The Other McCain

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‘Neal Sounded Weird’ — Did Rauhauser Interfere in a Texas Harassment Case?

Posted on | November 28, 2012 | 15 Comments

Becca J. Lower has transcribed a BlogTalk Radio interview that Heather Chase did with Lee Stranahan. The backstory of the situation involved is convoluted in the extreme, and requires this brief explanation: In June, it was revealed that one of the leaders of an anti-Rush Limbaugh boycott (Matt “Shoq” Edelstein) had claimed connections to top Obama re-election officials during a conference call secretly recorded by a Texas man named “Randy Hahn” a.k.a. Jason Wade Taylor.

Taylor has subsequently been accused of harassing a Texas woman named Heather Chase. There are people who say bad things about Chase, just as there are people who say bad things about Taylor and Edelstein. However, I have no direct interest in trying to figure out who the villains and heroes are in that story. It may be that they’re all a bunch of kooks, but the point is, I just don’t care enough to bother attempting to unravel the accusations and counter-accusations about who did what to whom. What does interest me is the fact that Brett Kimberlin’s associate Neal Rauhauser got involved in this dispute — which centers on an allegedly threatening message Taylor sent to Chase — and in the process confirmed a lot of what we know about Rauhauser’s modus operandi.

In the interview (Lee has posted the audio at his site) Chase says that she got in touch with Rauhauser after Matt Osborne and others vouched for Rauhauser’s good intentions. Excerpts from the interview transcript:

STRANAHAN: Okay, so– before you talk about this, you’re kind of reticent to talk about the Neal Rauhauser thing, right?
CHASE: Yes, I am.
STRANAHAN: Why is that?
CHASE: Well, a lot of that is crazy and seems to be involved in a lot of political bickering, and possibly criminal stuff. But I don’t think that it’s directly related to Randy, except that now it seems that things are getting weird for this, too.
STRANAHAN: Yeah. And you– so, let’s talk about that: how did you end up in a position where Neal Rauhauser was texting with you? What happened there?
CHASE: Well last week I heard that Matt Osborne was interested in calming things down between people that have been having conflict with that group, which includes me and some of the other women who have been arguing and having a lot of trouble with Shoq because of some of his behavior. So I reached out to him, because I agree that we shouldn’t be having this sort of thing happening so we can all move on. Particularly because to me, the important thing here is this man, Jason, who’s been incredibly destructive.  . . .
STRANAHAN: Was Neal Rauhauser helpful at all?
CHASE: No, at least not according to the investigator who said that he spoke to Neal, that Neal sounded weird and was talking about a lot of other things that had nothing to do with this case. And so I contacted Matt Osborne, after I got back with my meeting with the investigator and asked him about it. And I was told that [Raahauser] had a higher agenda, I was told that the feds would be brought in on this. I have no idea if any of that is true. I have not been contacted by anybody like that. I’ve just been working with my investigator and my local police about this.  . . .
STRANAHAN:  Do you regret dealing with Neal Rauhauser and Matt Osborne on this at this point?
CHASE: I do.
STRANAHAN: Why is that?
CHASE: Because I think that it’s complicated what should be a very straight-forward case of this man [i.e., Taylor] who’s acting crazy and way out of bounds, and has threatened a lot of people and caused a lot of destruction. I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t want to make this as easy as possible for the investigators.

Hmmmm. So, on the recommendation of Osborne and others who were “interested in calming things down,” Rauhauser contacted police who were investigating Taylor’s alleged harassment of Heather Chase. But police told Chase that “Neal sounded weird and was talking about a lot of other things that had nothing to do with this case.” When Chase asked Osborne about Rauhauser’s involvement, she was told Neal has “a higher agenda” and “that the feds would be brought in on this.”

Let us ask: What interest do “the feds” have in the dispute between Chase and Taylor? What kind of “other things” did Rauhauser talk to the police about? And why was Rauhauser so eager to become involved in this dispute? We could speculate on answers to these questions, but what intrigues me is what it tells us about Rauhauser’s “higher agenda” and the means by which he pursues that agenda. If Chase’s description is accurate, then Rauhauser deliberately interefered in her harassment case and the effect of his interference was to confuse investigators with a lot of irrelevant crazy-talk.

There are many questions in need of answers here, among them a question recently asked by Patterico:

Why does it matter that Neal Rauhauser sounds so very, very much like “LulzShack”?

The answer to that question would seem to be quite interesting.

