Michael Richardson pictured on a speaking tour about human rights in Taiwan (credit: Unknown photographer)
A Taiwanese friend tells me that I am the subject of unfavorable private remarks by some of the “elite of the Taiwan independence movement.” The cause of the commentary is my continued reference to “political fraud” in my reports on the prosecution of Roger Lin and others by the exiled Republic of China. My critics think I confuse financial crime with politics and give undue publicity to Taiwan Civil Government headed by Lin.
Because I admire and respect a number of leading activists in the Taiwanese independence movement I regret the private criticism and want to clear the air about my reports on the prosecution. Let me start by saying no one is ghost writing for me, I exclusively am to blame or credit. Secondly, no one is paying me anything and the articles are produced at my own expense. Finally, no one is telling me what to write, I am free of any censorship or direction.
My motives in writing about Taiwan are based on my concern about human rights and my recognition, as a United States citizen, that the seven decades of Taiwan’s unresolved international status have led to terrible crimes against the Taiwanese by the Chinese while America looked the other way. I don’t blame my country for the 228 Massacre but I do think American indifference to the White Terror period and the long years of martial law by the ROC brings shame. By installing Chiang Kai-shek and his regime on the island the United States created a problem it now cannot fix. In a democracy when the government does wrong it is the duty of the citizen to do right. Thus my reports are my personal effort to make amends for the harm my country allowed to happen.
I came upon the plight of Taiwan late in life as I was never taught one word about Taiwan in school or college. Nothing in history classes, nothing in geography classes, nothing in political science classes. Learning for the first time in middle age about the 228 Massacre and White Terror opened my eyes wide open.
My goal for Taiwan is self-determination. I want the people of Taiwan to decide their own fate, become masters of their own future. I support a referendum to decide. However, the referendum should be held by an international body, not just supervised or monitored, but actually conducted independently. Voting to be by secret ballot in neutral settings, no ROC buildings or election supervision. At least five options should be offered to island residents: Taiwan independence, United States statehood, Japanese reunification, Republic of China sovereignty, and People’s Republic of China control. One option that should be left off the list is the status quo. Taiwan’s unresolved status does not serve a good purpose, if it ever did. The “strategic ambiguity” brings instability to the region, deprives the Taiwanese of international participation, restricts economic prosperity and does not protect human rights.
Roger Lin will not get a jury trial for his alleged fraud. Why? Because the ROC does not believe in the jury system. The so-called justice system in Taiwan is deeply flawed.
Lin and others were held in harsh pre-trial detention. Bare cell without furniture, solitary confinement, no visitors, restricted access to medical care, and no bail. The conditions bring to mind the cruel punishment cell that former ROC President Chen Shui-bian was held in that broke his health.
Supposedly the purpose of pre-trial detention is to assure attendance at court dates. In Roger Lin’s case it served to portray him as a criminal, restricted his ability to defend himself, and gave him a strong dose of punishment—all without a trial or a chance to confront his accusers.
When the midnight raid took Lin from the comfort of home to his tiny cell the news media were there to record the arrest, tipped off no doubt by police or prosecutors. Published news reports quoted prosecutors that Lin was arrested for financial crimes based on political ideology. The premise is that Lin is a con artist pushing a political hoax.
I cannot overlook the fact that Lin’s group seeks to expel the exiled Republic of China from Taiwan making him an adversary of those in power. I will wait for the evidence. Until witnesses, subject to cross-examination, testify and their credibility can be weighed, I am going to extend to Roger Lin and the others the presumption of innocence.
Human rights are something that belong to everyone, including members of Taiwan Civil Government.
Roger Lin, founder of Taiwan Civil Government, was granted bail after four months of harsh pre-trial detention on political fraud charges (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)
Roger Lin, founder of Taiwan Civil Government, imprisoned on political fraud charges was freed on ten million yuan bail after telling a Taoyuan District Court judge that he was willing to be a martyr for Taiwan. Lin’s declaration, and plea in behalf of other TCG members, followed a full-page New York Timesadvertisement a week earlier calling on the United Nations to investigate the case.
