Craig Wright, the man desperate to convince the world that he is Bitcoin‘s mysterious creator Satoshi Nakamoto, is perhaps unaware of the fact that insulting a judge is probably not the best idea if you’re hoping to win a lawsuit.
According to lawyer Stephen D Palley, a Washington-based lawyer focused on blockchain and smart contracts, Craig Wright — also known as Faketoshi — could face additional sanctions in the epic $10 billion lawsuit against the Kleiman estate.
Palley shared his thoughts on Twitter, saying: “If I were the judge reading this I would be absolutely outraged.”
Craig Wright objected to imposition of potentially case ending sanctions against him in the Kleiman case. Plaintiff now replies, in a blistering brief that details repeated alleged perjury and as a cherry on top an interview in which he called the judge a “silly judge.” pic.twitter.com/d24owzX1tX
— Palley (@stephendpalley) December 17, 2019
Palley is referring to a court filing docked on December 16 by Velvel (Devin) Freedman — representing the Kleiman estate — which states that “[…] Craig’s conduct in this litigation has been antithetical to the administration of justice.”
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Freeman is asking the judge to dismiss Craig Wright‘s claims that there was no basis for imposing the sanctions.
“As set forth below, the record entirely supports Judge Reinhart’s findings, and the remedy he chose is absolutely justified given the gravity of Craig’s offenses,” the document continues, adding “Indeed, Craig’s Objection to the Order, far from calling into question its correctness, demonstrates that he is recalcitrant, and – given the opportunity – would engage in the same conduct that led to the Order in the first place.”
Just hours after Judge Reinhart read the Order into the record, the filing notes, Craig Wright walked out of court and into an interview where he admitted lying to the court. The following day, it adds, Craig Wright called Judge Reinhart a “silly judge” during an interview.
Sometimes there aren’t two sides to a story — there’s just the truth. And telling it, particularly under oath — whelp, federal court in the US is still a place where that matters, whatever your delusions.
— Palley (@stephendpalley) December 17, 2019
In its conclusion, the document says Judge Reinhart and the Court “are faced with a litigant that has no respect for the authority of the Court, or for the fair administration of justice.”
“He has lied throughout this case and, now caught, cloaks himself in the blanket of ‘due process’ […] He still does not admit what he did and this Court should not have any illusion that his conduct, if not severely punished, will not be repeated again.”
For this reason, the court has decided that Craig’s objections should be “overruled in their entirety.”
Some context
The news comes three months after Craig Wright, who is building a blockchain patent empire, and the Kleiman estate asked for an extension on all deadlines to hopefully begin settlement talks.
This particular lawsuit was sparked in February last year after Dave Kleiman’s brother Ira, filed a suit over the rights to a significant stash of Bitcoin.
Ira argues his brother’s Bitcoin and his intellectual property rights were fraudulently seized in a scheme operated by Craig Wright after Dave passed away in 2013.
As a result, Ira is suing for half the coins where were allegedly mined by Kleiman and Craig Wright between 2009 and 2011 — approximately 1 million BTC ($10 billion) — as well half of Wright’s related intellectual property rights.
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