UPDATE: In comments below, Heather Chase explains that it was she who asked Rauhauser to provide specific information about Jason Wade Taylor to police investigating her claim that Taylor harassed her. Rauhauser and his associate Matt Osborne had said they had information about Taylor’s past behavior, Chase explains:

The part I found confusing was the officer’s reaction. First, Neal said in his text messages to me that the officer was concerned about my credibility and that he “took care of that” for me. When I showed the officer those text messages, he denied that stridently and explained that wasn’t what he’d said at all. He’d said that having other case numbers regarding Taylor’s actions toward others would help give the case as a whole more credibility.
He then told me that Neal sounded strange and talked about a lot of things that had nothing to do with the case. He seemed very skeptical of Neal and told me that he had not actually given him anything I’d specifically requested (case numbers, evidence, etc.).

That clarifies the reasons for Rauhauser’s involvement, but not what “things that had nothing to do with the case” Rauhauser talked to investigators about. Meanwhile, in a somewhat related development, a U.S. district judge in Maryland has dismissed Aaron Walker’s federal lawsuit against Brett Kimberlin, although Walker’s state lawsuit against Kimberlin (and Kimberlin’s co-defendant Rauhauser) in Virginia is still going forward.

 

Category: The Kimberlin Files

Comments

15 Responses to “‘Neal Sounded Weird’ — Did Rauhauser Interfere in a Texas Harassment Case?”

  1. jwallin
    November 28th, 2012 @ 5:16 pm

    I’m beginning to wonder if neal AND brett are both FBI informants acting as agente provocateurs.

    And that doesn’t get them off the hook or anything but it does give an insight to why they believe they can make false accusations, go ballistic over the least little thing, make all kinds of false accusations and lie in court and expect to get away with it. (because they have so far.)

    The FBI is not above using people and placing operators (not actual agents per se) in positions to supply the means and even the motive for others to commit unlawful acts. (see the poor sap that tried to blow up the NY Federal Reserve Bank in Oct.)

    They also use guys like that as spreaders of disinformation and gatherers of information. They particularly like to use those who have criminal, prison/shady pasts as they can be pressured into cooperation and have the bonafides to appear to be what they may be pretending to be. (that’s if anyone bothers to check)

    They also use them to spread dissension amongst collaborators and other informal and clandestine communities.

    Sound like Rauhauser? Sound like Kimberlin?

    Not saying they’re active, just saying they may have been used and may be used again. And it does fit some of the odd things and perceptions they both have of how little they concern themselves with being arrested or investigated.

    Things that make you go Hmmmmm.

  2. yestradamous
    November 28th, 2012 @ 5:17 pm

    I can’t keep track off this stuff. It’s so convoluted.

  3. Kristi
    November 28th, 2012 @ 5:29 pm

    “The plot thickens” doesn’t even begin to cover it… O_o

  4. ThomasD
    November 28th, 2012 @ 5:39 pm

    It’s astounding

    Time is fleeting

    Madness takes it’s toll…

  5. Jobius
    November 28th, 2012 @ 5:39 pm

    JWT/”Randy” seems like exactly the sort of psychopath/stalker that Neal enjoys collecting. Schmalfeldt’s another one. Neal winds them up with bullshit and points them at his enemies. (For a more detailed description, see Neal’s various accusations against Patterico, and understand that he’s really talking about himself.)

    I suspect that Neal is paranoid enough to actually believe about 50% of his own bullshit, but not necessarily the same 50% from one day to the next.

  6. Heather Chase
    November 28th, 2012 @ 5:42 pm

    McCain, you are quoting from the same script that answers one of your questions here. Neal became involved because I asked him to become involved.

    “Now I can’t say that I’m surprised that they’re involved– that was my doing.”

    The part I found confusing was the officer’s reaction. First, Neal said in his text messages to me that the officer was concerned about my credibility and that he “took care of that” for me. When I showed the officer those text messages, he denied that stridently and explained that wasn’t what he’d said at all. He’d said that having other case numbers regarding Taylor’s actions toward others would help give the case as a whole more credibility.

    He then told me that Neal sounded strange and talked about a lot of things that had nothing to do with the case. He seemed very skeptical of Neal and told me that he had not actually given him anything I’d specifically requested (case numbers, evidence, etc.).

    Perhaps you did not intend this, but I respectfully request that you do not take my quotes out of context. As I said in that interview, this is not about politics to me. I invited Neal and Matt Osborne to contact my investigator with information about Taylor because I’d been told they had it. I was told they would send me a “package” (presumably containing information like this), but I told them I did not want them to do that. I wanted them to delivery any information/evidence directly to the investigator using the proper procedure. I still don’t know whether they did.

