Willis Carto archive

What Others Have Said about Willis Carto

Richard Cotten rebuts Carto’s ‘Statecraft’ smear (6/1972)

When the incredibly vile smearsheet Statecraft broke a fourteen month silence to expose me as a silver swindler, it was impossible to foresee the eventual impact this might have upon our supporters. It is comforting to learn that almost without exception, those who received the smear were able to recognize it as such and, in most instances, to ask if this were not the handwork of Willis Carto, the devious mastermind behind the Washington Observer/American Mercury and Liberty Lobby complex. This is indeed the case and if proof is required it has been repeatedly furnished by C. B. Baker himself who brags on every occasion, of how Carto has provided the funds, and mailing lists, to enable the paper to be published, and always with the view to destroying his enemies.

Opinion is divided as to what my response should be. Carto is already faced with enough lawsuits to last him a lifetime and he is so busy trying to dodge process servers that he has been forced to vacate his California beach-front apartment and go into hiding. Inasmuch as he has very cleverly hidden his own assets there is no hope of recovering damages other than by attaching his front, Government Educational Foundation which holds the Liberty Lobby building. I am not interested in going down in history as the one who levied against the building. So it is my intention to unmask this unsavory Carto complex and then get back to the business at hand, namely fighting for our country.

You may recall that through the years no one did more to build Liberty Lobby than I did, in fact on over fifty separate occasions Conservative Viewpoint did a broadcast boosting Liberty Lobby, and these usually cost approximately $1,000 each. While I frequently had occasion to question what truly motivated Willis Carto, on any given subject Liberty Lobby’s position consistently agreed with me. Our falling out if I may call it that, came about only when I refused to be a party to his attempt to destroy both Lou Byers and the NYA [National Youth Alliance]. Incidentally that is far from a finished chapter and when Carto is cornered and finally deposed the results will undoubtedly write finis to his multitudinous operations and that will include Liberty Lobby.

Specifically, it was my publishing my reply to the inquiry, Why did you steal Liberty Lobby’s mailing list? that resulted in his enmity. I had not stolen his list, nor did I contemplate stealing his list. All reports to the contrary, we rented the list as arranged for by Willis Carto. But that is another story. Suffice it to say, through using his now famous criss-cross attack through Liberty Letter, Liberty Lowdown, Washington Observer, Statecraft and the American Mercury, he holds a great deal of power that he is quite willing to use for the destruction of his enemies. The fact that our followers have remained loyal must rankle very deeply. To arrange for the printing, and mailing, of twenty five thousand copies of Statecraft is not a step that could have been undertaken lightly. And of course there has been the constant stream of vilification in various letters emanating from both the Washington Observer and Liberty Lobby.

Fortunately, once Carto became willing to be publicly identified with Statecraft the public was able to see through his smear strategy. How on earth he can imagine that responsible conservatives could find the pages of Statecraft other than repugnant is simply beyond me. Yet he writes letters commending their efforts, and poses for pictures making it as indelible part of the record that he favors their strategy!

It would appear that there are at least three separate matters at hand. First, am I a silver swindler, and if not, who is? Second, what elements of truth exist in the several pages of comment vilifying me? And finally, what is Statecraft and who is C. B. Baker, and is this not really the work of Willis Carto of Washington Observer/American Mercury and Liberty Lobby?

In answer to the first question, I am most certainly not a swindler and was as much a victim of a conspiracy to depress the price of silver as anybody. Consistently through the years we had done all in our power to encourage our supporters to purchase silver coin, silver certificates and silver bullion. When Conservative Viewpoint was approached by each of two separate research organizations that had developed a relationship with certain Swiss Banks, their proposal made sense to me. I did what I would do again under the same circumstances, I told my supporters of what appeared to be a wonderful opportunity. Furthermore, I told them that if they purchased silver as proposed, and if they put my name down as referral that I would derive a benefit that I would use to keep Conservative Viewpoint going. And even further, when I arranged for a silver seminar and made a presentation, the purchases of silver that were generated would result in additional revenue for me. I would make the point that the person involved dealt directly with the bank, not through International Research Institute, and not through Conservative Viewpoint. They did instruct the bank to make certain allocations that in turn would benefit me. This is a very brief outline of what we did in presenting this possibility of purchasing silver through a Swiss bank account and furthermore, both in the printed word and in my presentations, I always cautioned against putting all our eggs in one basket. In other words, while the opportunity appeared to be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a great deal of money, I nevertheless recommended caution. Our printed materials of that time make this part of the record. This is not to make light of the tragedy of those who invested on margin and then had to meet margin calls or lose their investment. It is however an honest statement of the facts and I did warn against Jumping in with both feet. In fact our letters to the various Associates (including Carol Dunn of Liberty Lobby!) bear out that I warned against any Associate over stating the case for silver at any of our meetings.

