Why would a guy as cunning as Cody, who actually picks fights with the US govt, leave an evidence trail a mile wide in flashing orange cleartext on a public website to a crime that would assassinate his character when he knows he's under investigation by the state? He absolutely knew he would get caught, there's no way he could think otherwise.

• He gave up his identity on the website in cleartext and pictures. A guy who calls himself a cryptoanarchist didn't even transition the criminal conversation to a simple encrypted chat app like Whatsapp or Signal or Wickr.

• He used the same username he is suspected to have used 5 years previously, Sanjuro. Whoever was at the other end of that conversation was very diligent with their encryption and used Tor. Using the same name on a cleartext public prostitution site would be unbelievably bad opsec.

• He used a DD car when he could've used any car, rented a car, used a cab or a rideshare. Very convenient for the US govt since now his company is implicated and they have a nice neat excuse to dig through all of their records and seize any evidence they care to.

• He got caught on camera when he could've easily hidden his face with a hoodie or a hat. He could've scoped out a motel with no camera, plenty of those in Austin. Not hard to find at all.

• He could've picked up a hooker on the street or an escort in a high-end bar just as easily and leave absolutely no datatrail.

• He could've flown to Nevada and done this all legally for a few hundred on a plane ticket and a few hours on a plane. Seems worthwhile when you're an enemy of the state under govt surveillance don't you think?

Did Cody strike you as an idiot? Impulsive? Or was he calculating and cold? Every time someone described him it was always as intelligent, cold, even sociopathic from some people. Never an idiot, never wacky and chaotic. Always calm and controlled.

There's absolutely no way he didn't do this deliberately. Which begs the question, why did he do it?

Did he crack under the pressure? Maybe.

Consider this. What if he was coerced? If I was an agent tasked to remove Cody Wilson... I would threaten his family, ensure that he knew our capabilities, then say he can save them. All he has to do is follow my instructions.

It's much more effective to assassinate his character than to actually assassinate him and turn him into a martyr. Now he's an anti-martyr, just another borderline pedo in the libertarian community. Another nutjob. Another pervert.

The narrative is everything.