Ballard Claims Victory, as Two Sexual Violence Protective Orders are Granted Against Him

Ballard and O.U.R. employed a PR firm in a brazen attempt to manipulate the media and downplay the significant fact that two Sexual Violence Protective Orders were granted against Tim Ballard

This article is now part of ACJ’s comprehensive investigative series Derailed: Operation Underground Railroad

On Friday morning, Tim Ballard’s legal team emailed ACJ, proclaiming victory in the Bree Righter lawsuit against Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). For five years, Tim Ballard, OUR, Kirton McConkie, Adam Becker, Peter Schofield, Emily Evans, and their ilk have deftly evaded and ignored inquiries from Lynn Packer and me about Ballard and his dubious operations. Then, as if by some grotesque choreography, his legal team reached out to declare a triumph in the Righter case.

ACJ suspected this might be a calculated ruse to divert attention from far more damning allegations and evidence against Ballard, and it appears we were correct.

Righter’s lawsuit alleged that during a training session, two OUR trainees were engaged in a bout of wrestling when one fell on her, his knee smashing into her face and shattering her eye socket. This grievous injury left her with persistent headaches and vision problems.

Righter, a former Marine, also leveled accusations against Ballard and OUR for conspiring to enable sexual misconduct by Ballard and another OUR employee. However, the judge noted that Righter’s attorneys failed to allege specific misconduct that would constitute a criminal act, nor did they provide concrete evidence to substantiate the existence of a conspiracy.

Here is the Righter Case Order to Dismiss:

Righter_UGA-Order-1 Download

Sadly, it appears the strategy employed by Ballard’s PR team worked overall. While Utah media ran with the headline of the Righter case being dismissed, what didn’t make headlines is the fact that two Sexual Violence Protective Orders against Tim Ballard have been granted to Kira Lynch and Celeste Borys. These orders were issued in response to separate lawsuits filed by Lynch and Borys, accusing Ballard of sexual assault and rape. Yesterday, ACJ confirmed with the women’s attorney, Suzette Rasmussen, that “two Sexual Violence Protective Orders were granted until the hearings are held on July 8th and 11th.”

Ballard’s Legal Team Hires Chad Kolton

Chad Kolton, a figure who has navigated the corridors of power and influence, is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Blueprint Communications. Previously, he co-founded and partnered at HDMK, an American public relations firm, where he served as a spokesperson for the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund—a role as ambiguous as it is intriguing.

Kolton’s career is nothing if not eclectic. From 1998 to 2000, he lived in Moscow as a program director for the International Republican Institute(yes, I know. We’ll leave this alone, for now). His next venture was as the public affairs chief for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a role likely rife with spin and damage control. Between 2003 and 2005, he was the press secretary for the Office of Management and Budget, navigating the labyrinthine world of federal finances.

In March 2005, Cassidy & Associates appointed Kolton as senior vice president to lead their strategic communications practice. August 2006 saw his return to the Bush administration as a spokesperson for the Director of National Intelligence. He earned a reputation for increasing the DNI’s accessibility to journalists, offering off-the-record briefings on global hotspots, before departing in June 2007.

Kolton later became a spokesperson for the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, before returning to the private sector in 2010, where his expertise in public relations continued to serve him well.

Team Ballard’s Email to ACJ

In nearly eight years of running, from our early days as a message board to our evolution into a website, the contributors of ACJ and I have never published an email addressed to us unless it was explicitly part of the story or an official statement requested in email format. We avoided becoming part of the story. The closest thing we ever published to an email, was the Cease and Desist, sent to us by Peter Schofield of Kirton McConkie and behalf of Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad.

However, for five years, Tim Ballard, OUR, Teyva Ware, Jon Lines, Kirton McConkie, Adam Becker, Peter Schofield, Emily Evans, and others have evaded and ignored questions from Lynn Packer and me regarding Ballard and OUR. Then, yesterday morning, his legal team reached out to me to claim victory in the Righter case. I found this pompous, arrogant, and truly disturbing—sociopathic and narcissistic.

So I have personally made the decision to publish it, as it demonstrates exactly how Ballard, Operation Underground Railroad and his legal team, manipulated Utah media to publish the Righter case decision as the headline over the two Sexual Violence Protective Orders granted against Tim Ballard.

In an email addressed to me, Chad Kolton, a member of Tim Ballard’s legal team, stated:

“My name is Chad Kolton and I work for Tim Ballard’s legal tea[m]. You had previously reported on a civil lawsuit and allegations made by Bree Righter against Tim Ballard (Righter Lawsuit Against Ballard, O.U.R., etc.). That case was dismissed with prejudice by a Utah judge yesterday.”

The only problem with this claim is, it simply isn’t true. The only portion of the lawsuit against Ballard dismissed with prejudice were the claims of negligence by Ballard and OUR that led to Righter’s eye socket being shattered during a training session at OUR’s gym in Draper. According to Judge Kristine Johnson, the claims of negligence against Ballard and OUR were barred by a liability waiver Righter had signed.

According to Judge Johnson’s ruling, “The Complaint as to OUR and Ballard is dismissed with prejudice because Righter’s claims are precluded by the release contained in the agreement,” however, “Alternatively, Righter’s claims against OUR and Ballard for conspiracy, negligence, and premises liability are dismissed without prejudice, as is Righter’s claim against Ballard for fraud.”

Kolton’s email continued, “This follows multiple eyewitness accounts provided on camera and on the record that Righter’s claims about Ballard being at the training at which she was injured and trying to deny her medical care were entirely false – they said Ballard wasn’t even there. In dismissing Righter’s claims, Utah Judge Shaughnessy found…“

The only problem with this statement is that the judge was not Shaughnessy, but Kristine Johnson. Two legal advisors based in Utah, whom ACJ consulted following the ruling, described Judge Johnson as “a partisan judge (appointed by Jon Huntsman).” One advisor, a legal scholar and adjunct professor, continued, “This is a terrible ruling by an activist-type judge who engages in pseudo-law through a distorted libertarian partisan lens.”

In bullet format, the email from Ballard’s legal team attempted to control the narrative using carefully crafted statements, often one-liners (full email below) from Judge Johnson in the ruling, which misrepresented what exactly was stated.

The email then concluded with, “This dismissal follows a different judge’s recent dismissal of claims by Celeste and Michael Borys against Katherine Ballard. In that case, the judge found in his ruling that the plaintiffs had not ‘presented evidence, as opposed to mere allegations.’ (Tim Ballard’s wife dismissed from lawsuit over ‘couple’s ruse’ over lack of evidence). I’m sure your readers would be interested to know how this case turned out.”

We are waiting for a reply if Ballard would do a one-on-one interview or participate in an upcoming docuseries, answer some of these questions about financials and rescues, and elaborate on his documented relationship with Thom Harrison.