Now let me give you an outline of how Carto set out to destroy me. His first step was to have the Washington Observer carry an article saying that Last month silver manipulators pushed the price down to its lowest point in years. Swiss bankers scalped thousands of Americans who had purchased on margin. If you want to try and recover your losses, write to SILVER SWINDLE, c/o WO [Washington Observer]. This was carried in the November 1, 1971 issue, and was followed up in the February 1st issue of 1972, with the following:

SILVER SWINDLE — Because of a brief item in Washington Observer 128, many persons have written to the editor asking for more information on what is coming to be known as the Great Silver Swindle. As WO was investigating the story it became apparent that the story was also being investigated by C. B. Baker, publisher of Statecraft. WO thereupon dropped its own investigation in anticipation of the Statecraft expose, which has Just appeared. WO suggests to all interested readers that if they wish to inform themselves on the matter they should send 50¢ to Statecraft, P.O. Box 312, Alexandria, Va. 22313 and ask for a copy of the January, 1972 issue.

Statecraft has uncovered evidence of collaboration between a notorious international silver speculator, Nicholas L. Deak, and certain silver salesmen who posed as professional conservatives.

As will be developed, the fact that both Carol Dunn, Executive Secretary of Liberty Lobby, and Willis Carto were also serving as silver salesmen seems to have slipped their mind most conveniently,

At this point Carto and his henchmen made a particularly stupid blunder. Not content to await inquiries through Statecraft, they undertook to mail out copies of the smear, directly from Washington Observer/American Mercury headquarters in California, and to make the package more appealing they included a letter from Richard Johnson of Shreveport, Louisiana to lend authenticity to their mailing. Thus a person received a mailing including a letter from WO advising them that they might want to attempt recover of their loss as outlined by Mr. Johnson in his letter to his clients, and above all, the package made it clear that Mr. Johnson did feel that there had been a silver swindle and they, the Washington Observer, were now able to furnish a copy of Statecraft exposing the culprit, meaning me. Do take time to read Mr. Johnson’s letter to them carefully. He does quite a credible Job of making it quite clear that whoever was the swindler, surely it could not have been me. Particularly, note the qualifications necessary to control silver prices. Obviously this was completely beyond my capabilities. Similarly it was quite beyond the control of any Swiss Bank, let alone the diminutive Foreign Commerce Bank which the smear describes as being in league with me. Truly, to anyone with even a smattering of knowledge of either silver or international basking the entire article is pure fantasy.

Richard Johnson’s letter also makes reference to the relatively small volume of silver that was purchased through any recommendations originating with me. Bear in mind that there were up to 12,O00 contracts being traded in one day on the New York Commodity Exchange, each representing 10,000 ounces of silver or a total of one days business of 120 million ounces of silver. Compared with this, the entire silver position held by all those that were influenced by my recommendations was miniscule in the extreme. In fact all the investments made by all the patriots in the land was hardly a drop in the bucket by comparison with the amounts invested by those who were completely outside of my sphere of influence. I believe a very good example is found in the following:

Hecla Mining Company is the largest silver producer in the United States. In a report to shareholders dated February 8, 1972, we read:

For a number of years, world consumption of silver has materially exceeded production. In 1968, Hecla commenced a program of purchasing silver futures contracts to take advantage of anticipated increase in the price of silver. Unfortunately, the price of silver decreased and the Company suffered losses which have been previously reported to the shareholders …

Hecla is speaking of the purchase of silver contracts, each contract for 10,000 ounces of silver. Their losses were calculated in the millions of dollars. The losses were occasioned by Hecla firmly believing that the increase in the price of silver was inevitable. It would appear that they too were victim of a conspiracy but surely not one engineered by me! It is no exaggeration to suggest that losses approached tile half billion mark, this is quite clearly outside my league.

Now then, if I am not the swindler, and if a swindle did take place, who did it and how was it done and what if anything can be done about recovery?