Prosecutors of the exiled Republic of China, opposed bail and asked the judge to continue Lin’s four-month incommunicado detention in solitary confinement. Lin’s group seeks the expulsion of the ROC from Taiwan and wants United States supervision of a transition to sovereignty for the 23 million stateless island inhabitants. Taiwan’s longstanding “strategic ambiguity” and lack of sovereignty have kept it from membership in international organizations and increasingly called Chinese Taipei. Although the political overtones of the case are glaring, the prosecution of Lin has been ignored by both the Taiwanese independence movement and the American news media as prosecutors have portrayed Lin as a criminal mastermind.
Released with Lin was his wife Julian, also held incommunicado, on seven million yuan bail and Yu Hsiang-Ching onthree million yuan bond. The prison ordeal of the trio began in May with midnight raids followed by harsh detention in solitary punishment cells, without furniture, and no visitors. It took a court order to get medical treatment for Roger Lin, suffering from progressive prostate cancer. Julian Lin was kept from seeing her two adopted infant children. Mr. Yu, the 80 year-old landlord of TCG headquarters, suffering from multiple medical problems had significant weight loss during his confinement.
At a hearing on detention, Lin told the judge that even under the Kuomintang period couples were not held in custody at the same time. Lin pointed out there were two young children involved. Lin invoked the bond between mother and child.
Lin said the hateful treatment of Taiwan Civil Government defendants reminded him of the 228 Massacre and the White Terror period of the Kuomintang. The harsh treatment was designed to force a confession. “I am already prepared for Taiwan’s martyrdom, but please release two innocent people. The two of them do not understand Taiwan’s international status.”
While Roger’s attempt to shield his wife is understandable and it is easy to believe his scope of knowledge on the history of Taiwan’s “political purgatory” exceeds that of Julian, she has been actively speaking against Chinese Taipei and Taiwan’s lack of membership in the United Nations on TCG junkets to the United States. Such advocacy does not make Julian Lin innocent in the minds of ROC prosecutors.
When the Lins were released on bail they were afforded a hero’s welcome by TCG loyalists gathered to witness the release. Earlier, hordes of TCG members lined the halls of the Taoyuan District Court building for the hearing. Even though only eighteen members of the public are permitted in the small courtroom where the hearings are conducted, a long line of TCG members dressed in their black suits and lapel pins filled a corridor outside.
After a happy reunion with supporters at the jail Lin traveled to TCG headquarters where he convened a round table meeting to give thanks for donations and offer his vision of Taiwan’s future free of the exiled Republic of China. According to Lin the resiliency of the organization to stay strong following the fraud arrests shows the strength of the group’s message.
Lin supporters were able to raise over $600,000 in one day to meet the bail demands. The loyalists are a sharp contrast to the prosecution’s complaining witnesses. Although prosecutors boasted they had 315 complainants, the list of potential witnesses against the Lins has eroded to 66 disgruntled members who are unhappy about their TCG identity cards and vanity license plates according to news reports in Taiwan.
The prosecution of TCG’s leadership promises to bring Taiwan’s unresolved status, and America’s role in the situation, into court and provide Roger Lin an unintended soapbox to the world. Taiwanese independence advocates should pay more attention as TCG may find itself leading the march to sovereignty.
Some information in this report is from citizen reporter Lin Shan-feng who was present in the courtroom.
Taiwan Civil Government’s full-page New York Times advertisement in behalf of imprisoned leaders Roger and Julian Lin. (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)
In a bold and expensive move Taiwan Civil Government paid for a full-page New York Times advertisementto bring attention to the plight of group leaders Roger and Julian Lin. The pricey ad ran on Sept. 24, 2018 and was the second full-page pitch in a year. The first ad in 2017, when Julian Lin attended a meeting at the United Nations building, cost $114,437 with $3,525 for layout making a total of $117,962. Assuming the new ad was similarly priced means TCG has spent nearly a quarter-million dollars with the New York Times without a single word in print about TCG other than the ads.