    In any case, this matter is a law enforcement investigation and I do not want anyone to interfere with it in any way, including by confusing the narrative of events or actors involved.

    Thank you.

  7. robertstacymccain
    November 28th, 2012 @ 6:09 pm

    Ms. Chase, forgive my previous confusion. I have updated the post to include your explanation. And I completely agree with you that “this is not about poltics.”

  8. Becca Lower
    November 28th, 2012 @ 6:31 pm

    I specifically titled the first blog with transcript excerpts, “Heather Chase, to @stranahan:

    “People don’t need to be confused by the politics”.

    Your earnest statements throughout this interview (and in your late night interview, too) convinced me that your story was a deeply-human story that more people needed to hear. Thank you for sharing it, despite your reticence.

    Also, I personally know Mr. McCain and can vouch for his journalistic integrity (not that he needs my backing).

  9. Heather Chase
    November 28th, 2012 @ 7:00 pm

    Thank you. I’m sensitive about this because I’ve watched people try to hijack this story and manipulate it, which bothers me intensely.

    Lower is correct: I was extremely reticent to talk about this, exactly because I was worried talking about it would encourage people to use it for political gain. The only reason I consented to do it at all is because I was already seeing things being distorted by other parties and I wanted to make sure that the truth was established on record before that got too far out of hand.

    I want everyone to understand: this is a very real thing to me — listen to those recordings on Stranahan’s blog to appreciate how serious and frightening this is for me and my family.

    I really can’t explain Neal’s behavior or thinking, and I don’t want to try. To my knowledge, his involvement in this was brief and only recent; I can’t guess at more than what I know. He is wondering aloud on his blog now whether I was some kind of trick to “get” him or whatever. My position is simply that I don’t want to deal with anyone who has “agendas” that cause them to ascribe more to this matter than is real or relevant, or to distort facts. That is Taylor’s voice on the recordings. Period.

    That said, I do not have any reason to believe that Taylor is more than what he seems in my experience: an unstable person who has acted out-of-bounds toward several people. I don’t believe he was really ever “working with” anybody in the sense that there was some kind of premeditation or organization to his actions. For instance, although I can’t personally abide Brooks, I do believe him when he says he has had nothing to do with Taylor in months (Taylor claimed Brooks was accompanying him to assault Stranahan in a recent recording).

    In any event, it doesn’t help things for people to speculate or take actions based on such thinking. I am completely confident that law enforcement can and will sort it all out. I encourage everyone to let that process happen.

    Thank you for correcting the record.

  10. melissa
    November 28th, 2012 @ 8:26 pm

    Dude, just for the record, Heather Chase LITERALLY doesn’t know what anyone said to the detective. What police investigator calls the victim and tells them everything that is happening, who they spoke to, any why.

    It makes no sense driving this narrative. I spoke with the initial investigator and I’m waiting for the official, assigned detective to call me back so he/she can get incident forms and other IDs.

    I have them, if Ms. Chase requests them. I don’t actually trust Ms. Chase to pass them on to the real life detective.

  11. Neal Rauhauser's "Higher Agenda" - Lowering the Boom
    November 28th, 2012 @ 8:28 pm

    […] Welcome, The Other McCain readers! Thanks for the linkage. […]

  12. TheRightGirl
    November 28th, 2012 @ 11:15 pm

    @VinceInTheBay did a BTR show on 11.25 titled “Turmoil on the Internet”. Towards the end of the show Vince read an tweet from Neal Rauhauser asking what the the turmoil was and saying something to the effect, “maybe I can help straighten it out”. Is he that paranoid that he thinks everything is about him? Maybe he needs to take his own advice and shut his computer off, go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Neal is the internet Gladys Kravitz…..and more.

  13. ThomasD
    November 29th, 2012 @ 8:51 pm

    Here’s a bit more information that might fill out the connections of this spider’s web.

    http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/11/stoprush-better-at-taking-down-progressive-twittershpere-than-stopping-rush/comment-page-1/#comment-394670

  14. dontbugme
    November 29th, 2012 @ 9:58 pm

    And now Neal has gone and taken his blog private. Wonder what could have caused that? He usually LOVES any attention he can get. Hmmmmmmmmmmm

  15. What Happened to Neal Rauhauser's Blog? - Lowering the Boom
    November 30th, 2012 @ 3:59 pm

    […] It’s not about politics. However, there appear to be people who seek to politicize and use this terrible ordeal to their own […]