Very briefly, the conspirators were in London, not Switzerland, and they did indeed depress the price of silver through a concerted pattern of short selling of silver contracts on the New York Commodity Exchange. Incidentally, seventy five percent of the transactions were in paper silver, and $1,O00 is margin for 10,000 ounces of silver. in other words, $10,000 moves $150,000 worth of silver! And when certain London-based International Bankers began short-selling of up to 12,000 contracts in one day, contracts representing 120 million ounces of silver, why something had to give! Yes, there was a conspiracy. Yes, it was in restraint of trade and yes, a court action is in the making that may not only regain losses but also award up to treble damages. No one in their right mind is suggesting, as does Statecraft, that somehow this was manipulated for the purpose of defrauding patriots by Richard Cotten and the Foreign Commerce Bank. This is pure fantasy.

As for the general tenor of the smear in Statecraft, there is just enough truth that I cannot say that it is a lie in its entirety. As an example, I am indeed the publisher of Conservative Viewpoint! And it is also true, as I have advised my supporters, that I did file a petition in bankruptcy. Ironically, I had managed to live with an ever-increasing debt for almost ten years, until Willis Carto began his vendetta against me. And when you fight someone with an extensive mailing list, a bottomless bank account and a multiplicity of publications, you are never really able to overcome the damage. So Carto wrote finis to any dreams I had of ever being able to cope with my indebtedness and I took the necessary step in bankruptcy. Perhaps were I sufficiently skilled, or unprincipled, to con patriots out of enormous sums of money for divers causes then we might have bankrolled Conservative Viewpoint successfully. I have always hoped for and prayed for the day when those patriots who do have the means would come forward and relieve me of the financial burden of remaining in print and on the airwaves.

Now beyond this point, the article is false in virtually every instance. We do not live in a mansion but a fifteen year old, three bedroom brick veneer house in the country. The basement and converted barn serve as offices and the monthly payment is much less than would be required to rent comparable office footage. In other words, our living quarters are free. As for the statement, Cotten also manages to keep a shiny Cadillac in his driveway, that is a lie. We do not own a Cadillac and there is no Cadillac in the driveway. Creatures like Mr. Baker and his hidden manipulator don't let truth interfere when they are out to smear somebody.

As for the allegation that has me participating in an ADL Zionist plot to create a war within the American Right, I believe our recent publication of Congressman Rarick’s report on the ADL will speak for itself. I have consistently done all in my power to fight the ADL, not participate as the Statecraft article has me doing. In fact the Congressional Record of March 30, 1972, pages E-3178 through 3181 are devoted to a defense of the ADL and a smear of Congressman Rarick, the late Senator Jack B. Tenney, and Richard Cotten of Conservative Viewpoint. In fact five full columns are dedicated to exposing me.

Really, this issue of Statecraft is insulting to you as well as me. They would describe me as participating in an ADL plot to create a war within the right, and at the same time, the same issue, brags of attacking the Young Americans for Freedom, William F. Buckley, the American Conservative Union, and Congressman John Ashbrook! Granted that these may not be as bard-core as we might wish, what can be more divisive than attacking these men and organizations? Is it for this that patriots subscribe to Washington Observer, and contribute to Liberty Lobby? Is not Statecraft convicted out of its own mouth of participating in the ADL Zionist plot to create a war within the American Right? This is what they openly b rag of doing!

The Statecraft article referred to Mrs. Cotten and her mother traveling in Europe and stated that they were … investigating rumors that Mrs. Cotten made a special trip to Switzerland. Mrs. Cotten went on a whirlwind 21 day tour as her mother’s guest and traveling companion. Her mother had planned to accompany us to Rhodesia on a tour sponsored by Conservative Viewpoint but when that fell through, thanks to Carto’s smear, she took her daughter to Europe. This was Mrs. McLean’s first trip abroad and, health permitting, it will be repeated and I imagine she will again take Madelyn along for company.

From this point forward, the Statecraft article was simply groping. Their knowledge of the activities of the National Documentation Institute is clearly minimal. It is quite true that from the day that the NDI rented Liberty Lobby’s Pledge List, from Willis Carto, he has made every effort to prevent it from becoming successful. His actions in renting the list and simultaneously utilizing his various publications to notify all and sundry that it had been stolen are all too typical. But despite Willis Carto, the NDI does exist, and hopefully will expand into a very successful operation, dedicated to the concept of encouraging stations to carry the other side of controversial issues. The sixty four dollar question is just why is Carto determined to see that this not succeed?

