Lawyer accuses Rand Paul of plagiarizing lawsuit against NSA. No, really.

[ProSense]

Lawyer accuses Rand Paul of plagiarizing lawsuit against NSA. No, really.

by Hunter

This. Is. Awesome. That lawsuit Sen. Rand Paul filed against the NSA? The person who wrote it says that Rand Paul and Ken Cuccinelli plagiarized it, and he's ticked.

Since December, the libertarian lawmaker, a tea party favorite, had been working with former Reagan administration lawyer Bruce Fein to draft a class-action suit seeking to have the National Security Agency’s surveillance of telephone data declared unconstitutional; the two men appeared together as early as last June to denounce the NSA’s activities.

But when Paul filed his suit at the U.S. District Court in Washington on Wednesday morning, Fein’s name had been replaced with that of Ken Cuccinelli, the failed Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia who until last month had been the state’s attorney general. <...>

Fein, who has not been paid for his legal work by Paul’s political action committee, was furious that he had been omitted from the filing he wrote.

Veeery ticked:

Ken Cuccinelli stole the suit,” (spokeswoman Mattie Fein) said, adding that Paul, who “already has one plagiarism issue, now has a lawyer who just takes another lawyer’s work product.”

Though a few changes were made, there's no question that the document was Fein's. The rest of the suit seems to have turned from theoretically bipartisan effort to Full Wingnut Version as well, dropping Democratic Sen. Mark Udall as co-plaintiff, adding astroturf group FreedomWorks to the plaintiff list and naming Obama himself as a new defendant. Yup, it's been Cuccinellified.

That's libertarianism for you. If you see something you like, swipe it and take the credit. The good news is that this looks to be the beginning of a bee-utiful enemyship:

When Mattie Fein responded in an e-mail to Cuccinelli calling him “dumb as a box of rocks,” Cuccinelli wrote another e-mail to Bruce Fein saying, “I think this relationship is untenable.”

Oh my. Pardon us while we just pull up a chair ... all right, perfect. Proceed!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/12/1277165/-Lawyer-accuses-Rand-Paul-of-plagerizing-lawsuit-against-NSA-No-really

[Cha]

1. "This. Is. Awesome. That lawsuit Sen. Rand Paul filed against the NSA? The person who wrote it says

that Rand Paul and Ken Cuccinelli plagiarized it, and he's ticked."

But, we already have people around here lauding aynrand!

"Ken Cuccinelli stole the suit,” (spokeswoman Mattie Fein) said, adding that Paul, who “already has one plagiarism issue, now has a lawyer who just takes another lawyer’s work product.”

[malaise]

2. This should finish off the racist scumbag

Delish!

[FSogol]

3. Has Cuccinelli been indicted for the Star Scientific Scandal yet? He accepted

bribes gifts just like McDonnell. He even came up with the novel defense of "he couldn't give the gifts back because he already spent them."

[NightWatcher]

4. it DID start, "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary..."

They should've known something was up

[Berlum]

5. RepubliBaggers just don't do honesty

It's clearly not one of their so-called "values"

[sheshe2]

6. The GOP the gift that keeps on giving and giving and..............

Rand Paul is like the ever ready bunny, with plagiarism to spare.

[NobodyHere]

7. And the NSA goes matrching on

Maybe now some good liberal lawmaker will take up the fight against the NSA.

[calimary]

17. Welcome to DU, NobodyHere!

Good to have you with us. Anything rand paul gets behind is immediately suspect, as far as I'm concerned. And it's his pattern to plagiarize. Maybe he thought the last stink that was raised about him doing so was long enough ago that everybody forgot, and he could just go back to his old tricks, or partner up with another like-minded asshole.

[msanthrope]

8. Do we have a list of the DUers who previously praised this lawsuit???? nt

[giftedgirl77]

9. Not a list per say but I'm guessing this is what is

being referred to

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014725830#post7

[msanthrope]

11. Look at you!! Welcome! nt

[giftedgirl77]

13. Thank u

[JDPriestly]

25. I like the lawsuit but not the plagiarism.

[TheMathieu]

10. LOL.

Finally an NSA story worth reading.

[Cha]

26. ..

lol

[struggle4progress]

12. "When you sup with the devil, bring a long spoon"

So Fein, part of the Snowden Cheerleading Team, is now all grumpy about document theft. Meh

[eggplant]

15. I can't even begin to understand your point.

You don't like him, so the fact that he was ripped off is somehow ok? You equate one person stealing another person's work product AND CLAIMING IT AS THEIR OWN with what Snowden did?