Good journalism does not require the New York Times to publish gratis and favorable articles about its sponsors. Although, for a newspaper that prides itself on being an international publication and definitive news source, the self-censorship over the prosecution of its advertisers is a betrayal to readers. Few crime stories have such a rich mix of money, motive, international intrigue, and a White House connection. The political fraud charges against Roger and Julian Lin are newsworthy allegations and TCG’s inroads into Washington inner circles have a lot of media names involved. However, the fog of strategic ambiguity that surrounds Taiwan has clouded the editorial vision at the newspaper.
The ad is a plea, from jail. “My name is Julian Lin and my husband and I have been speaking around the world for the international recognition of Taiwan. Now we are in jail for our political beliefs and exercising our right to free speech. We urge the UN to examine our case and the political ambiguity of Taiwan. Allowing my husband and me to languish in jail over expressing a legitimate political belief and desire for self-determination undermines the very foundation of the United Nations. Please stay true to your charter—free Taiwan from political purgatory and us from behind bars!”
The New York Times could have assigned its international reporters to explain precisely what is Taiwan’s sovereignty status and why that matters. Sovereignty seems to be a central factor in the prosecution case with the exiled Republic of China prosecutors acting as though the island’s status has already been resolved.
A sidebar story on Roger & Julian Lin v. United States of America & Republic of China would have informed readers about TCG’s effort in District of Columbia federal court to undo the 1946 Nationality Act which deprived Formosans of their Japanese nationality. The law was passed in occupied Taiwan by the Republic of China without American permission. The case ended with a decision that the time to resolve that matter in court had long since expired. Julian Lin was asked to account for her role in the District of Columbia lawsuit by the ROC judge hearing the political fraud case.
The New York Times political reporters would have numerous Washington insiders to interview to uncover the web of connections that Taiwan Civil Government was building. A spokesman for the Heritage Foundation called TCG a good partner while the editor of Foreign Policy was quick to swap cards with Julian Lin. Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President, got smiley face with Lin at a POLITICO Powerlist reception and Julian bumped noses with Trent Lott at a Roll Call Live special event.
The newspaper’s crime reporters could have explored the actual allegations against Roger and Julian Lin and interviewed complainants. The financial desk is well equipped to follow the money and there are supposedly millions of dollars to track. Finally, the editorial page could have put everything in context. Instead, the New York Times readers are left clueless and reporters who spotted the ad are told to continue to sit on their hands.
Was the money well spent? One informed opinion in Taiwan says no, the faraway ad in English will not have any influence on a court which speaks Chinese. An alternative view is that perhaps the advertisement will break the American media whiteout on the case but the lack of response by the New York Times is not a good sign.
Meanwhile, Julian Lin sits in a bare cell, in solitary confinement, denied any visitors, and even forbidden to see her two young children, ages one and three years old. Lin may be a fraudster, however, she is being treated like a political prisoner.
Sixteen year-old Duane Peak changed his story on September 28, 1970 after being threatened with the electric chair and implicated two Black Panther leaders in a murder he earlier said they were not involved in. (credits: Unknown photographer/Court exhibit)
The Omaha Municipal Court preliminary hearing for Ed Poindexter and David Rice (later Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa) was called to order on September 28, 1970. Both defendants asked their murder cases be severed and tried separately but were denied. County Attorney Donald Knowles and Arthur O’Leary represented the prosecution, Public Defender A.Q. Wolf and Thomas Kenney represented Poindexter, with David Herzog representing Rice.
The two men were leaders of Omaha’s affiliate chapter of the Black Panther Party called the National Committee to Combat Fascism. The pair were charged with the bombing murder of Omaha Patrolman Larry Minard, Sr. on August 11, 1970. Peak confessed to planting the bomb and after six versions ended up implicating the Black Panther pair during his preliminary hearing testimony, however only after contradicting himself.
Thomas Kenney later described the hearing held at Omaha City Hall. “It was a few blocks from the Courthouse, but the preliminary hearing was a real circus. There was a mob of people there, and screaming and hollering. There were mobs of people, news media, pro-police factions, you know, a number of black people.”