Beyond this point, the Statecraft article consisted mainly of a rehash of accusations relating to my unwillingness to aid and abet Willis Carto in his efforts to destroy the NYA and Lou Byers. And this brings us to the third area of concern, what is Statecraft, who is C.B.Baker, and does this involve Willis Carto of Liberty Lobby?

While it is not possible to document Mr. Carto’s outright ownership of Statecraft it is quite possible to show the utter hypocrisy in the pretense that he, and Liberty Lobby, are no part of it. In fact, incredible as it may seem, C. B. Baker’s office is simple across the hall from Carto’s office, in Liberty Lobby! Yet when Liberty Lobby supporters wrote to that organization asking for a copy of the Statecraft article, they received a letter, signed by Anne N. Dabney, Book Department, saying, The above article you requested is not a Liberty Lobby publication and we do not know where it can be purchased. To me, this is the all time high for hypocrisy. More recently, Carol Dunn is advising those who are on their V.I.P mailing list that if they want to know about silver swindle, they should send 50¢ to Statecraft directly. Mrs. Dunn incorporated something of a disclaimer, suggesting that Just possibly she might not agree with all the contents, it is good to know that she couldn't stomach some of their garbage.

Currently, the Washington Observer invites the reader to write to Statecraft for a copy of the Great Silver Swindle, stating that they were going to do the expose themselves but found that C.B.Baker was doing it! Inasmuch as he is a hireling at Liberty Lobby that should not have been too difficult to learn. Incidentally, C.B.Baker is also a Contributing Editor to the American Mercury. I was too, before Carto decided to destroy me. So let me make it clear. C.B.Baker is in daily attendance at Liberty Lobby, having assumed responsibilities having to do with Liberty Lobby’s mailings! Yet these utter hypocrites would say that they have no knowledge1 Carto sits in the middle like a cancerous growth, destroying everything and everyone he cannot bring to do his bidding. Well, he is not going to win this battle with

Inasmuch as most recipients of the Statecraft smear had never been exposed to its excretions, something on its background is in order. It started in September of 1968 and showed the very swish Jew, Daniel Paulson as Publisher and his boyfriend, C.B.Baker, as the Editor. These two were intimate school chums from the Jew infested American University here in Washington, D.C. Paulson, having shown his pro-zionist tendencies while working with John Acord in the American Southern Africa Council, apparently set out to do his own thing and thus Statecraft was born.

Almost immediately, Willis Carto developed a grotesque fascination for the smearsheet. Somehow the pro-Zionist Jew, Paulson, and the presumably anti-zionist Willis Carto found enough in common to result in Carto’s having repeatedly financed various issues of Statecraft which in turn, was willing to smear his enemies.

Loyalties at Statecraft are sometimes of short duration, thus the October 1968 issue carried John Acord on the front page in a laudatory manner, describing his activities as the National Chairman, Youth For Wallace. This was, of course, a Carto front from the beginning. By the April-May issue of 1969, Acord had fallen from grace and he became the front page victim of the smearsheet.

Future issues smeared the Young Americans for Freedom, William F. Buckley Jr., the American Conservative Union, American Lobby, and John Ashbrook among others. Incidentally, Buckley featured an expose of Willis Carto in the September 10, 1971 issue of the National Review. The twelve page report is most revealing.

Whether the Jew, Paulson, was secretly bought out by Carto or Baker remains a mystery. It is a fact that his name mysteriously disappeared from Statecraft between the first and second issues 1970. Suddenly C.B.Baker was elevated to publisher and editor, a title subsequent issues retained until his present attack which simply eliminates both titles and substitutes C.B.Baker, Chief of Statecraft. Quite an ambiguous title but so is this entire affair.

