Oct 26 2005

Who Is David Tillotson?

Published by at 11:32 am under All General Discussions

UPDATE:

Someone at Tom’s Site found the records to prove Tillotson is a democrat. Well, 90% of the people in DC are democrats – so I had little chance of predicting that as I did. What does it mean? Still nothing much – except the logical conspiracy charge would be against friends and neighbors around the Wilsons who tried to cover up they knew she was CIA. I feel sorry for them if they tried that tactic.

END UPDATE

Thanks to our readers and their comments (here and here we began to wonder who was this David Tillotson in DC.

Well beyond the often quoted neighbor who claims no knowledge of Valerie’s CIA role, we know very little.

Well we know he is a 62 year old lawyer who has a practice right around the corner from the Wilson home in the Palisades Community of DC (ignore the star, it was just a street in the area I used to find the Palisades recreation center).

His biggest claim to fame appears to be a case against the FCC banning the ‘F’ word. The guy has way too much personal information on the web, so I will not repeat it here and I suggest no one use to harm him or his business. I think it is fair to say he is not a conservative:

David Tillotson, who represented Pacifica in the “Filthy Words” case, filed his own petition for reconsideration of the Bono ruling with the commission. He criticized “cowardly” broadcasters and communications lawyers who bow to what he considers a legally faulty ruling. “Public broadcasters more than anyone should be standing up for the right to be creative,” he tells Current. (NBC, which aired the 2003 Golden Globes, is challenging the Bono ruling.)

Tillotson doesn’t represent big public stations, but says any pubcaster who runs afoul of the FCC should press the issue and force a day in court. He predicts no federal attorney would bother suing a pubcaster but acknowledged there is a remote risk a station might have to defend itself.

My take: Tillotson is your average DC elitist who is probably a democrat – but nothing more. I can tell you that, while a lot of people know who is CIA in DC, a lot of others don’t. If you are deemed to talk to anyone about anything, chances are you won’t be in the know. So I am not surprised some don’t know – big deal. This guy looks like a bit of publicity hound.

The other Tillotson you hit with Google is in the Air Force – and that is someone totally different. Goods sleuthing all.

3 responses so far

3 Responses to “Who Is David Tillotson?”

  1. Trained Auditor says:
    October 26, 2005 at 2:13 pm

    UNDISCLOSED DEMOCRAT CONTRIBUTER QUOTED BY L.A. TIMES IN ROVE STORY

    The Los Angeles Times chose a Democrat Party contributor to quote in today’s article describing the Fitzgerald investigators’ questioning of Plame and Wilson neighbors about their knowledge of Plame’s CIA association. It calls into question whether the quote is representative of the neighbors. The Times uses the information in its article to refocus their spotlight on Karl Rove.

    Here’s the quote from the L.A. Times article:

    “But neighbors contacted by The Times said they told the FBI agents that they had no idea of her agency life, and that they knew her as a mother of twins who worked as an energy consultant.

    The agents “made it clear they were part of the Fitzgerald investigation, and they were basically tying up loose ends,” said David Tillotson, a lawyer and neighbor who was among those interviewed Monday.

    “They really only had one interest, and that was to know whether Valerie’s identity, on what she did for a living, was known prior to the Novak article. It seemed they were trying to establish clearly that prior to the Novak article she was not widely known on the cocktail circuit,” Tillotson said.

    “And I pointed out, we were good friends, we socialized with them, and we just had no idea” until her status was made public in the Novak column, Tillotson said. “To that moment, we had no idea whatsoever that Valerie did anything for the government.“” – Los Angeles Times, “Focus of Prosecutor in CIA Leak Inquiry Appears to Shift to Rove”, October 26, 2005.

    According to opensecrets.org, Tillotson (including through his wife) coontributed $2000 to John Kerry, and $500 to the DNC Services Corp, in the 2004 election:

    TILLOTSON, DAVID
    WASHINGTON,DC 20007
    SELF EMPLOYED/ATTORNEY
    4/30/2004
    $2,000
    Kerry, John

    Tillotson, David Mrs
    Washington,DC 20007
    Self/Attorney
    9/21/2004
    $250
    DNC Services Corp

    Tillotson, David Mr
    Washington,DC 20007
    Self/Attorney
    9/21/2004
    $250
    DNC Services Corp

    Interestingly, note how ABC NEWS The Note cleverly introduces the Tillotson quote in their pointer to the L.A. Times article today:

    “According to one neighbor who is clearly well-schooled in the investigation…” – ABC News The Note, October 25, 2005

  2. MaidMarion says:
    October 26, 2005 at 2:57 pm

    David Tillotson appears in a July 15, 2005 WashTimes article (http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050715-121257-9887r_page2.htm)
    It’s not clear whether he had been one of the neighbors the FBI interviewed at that time, but one assumes so. In July he said:

    “We understood her to work as an economist,” said David Tillotson, a 62-year old lawyer. He said he didn’t know that Mrs. Plame commuted to CIA headquarters, but added that “they wouldn’t be conducting an investigation if she hadn’t been covert.”

    That last phrase sure is gratuitous, isn’t it?

    Last night on MSNBC (Tucker Carlson’s show) there was a Wilson neighbor named Marc Lefkowitz who said that “as far as I knew, she was a mother of two, and a consultant, and Joe was a consultant, also.”

    Appears Plame wasn’t very consistent with her cover story, although obviously she could have been an economist who had a consulting business. But Lefkowitz and Tillotson appear to live right across the street from each other… If Lefkowitz and Tillotson’s wives ever compared notes, think how high their curiousity would jump.

    Wonder if Plame has a degree in Economics… If not, then she chose a stupid cover.

  3. mary mapes says:
    October 26, 2005 at 3:45 pm

    They knew her as a mother of twins who worked as an energy consultant….I have heard, energy anaylst, consultant and economist.