To tell the truth, I don’t know a whole lot about Jeremey Kauffman, who is listed as “an American entrepreneur and political activist known for founding and leading the blockchain-based filesharing project LBRY. Kauffman is also known as a vocal supporter and activist within the Free State Project (FSP) and a former board member. “
Has he made some statements on Twitter that have upset the always-triggered class? A search would seem to indicate so, with some calling him a pedophile, although my reading of that interaction leads me to believe that he was just being outlandish in his comments.
So I’ll say this: I’m not endorsing the guy or his viewpoints, but what I can say is that he posted an epic video Monday that showed him absolutely humiliating FBI agents who came to his home to try to intimidate him over what he has to say.
The shame and defeat on the agents’ faces seemed to reveal that they knew they were engaging in the weaponization of our law enforcement institutions and not actually working to keep the American public safe.
Watch:
I don’t know that I’ve ever posted “watch this video.”
Watch this video. This is EXACTLY how you treat feds when they come to your door. Film every single thing. Tell them nothing.
And treat your local FBI agent like the town prostitute. https://t.co/HwthTaLbg5
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) September 16, 2024
The video shows two supposed FBI agents approaching Kauffman’s house and asking for him, yet when he demands to know their full names and see their credentials, they clam up. If you were on a legitimate investigation, wouldn’t you pull out your ID, state your name fully, and explain exactly the reasons why you were there—“We are here to talk to you about the threatening statements you made against so-and-so,” for example?
But they didn’t. Instead, the agents—who, as my friend and colleague Jim Thompson noted, “Why do FBI agents now look and dress like bros who just got off work at the Costco?”—hemmed and hawed and deflected and just generally seemed dishonest.
But more than that, as Kauffman noted, they just plain seem to be humiliated. “You can see the shame on their faces,” he wrote. And unless it turns out that Kauffman made threats or otherwise broke the law, why shouldn’t they be? According to the First Amendment, he can make controversial statements, and he shouldn’t be visited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for departing from “The Narrative.”
The most revealing moment to me: Kauffman said, “Didn’t you guys read the Constitution?” Their answer: “Thank you for your time.” Then they slinked off like humiliated children caught stealing from the cookie jar.
“You guys are embarrassing,” Kauffman told them. Tellingly, they again had no answer.
Kauffman has made some enemies with his outspoken libertarian views—but so what? That’s not supposed to be illegal in this country, according to the First Amendment. Unless it turns out that he threatened to kill the president or to burn down the houses of his ideological adversaries, he’s supposed to be allowed to say what he thinks without the weaponized Biden-Harris DOJ knocking at his door.
From what I can tell, he just delivered a Master Class in what to do when the Thought Police come for you—videotape every moment. The priceless faces of the humiliated FBI agents tells me what I need to know; they knew they were not seeking justice, they were just seeking intimidation.