Baker is one of the most grotesque physical specimens that you can imagine. And before I say much more on the subject I should make it clear that to the best of my knowledge, I have only seen him on one occasion, that having to do with his arrest for burglary. It seems that he and his henchman, Peter Reynolds, were caught red-handed breaking into Mr. Byers home at 1:30 in the morning! Crowbar in hand, they were apprehended at gun point by Mr. Byers and his wife, Carey. The sheriff took them away and they spent the night in the pokey. It is quite revealing that Baker’s one phone cali was to Willis Carto, who had Richardson, Liberty Lobby’s attorney, come up with the $6,000 cash bond immediately. That is probably not what most contributors have in mind when they send their hard earned money to Liberty Lobby. Incidentally, in describing this sordid affair to a fellow Liberty Lobby henchman, Richardson said, yes, they really got caught with their hands in the cookie jar! So much for the caliber of Liberty Lobby employees! This is the same Richardson that represents Liberty Lobby on the Hill and has testified that he considers men who volunteer for service to be mercenaries, that our presence in Vietnam constitutes our being Imperialistic aggressors, and that he, and Liberty Lobby, agree with the honorable Congressman Paul McCloskey! Is it for this kind of testimony, that patriots support Liberty Lobby? But that is another story.

But back to Baker, since it is supposed to be he who attacked me in the Statecraft article, and since he saw fit to caption my picture, would you buy a used car from this man? it is altogether fitting that I share his picture with you so that you will know who is doing the attacking. Note that this picture does him sufficient Justice that he has used it in his own promotional material. I find it fascinating. Suffice it to say, in this day of beatniks and hippies, drug addicts and homosexuals, C.B.Baker still takes on some of the qualities of a nightmare fantasy. Incidentally, his office in Liberty Lobby is decorated his a photo of his alter ego, Dr. Goebbels whose style he appears to be imitating. And this is the creature who is supposed to be able to break a fourteen month silence and suddenly have the funds to finance a twenty five thousand copy printing of this smear? No, he did not do this on his own hook, he did it with the help and direction of Willis Carto of Liberty Lobby.

When Carto decided to double-cross Mr. Byers of the National Youth Alliance, and leave him holding the bag for an incredible indebtedness, he switched his support to a Patrick Tifer described as Statecraft Action Leader who had just reorganized the NYA. Thus he attempted with one swoop to complete his destruction of the NYA which he had rounded, and of Lou Byers whom he had groomed for the job, and at the same time, steal the NYA list and raise funds through falsely claiming to be the reorganized NYA. Incidentally, at that time the address of statecraft, now turned NYA switched to Michigan which is

Tifer’s home territory. And at this time, incredible as it may seem, Carto openly identified himself with this gang and with their objectives! Tifer received support from Carto and reproduced Carto’s letter to Statecraft — now called the reorganized NYA — and described Carto as the founder of NYA. Every attempt was made to destroy the Washington based NYA including outright theft of mailing lists, Symbols, and masthead. It is somewhat comforting to see that the current issue of Statecraft has given up the battle and now no longer poses as the reorganized NYA but call themselves Youth Action instead.

Al1 this may appear to be needless detail but it is necessary background for the next change in leadership and/or ownership of Statecraft. After fourteen months of silence, Statecraft has now published and the address has reverted to Alexandria, Va. Tifer seems to have gone the way of the Jew, Paulson. The current issue carries a photograph of Carto shaking hands with his replacement, a Luke Herda who is presumably of sufficient stature to conduct …upcoming trial of major war criminals… Have we all lost our sanity? Or has Carto’s hatred led him off the deep end? We will provide a photograph taken from an earlier issue of Tifer complete with the M-1 carbine. Yes, this is the action that is near and dear to Carto’s fondest dream. Liberty Lobby is fine for building up a sucker list, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, why we try our own war criminals and settle things out of court with the help of an M-1 Carbine!

That brings the matter of what is Statecraft? pretty much up to date. It has changed hands repeatedly although the burglary team of Baker and Reynolds seem to always come out as part of the winning team. And in the last two issues at least, Carto has been willing to be identified with their fantastic schemes. We would have to have the mentality of a village idiot to believe that somehow C-B.Baker is able to finance the mailing of 25,000 copies of this smear (or any former smear for that matter) without financial aid. The very fact that this didn't go to print for fourteen months gives a clear indication of the role that Statecraft has been designed to play.

Probably no single factor in this madness is more revealing, and yet typical, than the fact that C-B.Baker has his headquarters in Liberty Lobby. I would like to think that there remain some Liberty Lobby employees who find his presence offensive.

