At first, when I learned of the web site CrashTheTeaParty.org, I dismissed it as a prank site by someone with a lot of time on their hands. My curiosity was piqued when I heard of their methods of discrediting the Tea Party by infiltrating their rallies, disguised as supporters, and that CrashTheTeaParty.org was based in Portland, Oregon.

Another group that I've been warning against since 2004 fit the profile of CrashTheTeaParty.org, a group of online vigilantes employed by Dateline NBC to act as under age decoys in the "To Catch A Predator" series. The group, Perverted-Justice.com, prior to convincing NBC that they were a reputable organization, trolled Yahoo! chat rooms and engaged in private conversations with persons who they claimed were Internet predators.

During these conversations, personal information was obtained, and members of Perverted-Justice then used the information to leaflet a neighborhood with flyers claiming an Internet predator lived nearby, and including names and addresses of the accused. In other instances, Perverted-Justice contacted the alleged's place of employment, claiming that an employee was a predator. All of that, without any involvement by law enforcement or the courts.

In researching CrashTheTeaParty.org, I obtained photographs of its founder, Jason Levin. In comparison with photographs of the Perverted-Justice founder, Phillip Eide, there was a striking resemblance. Not content to claim that both CrashTheTeaParty.org and Perverted-Justice.com were connected, I then had a Traceroute performed. Both sites reside at the I.P. 63.146.68.202 Proof that both are indeed on the same server, and that Eide and Levin are one and the same person.

 Most disturbing is that Dateline NBC paid Perverted-Justice thousands of Dollars per episode. In the days following the first reports regarding CrashTheTeaParty.org, NBC either failed to recognize Levin, or opted to not respond, in the hopes that the story would simply go away. This is either shoddy journalism or at its worst, NBC condoning Levin's actions and/or promoting CrashTheTeaParty.org   In any event, I believe that the Department of Justice should open an investigation into the connection between CrashTheTeaParty.org and NBC. To be affiliated with a person intent on disrupting our political process is cause for concern.
 
I would also ask that no law enforcement agency in the United States employ Perverted-Justice.com in any capacity and that any and all convictions  involving Preverted-Justice.com be reviewed by the appropriate state courts.

In this case, NBC has indeed, in the words of one of their own producers, "partnered with the devil".

Peter J. Carr

Publisher

Chatmag.com