Today, jury selection begins in the trial of former school superintendent Michael McVey as the Witch Hunt portion of the Stuebenville rape case continues. As Cleveland.Com reports, it’s not the only new development:

McVey, 51, has pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice, both felonies, and misdemeanor charges of falsification and obstructing official business.

The trial begins less than a week after Trent Mays, one of two teens convicted in the case, was released from a Department of Youth Services facility. Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, then 16 and 17 years old, were convicted in March 2013 of raping a 16-year-old girl during a party in August 2012.

Richmond was released in January 2014.

McVey, who has been superintendent since 2008, is accused of deleting emails and data on computer hard drives or had someone wipe it for him and misled authorities about the school’s investigation into the rape allegations, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

I’m watching this latest development and allow me to be blunt: from everything I’ve seen and heard, these are trumped-up charges against McVey that were made by Attorney General Mike DeWine in an attempt to show something happened after the myth of a cover-up became nationwide news.

The reality is that there was no cover-up. That was a story made up by an angry blogger and perpetuated by Anonymous misfits, local malcontents and activists with an agenda. None of these people ever brought up McVey as one of the suspects behind the supposed cover-up. The people they DID bring up weren’t charged here because there was no cover-up.

It’ll be interesting to see the state of Ohio’s case here.

Hi. I’m back.

Months ago, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine convened a grand jury in Steubenville. At that point, i decided to sit back and let that develop and take a break from Steubenville blogging. I could not have predicted that September would roll around and there’d be no end in sight. But, here we are. And no end is in sight. So, I’ve decided to pick up blogging, anyway.

I also did a new Radio Stranahan show about Steubenville today: you can listen here.

A month ago, a major article came out in the New Yorker by Ariel Levy entitled Trail By Twitter. It was deeply researched-must be nice to have those New Yorker travel budgets-and got a lot of the story right. Not all of it, but a lot and certainly more than most. It also confirmed what I’d been reporting here on this blog for months; that the Steubenville narrative as told by Anonymous and Prinnie aka Alexandria Goddard was almost all totally wrong and that terrorized both citizens and officials in Steubenville.

Alexandria Goddard aka Prinnie is the person most responsible for the vicious lies spread about Steubenville and its citizens. She pushed the false story, at first on her blog and later on countless national TV and print interviews. They have her blog millions of dollars in free advertising and promoted her as a champion of free speech and indie journalism.

The real Alexandria Goddard is a vicious, bitter liar.

One stunner in the article has gone almost completely unnoticed by the media that was so intent on crying ‘rape culture!’ at the town of Steubenville–Alexandra Goddard’s blunt, vile confession to planned sexual assault.

In my trips to Steubenville, I had heard the stories about Alexandria Goddard supposedly exacting on a man. The stories sounded too crazy to be true. Several independent sources told me that years ago, she and a friend tricked a guy into coming to their apartment under the guise of a threesome, then tied him down and proceeded to shove a bottle of hot sauce into his rectum. They said that Prinnie bragged about this and the story was well known around town.

I didn’t report it at the time. As I said, it sound too crazy. Even though my sources were solid and had proven dependable…really? Luring a guy? Hot sauce? Really? 

In the New Yorker piece, Alexandria Goddard confirms the basics of the story in her own words. Some details are changed, probably because Prinnie learned the definition of rape in Ohio includes penetration. That means if the story Prinnie admitted to others was true, Alexandria Goddard was a rapist under Ohio law.

Here’s the key paragraph from the New Yorker. It’s an amazing confession.

Once, a guy in town tried to force himself on a friend of hers, so Goddard devised a retaliatory scheme. They lured the man to her house under the pretext of having sex, and, after he took off his clothes, “I had a bottle of habanero sauce we used at the bar for wing night, and I lightly basted his junk,” Goddard said. In her recollection, they threw him out on the street, naked, in the cold. “It was snowing like hell, and he had to walk a very long way,” she said. “All the guys at the mill were talking about it. After that, men were scared of us for a very long time.”

This is a person with deep issues. Much more on this coming….

More confounded lies from the Atlantic Wire and writer Alexander Abad-Santos, who wrote:

If not everyone believes the rape happened, aren’t the town’s football allegiances going to get in the way of a fair trial?

Well, yes, there’s this from the Times report: “the county prosecutor and the judge in charge of handling crimes by juveniles recused themselves from the case because they had ties to the football team.”

Let’s go over that question slowly…

The first part is ‘If not everyone believes the rape happened‘; ponder that. Why would it matter if not everyone believed a crime happened? Justice isn’t determined by a vote of an entire city. In this case, there wasn’t even a jury. So what possible difference does it make if ‘not everyone’ believes anything?

Next clause is “aren’t the town’s football allegiances going to get in the way of a fair trial?”; again, ponder. When this article was written, months after Judge Lipps had been on the case. He’s not from Steubenville, has no connection. The football allegiances wouldn’t have anything to do with anything.

But even with that question with the lies baked right in, Abad-Santos answers his own question about a fair trial by saying “Well, yes” and then goes on to point out the very fact–the recusal–that disproves the answer he just gave.

Another Steubenville supporter speaks out and tells the truth about the terror caused by lies…

One issue that Steubenville case commenters have asked : where did the booze come from and why aren’t adults being charged? Day one of the trial brings some answers.

1) Jane Doe brought a bottle of vodka with her when her mother dropped her off at her friend Julia’s house at 3pm, Julia / Witness #1 testifiedyesterday. It was a ‘medium sized’ bottle of Smirnoff Vanilla that Jane and Julia drank mixed with blue Slushies from Speedway in 44 ounce cups.

Jane also played beer pong. Nobody testified where the beer came from..

