On Thursday, a judge in New York fined the anti-immigrant website VDARE $43,500 and ordered it to produce documents long sought by the state’s Attorney General’s Office. It also quadrupled the daily penalties.
New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James’ office has been investigating VDARE for alleged misdealing associated with its $1.4 million purchase of the historic Berkeley Castle in West Virginia that now serves as its headquarters. VDARE is registered as a nonprofit in New York.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NYAG contends that Peter and Lydia Brimelow, the husband and wife duo who have long run the site, live in the castle. This would run afoul of the state’s laws governing the use of nonprofit funds. As the Daily Dot has previously reported, the investigation also concerns the sale of some of the property to two entities Lydia controls.
That investigation has been dragging on since 2022.
The Brimelows have repeatedly insisted they’ve done nothing wrong.
Today’s order deals with documents that the NYAG is seeking for its investigation. These include the names of VDARE’s pseudonymous writers. This appears to be central to VDARE’s refusal to comply with the NYAG’s subpoena. Peter has said that being exposed for writing for the site, which has published some of the nation’s most notorious white nationalists, could ruin its writers’ lives.
The NYAG previously contended that VDARE did not fully comply with its discovery requests by turning over documents that were improperly redacted. The court agreed.
In March, the court held VDARE in contempt and ordered it to produce the documents without those improper redactions. It also issued a fine of $250 for every day it failed to comply past the deadline.
Typically, a contempt order spurs compliance. The NYAG argued, and today the judge agreed, that VDARE has not complied. The NYAG declined to comment.
Is the court losing patience with VDARE?
According to today’s order, VDARE argued that the previous order contained ambiguities that precluded its compliance and said it was “trying to comply.”
The court rejected that argument. It fined VDARE $43,500, once again held it in contempt, and ordered it to produce the records within seven days. It also increased fine for failing to comply increased from $250 to $1,000 a day.
The increased penalty may suggest that the court is frustrated by VDARE holding up the process.
“…[I]t appears to the satisfaction of the Court that Respondent VDARE is in contempt of court by virtue of its misconduct in willfully failing to obey the provisions and requirements of this Court’s order entered on March 27, 2024, namely the direction therein that VDARE shall purge its contempt by complying with the court’s January 23, 2023 and December 12, 2023 orders by April 30, 2024,” the judge wrote.
The order applies to the organization, not the Brimelows as individuals. But the ruling suggests they may become subject to a future proceeding if VDARE doesn’t turn over the documents to the court’s satisfaction.
The judge wrote, “[I]n the event that the contempt has not been purged by November 15, 2024, Petitioner [NYAG] may renew its application to this Court for all appropriate relief.”
The Brimelows have cast the case as what the far-right refers to as “lawfare.” In July, they announced that Peter was stepping down and that the site would cease operations. They blamed the legal costs associated with the investigation, which they said at the time were over $1 million.
They have said that the investigation “finished them.”
VDARE and its archives remain online, though the most recent post is the announcement that they were suspending operations.
The NYAG told the Daily Dot in September that the site shuttering would have no effect on its investigation.
Peter did not immediately respond to an emailed inquiry. It is not known whether VDARE plans to appeal—though it is likely.
Correction: This article previously incorrected stated that the daily penalty would increase if VDARE didn’t produce the documents in seven days.
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