The DOJ and IRS ran this case like a “Jihad” according to Judge.
The DOJ and IRS ran this case like a “Jihad” according to Judge.
NASCAR Domestic Violence Victim gets hit again
After almost a decade the saga of Kurt Busch victim harassment came to an end April 30, 2024 in Washington DC. In Sept of 2014 Kurt Busch assaulted Patricia Driscoll. According to the Delaware Detective who testified during the 2014/2015 Delaware protective order hearing, “Kurt Busch admitted to grabbing Driscoll by the face and “lightly” tapping her head against the wall.” The Detective determined, after his investigation, it was much more than that. Between the bruises on her neck, the broken blood vessels at the base of her neck, the concussion she suffered, the Judge in the case agreed with the detective that Kurt Busch had abused Driscoll and granted an order of protection in February of 2015. Busch was subsequently suspended by NASCAR and missed the Daytona 500 in 2015.
This is where the story takes a bad turn, and the victim was victimized again. Busch hired Rusty Hardin and his investigative and PR firm to destroy Driscoll’s credibility. Destroying his victim was the only way to save his career from permanent exclusion from Nascar and being fired from his team. Busch teamed up with Driscoll’s ex-husband (Geoff Hermanstorfer) who was suing Driscoll for full custody during that time, using the assault as the reason to reduce her involvement in her child’s life. The long time enemies became frenemies. Busch also co-opted super fan Tanya Finch, the first cousin of Hermanstorfer who was under investigation by the DC Police and the Armed Forces foundation for fraud and theft. Finch was the bookkeeper and financial clerk of the Foundation, Driscoll was the president. So began Driscoll’s perfect storm.
ESPN, not widely known for investigative journalism in veteran charities and taxes, wrote two stories in 2015 that were initiated by the Busch camp to paint Driscoll as a thief, as a few anonymous sources close to Busch have informed us. ESPN quoted filings by Hermanstorfer in the custody battle that were found by the Maryland Judge to be false and salacious as the basis for their stories. Following this PR push by the Busch/Hermanstorfer camp in a coordinated effort with Finch, they contacted the IRS & FBI claiming Driscoll was the thief. Finch filed a whistleblower complaint and the ever vicious IRS and DOJ came after this American patriot. This was during the Louis Lerner/Obama IRS scandals. Driscoll was a known DC Republican and frequent contributor on Fox News. She was a harsh critic of the Obama administration and their failures to take care of veterans.
Fast forward a few years and Driscoll stood trial for fraud, theft, & tax evasion in late 2018. During the trial in DC, DC Financial Crimes Detective testified for Driscoll telling the court that they had an airtight case on Finch but he was told he wasn’t allow to pursue the case because the DOJ, specifically AUSA Virginia Cheatham shut it down. He went on to explain that this was done to protect Finch as a witness for the government. He believed the only thief in the foundation was Finch.
The DOJ and IRS trampled all over Driscoll’s rights. Judge Richard J. Leon at one point said IRS agent Robert Valdini should be sent to Butte Montana for his illegal and underhanded tactics and asked for both Valdini and the AUSA to be punished. Ms Cheatham hasn’t been allowed to try a case since the Driscoll case. We reached out to the DOJ through a FOIA request to find out what happened to Agent Valdini but our requests have been ignored.
In the end, the jury deliberated for 4 days. Each day notes came from the jury begging the judge to declare a mistrial because they couldn’t come to a consensus on any charges. When the judge made it seem like the jurors would never be allowed to leave unless they came to a consensus, the jury found her guilty on 5 counts and she was sentenced to a year and a day suspended until the appeals court heard her case. She never served a day in jail. The appellate judges discussed in detail the misconduct by the IRS and DOJ and her case was overturned.
A week after the DOJ’s loss, they re-filed the case. In came two new attorneys to the case for Driscoll: Dan Neelon and the famed tax attorney William “Billy” Murphy Jr., who once represented Don King in his federal tax cases. Together they chopped down the prosecution’s case with their evidence. With a seasoned prosecutor who had a more objective lense, AUSA Katherine Rockozy, the DOJ dropped all of the original felony charges. The big felony charges blasted in the Nascar and sports media of theft and fraud of a veterans charity was gone, but you’d never seen them report that. They did destroy this victim of domestic violence’s reputation as they continued to contort facts to smear her. Driscoll’s google search will forever show her as a thief and fraud thanks to irresponsible reporters. Some Nascar reporters has gone as far as rewriting history and falsely stating Busch was found not guilty of abuse.
In the end Driscoll’s attorneys and the DOJ agreed that the only thing Driscoll was guilty of was a misdemeanor offense of “failing to keep adequate records on approximately $5,000 effecting her personal tax returns.” The prosecution sought a fine of $1600 and 240 hours of community service to be served within 2 years. At the conclusion of Tuesday’s events the Judge gave Driscoll NO fine, NO restitution, and 240 hours of community service. He commended Driscoll for her exemplary service to our country and the community. Judge Leon went on to describe the investigation and previous trial being “run like a Jihad”, but now has a happy ending. He admonished the IRS again for its misconduct and wished Driscoll well.
As you would suspect, there was a Nascar blogger in the courthouse ready to continue to beat down of this victim of domestic violence by one of their sports’ heroes. Expect another article with false information smearing Driscoll’s reputation because who knows what salacious things that blogger will write. This now closes the chapter for Driscoll on 9 plus years of hell. Driscoll has to be wondering much like Raymond Donovan did after being maliciously prosecuted when he famously said, “what office do I go to to get my reputation back?” Great Question!
