On March 5, 2026, the Olympic Herald published an article headlined "Olympic Herald Facing Legal Attack From Clallam County Judge's Associate After Reporting About The Judge." Under his own byline, Anthony Tomashefsky described his role in events that reached courts in two states, and described it in his own words:
"I reported his alleged wildlife crimes to the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish in 2024. Using copies of hunting and fishing licenses obtained through Public Records Act requests in 2023, I provided law enforcement with evidence that Mavy had made false sworn statements for the purpose of obtaining hunting licenses."
The "his" is Benjamin Mavy, a Sequim financial-technology sales executive. The article frames what followed as retaliation against a news outlet: a motion seeking removal of Olympic Herald articles, a requested coercive fine of up to $2,000 per day, and a visiting judge from Kitsap County assigned to hear it.
Readers of the r/PortAngeles2 thread "Monetizing defamation blogs - OH,OWD" read the same article. One of them, writing as Famous-Finance9192, noticed what the article did not say, and posted the omission in the thread:
"Here is a perfect example of the Olympic Herald misleading the public in Port Angeles. Below is an article Anthony (author of Olympic Herald) wrote about reporting Ben Mavy for wildlife crimes, where he includes only a small snippet of court documents. I've posted photos of the full court record showing that he was actually there (and charged) for stalking and harassing Ben Mavy…. who also happens to be his girlfriend's ex-husband."
The commenter's catch is documented. One clarification is required, and we make it precisely: the Clallam County case is a civil protection-order proceeding, not a criminal prosecution, so "charged" is the commenter's shorthand. The underlying record is not shorthand. It is a court file, and this is what it shows.
On August 7, 2025, Mavy petitioned for a stalking and anti-harassment protection order against Tomashefsky; the matter moved to Clallam County Superior Court the next day as case No. 25-2-00595-05. A temporary protection order issued on August 12, 2025, with a hearing set for August 26. At that hearing, per Judge W. Brent Basden's later memorandum opinion, "Petitioner appeared for that hearing, but Respondent did not." The court commissioner granted the protection order. The order's own face checks two boxes, harassment and stalking, restrains Anthony Tomashefsky, protects Benjamin Mavy, and carries a handwritten end date of August 26, 2027.
Tomashefsky moved to revise. On October 21, 2025, Judge Basden denied the motion in a written memorandum opinion, leaving the order in place. On the evidence question, the opinion states: "Respondent alleges that the record does not support the finding of harassment and stalking. On the contrary, the record amply supports the conclusion that Respondent has engaged in this behavior."
None of this, the order, the no-showed hearing, the "amply supports" opinion, appears in the Olympic Herald's wildlife-crime framing. In that framing, the author is a journalist uncovering wrongdoing, and the courts' involvement is a "legal attack" on the press.
The commenter also named the relationship the article omitted: Mavy "also happens to be his girlfriend's ex-husband." The Olympic Herald's own coverage does not dispute that its author is in a relationship with Mr. Mavy's ex-wife, and the address history in the litigation record reflects the overlap. The site that published 17 articles referencing Mavy, per a TROH review of its archive, did not inform readers that its author had been judicially ordered to have no contact with him.
Judge Basden's opinion anticipated the framing months before the article ran. Responding to Tomashefsky's argument that his reports to law enforcement served a legitimate purpose that could not be restrained, the opinion states: "The protection order does not limit speech, it limits conduct." And then: "Under Respondent's theory of this case, an individual could engage in any stalking or harassing behavior, and then 'legitimize' or 'protect' that behavior if it happened to uncover wrongdoing by the individual harassed or stalked."
For completeness: the litigation described in the March 5 article continued after publication. The Olympic Herald itself reported that a visiting judge later declined to impose the $2,000-per-day fines and declined to restrict the publication's reporting, rulings the site characterized as victories. Those later rulings concern motions about the publication; they do not disturb the August 26, 2025 protection order, which courts left in place through August 26, 2027, and which Tomashefsky has told his readers he appealed on October 21, 2025.
The omission the commenter caught is the mechanism of the whole operation in miniature. A court record exists in which the author is the restrained party. A publication exists in which the author is the aggrieved journalist. The same man wrote both roles. The only thing required to collapse one into the other was a reader willing to pull the full court record, which is exactly what the commenter did.
This article relies on public court records and public complaints. TROH welcomes a response from Mr. Tomashefsky and will publish it in full.