I have very little interest or knowledge in the who-shot-John in the Loudoun GOP.
…nor do I know the players in what is affectionately (sic) called the “Loudoun Mafia” and their connivances. I do take interest, however, in this disturbing new trend of alleging bad behavior and criminal activity as a substitute for the actual deed in order to generate a press headline:
Brian Reynolds, who operates DesignB Studios Inc., claims that King owes him $1,750, the unpaid remainder of an $3,750 bill for the design and development of a website, and that the Leesburg lawyer has harmed his reputation by accusing him of being a computer hacker.
Reynolds, a Web developer and graphic designer, has done political campaign work for a host of candidates, including county Chairman Scott K. York, whom King is trying to unseat.
Now this could be absolutely true, and Mr. King (pictured) is just every bit the scumbag Mr. Reynolds claims him to be.
…or it could just be a politically motivated spat:
“Mr. King has been my personal attorney, an attorney for my company, DesignB Studios, Inc., and is a current client of DesignB Studios Inc.,” Reynolds said in a statement issued Monday. “In my opinion, Mr. King has not been able to separate his political aspirations with that of his business obligations, and his judgment has been skewed due to his run for office. The fact that King is an attorney, I would think he would know [that] he cannot arbitrarily and falsely accuse me of committing criminal acts to third parties.”
Reached Monday evening, King responded mostly with comments about York. For example, he called the lawsuit an “abuse of the legal system by Scott York, a career politician willing to use any questionable tactic to cling to office.”
And he questioned the substance of the court filings.
“Pleadings are supposed to state facts, so it’s difficult to respond to a complaint that is mostly filled with politically charged conclusions,” King said.
Jonathan Hunley’s piece over at Leesburg Today has all the juicy details, if that’s your thing.
What concerns me more than anything else is the new-found political effort to smear people in the courts, regardless as to whether or not any actual bad behavior has even been conducted.
Great for headlines, I’m sure… but defamation by courtroom isn’t exactly the most ethical of practices, and the coterie of political types (who also happen to be lawyers) who have discovered and are employing this tactic need to be called out on it.
The political weaponization of Virginia’s court system is a disturbing trend — one that should be vigorously opposed. One suspects that Mr. King will prevail in this dispute, which happens to be the fourth in a series of politically motivated complaints and investigations in Loudoun County alone. That should be enough to raise eyebrows in Richmond, if reform matters to the souls there.