That's just out and out stupid.

[struggle4progress]

20. I don't even know the folk involved. I have seen them for years. And, anyway,

they left here before you arrived. That's my story, and I'm stickin with it

[marble falls]

14. Snickerty snick snicker snickety snicker snicker.

[Iliyah]

16. Un-real seriously

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. Republicans are so used to taking stuff written by Right Wing Think Tanks as their OWN,....

....that they just ASSUME everything out there is fair game.

Rand Paul just opened himself up to having EVERY BILL he has introduced scrutinized.

[Historic NY]

19. Paul has a habot of stealing peoples intellectual works....

so he doesn't look like the dumbass he really is.

[ReRe]

21. Unfuckingbelievable!

[JDPriestly]

22. So true. Thanks. Will be watching this.

Last edited Wed Feb 12, 2014, 11:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Of course, the client is the boss once he has hired a lawyer. I don't know what the relationship between Bruce Fein and Paul was.

[neverforget]

23. For being a doctor, he sure is stupid

and lazy.

[SDjack]

28. He probably plagiarized diagnosis reports. nt

[stg81]

24. When Aqua Buddha was added as plaintiff, Fein suspected something was up...

[CherokeeDem]

27. Oh... Please, please... make this for real...

I live in Kentucky and I would be so, so happy if this bastard goes down for this!!

Please....

[ProSense]

29. Kick! n/t

[AngryAmish]

30. I've knicked more than a few pleadings in my life

No need to reinvent the wheel.

[treestar]

31. That's my reaction; I'm not sure how one can "plagiarize" a lawsuit

It is publicly filed. And there are form pleadings. Whatever the causes of action are, they have to state the elements, which are going to be alike no matter who files.

[AngryAmish]

32. iirc copywrite does not apply to public documents

[ProSense]

33. Two things:

1) It's the pattern

2) It's the type of shit one would expect from the teabaggers Rand supports.

All in all, it's hilarious and well-deserved.

[bemildred]

34. That's what I thought too.

Tends to be a lot of legal boilerplate in them anyway.

However if it takes that weasel down, I can overlook it, this IS politics after all, we ARE in the gutter. Would Breitbart hesitate?

[ProSense]

37. Oh, it's likely more serious than that. It's Bruce Fein.

But when Paul filed his suit at the U.S. District Court in Washington on Wednesday morning, Fein’s name had been replaced with that of Ken Cuccinelli, the failed Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia who until last month had been the state’s attorney general. Cuccinelli has never argued a case in that courthouse, and he isn’t even a member of the D.C. bar (he also filed a motion Wednesday seeking an exception to allow him to argue this case in D.C.). But he is, like Paul, a tea party darling.

Fein, who has not been paid in full for his legal work by Paul’s political action committee, was furious that he had been omitted from the filing he wrote. “I am aghast and shocked by Ken Cuccinelli’s behavior and his absolute knowledge that this entire complaint was the work product, intellectual property and legal genius of Bruce Fein,” Mattie Fein, his ex-wife and spokeswoman, told me Wednesday. “Ken Cuccinelli stole the suit,” she said, adding that Paul, who “already has one plagiarism issue, now has a lawyer who just takes another lawyer’s work product.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-rand-paul-and-ken-cuccinelli-accused-of-stealing-nsa-lawsuit/2014/02/12/058675aa-942b-11e3-83b9-1f024193bb84_story.html

[bemildred]

38. That sounds just peachy, thanks for the info.

We will need plenty of popcorn.

[Gothmog]

35. Rand Paul is too stupid to know that he is a joke

[Berlum]

36. Randy Dude takes himself verrrry seriously

[gwheezie]

39. I found a list of nsa law suits

I don't know if it's complete, but I'm guessing this one from Paul is part of his bid for the 16 nomination, he seems to be putting himself in the news more than he legislates
http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/surveillance-suits

[gerogie2]

40. The Father & Son Paul's are good doctors

but horrible lawmakers that don't understand the law or economics. They also appeal to the lunatic fringe of American politics. Ron Paul is worse then his son. He often showed up on Alex Jones conspiracy theory daily rant fest radio show.

I do hope that Rand Paul wins the GOP nomination for prez in 2016, so he can be easily beat in the election.

[butterfly77]

41. Kick,kick,kicked&Recommended!