David Herzog began by immediately objecting to any testimony by Peak because he was a co-defendant, unreliable, and a minor. The judge overruled the objection stating he did not know anything about Peak.
Arthur O’Leary asked Peak about seeing Ed Poindexter a week before the murder. Peak couldn’t remember. “I don’t think I remember seeing him.”
Peak also couldn’t remember seeing Poindexter at the American Legion on the Friday before the bombing as he earlier claimed. Peak couldn’t remember giving a deposition to O’Leary a month earlier where he purportedly did remember. Nor did Peak remember giving O’Leary a statement during an interrogation a week earlier.
County Attorney Donald Knowles had enough and stopped the questioning. “I note, Your Honor, from looking around the courtroom, that this witness’ lawyer is not here. I would like your permission for a continuance to the time that we can get his lawyer here. I think he should be here with him.”
When the preliminary hearing resumed in the afternoon, Knowles made a statement, apparently because Peak was still not ready to cooperate with the prosecution. “I understand that the Court’s ruling was that we were allowed to withdraw the witness that was on the stand this morning due to the fact that he had taken us by surprise and we are allowed to proceed now with other witnesses.”
Finally, in mid-afternoon, Duane Peak returned to the witness stand, wearing sun glasses. The Omaha World-Herald reported that Peak’s hands trembled and his answers were whispers.
Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers interviewed Peak years later about the case and that day in court. Peak described removing his sunglasses upon instruction from the judge at the preliminary hearing. “The stress and the pain and all that I went through, it showed in my face.”
“If you had known, you could have felt the inside of my heart, you know, it just like someone took a big bass drum and took it inside me and just started beating away. You know, I could feel like…uhh…as I sat on the witness stand, my heartbeat. I felt that everyone could see my entire body pulsating, you know. The way my heart was beating and I was under a lot of hurt and I was under a lot of stress. I had a big concern for my family. I didn’t want to see my family suffer for anything they had nothing to do with, and that was very important as well.”
Peak admitted conferring with three people during the morning recess; his lawyer, his brother Donald, and his grandfather, Foster Goodlett. Objections were made against any further testimony by Peak because of the visits. The judge allowed Peak to testify. “The young man is represented by competent counsel and I don’t know what he advised him but he has been represented and he has also conferred with his grandfather, who is a minister and whom I have known for a long time and I don’t know what advice he gave him but your motion is overruled and we will see what the defendant testifies to.”
Unknown to the defendants or their attorneys, Donald Peak was a paid FBI informant who reported to Special Agent in Charge Paul Young and later to prosecutor O’Leary. Poindexter and Rice were targets of the clandestine COINTELPRO counterintelligence operation and the subject of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s personal attention. Donald Peak’s visit with his brother during the recess carried with it COINTELPRO taint.
Peak’s testimony changed during the recess. Now Peak remembered a conversation outside NCCF headquarters with Ed Poindexter about a bomb. “He called me outside and said he wanted to show me how to make a bomb.”
Peak said Poindexter told him to meet that evening at Frank Peak’s house. “He met me there with Rollie House.”
Duane claimed that from Frank’s home he went with House and Poindexter to Mondo’s residence where Poindexter got out of the vehicle. “We went up to Rollie House’s house. Rollie brought a suitcase out from the house.”
Peak said House returned him to Mondo’s home where Peak claimed that Poindexter opened the suitcase to reveal dynamite. “Poindexter took the dynamite out of the suitcase and put it in a box.”
Peak’s story about construction of the bomb changed from his earlier versions. Peak said he and Mondo assisted Poindexter. Peak also said that Poindexter wanted to plant the bomb that night but couldn’t get a ride. According to Peak, at an encounter with Poindexter about 11:00 p.m. on Friday night at the American Legion Club, Peak was instructed to deliver the bomb to a vacant house on Ohio Street.
Peak gave yet a different version of the bomb construction to Ernie Chambers. “That thing was made in David’s basement. It was his basement.” Peak denied witnessing the construction of the bomb. None of Peak’s earlier versions of the crime supported his new claim to Chambers that the bomb was assembled outside his view in Mondo’s basement. At trial, the bomb was allegedly assembled by Poindexter in the kitchen while Peak watched on.