This leaves the subject of Willis Carto to be dealt with. Please understand that for ten long years I did everything in my power to help build Liberty Lobby. He doesn't have to steal my mailing list, he simply has it by virtue of the fact that I have always encouraged our supporters to support Liberty Lobby! So when he determined to destroy my efforts, he had quite an advantage. I am deeply appreciative of the loyal support I have received from such a large percentage of those who have been exposed to this malicious attack upon me. What has not been fully understood is Just how completely he dominated the scene. Carto, for all intent and purpose is the guiding genius, evil or otherwise, behind Liberty Lobby, Liberty Letter, Washington Observer, American Mercury, Noontide Press, Government Educational Foundation, Action Associates, Capitol HIll Data Processing Company, United Congressional Appeal, American Colonialization Society, Save Our Schools, Americans For National Security, National Taxaction, Friends of Rhodesian Independence, C.E.A.S.E., Council on Dangerous Drugs, Legion for the Survival of Freedom and a host of other fronts and single issue appeals. tie master minded Youth for Wallace four years ago and turned that mailing list into an asset to start the National Youth Alliance. In turn, he destroyed the NYA, even though it presumably was the culmination of all his dreams.

He has recently been under investigation for mail fraud, and the F.B.I. is now investigating him in the matter of jury tampering. We will include one or two memos on the subject so you can have a sample of some of his warped thinking.

Within the year his henchmen have gone from coast to coast on a fund raising spree in which they bragged of separating their victims from over $200,000 in hard earned money. The title of this particular caper was Operation Survival and the funds were presumably to be used to set up a shortwave network plus provide the Liberty Lobby building with some security. The simple fact is that the entire lower floor of the building is rented by a printing firm, Truman Ward Printing Co, and if you go to the much touted 300 Independence S.E. address you find a sign telling you to go around the corner to 130 3rd Street for the entrance to Liberty Lobby. When you get there you are greeted by For Rent signs flanking the entrance to the stairs that will take you upstairs to the remnant of Liberty Lobby. There you would find Baker, Carto, Dunn and Dall, and their few remaining cronies. The formerly busy central office, where a horde of girls formerly spent all day slicing open envelopes and gathering the proceeds for one of Carto’s many bank accounts, is now strangely silent and all but empty. Two lonely girls seem to be all that are required to deal with the diminished return. Apparently the public is awakening.

In the meantime, on the West Coast, his Washington Observer/American Observer combo keeps on smearing. There LaVonne Furr supports Carto in his every play and changes the orchestration to fit his smear-of-the-day. Thus her instant switch from Richard Johnson, hero, to Richard Johnson, villain, is something of a classic. Once upon a time I was even a good guy but then, that was when I was spending thousands of dollars to help the Observer, and the Mercury, keep going.

In the ten years that I have known Carto, there has been a great deal of correspondence. I have had the opportunity during the last few weeks to re-read a good deal of what Carto has had to say. Space does not permit inclusion of other than a mere smattering but I think it important to include proof positive that Carto does control the Washington Observer, the American Mercury, and Liberty Lobby. And even before I get into this correspondence, I should make it clear that in the early days, before Carto had decided that it was profitable to sell Board of Policy memberships at so many dollars per head, I was selected as one of the very limited board as attested to in their September 1964 copy. And I also was named as a Director, one of twelve, and so supposedly I directed Liberty Lobby for a period of years but somehow I was never notified when they had a meeting! All this is history, but it does at least give some indication of my relationship to Liberty Lobby, and it also makes it quite clear that outside of Carto himself, the rest is just so much window dressing.

First then, on Liberty Lobby letterhead, under date of June 13, 1966, Carto wrote to me describing the article I was to write for American Mercury. He also placed me on their list of contributing editors but now he has C. B. Baker to replace me. We also include a copy of Carto’s letter of July 19, 1966 which makes very clear his relationship to both Washington Observer and the Mercury.

Carto’s letter of July 29, 1965, also on Liberty Lobby letterhead, makes quits clear his complete control of Liberty Lobby. Such phrases as, it has always been my aim, and that is one reason I have always kept in the background, etc. clear a lot of the cobwebs away. I've always employed other personnel to run things, is one of the most honest statements he has ever made.

Carto’s letter of October 19, 1967 refers to the WO matter and that is of course the Washington Observer. We were considering making a joint venture out of his project and I wanted to make it a weekly. Notice his comment in the next to the last paragraph, I can't possibly do one a week. Not LaVonne Furr, and not the mythical Lee Roberts that the National Review article exposed so nicely. It was the real Carto speaking.

