Mark S. Zaid Profile picture
Sep 6 17 tweets 10 min read
1/THREAD - When #StarWars collectors go to the "Dark Side" & get sued

Few of us do not love Star Wars. I remember watching first movie in 1977. Many of us bought, played with & collected various toys. I still remember my X-wing model rocket that had only one successful mission!
2/In addition to regularly handling national security cases, I also rep auction houses, esp ones that focus on historic memorabilia, political americana, comic books & vintage toys. This includes @HakesAuctions & @RRAuction, among others.
3/I am often called upon to deal w/issues involving U.S. Government, such as quite intriguing interactions I had with @NASA this past June for @RRAuction about moon dust eating cockroaches!

Yes, you read that correctly! Moon dust eating cockroaches!

nytimes.com/2022/06/25/us/…
4/But often I am just trying to help auction houses, as well as many comic book dealers, pursue ppl who renege on winning transactions or try to commit fraud. As a collector, this infuriates me since actions of bad apples negatively impacts us all in some respects.
5/That brings me to story abt @HakesAuctions & #BrendanShank & #NicoleShank, a husband & wife who live in Colorado. Mr. Shank is major #StarWars collector. His collection has been featured by local news several times.

Everything I will tweet is public record & protects privacy.
6/For example, in 2016, @FOX21News aired this story abt #BrendanShank:

fox21news.com/news/one-mans-…
7/In 2019, @KRDONC13 aired this story abt #BrendanShank:

krdo.com/news/2019/12/2…
8/Indeed, @csgazette printed a very nice profile abt #BrendanShank in 2016:

gazette.com/news/colorado-…
9/Well, in 2018-19, #BrendanShank thought it was acceptable to win nearly $30,000 worth of #StarWars items from Hake's & then never pay. So he was banned from further bidding. Earlier in 2022, his wife #Nicole won $10,000 #StarWars item & also failed to pay. Banned too.
10/I reached out to them both to amicably discuss payment of their debts. E-mailed 2x. Confirmed receipt of certified letter. They refused to respond. Not acceptable.

So @HakesAuctions sued them in York County, PA, where company is based & bidding contract sets jurisdiction.
11/Seriously, what did they expect? I sue federal agencies like @CIA, @FBI & @NSAGov, as well as terrorist states like #Libya, all the time.

Word of advice: don't ignore lawyers who will sue. 😉
12/#BrendanShank has already defaulted & we secured judgment for nearly $4,000 (which is amount of money Hake's lost in transaction).

We will soon be seeking to enforce judgment against him & even pursue seizing items from within his collection if law allows.
13/Notably in its 2016 article @csgazette asked #BrendanShank how he was paying for everything. He responded:

"I have a wine taste on a beer budget," Shank says.
14/"A lot of layaways and Ramen. I go by what my funds allow me to. People in my price range, I probably beat because I'm more dedicated. If I have a dollar, I'm buying Star Wars. I don't care about eating. I don't care about all that unnecessary stuff."
15/Interestingly, #NicoleShank is actually defending herself in lawsuit & has court appearance on September 14, 2022.

The conversation at their dinner table about this topic must be an interesting one!
16/If you are a #StarWars collector & have any suggestions about where this story can be shared on message boards, please let me know or feel free to share. We need to make sure other collectors & auction houses know abt individuals who fail to live up to their legal obligations.
END/Alas, it appears #BrendanShank & his wife succumbed to the dark side of the force. But the good guys/rebel forces are fighting back to victory & for justice!

I leave you all with @TriumphICDHQ/@ConanOBrien hysterical take on #StarWars & its fans. 😉

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More from @MarkSZaidEsq

Sep 1
1/Statement from our client @YVindman.

@globalmjreform
2/Statement reads:

"Yesterday I retired from the United States Army. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve our country in uniform. America accepted me as a refugee 43 years ago, meeting its promise to take in a poor, tired family yearning to breathe free. ...
3/...I felt an obligation to repay that generosity. My desire to serve has not been quenched, even after 25 years wearing the Army Uniform. As I begin this next chapter, I am committed to finding new ways to ...
Read 5 tweets
Sep 1
1/Now this is interesting.

First, I regularly represent #whistleblowers regardless of political ideology, incl at @FBI. Not one #FBI #WBer has approached us or @wbaidlaw, a non-profit I co-founded to provide pro bono legal assistance. And that's fine, we don't own "market".
2/I've never heard of #KurtSiuzdak & that means nothing. He practices in CT. He may be best attny in CT in fact. His firm's practice areas are interestingly ... diverse.

* Family Matters & Divorce Law
* Cybersecurity and Data Privacy
* FBI Whistleblower litigation
3/What I don't understand & feel compelled to raise is this statement on his website:

"there only a few lawyers with experience in the Department of Justice's whisteblower court."

siuzdaklaw.org/about-us

What @TheJusticeDept "whistleblower court"?
Read 4 tweets
Aug 30
1/Thread abt Grenell v. Troye defamation lawsuit:

We are publicly announcing that @MarkSZaidPC & #TomCraig (@TMCv63, @fhhfirm) are representing @OliviaTroye to defend against former Ambassador (& acting DNI for 3 months) #RichardGrenell’s defamation lawsuit.
2/We will not repeat lawsuit allegations, which arose from Twitter activity, but assuredly they are baseless.
3/His lawsuit was filed on August 8, 2022, in Circuit Court for City of Alexandria. Although filed almost one month ago, Troye has not been served to commence proceedings. For one thing, the address cited in lawsuit is incorrect.
Read 14 tweets
Aug 26
1/Today is birthday of my @UofR schoolmate #KatherineHollister'90 (1968-1988) who was tragically murdered in bombing of #PanAm103 on December 21, 1988. Image
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3/...which ultimately settled for $2.7 billion in 2003), I got to know her mother as well. Sadly, Babette passed away during pandemic as a result of Covid.

About 15 years ago I started a scholarship at @UofR in memory of Katherine & her classmate #EricCoker'90 who also perished.
Read 4 tweets
Aug 26
1/Review of FBI supporting affidavit for search warrant.

Definitely some new (though not earth shattering) bullet points:

* We now know how & when criminal case specifically originated.

nytimes.com/live/2022/08/2…
2/

* We now know there were incredibly sensitive documents marked HCS, SI and FISA (now that actually is unbelievable, lives can be at risk).
3/

* We see that there is reference to evidence of obstruction to support the affidavit, but obviously all of it is redacted.
Read 10 tweets
Aug 26
More than 5,000 people - many very prominent names - have asked @POTUS to grant retirement waiver to our client Col @YVindman to acknowledge his lawful #whistleblower role.

Aug 31st is deadline.

thehill.com/homenews/admin…
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