Peak said he retrieved the suitcase and took it to Olivia Norris’ house where he told his brother Donald to stay away from the suitcase. From there Peak took the suitcase to sister Delia’s apartment with sister Theresa giving him a ride.
Under cross-examination by Thomas Kenney, Peak admitted telling the police a different story when first questioned. Peak said he was threatened with the electric chair during his first interrogation.
David Herzog asked Peak about his arrest. Peak said he was taken to the police station where he met with police officers and one other person. “There was one from the FBI.”
“The FBI arrested me,” testified Peak.
Peak said police twice talked to him about being executed in the electric chair. “They said I was sitting in the electric chair so I had better tell the truth.”
“I didn’t have a chance.”
Peak admitted he had been coached about his confession by Arthur O’Leary in preparation for the hearing. Peak said his attorney was not present for the session with O’Leary. Herzog asked Peak to remove his sunglasses. Ernie Chambers was there and described the scene in an interview. “When he came back in the afternoon, his face was swollen around his eyes, he had glasses on….When Duane took his glasses off his eyes were red, you could see he had been crying, and there was an audible gasp in the courtroom.”
“His answers were scarcely audible. A young man who knew nothing about anything in the morning and suddenly gave the answers that the police, the prosecutors needed to implicate David and Ed.”
Kenney asked for a dismissal of the charges. “Your Honor, the case that the State has presented thus far was the testimony of a 16-year-old boy who admittedly was subjected to extensive psychological coercion on the part of the Omaha Police Department and therefore is unreliable.”
Herzog also sought a dismissal. “The witness has changed sides; has altered his story; has forgotten, claims to have forgotten some facts, and then comes back this afternoon and offers that testimony at the State’s own request and that witness has now impeached himself.”
“The confession itself or the statement here is of an unreliable nature; obviously coerced; obviously given under fear by the statement of the witness himself. He indicates he would give the police officer or police officers anything they wanted.”
The case was continued to trial where in April 1971 the FBI obtained the conviction they sought. Peak stuck to his story, got his deal and never spent a day in prison. Raleigh House was never charged for allegedly supplying the suitcase and dynamite for the bomb. Rice was convicted and died at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in March 2016. Poindexter remains behind bars at the maximum-security prison where he continues to proclaim his innocence.
The day after the preliminary hearing Peak wrote to Olivia Norris, a family friend, from his jail cell that he betrayed “two bloods” and deserved a life sentence or execution. The letter, censored by the jail staff, was shown to prosecutors but kept from the defense.
Julian Lin and Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway at POLITICO Powerlist media event in 2017 (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)
In a dramatic moment at her preliminary hearing on Sept. 13 in Taoyuan District Court, Julian Lin stated her overseas trips for Taiwan Civil Government resulted in a personal connection at the White House with Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway. Lin, now confined to solitary confinement without visitors, is charged with participation in political fraud against TCG donors. An acquaintance with Conway’s kind of clout could be viewed as exculpatory evidence against scam charges giving the case definite political overtones. Taiwan Civil Government has been seeking United States assistance to expel the exiled Republic of China. ROC prosecutors claim that TCG was conducting a hollow effort to gain donations from members.
Judge Yi Shan Yao asked Lin if she contacted officials when she lead TCG delegations abroad. Lin answered, “Yes, like Conway, she is the campaign manager of President Trump, now the highest advisor to the White House. There are also other contacts.”
The long standing strategic ambiguity that fogs Taiwan’s international status, called “political purgatory” by the District of Columbia federal appellate court, has mixed a devil’s brew. The confused status of the island, variously known as Formosa, Taiwan, the Republic of China, or Chinese Taipei has created a rainbow of Taiwanese independence organizations. One of the most controversial, and successful, is Taiwan Civil Government, founded by Julian’s husband, Roger Lin, also being held in harsh pretrial detention, on the floor in a bare cell with no visitors or contact with the outside world.
