The Other McCain

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

Flashback: Kevin Zeese’s May 2012 Lawsuit Threat Against Ali Akbar

Posted on | March 1, 2014 | 10 Comments

One curious fact about Brett Kimberlin’s state and federal lawsuits is that in neither complaint does Kimberlin so much as mention Velvet Revolution US, the 501(c)4 group he formed with Brad Friedman. Nevertheless, it was the activities of Velvet Revolution US — specifically its July 2010 demand for prosecution of James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles — that first made Kimberlin an object of interest to conservative bloggers. (See Mandy Nagy’s 3,600-word October 2010 article for background.) On May 31, 2012, Velvet Underground lawyer Kevin Zeese sent this letter:

Velvet Revolution May 2012 Lawsuit Threat vs. Akbar

There are a couple things worth noticing here:

  1. The letter was written two days after the May 29 Maryland court hearing at which Kimberlin had Aaron Walker arrested on criminal charges, an event that catapulted this story into the stratosphere. See Ken White at Popehat, “Forgetting Brandenburg And The Rule of Law: Brett Kimberlin Censorship-Through-Lawfare Update.”
  2. The letter was sent not only to Ali Akbar, but also to Republican donor Foster Friess, who had helped sponsor Blog Bash at CPAC 2012. One might interpret that inclusion as an effort to intimidate a contributor to the National Bloggers Club.

No lawsuit was ever filed by Velvet Revolution US. It’s been more than 21 months since Zeese sent that letter, so one may speculate why Velvet Revolution lost interest in pursuing legal action, just as one may speculate about Kimberlin’s curious omission of Velvet Revolution from his lawsuits both in Maryland (Kimberlin v. Walker, et al.) and in federal court, where John Hoge has dubbed the RICO conspiracy case Kimberlin v. the Universe, et al.

Honestly, I’d forgotten about a lot of this stuff — tempus fugits — but as I mentioned earlier, Brett Kimberlin has threatened to sue the American Spectator, so I went back and re-read some of what I’d written there, including “Online Armageddon,” June 8, 2012. That article mentions a lot of stuff I’d forgotten, such as this:

Senator Asks DOJ to Investigate
SWAT-ting Attacks on Conservative Bloggers

That was the headline on an article by Arlene Saenz of ABC News published June 6, 2012. For some reason, Kimberlin hasn’t sued Arlene Saenz, ABC News, or Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who called for the investigation. A rather selective litigation, it would seem.



 

 


Category: The Kimberlin Files

Comments

10 Responses to “Flashback: Kevin Zeese’s May 2012 Lawsuit Threat Against Ali Akbar”

  1. Stogie Chomper
    March 1st, 2014 @ 10:09 pm

    The Zeese letter displays incredible gall. I would have given this bully a two-word response.

  2. Rather be anon
    March 1st, 2014 @ 10:38 pm

    Zeese strikes me as a good example of someone who puts partisan politics ahead of integrity, and this is how he ends up on convincted domestic terrorist Brett Kimberlin’s side. Even if Zeese himself normally has integrity (I don’t know whether this is the case), he loses that battle just by supporting Kimberlin’s actions.

    I know some users of this site might be tempted to say that someone’s politics alone are evidence of integrity. You need to picture that sociopaths and narcissists like Kimberlin can try to get in front of any ideological or religious view and learn what things to say to excite and attract followers. And, the point of view that “political enemies = bad people” is one of the things that helps them to rally around the sociopath when under attack from outsiders with different political ideas.

    It’d be interesting to see Zeese try to excuse his Kimberlin-enabling. I have a feeling it’d end up looking like what I said in the previous paragraph.

  3. richard mcenroe
    March 1st, 2014 @ 10:45 pm

    “Even if Zeese himself normally has integrity…” He’s a lawyer in the music biz. Any other questions?

  4. SPQR9
    March 1st, 2014 @ 11:14 pm

    When is the last time anyone heard from this particular scumbag?

  5. rmnixondeceased
    March 2nd, 2014 @ 9:43 am

    Heh. Brig. Gen. McAuliffe’s response to the Nazis at Bastonge in 1944: “Nuts!” is quite an appropriate response to Mr. Zeese’s letter.

  6. WarEagle82
    March 2nd, 2014 @ 1:32 pm

    “I’m thinking of suing you at some future date, so you better do just exactly as I say to make it easier for me to get more information to sue you when I get around to it” strikes me as just a bit arrogant. Even for a lawyer.

  7. Adjoran
    March 2nd, 2014 @ 2:10 pm

    Which puts him just below crack whores on the scale of integrity.

  8. Adjoran
    March 2nd, 2014 @ 2:11 pm

    Unfortunately, this is more or less a standard practice. A letter from a lawyer often accomplishes its goal of altering behavior when the putative plaintiff has no actual case. People are easily intimidated.

  9. If It’s Sunday, This Must Be Krasnoperekopsk | Regular Right Guy
    March 2nd, 2014 @ 3:48 pm

    […] Flashback: Kevin Zeese’s May 2012 Lawsuit Threat Against Ali Akbar […]

  10. Kevin Zeese, Neal Rauhauser and the ‘Occupy Infiltrator’ Frame-Up : The Other McCain
    March 2nd, 2014 @ 4:06 pm

    […] Zeese? In May 2012, on the letterhead of Kimberlin’s 501(c)4 group Velvet Revolution US, Zeese wrote a letter threatening legal action against Ali Akbar. In his lawsuit, Kimberlin doesn’t even mention his role with Velvet Revolution, just as he […]