SPLC claims leaked emails show dues paying neo-Nazi providing legal advice to ‘Unite the Right’ organizer
Emails obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center appear to show a defendant in a lawsuit over Charlotte's fatal 2017 "Unite the Right" rally receiving shadow legal advice.
"Glen Allen, a lawyer Hatewatch identified in 2016 as paying dues to the neo-Nazi group National Alliance, provides what appears to be legal advice to Michael "Enoch" Peinovich in the emails Hatewatch reviewed, despite never formally appearing as counsel in the case," SPLC reported. "In 2018, Hatewatch reported on Peinovich's use of a "shadow" lawyer, and so did other outlets who covered the "Unite the Right"-focused lawsuit, also known as Sines v. Kessler."
Peinovich has been acting as a pro se defendant as he acts as his own lawyer, though whether he was being advised came up at a June 2018 hearing.
"I don't know whether the person that is ghostwriting his briefs is full-time or not, but he has got a lawyer," plaintiff's attorney Roberta Kaplan told the judge.
Ten residents of Charlottesville sued organizers of the rally in 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," SPLC reported.
It appears that Peinovich paid Allen in bitcoin.
"If 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. … Let me know how I can send you some cash or some more bitcoin," Peinovich wrote in one email.
This was not the first time SPLC has been leaked info on Peinovich. The organization also obtained video Peinovich at a 2017 book burning event.
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