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Liberty Lobby Strikes Back

  • A federal racketeering case has been filed against those who have been attempting to destroy Liberty Lobby.
EXCLUSIVE TO THE SPOTLIGHT
By The Spotlight Staff

On January 29, Liberty Lobby filed a massive lawsuit against a group of conspirators who have been engaged in a five-year conspiracy to disrupt Liberty Lobby’s continuing operations.

The 148-page suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is case number: 1:98CV00236. Representing Liberty Lobby is attorney Mark Lane.

The lawsuit was filed at the recommendation of Liberty Lobby’s Board of Policy (BOP) members.

When polled, the BOP overwhelmingly vetoed any out-of-court settlement with the conspirators who entangled Liberty Lobby in complicated litigation stemming from the illegal take-over of the IHR.

The poll of the BOP members was conducted in a special mailing sent to all BOP members in conjunction with their receipt of Liberty Lobby’s 1997 annual progress report.

I can only recall one vote in favor of settling with these conspirators, says BOP Chairman Vince Ryan. The judgment of our supporters has been that we should not only fight back — but fight hard. And that’s why we have taken this step, in accordance with the BOP’s instructions.

Named as defendants are 11 individuals who participated in the illegal takeover of the California-based Legion for the Survival of Freedom, parent body of the Institute for Historical Review (IHR). The conspirators then used the resources of the LSF to further their conspiracy to destroy Liberty Lobby. The defendants are:

  • Two individuals still holding themselves out to be officers of the LSF: Mark Weber and Greg Raven;
  • Two former employees of the IHR who participated in the conspiracy outlined in the lawsuit: Tom Marcellus and Theodore O’Keefe;
  • Three individuals who held themselves out to be members of the LSF board of directors after the conspiracy to seize control of the corporation: Andrew Evered Allen, Friederich (Fritz) Berg, and John Curry;
  • Two members of the previously-established legitimate LSF board of directors who ratified the actions of the conspirators by supporting the covert operations that led to the seizure of the corporation: Harvey Taylor and Jack Riner;
  • William S. Hulsy, an Irvine, California attorney for the LSF’s legitimate board of directors who assisted in the covert planning for the seizure of the corporation (and who violated his attorney-client relationship in so doing); and
  • Robert Countess, who now holds himself out to be a member of the LSF’s board of directors that was established in the wake of the illicit takeover of the corporate board by the conspirators. On February 1 Countess was the first of the defendants to be formally served with the complaint.

The lawsuit charges the defendants with:

  • Civil violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute (Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1961), citing the predicate acts of extortion, bribery and robbery;
  • Violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (Title 15 U.S.C. Section 1);
  • Defamation: including both libel and slander;
  • Tortious interference with contracts and business relations; and
  • Intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Ryan pointed out Liberty Lobby reserves the option to amend the suit, as necessary, to add as defendants a number of publishers who have reprinted false and defamatory material provided to them by those who have already been named as defendants.

This lawsuit is designed not only to clear Liberty Lobby’s good name, but also to bring to account those who have unlawfully and maliciously sought to damage not only Liberty Lobby’s business affairs but also its support among its members and others in the populist movement, Ryan said. There’s no question that there are very powerful forces behind this conspiracy, using the named defendants and their collaborators, as pawns in this effort to destroy our populist Institution. And all of this will be brought out as this case unfolds. There’s much more to be told.

Joining Liberty Lobby as a co-plaintiff in the suit is Willis A. Carto, the founder and treasurer of Liberty Lobby who was also a voting member of the LSF and who directed its operations until October 15, 1993. Then the conspirators named in the lawsuit forcibly took control of the LSF offices in California at gunpoint.

The complete story of the IHR affair and its relation to the resulting problems for Liberty Lobby are described in a special report, The Facts & the Myths About Liberty Lobby and the IHR, which was mailed to all SPOTLIGHT subscribers last year.

A free copy of this report, along with a special supplementary document describing the behind-the-scenes elements involved in the conspiracy, is available to all who request it. Send a self-addressed, 55¢ stamped business-size envelope to Box 7, Liberty Lobby, 300 Independence Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. For more on this matter, see the column, Liberty Lobby Reports, on page 5 in this issue of The SPOTLIGHT.