The judge looked over at Charles. “Mr. Harrington?”
“Thank you, your honor,” Charles said. “The suit filed against my client is frivolous and an obvious abuse of process. The plaintiff has engaged in slander of my client and the falsification of its claims that led to the issuance of the TRO. We request that the suit and the TRO be dismissed and that the plaintiff be sanctioned for bringing this frivolous suit and falsified claims into this honorable court.
“Your honor, the plaintiff’s claims and supporting evidence are already a part of the court record. If I may approach, I have documents from various federal agencies that will demonstrate that the plaintiff’s arguments are indeed baseless and false.”
The judge motioned for Charles to approach. Charles handed a thick stack of documents to the judge and an equal stack to Kravitz. The judge and Kravitz took several minutes to look through the stack of documents.
“Your honor,” Kravitz said, “The United States objects to this so-called evidence. None of it is certified and none of it has any foundation to be accepted by this court. The whole thing should be rejected.”
The judge flipped through the documents. We sat there waiting for him to continue. Finally he looked up at Charles. “Mr. Harrington?”
“Your honor, as you have already noticed, all of the documents are on the letterhead of the federal agencies involved, or are from subcontractors directly involved with the associated projects referenced in the agency letters. As such, the documents are internal to the plaintiff and under Rule 1004 subsection 3, of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not need to be certified, since certification may be denied by the plaintiff rendering the evidence inadmissible. Rule 1004 subsection 3 allows the plaintiff to provide certified copies to the court for the purpose of challenging the authenticity and contents of the documents.”
“Mr. Kravitz?” the judge said looking over at him.
“Your honor this is absurd,” Kravitz said. “The United States has no such documents or programs as described in these fraudulent and inexcusable substitutes for evidence. None of this is true and simply goes to demonstrate the extent of the fraud and misrepresentation to which this organization will go for the purpose of defrauding millions of people of their money.”
The judge looked over at Charles.
“Your honor, as you can plainly see, NASA has documented the meteor cloud and tracked it through space. The earth will enter the meteor cloud in approximately forty eight days, with devastating consequences for the planet and every living thing on it. The government has built underground cities, and is currently upgrading them and stocking them with food and supplies for the coming disaster. The public is deliberately being kept in the dark as to these events. My client has a First Amendment right under the Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press provisions to bring this subject and discussion into the public forum. The people have a right to know what they are facing and what they can do about it to prepare themselves to survive.”
“Your honor,” Kravitz said as he jumped to his feet. “I have reason to believe that this information presented as coming from NASA is actually the creation of a Carl Palminteri, a known terrorist who is currently wanted by the FBI. This is more evidence of the defendant’s connection to anti-government forces seeking to interfere with the proper functioning of the United States Government. These people are dangerous and need to be stopped.”
The judge turned to Charles.
“Your honor, I have no idea who this Carl Palminteri person is or where he may or may not be, if he even exists at all.”
I glanced at Tia. She was looking at me, smiling. I smiled back.
The judge looked through the documents again as we all waited. “Mr. Kravitz?” the judge said looking over at him. “Does the plaintiff wish to provide certified copies to demonstrate the false nature of this evidence?”
“No, your honor,” Kravitz replied. “As I said, these so-called documents are a complete fabrication. There are no actual documents that can be produced. None of this actually exists.”
The judge looked back at Charles.
“Your honor, the documents speak for themselves.”
The judge looked back at Kravitz. “Mr. Kravitz, I have been sitting on this federal bench for the last eighteen years. In that time I have examined hundreds of thousands of federal documents. I have seen my share of fraudulent documents, as well. In my estimation these documents look legit. Do you have any evidence to the contrary?”
“Your honor,” Kravitz said, “again, in the opinion of the United States there are no original documents and if there were, they would fall under the protection of the National Security Act, and as such would not be made available.”
“I see,” the judge said as he looked back at Charles.
“Your honor, national security deals with information that applies to the secrets this country holds private from other countries and in most cases from its own citizens. None of the information in your hands rises to that level of scrutiny. All of the information involved in this suit concerns the approach of a natural disaster with devastating consequences for the people of this country and the rest of the world. If a category five hurricane is headed for Florida, the United States has no authority to keep it secret. Indeed, the United States has the obligation to inform every citizen of Florida as to the extent of the storm and the expected damage and preparations that need to be made. That obligation has always been, and will continue to be, imperative. This disaster is no different. The United States Government has a moral and ethical obligation to disclose what is coming, if for no other reason than to give people time to prepare.”
“Mr. Kravitz,” the judge said, “Anything further?”
“Your honor, you have in your hands all the proof you need of the defendants willingness to commit the act of fraud against not only the people of the United States, but this very court as well. This behavior on the part of the defendant cannot be tolerated. The United States agrees that if there was such a disaster approaching, the government would have an obligation to disclose it to the public, and would promptly do so. But, as I have said, there is no meteor cloud and there is no threat. This whole thing is a fabrication on the part of the Survivalist Network to panic people and defraud them of their money. I therefore move this court to make the TRO permanent and allow this suit to proceed to trial.”
“Mr. Harrington, anything further?” the judge said.
“Your honor, it is perfectly clear that the plaintiff has filed this suit for the sole purpose of silencing my client’s First Amendment right to free speech. None of the information involved rises to the level of scrutiny required for National Security protection. This is a natural disaster and the information needs to be disseminated to the public. If the United States Government does not see fit to do so, then my client has every right to bring this information directly to the people.
“The plaintiff has abused the power of this court and the legal process in an attempt to deprive my client of his constitutionally protected rights of free press and free speech. You have the truth in your hands. We move this court to dismiss the TRO and the suit against my client, and we also ask for sanctions against the plaintiff. In order to prevent the plaintiff from engaging in this abusive behavior in the future, we request that the plaintiff be required to supply certified documents and sworn statements before any additional TROs or suits be allowed to be filed against my client.”
“Okay,” the judge said, “Ordinarily I would take this amount of evidence under advisement and issue my ruling later in the week. However,” the judge looked directly at John, “based on the nature of the evidence presented, I realize time is of the essence. The TRO is dismissed as is the associated suit. I am moved by Mr. Harrington’s argument, and find cause to grant the sanctions he has requested. Mr. Kravitz you may refile suit and requests in this matter only if you provide certified documents and sworn statements supporting your claims. Are we clear?”