Brett Kimberlin sued over forty individuals and organization (including me) over the past decade for defamation. He managed to win nominal damages (a hundred bucks out of over two million sought) the first case on a default judgment (apparently by playing games with service of court papers), but he lost every other defamation action he filed. Kimberlin tried to claim that telling the truth about him was defamatory while he and his PR minions were spinning contradictory false narratives to try to burnish his image. The TKPOTD for seven years ago today dealt with the fictional claim that he had been exonerated of the Speedway Bomber charges.

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One of the false narratives about Brett Kimberlin that has circulated around the Internet is a fantasy about his being “exonerated” of his bombing and dope smuggling convictions and about his having received a substantial settlement. Here’s an example from Democratic Underground.

The truth is that Kimberlin had his parole revoked for two years in 1997 and wound up staying in prison until 2001. He managed to keep the Parole Commission in the dark concerning any parole violations, so in 2006 he was released from supervision. That’s not exactly an exoneration.

Notice that I said he kept the Parole Commission in the dark about parole violations. One of the usual conditions of parole is to refrain from association with other felons. Here’s the true narrative: While he was still under supervision, Brett Kimberlin hired Craig Gillette, who has a child pornography conviction, to work at Justice Through Music Project. According to Mrs. Kimberlin, Gillette lived with the Kimberlins and their children in their one-room apartment in the basement of Kimberlin’s mother’s house for an extended period.

#Loser

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Exit Question—If he’s already been exonerated, why is he suing to have some of the convictions overturned?

BTW, I’m keeping an eye on the appeal he has before the Seventh Circuit and will report on any movement in that case. Stay tuned.