (477199) — 12/10/2014 @ 4:34 amUPDATE: Also taken down: this post announcing a webinar with Mandy Nagy, Lee Stranahan, and Aaron Walker. The Wayback Machine version is here. (I have saved both Wayback Machine copies in case they disappear in the future.) Thanks to BKWatch for the tip.
(Fun fact: Kimberlin claims in his latest filing that I participated in this webinar — which I most certainly did not do.)
Patterico (9c670f) — 12/10/2014 @ 7:02 amCowards.
ukuleledave (c59551) — 12/10/2014 @ 9:22 amAs long as there is no direct cost to TDPK, he will continue his lawfare. Why would he quit?
He is annoying and inconveniencing those he regards as enemies and intimidating others from writing truthfully about his criminal record. Most people want to avoid nuisance suits, that’s why there are so damned many of them.
Until he is either designated ‘vexatious’ or sues somebody who isn’t willing to wade through the courts, he won’t stop.
Estragon (ada867) — 12/10/2014 @ 12:56 pmThe cowardice is frustrating. But I guess it’s also revealing. We know more about The Franklin Center and the American Spectator now.
Why go into the journalism business if you’re going to be silenced by thugs?
Like Sarah W said: Shame on them.
Dustin (2a8be7) — 12/10/2014 @ 4:04 pmHogewash has put up the exhibits in this post. I particularly recommend a letter I wrote to Aaron Walker’s attorney, which you can read at page 117 (Kimberlin calls it Exhibit 11, but the Court appears to have labeled it as Exhibit 12. In any event, it’s page 117 of Hoge’s PDF.) It’s nine pages, and if I say so myself, it’s about as cogent an account of the confusing background of all this as you’ll find anywhere. Never before published, now available for your reading pleasure courtesy of Brett Kimberlin. Enjoy.
Patterico (9c670f) — 12/10/2014 @ 7:26 pmUnfa king believable…
#cowards
thebronze (e92320) — 12/11/2014 @ 1:28 amCowards and cretin indeed.
Paul H Lemmen (0f133c) — 12/13/2014 @ 6:08 am