You Can’t Make This Crazy Stuff Up: Inside Foley’s Civil Protection Order Circus

“You can’t make this crazy stuff up.”
Dan Edwards, former TV news anchor turned taxpayer-funded PR man for Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Mike Foley in his email to the press including Foley’s “Murder Threat Press Release”

When the county’s communications office starts sounding like late-night satire, you know something’s off.
Edwards, once a familiar face on local TV, now sends official emails on behalf of Foley’s personal legal action. Last Sunday afternoon, Oone of them went out on county servers with the subject line about a “murder threat.” There was no police report, no criminal investigation, no probable cause. Just a self-filed civil stalking protection order (CSPO) and a PR stunt dressed up as public safety.

The “Imminent Harm” That Needed a Delay

A CSPO exists to protect people from imminent danger. The law requires a quick hearing because time can mean life or death.
So when Foley’s new lawyer asked for a continuance, it made no sense. If you are truly afraid, you do not ask the court to postpone protection. The only thing at risk was his reputation, not his safety. Remember, he said he was “more afraid than he ever was in the military.” His wife, sat at the table trying to win an Oscar for being scared.

Foley never went to law enforcement. He went to court by himself, filed the order, and then had his office broadcast it to the media. That is not how this process was intended to work. And, if you look to his original indictment, it was about using government time and equipment for campaigning. If this isn’t campaigning to keep his job, I don’t know what is.

Cameras for Him, Silence for Me

The first hearing was supposed to be ex parte and private, the way the statute intends. Instead, it turned into a show.
Only Jenilee Borek was allowed to film in the courtroom, and there is no record on the docket of her filing any request to do so.

The Newspaper runs a front page story on Wednesday: with this insane headline “Clerk of courts alleges murder plots by witness in criminal case, local activist”

Later, Sydney Dawes at the Dayton Daily News obtained the footage and transcript through a public-records request and edited it into a five-minute video with a follow up online story. VIDEO: Clerk of Courts says he fears for his life, family’s safety

Meanwhile, my request to record on Monday was approved and then denied. I’m not sure if Borek’s or Dawe’s permission is granted or not.

That is selective transparency, not equal justice.

What the Law Actually Says About CSPO’s and Public Access

The courts have already spoken on this.
In N.S. v. M.S. (2024-Ohio-6020) the Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled that when a CSPO is denied or dismissed, the court must seal all records connected to the ex parte order.
Once a judge lets in a camera and the footage goes public, the sealing requirement is meaningless and rendered impotent. Thanks your honor.

In J.A.C. v. A.L. (2022-Ohio-2275) PDF Link, the Second District found that “a single encounter or verbal dispute” does not meet the legal standard for stalking.
And the Ohio Supreme Court’s Rasawehr decision warned that courts cannot use protection orders to silence critics. (side note, Jeff Rasawehr called me this summer offering advice on how to blog, I looked at what his product was, and said thanks but no thanks).

This is exactly what Foley’s filing has done.

The Usual Suspects Return

Late Friday afternoon, at 2 p.m., Foley added a new attorney: Dennis Lieberman. He immediately asked for a continuance, claiming he could not prepare over the weekend.
Lieberman is the former Democratic Party chair, now running for mayor of Clayton. His wife, Debbie Lieberman, was a county commissioner until December 2024. She lost to Mary McDonald. Two days after voting to approve lease payments to the Clerk of Courts office, Foley hired her as his Director of Community Development, another made up patronage job.

Her hiring likely violated R.C. 102.03(A)(1) and (D), the state’s conflict-of-interest statute. I documented that deal in Did Debbie Lieberman Commit a Crime? on this site. Note, because she’s a member of the protected class, the “Monarchy of Montgomery County” no other media outlet covered it.

Now her husband is representing the boss who gave her that job.

