Victory in Fort Worth Amid a $71 Million Judgment Against Me

Where's my mug shot man? WTF?

Lots of people calling me and well, I have to say that I’m a little busy at present.

Can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man.

“Your life story is a novel; and people, though they love novels wound between two yellow paper covers, are oddly suspicious of those which come to them in living vellum.” — Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo.

By now you may have heard the news that I’ve been hit with a $71 million verdict in the Point Bridge Capital case.

Oh no! They got me! Oh no!

Did they get me? Or did I get them?

Hmmm…

Let’s put our thinking caps on, friends. OK, let’s be a little Genius about what’s been stewing down in Fort Worth. “They are no faint hearts in Fort Worth” to quote JFK and I must say that I fared better than he did there.

It’s Uncle Chuck alone against the Texas oligarchs — Elon Musk included — and their proxy Mr. Hal Lambert. But what can I say? I love a showdown and damn did it feel Western. I loved the museums of Fort Worth and the food? 10 out of 10.

Yeah, you could see this as a bit of Texas hold ‘em and Hal Lambert ain’t never beat me in a poker game. Your little nerd friend, Uncle Chuck, paid his way through college playing poker.

Now I meant what I said in the court room, most of it anyway. I feel bad for Lambert. I had to shame him one time and got his wife to join him in the court room. Good on them. I didn’t use the evidence I had of Lambert’s bad behavior because families should be off limits. It’s good that they are rallying around them — allegedly — but curiously his daughters weren’t there.

I have to say I’m disappointed in myself as I told the Independent’s senior reporter Justin Baragona. Justin worked for the very Chisraeli Daily Beast and now for the Russian-owned, Saudi-owned Independent. Do you think these players would have an interest in degrading me? Gee, I wonder. I see you guys and so do my friends.

Did you know that Tony Ortiz’s Current Revolt brings in only $100K a year? And that he has all these other businesses? Or that everything that happens in a court is recorded? Who knew? It was good to get to know Tony in the courtroom anyway. I sure hope he’s not using his website to launder things that were hacked. That would be naughty, Tony!

I asked the jury one question in the voir dire portion: Do any of y’all hate people from out of Texas?

Candidly I wanted to hit the record. Donald Trump was subject to $83.3 million fine for the ridiculous Jean Carroll situation. Me? A meager $71m? I mean, come on, man! Bronze? What’s this nonsense? In fairness Trump is a lot older than I am so there’s time says one of my teachers. Fingers crossed.

Careful observers noted that Trump’s judgment is 833 and mine is 71. Those are angel numbers. 833 is abundance and power; 71 is about trusting your instincts.

I don’t mean to get all woo woo on you. That’s a different department. Down the hall and to the left. But I felt I wasn’t alone in the courtroom even though I very much was. If you want something done right you’ve got to do it yourself, obviously.

Still the laws of the universe are quite clear. If I break Donald Trump’s record I become the next president. I don’t like it anymore than you do but that’s how it goes, friends. I guess I’m the next president. I’ve got to go get a First Lady and a dog now. But in which order? Do you get the dog to get the First Lady or does the First Lady come with the dog? Do you get assigned a First Lady? Do you get assigned a dog? Ooooh.

My colleague Arthur Bloom has a pretty good write up of what transpired. You should check it out.

Thoughts on the Point Bridge v. Johnson Damages Trial

And I’m loving the conspiracy theories that say I’m America’s Fed. Didn’t we just have a trial that says that I’m a serial liar and not a fed? Oooh. Is this Schrödinger’s Fed?

Accusations that I’m some kind of fed would be outlandish and, uhh, fantastic. You know, I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public but I can take it — all manner of conspiracy theories that come for me. It’s no big deal and highly entertaining.

We don’t oftentimes talk about how the courts are used in counterintelligence operations. Nor do we talk about the role of the media in being compromised operations.

Could this all be an elaborate trap that has already worked? Beats me.

Some key details.

1. I wasn’t arrested (unfortunately).

2. It cost me nothing (pro se for the win!)

3. I gave up no data and protected my sources, including and especially those targeted by Thiel and Musk like members of the press.

