Jacob Chansley, the Phoenix man widely known as the QAnon Shaman, has revived his sweeping, self-represented lawsuit that seeks an eye-popping $40 trillion and lists former President Donald Trump as one of many defendants. The refiled complaint repeats his long-running conspiracy claims and again urges the U.S. Treasury to mint a $40 trillion coin to wipe out the national debt.
According to Phoenix New Times, Chansley submitted the new version on Feb. 2 after an earlier filing was tossed in December for lack of service on the defendants. "This is all I am doing," Chansley told the paper, adding that he expanded and rewrote the complaint to roughly 60 pages.
The filing blends familiar policy grievances with some highly unusual allegations, including a claim that the NSA supposedly "catfished" him by impersonating actress Michelle Rodriguez and an assertion that Nazi operatives are still active in so-called deep underground military bases. VICE previously documented many of the same, often antisemitic, conspiracy themes when an earlier version of the lawsuit surfaced last year.
At the center of the complaint is Chansley’s demand that the government create a one-ounce gold coin arbitrarily valued at $40 trillion. Under his proposal, $38 trillion would sit in the Treasury, $1 trillion would fund what he calls a "new society" and $1 trillion would be paid directly to him. The lawsuit also declares Phoenix the capital of a "New Constitutional Republic," a concept that The Independent and other write-ups have identified as a central feature of his legal theory.
Legal implications
Legal analysts say the case is heading into a thicket of procedural trouble. Many of Chansley’s allegations raise federal issues even though he filed in state court, his long list of high-profile defendants can challenge venue or personal jurisdiction, and his failure to properly serve dozens of parties has already sunk one version of the suit. A detailed legal analysis concludes that courts are likely to dismiss the case as frivolous and warns that judges could impose sanctions or restrict future filings that tie up court time. Global Law Today lays out those risks in depth.
Chansley, who was convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and later pardoned, has remained a familiar local presence and a regular subject of media coverage. The Guardian reported on his pardon, and Hoodline’s earlier coverage of his bid for an Arizona congressional seat adds local context to his post-riot ambitions. Phoenix New Times also notes that Chansley told the outlet he is scheduled to return to court in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25.
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