The Mike Postle scandal began with allegations of cheating two years ago — give or take a few days — and is sputtering towards its final whimper with Postle's bankruptcy hearing on October 13. However, it looks like Postle may be gearing up to continue the fight in the court of public opinion.
Todd Witteles mentioned he had turned up a new website: MikePostlePoker(dot)com, which makes a series of dubious claims about the Postle case. As Witteles puts it, "a very misleading spin on our Anti-SLAPP motion against Postle. The site makes it appear that we lost the anti-SLAPP, and that the reduction in our requested legal fees was somehow a huge defeat."
The website is a little basic and certainly doesn't look like the product of a professional PR company, but then again neither does Orndee PR's website. The website also focuses on Veronica Brill's council Mike J. Randazza's conduct and management of the case rather than on Postle's alleged innocence.
Witteles did some further research on who set up the website. Despite attempts to redact information on the site's ownership, Witteles was able to ID the owner of the site as Orndee Inc, a public relations company. This company was founded by Alexandrea Merrell.
Merrell also works for the HONR Network that assisted Mike Postle in his defense against the anti-SLAPP suits.
Wherefore Postle?
Several sources indicated that Merrell's involvement in the case seems to have had little to do with the merits of Postle's case. Instead, the picture painted by Jennifer Newell of LegalUSPokerSites.com suggests that Merrell probably chose the case because of her prior relationship with Randazza.
Lenny Pozner founded the HONR Network after his child was killed in the Sandy Hook shootings. Pozner and others were targeted by conspiracy theorists who believed the shooting never happened, among them Alex Jones.
Randazza has a pretty controversial C.V.
He has fought for the right of pornographers to use obscenities in trademarks as well as representing neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, editor of The Daily Stormer. When Alex Jones was sued by the HONR Network for spreading conspiracy theories about the victims of the Sandy Hook shootings, he hired Randazza to defend him.
This was how Randazza and Merrell first came into each other's orbits.
The HONR Network's funds are intended to help the families of the victims in mass shootings and to fight online harassment. Postle was, therefore, chosen on grounds of his harassment by the poker community. That he was facing off against HONR's public enemy number one was pure coincidence.
Randazza soon left the Alex Jones case over accusations of misconduct. But Merrell's brush with Randazza seems to have started a long-term feud of which the Postle case is just another proxy war — another is underway in Texas, this time involving Alex Jones again.
According to Newell, Merrell has repeatedly claimed she has no vendetta against Randazza, nor has she ever worked to discredit him. She claimed that her only association with Postle is through the HONR Network.
Now another company, one that Merrell founded, appears to be doing business with him. It seems unlikely to be because Postle pays well. He ghosted his previous lawyers and is currently on the verge of being forced into bankruptcy.
When it comes to Postle, it seems that things can always get a little weirder.
Featured image source: Flickr by Bryan Jones used under Creative Commons License