Carto’s letter of September 29, 1968, tells a good bit about the man. He had come into possession of an unpublished manuscript dealing with the mythical six million. I helped promote the book, having no way of knowing that he had come by the manuscript fraudulently. However, he is now being sued, one suit among many, by the author of the book who takes exception to Carto’s having liberated the manuscript and publishing it anonymously, and making a great deal of money. Incidentally, the book was stored at, and sold through, Liberty Lobby although Carto probably used his Noontide Press to do the billing.

There is no end to the correspondence that makes it clear that Liberty Lobby, Willis Carto, Washington Observer and the American Mercury are one and the same. And since it is germane to my having been smeared as a silver swindler, I believe I am justified in revealing some arrangements with both Carto and Carol Dunn in this matter that they have belatedly decided was a conspiracy.

Bear in mind that this was the culmination of many years of encouraging our supporters to save silver in any of several forms. None of this had been done with any profit motive. But I had now been approached by representatives of the International Research Institute who had made arrangements with certain Swiss banks to receive orders for the purchase of silver, on margin, and to credit IRI with certain fees. These fees, in turn, were to be distributed to those who acted as Referrals and those who acted as Associates and sometimes these were split fees, with two or more persons on the applications as Referral. This was the arrangement that we will now be discussing.

First then, I refer you to the January 1, 1968 copy of the Washington Observer Newsletter, page 4, under Crystal Ball and you will see how Carto sent Referrals to me. In exchange for this, we were to split the referral with the mythical Lee Roberts. The applications that went to Switzerland carried this designation, i.e., Cotten/Roberts and the 1Ri was so advised in their accounting.

In similar fashion, Liberty Letter Number 84 of February 1968, advised the entire Liberty Lobby mailing list as follows:

SILVER BOOM will make great profits for investors. Write Conservative Viewpoint, 1018 Ockley Dr., Shreveport, La. 71106.

This was carried boldly, in a block immediately above the address panel so everyone would be certain to see. Thus we did receive inquiries which in some instances became customers of the Swiss bank, and on those applications, the referral was shown as Cotten/Roberts which ultimately would tell the IRI how to split this fee.

Simultaneously, Carto opened his own account with a purchase of $3,000 of silver. Shortly thereafter, and taking steps that he thought would mean the transaction would be kept secret from me, he purchased additional silver. The International Research Institute, in reporting a Schedule of Commodity Transactions, Richard B. Cotten, Associate, October 1967 through June 1968, carried Carto, W.A. as purchasing $48,931.30 worth of silver, and a profit of $3,558.16 already! Shortly thereafter I denounced certain policies of the IRI and our relationship was terminated. Because of this, they stopped reporting and I cannot know how much in excess of $48,931.30 Carto managed to put away in his Swiss bank account but even this figure gives some indication that being treasurer of Liberty Lobby pays!

In addition to the foregoing, I should make it clear that Mr. Carto was not operating in the dark in this matter, he went to see the management of the International Research Institute in Long Beach, California, and made certain arrangements with them that I have never been in a position to study. Suffice it to say, as far as Carto knew, I only knew of the $3,000 purchase. If any swindle took place, he was in a perfect position to know about it, wouldn't you say? But no, at that time he was not out to destroy me, so when the price of silver tumbled he again used the pages of the Washington Observer to explain. And as the article makes clear, in the November 1, 1968 issue, it was the Indians who were responsible, and — last paragraph — … there is no long-term prospect of stabilizing the price of silver anywhere below $5.00 an ounce — …

Nor was this sufficient involvement for Willis Carto of Liberty Lobby. Carol Dunn, Liberty Lobby’s Executive Secretary, had her role to play. Her willingness to join Carto in this attempt to paint me as a silver swindler is particularly offensive because her own role was that of an International Research Institute Associate, meaning she put on her own meetings, tented halls and made presentations and all the rest of it. She performed every function, for her own account, that I performed for the benefit of Conservative Viewpoint. And even that is only part of the story.

A little background information is necessary. I came to know Carol Dunn through Bob DePugh of the Minutemen. She was their secretary and was also scheduled to die of cancer of the bone marrow. The Minutemen were having their national convention in Kansas City and one of her last acts was to be her scheduled speech. Bob told me that she was under heavy sedation because of the pain and that it would be very difficult for her to speak. He also told me that she was to be hospitalized right after the meeting and that her doctor friends would then mercifully put her to sleep so that the end would come relatively painlessly.