I enjoyed having Lambert on the stand. He provided a cornucopia of information about his various scam businesses under oath. By my count he perjured himself at least twice. Whoopsies.

And I have to say that deposing myself was one of the most fun things I have ever done. (“How do I address myself, Your Honor? Do I call myself ‘Mr. Johnson’? Very well. 'Mr. Johnson,’ how many operations have you been involved in taking out compromised venture capital, media properties, etc.? )

You might wonder if the whole thing itself was a kind of op. Judge Pittman himself mentioned that possibility when he discussed James Jesus Angleton who dealt with false defectors.

Why would someone who was a confidential informant for the FBI mention that he was a confidential informant for the FBI? “Could be because he works for another government agency, Your Honor. Could be he’s a nutter.”

I had my fun with the other two expert witnesses. I even allowed one of them — Stewart Baker, formerly of the NSA — to testify remotely. Why not?

Baker admitted he had no idea of what Lambert claimed was true. Brady, who left the FBI 15 years, didn’t appreciate the irony of me making fun of him as an FBI agent who went to go work for rich people after he left the Bureau.

Don’t tell anyone but it’s “100 percent reversible on appeal.”

But maybe I shouldn’t appeal it and let it stand as a warning to others or a precedent.

Whose to say? Whose to say?

Here’s how I would appeal if it I were going to appeal it.

Judge Pittman erred when he granted Plaintiff’s default judgment and denied Defendant his right to self defense from what is the third largest defamation claim — $71 million — in American history.

Pittman has been told by the Fifth Circuit to seek the least punitive sanctions possible.

For Johnson that may well have been jail. Johnson admitted repeatedly that he would prefer a stint in county jail to turning over his sources as to turn over privileged communication would be a potential career ending death sentence for any working journalist.

Denying a journalist of first his First Amendment rights then later his Sixth Amendment rights to a trial is troubling indeed.

Johnson made it known that he had no objection to a reasonable discovery process but he objected to an extremely overboard discovery process that appeared likely to parallel construct material that had already been impermissibly obtained through illegal hacking. Plaintiff has an association with Elon Musk who often uses hackers to illegal retrieve material. Allowing Plaintiff an ever changing discovery would be tantamount to a fishing expedition and would make compliance impossible — which was precisely the point.

Johnson is a working journalist and writer. He has been interviewed by the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Alex Gibney about his work investigating billionaires — some of whom are business partners of Plaintiff. Defendant was threatened by Plaintiff’s business partners. Plaintiff’s attorney worked first for Elon Musk’s personal law firm then for Tesla’s.

In granting a default judgement against Johnson, Johnson had no ability to defend himself against a charge of civil RICO or defamation claims. Truth, which is a common defense against claims of defamation or civil RICO, wasn’t allowed to be used as a defense. Indeed Mr. Lambert’s witnesses admitted that they didn’t know if the claims were true or false and that it didn’t matter if the claims were true or false as they were injurious either way.

But it does matter if what Johnson said was true or false. And Johnson couldn’t call witnesses on his own behalf.

By any objective matter Johnson was a federal informant and Special Agent Jonathan Buma of the FBI was his handler.

Johnson — representing himself — was also unable to cross examine the alleged subject matter expert that had calculated Lambert’s damages. That model should be thrown out and with it the damages. Defendant was unable to give alternate theories for why Lambert’s businesses collapsed.

Worse yet Plaintiff’s Counsel had a glaring conflict of interest, a conflict of interest that was never ruled upon despite Defendant focusing on it repeatedly.

Plaintiff’s Counsel promised that he had checked but was unwilling to prove that he had done a conflict search.

On February 11 Johnson and his family retained DLA Piper on a property matter. Plaintiff counsel joined Quinn Emanuel on February 17.

Defendant can’t say for sure whether DLA Piper used confidential information in that case to affect this one. Given that that family property is rented exclusively to U.S. Naval officers and Plaintiff’s financial backers history of opposing military projects — most notably threatening the commander in chief and the cancelation of key projects — this has national security implications.

Of course I’m sure the men in black have this well handled. And they’ll be arresting me any day now?

Do you like my mugshot? I practiced it!

You know the last two presidents named Johnson were Southerners and I think fair to say, traitors.

What do we think chat? Third times the charm?