The Wilderness Connection They All Ignore

The other name everyone avoids saying out loud is John Theobald.
He was not just Debbie Lieberman’s assistant. He was the co-founder and co-owner of the Wilderness Agency, the firm that received no-bid marketing contracts from Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County.
No other outlet covered that connection. I did. See: When the wrong answer and no response spells corruption and coverup

Theobald and his newer partner, Lisa Barhorst, later had to file CSPO’s because the co-founder, Richard Kaiser went off the reservation last year and was threatening people (including me). Barhorst now works for the Dayton Daily, and Theobald just resigned as a Montgomery County Veterans Service Commissioner and accepted a job with them as a “case manager.” This is an interesting story about Lieberman and Kaiser.

Those no-bid deals were the center of the Culture of Corruption story I broke in 2020, showing how public contracts were funneled to friends while oversight vanished. The same players keep reappearing, just trading titles.

The Cost of Telling the Truth

Speaking up has a price. My firm, The Next Wave Marketing • Innovation, later bid on a public-health campaign about COVID safety. We called it “Don’t Bet Your Life.”
It featured comedian Dave Chappelle in a “You Bet Your Life” parody, Shepard Fairey poster art, and a scratch-off lottery concept to drive engagement in Black and Latino communities.
It was bold, smart, and would deliver way more than the budget.

We finished dead last out of eight bidders. The campaign was scrapped. You can read about it and the power of big creative ideas here: If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable it’s probably not a BIG IDEA.

That’s what happens when you embarrass people who control the contracts.

The Facts That Undercut Foley’s Story

I was six weeks out from hip-replacement surgery when this supposed “threat” occurred.
The comment Foley cites came from a conversation with a county prosecutor who knew I was talking about a citizen’s arrest, not violence. He wanted me to call him before I did it- so he could come watch. He was supposed to be left out of this, because I promised him it was off the record. That’s why I moved to strike the conversation from my filing- not because of anything in it. Dawes made sure his name was known in her video. If Mat Heck goes after him, there will be a nuclear action to get rid of Mat Heck. It involves unsealing the Grand Jury hearing where Jen Selhorst got away with stealing over $35K from me right after my father died. See “Jennifer Selhorst, AKA: Jennifer Woodward AKA: Jennifer Schaeff steals from disabled veterans.” The prosecutor I was talking to, filed against her, got 3 M3 Felonies and she paid the victim back- the veteran I used to be POA for. (Probate court is still stalling that case btw). Just remember, grand jury secrecy was why Roger Dean Gillespie is now owed $45M by Miami Township. It can be pierced.
Foley never filed a police report. He never went to the prosecutor. He filed the CSPO himself. Then his office released the transcript video to shape a story of fear and victimhood.

If this were truly about safety, it would not involve press releases, cameras, or continuances.

The Bigger Pattern

Montgomery County’s insiders operate under different rules.
Prosecutor Mat Heck looks the other way. Be it a prosecutor, John Amos, who stays on the job for 2 years despite a rape indictment, or a judges husband, David Bruns who stole from the prosecutors office where he worked, or a clerk of courts who is sentenced to a felony and doesn’t get removed from office.
Former commissioner Debbie Lieberman and her aide Theobald funneled public work to his own firm..
Now her husband represents the elected official who benefited from her final vote.
And a PR hack on the Foley’s payroll turns a flimsy court filing into a bad headline.

This is not a coincidence. It is a network protecting itself.

The Real Threat

The real danger is not me. It is a system that uses civil protection laws to intimidate journalists, hides behind sealed dockets, and leaks footage when it suits a narrative.
A system where ethics violations are job qualifications, and accountability is treated as hostility. Where the courts delay justice when it keeps dirtbags like Foley in office (yes, 12th district court of appeals, we’re still waiting for you to schedule a hearing).

The CSPO statute was meant to protect victims from immediate harm, not shield officials from scrutiny or to turn into a circus.
When the courthouse becomes a stage and justice becomes theater, every citizen should worry about who gets to write the script.

Because as Dan Edwards said, you really can’t make this crazy stuff up.

SONG: Trust me, you don’t understand by David Esrati, dedicated to Big Tony. Yes, it was on my last post, and if you didn’t listen you are making a huge mistake.