2) How about the ‘second party’ at the Howarth house, where the Howarth parents were present? From testimony yesterday there was no drinking at the second party. Three witnesses all said there was no booze there, which is why some people left and went to Party #1.

Here’s what passes for journalism in the Steubenville story…

Dan Wetzel, who is a “Yahoo Expert” goes into a Steubenville bar. (My guess the is Spot Bar. Just a hunch.) Dan then writes an unsourced story about his supposed experience there, lays on a thick, luxurious coat of rumors and infuses every “Steubenville Sucks” meme he can find.

It’s an easy story to write. Steubenville is awful. Not a mention of Steubenville’s excellent academic reputation or the good that Big Red football program has brought to kids who grow up under tough circumstances or terror that Anonymous brought to the town.

No, Dan says Steubenville appreciates Anonymous for bringing the story to light. I haven’t met the people saying that yet.

Here’s how Dan closes the piece. Is there a contest to see who can make Steubenville look the worst?

About the only thriving business, they said, is the drug trade.

It’s not that Steubenville was ever some innocent place. It’s long been gritty and desperate, home to Dean Martin, Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder and former porn star Traci Lords, not to mention a rampant mob underworld, political corruption and crooked union bosses.

Still, after the precipitous fall, an infamous teen rape case that exposes every wart is a bit much, even here, in a bar where one patron had arrived at 9 a.m.

“You type ‘Steubenville’ into the Internet and ‘rape’ immediately comes up,” said one man. “Even before ‘Ohio.’ That sucks.”

“Ah, come on, this place is a [expletive] hellhole,” said another.

They all pretty much agreed on that, too.

Try this. Go into any bar, anywhere in the world.  See if people say negative things about that location when asked. Nashville, Los Angeles, Bangkok. See if people complain about the economy. New York, London, Paris, Munich. See if drunk people bicker.

You’re an Expert!

Write that up!

With the trial a week, Lee talks about recent news including the witness list and NOW’s petition to DeWine, plus he talks about rape culture.

For the better part of a year, my family and I have have been under constant siege from a small group of people who have worked together in a relentless attempt to humiliate, embarrass and inflict emotional stress on us in a clear attempt destroy my professional reputation and to silence my voice. Much of this appears to be related to stories I have written about such as Weinergate, Occupy Wall Street, the media’s handling of the Steubenville rape case and projects I’ve launched like Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day.

These attacks, however, have gone far beyond the realm of impassioned debate and into the realm of illegal harassment that serves no legitimate legal purpose.

The tactics employed by this small group of people has included releasing our personal information, threats and intimidation, obscene comments about my wife and children, repeated attempts to get me fired, false reports to the police and child protective services and even vulgar conspiracy theories about the death of our daughter Collette last year. These attacks–often hundreds a day–have been both aimed directly at me as well as my employer, work associates, my family and even strangers I spoke to on Twitter or Facebook.

One of the more consistent attackers has been a man named Bill Schmalfeldt in Maryland. Despite being told my the local police that harassment was a crime and despite my repeated requests to stop direct contact with me and to cease his harassment, Mr. Schmalfeldt continued direct communications with me–including numerous private emails–that were intended to alarm and seriously annoy me and family. The attacks by Mr. Schmalfeldt have intensified recently.

As a first step in combatting this assault on my family and career, earlier this week I began criminal proceedings against Mr. Schmalfeldt, some details of which can be found here by doing a search.

Because of the nature of the charges and my position as a writer on national issues, I anticipate the case will gain some degree of exposure. This is criminal matter pending a hearing, so I plan to make little comment about it publicly. Mr. Schmalfeldt, like any defendant, is innocent until proven guilty and should be treated as such.

As far as my work goes, I do not intend to be silenced by this intimidation. I have a lifelong love of the First Amendment. I believe in free speech and vigorous debate. As such, I believe that harassment and intimidation that are in clear violation of existing law actually has a chilling effect on such debate, creating an atmosphere where people are afraid to discuss issues publicly for fear of becoming the victim of unending, vicious personal attacks that are intended to shut people up.

They say that good fences make for good neighbors. In the era of social media, citizen journalism and digital technology that allows people to communicate with the entire world in real time, I believe the issue of how best to define and deal with harassment is a vital one.

I expect the attacks on me and my family by the people who have been attacking will become even more desperate as a result of this legal action. To everyone who watched these attacks for many months now, I want to tell you that your public and private encouragement and kind words has meant a great deal to Lauren and I. I have had a number of supporters who don’t agree with me on issues but who understand when a line has been crossed and have offered words of support.

Thank you.

anonymous |əˈnänəməs – adjective
• (of a person) not identified by name; of unknown name:
• having no outstanding, individual, or unusual features; unremarkable or impersonal
• [ postpositive ] used in names of support groups for addicts of a substance or behavior to indicate the confidentiality maintained among members of the group: e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous

swarm |swôrm| – noun
• a large or dense group of insects, esp. flying ones
• (a swarm/swarms of) a large number of people or things

mask |mask| verb [ with obj. ]
• cover (the face) with a mask.
• conceal (something) from view
• disguise or hide (a sensation or quality)

bully  |ˈbo͝olē| verb
•use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants

intimidate |inˈtimiˌdāt| – verb
• frighten or overawe (someone), esp. in order to make them do what one wants

hypocrisy |hiˈpäkrisē| – noun ( pl. hypocrisies )
• the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.

Color me confused.

Why would a first amendment stalwart like Mark Randazza who has represented clients like James McGibney, Alexandria Goddard and is recognized by MSNBC as one of Porn’s Most Powerful Players be cheering the defacement and hacking of a private website? With ALL CAPS and four exclamation points? Seems kinda censor-y.

Also, why is anti-bullying account like Bullyville RTing it? Or included in the mentions?