My response was to tell Bob that I felt it important that I meet Carol, which I did, and I arranged for her to fly to Lincoln, Nebraska, and there to enter Providence Hospital and put herself in the care of Dr. Robert C. Olney. She did so, and within forty eight hours she telephoned me in a state of elation and told me of the treatments that she had now undertaken, that the nausea was gone, and wonder of wonders, that she had been able to eat!

Now the rest is history. She did recover, and Carol and her husband took to the road, in a camper to raise funds for the Minutemen. They travelled throughout the nation and, near Seattle, had a very serious head-on wreck. Mrs. Cotten and I visited them in the hospital, wished them well and all the rest. In due course they were back on the road and came to visit us in Shreveport. And it was not long after that visit that they switched to Liberty Lobby and began to represent them wherever conservatives happened to meet. And it is in this context that we suddenly found Carol and her husband on our doorstep in Shreveport, deeply interested in silver, and as the two-page letter to Associates, dated February 5, 1968 will make clear, she considered herself to be on loan from Liberty Lobby, and she was into this business with both feet! In addition, as I have stated, the International Research Institute, in their published schedule of Silver Seminars and of Associates we find Carol Dunn listed in her own right, Washington D.C. Carol Dunn, 319 3rd Ave. S.E.

It is difficult for me to know how all this is coming across to you as you read. I sincerely believe that I was used as an instrument to guide Carol to Dr. Olney and thereby prolong her life. She had firsthand knowledge of all there was to know about the silver business and did indeed move in to the point that she might well have become rich. International Research Institute, in reporting to me, carried Carol Dunn and her husband as purchasing a total of $30,611.77 up to June of 1968, and they showed over a $1,000 profit on their investment on that date. Those who contributed to the Minutemen and/or Liberty Lobby can wonder how poor secretaries can manage this!

I sincerely believe I have laid enough on the line that you can recognize the smear for what it was, an attempt to destroy me, and that the author was Willis Carto who guided a very complex attack. You have seen ample evidence of the manner in which Carol Dunn has continued the attack, even though she had full knowledge of this silver matter, and in fact was involved in it up to her neck.

Yes, there was a conspiracy, and yes, there were victims, but the conspirator was not India and it was not Richard Cotten. It was the London-based Goldsmiths.

I am sure there will be those who will read these pages and then say, well I don't care, you shouldn't fight among yourselves! and I would have to answer that any common bond between Richard Richard Cotten and their ilk is purely imaginary.

We each have our little hang-ups and one point that has rankled deeply with me ever since Carto started this smear about stolen lists, was the manner in which they implied that while I may possibly not have actually stolen the list, I nevertheless threatened to do so and it was for that reason only that they had rented me the list. A good many Liberty Lobby subscribers were deeply concerned to realize that the list had been rented so the powers-that-be reaffirmed that they never rent the list, and had only done so this one time because of my threat. Well, that didn't sit too well with most people but I now want to set the record straight. They lie, as usual, when they say they would never rent the list and I submit Carto’s memorandum of Understanding to that effect. I probably shouldn't say it, but I hope Colonel Dall chokes on it! He has penned an endless series of letters to all those who took exception to the rental, saying that they never never would have rented it except for the threat! Well, note the date, February 5, 1969, long before Carto and I had any differences. And I remind you, that Willis Carto, through his front, the Capitol Hill Data Processing Company, does rent Liberty Lobby’s expired, self-paid lists. This means that when you reach the stomach turning point, he sells your name to whoever will rent his list. They are a bunch of hypocrites!

And finally, since the use of stolen lists precipitated this whole sorry business, I will include certain letters in my files that give some indication of who really practices this.

Let me make this clear. I am not a thief, nor a liar, nor a silver swindler. My efforts to serve my nation have been seriously impaired by the actions of Willis Carto and his associates. I am fighting back with the truth and am generously documenting almost every statement I have made. And this is not the end of the story, much more will be known of Carto when he is finally compelled to give his deposition in any one of several instances, Incredibly, I have barely skimmed the surface of the materials I have at hand. It is a very complex business.

Statecraft has bragged of those they have destroyed by attack. I should like to suggest they have been premature in adding Richard Cotten to their list.