Leaked Emails Name Shadow Lawyer in Charlottesville Case
A Baltimore attorney provided shadow legal representation to an extremist named in a lawsuit that implicates the white supremacists who descended on Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 in stoking violence, leaked emails show.
Glen Allen, a lawyer Hatewatch identified聽in 2016 as paying dues to the neo-Nazi group National Alliance, provides what appears to be legal advice to Michael 鈥淓noch鈥� Peinovich聽in the emails Hatewatch reviewed, despite never formally appearing as counsel in the case. In 2018, Hatewatch reported聽on Peinovich鈥檚 use of a 鈥渟hadow鈥� lawyer, and 聽who covered the 鈥淯nite the Right鈥�-focused lawsuit, also known as Sines v. Kessler. Peinovich presented himself to the court as being a pro se defendant, meaning he represented his own interests without legal counsel, but others doubted the veracity of this claim.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know whether the person that is ghostwriting his briefs is full-time or not, but he has got a lawyer,鈥� plaintiff鈥檚 attorney Roberta Kaplan told U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon in a hearing in June 2018.
Allen, the unidentified lawyer Kaplan referenced, paid dues for years to National Alliance, a neo-Nazi group founded by the late William Luther Pierce. (Pierce authored the dystopian racist book The Turner Diaries, which helped inspire the Oklahoma City terror attack in 1995.) In the emails Hatewatch reviewed, Allen advises Peinovich on how best to present his case. In one example, Peinovich says in a Jan. 16, 2018, email to Allen that he wants to ask Moon to take judicial notice of the First Amendment. When someone gives judicial notice in a court, it typically highlights facts that , such as previous court decisions, or times of day.
鈥淵ou can do it at any time but it is strictly for factual matters, so it would be insulting to ask the judge to take judicial notice [of the First Amendment],鈥� Allen replies in the emails. 鈥淧lease don鈥檛.鈥�
Peinovich closes a different email to Allen on the same thread on Jan. 17, 2018, at a little after 1 a.m., offering to send him 鈥渟ome cash or some more Bitcoin.鈥�
鈥淚f you provide a template Glen, I would be willing to write a bunch of this stuff myself and then you could help me trim it down. 鈥� Let me know how I can send you some cash or some more bitcoin,鈥� Peinovich writes.
Peinovich later apologizes for 鈥渟ending walltexts,鈥� apparently referring to his long emails seeking input about the case. 鈥淚t鈥檚 late and I鈥檓 thinking 鈥榦ut loud鈥� so to speak,鈥� he writes. Allen replies roughly 12 hours later with more legal advice, urging Peinovich to 鈥渦nload on them,鈥� a seeming reference to the plaintiffs鈥� lawyers, the emails show:
I was very glad to receive your emails, so don鈥檛 ever hesitate to think out loud like that. Everything you said I agree should be put in the new motion to dismiss, to some degree at least. As to format 鈥� I would use the basic format we used for the first memo (just save it into a new version), but add a section entitled 鈥楽ummary of Amended Complaint鈥� where you unload on them for the reasons you mention. Err on the side of inclusion and I will trim down where necessary. But remember 鈥� it is fine to be hotly indignant toward these creepy plaintiffs鈥� lawyers, but be respectful to the court. Plaintiffs want the court to see you as lawless, uneducated, intolerant, violence-prone fanatics who want to bring back Jim Crow and the Holocaust. Don鈥檛 play into their hands; lambast the plaintiffs but don鈥檛 wander too far from the high road of principle.
As part of its efforts to confirm the authenticity of the emails, Hatewatch matched their time stamps to events related to the Sines v. Kessler lawsuit. Additionally, the emails contained a Microsoft Word document labeled 鈥淧einovich Motion re Elctronic [sic] Filing (1).docx.鈥� Metadata shows that the document was created on Nov. 30, 2017. Lawyers filed the suit 聽2017 鈥� a little over a month earlier.
Peinovich, a Holocaust-denying podcaster who has a penchant for organizing clandestine meetings of white supremacists, 聽in the runup to the 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in August 2017, 鈥淒o what you need to do for security of your own person, at this point. 鈥� We don鈥檛 want [counterprotesters] to have the impression 鈥� that we are going to be showing up there, unarmed 鈥� that is not the case.鈥� Others who espouse Peinovich鈥檚 ideology clashed with Charlottesville residents and counterprotesters on Aug. 12, 2017, in defense of a monument to Confederate general Robert E. Lee, which authorities ultimately removed earlier this year. Neo-Nazi James Fields rammed his car into a crowd of antiracists on Aug. 12, 2017, murdering a woman named Heather Heyer and injuring many others.
Although other 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� attendees named in Sines v. Kessler face trial in the case starting on Oct. 25, Moon dropped Peinovich鈥檚 name from the case in 2018. Moon made the decision after Peinovich argued his case through Allen鈥檚 apparent assistance. As a result, he spared Peinovich a potentially significant financial burden. The use of shadow lawyers is , especially in federal courts, although not strictly prohibited in Virginia.
In recent years, Peinovich has organized with a self-described political party聽and has also collaborated with the white supremacist group Patriot Front. Hatewatch has also reported on the degree to which his associates have collaborated with the pro-Kremlin propagandist Charles Bausman. He sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center (人兽性交) in 2019, following Hatewatch questions about a leaked video showing him giving a 聽event hosted by his organization.
The person who leaked that video and six other sources who have leaked information about Peinovich to Hatewatch have described him as behaving like a cult leader. Hatewatch has identified eight different pseudonymous or anonymous associates of Peinovich鈥檚 since 2019, including a man who worked for the U.S. State Department, and now, Allen. Hatewatch reached out to Peinovich through the lawyer who sent us the cease-and-desist request, but did not receive a reply.
A federal appeals court 聽of a lawsuit issued by Glen Allen against 人兽性交 in June, claiming defamation over Hatewatch鈥檚 article highlighting his ties to National Alliance. The City of Baltimore hired Allen to represent their police department in a lawsuit聽based around the wrongful arrest of a Black man but 聽following the publication of that reporting. Hatewatch reached out to Allen for this story, but he did not respond.
The non-profit civil rights group Integrity First for America (IFA) 聽against the 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� defendants. Executive director Amy Spitalnick told Hatewatch that Peinovich鈥檚 use of a ghost lawyer with links to National Alliance did not surprise her.
鈥淭he white supremacists responsible for 鈥楿nite the Right鈥� have tried every trick in the book to avoid accountability for their violence. Our case is about holding them to account,鈥� Spitalnick said.
Photo illustration by 人兽性交
