Current mood:

annoyed

Argh!
Sometime around 4 this morning, somebody -- we don't know who, at the
moment -- apparently used the open-to-the-public CCRN web mailer to send an
email to at least many of the members of the Minnesota House.

That would be okay; that's what it's there for.

But they sent it using my name. That isn't okay.

And -- whoever it was -- cut and pasted yesterday's journal entry into their
email, and prefaced and interspersed it with threats. Lots of threats,
directed at any legislator who votes against the MCPPA. That not only
isn't okay, it's quite probably a crime, as well as a few other legal
wrongs, too. (And they added in some other silly stuff, too.)

It was a blatant, clumsy, and transparent attempt to derail the MCPPA
repassage. And it isn't going to work.

As soon as I heard about this, I called a friend of mine -- who is also my
attorney; his name is David Gross (I dedicated a book to him a few years
ago, if you don't mind a short digression) -- and he immediately called the
FBI and the Executive Protection folks at the Capitol. Since then, I've
been in direct contact with law enforcement, and, at the advice and
recommendation of my attorney, David Gross, am being fully cooperative, as
in "ask me what you want to ask, and I'll tell you what little I know, and
what I can surmise." I had a longish talk with one law enforcement officer
this morning, and -- I hope -- gave that officer some pointers as to how
they might be able to identify the person who forged my name and sent an
email.

Some people have stepped up to the plate. I've been -- and will be --
critical of Nora Slawik's opposition to the MCPPA. But Representative
Slawik quickly sent out an email to various news organizations, making it
clear that she not only understood that the email was forged (I'll give her
credit for that, but not too much; it's a pretty clumsy attempt), but that
she's got more integrity than to sit quiet and try to take political
advantage of the blackening of my name, and for that I'll give her a lot of
credit.

I hope the authorities quickly find whoever did this. I'm a fan of the
First Amendment, the Second Amendment, and the Sixth, as well -- and I'd
very much like this person to get a speedy, and very public trial.

More later.

[Update, May 22: Welcome Instapundit readers -- and thanks for mentioning this, Glenn. I'll be updating the blog on this hoax I was the target of when there's some news I can talk about publicly. Soon, I hope.]