Julian Lin denied any fraudulent conduct at her preliminary hearing. Lin told the judge that most of the complainants were TCG members before her and that she could not be defrauding them because they agreed before she joined. Lin said the complainants all voluntarily applied for TCG identity cards and attended classes because of the TCG message.
Lin testified upon questioning that she had favorable experiences using the TCG identity card at the airports with Customs by courteous reception and that it was accepted as valid identification at the United Nations where she used the card to enter the building. Lin was asked for details of her use of the TCG identity card. Lin said “flying to the United States as long as the name on the ticket is the same as the name on the Taiwan Government’s identity card, you can directly use the Taiwan Government identity card without the ROC passport” to board the plane.”
“With the ROC passport, plus my useful identity card and invitation letter from the Taiwanese Government, I got a quick customs clearance. I originally lined up with the general tourists. When I showed the identity card and invitation letter of the Taiwanese Government, the Customs let us take the clearance through the official door.”
The presiding judge asked about the invitation letter. Lin answered it was for an event at the Four Seasons Hotel. Lin has been to two different events at the fancy hotel, a reception for the opening of a TCG office in Washington and later for a RightNow breakfast with Kelleyanne Conway. It is not clear from her testimony which event the invitation letter was about.
Lin said her speeches on her trips were appeals for international help about the statelessness of the Taiwanese people and a desire to normalize relations for the island.
Lin revealed that she is wealthy from her family. The 134 million yuan seized in a May 2018 raid was hers from the 350 million yuan premarital assets that belonged to her before her 2012 marriage to Roger Lin Julian claimed the money, stacked at home in cash, was hers legally. Prosecutors allege that Lin’s premarital assets were only 50 million yuan and the difference is criminal gain.
The judge asked Lin what her position at Taiwan Civil Government was to which she replied she was only a volunteer. Lin was then asked about leading teams abroad and answered she was participating in free speech as a Taiwanese. Asked if she did diplomatic work Lin repeated she was only a volunteer.
Lin explained the TCG decision-making process as being guided by weekly round table meetings. Lin said she sometimes participates when invited. She would facilitate payments when authorized by the round table group and approved by Roger Lin.
The judge asked Lin if she was a plaintiff in Roger and Julian Lin vs. USA and ROC. Lin replied she was on advice of an American attorney. The case brought in District of Columbia federal court sought to overturn the 1946 Nationality Act which deprived Formosans of their Japanese citizenship. A federal appellate court later ruled the statute of limitations had run out on the post-World War II action by the ROC to consolidate its hold on Formosa.
The judge wanted to know more about Julian Lin’s trip to the United Nations, promoted in a full-page New York Times advertisement. Lin answered, “I personally took the identity card of the Taiwanese Government and exchanged identification cards and entered the security check of the United Nations.”
The judge asked why Lin was invited to a meeting at the United Nations building. Lin explained TCG has been working hard to gain acceptance. The UN invite came through the efforts of Global Vision Communications. “In the United States, political activities must be carried out through public relations companies,”said Lin. Neil Hare, head of GVC is TCG’s chief publicist and spokesman in the United States.
Lin volunteered she had also used the TCG identity card as identification to enter the National Press Club. Lin said an “American lawyer” arranged with the National Press Club to accept the TCG card as valid identification.
The judge asked about a statement Lin made during her interrogation that TCG was approved by the Department of Justice. Lin did not recall making the statement although she said something similar at the TCG news conference held at the National Press Club. Lin was referring to TCG’s compliance with the Foreign Agent Registration Act enforced by the Department of Justice. Although FARA registration does not constitute approval it is evidence of recognition of TCG as a foreign entity.
The judge asked about GVC and its officers. Lin replied she had no current information. Given her incommunicado imprisonment the judge accepted that answer but probed into banking. Lin said she had a Bank of America account in Hong Kong unavailable to TCG and a second account which she would write checks for the group in exchange for cash. Lin would get reports from the round table decision group “that it is difficult to send money to the United States, I will help.”
Lin told the court that neither she nor Roger Lin had a salary. Lin reiterated the seized money was hers.
“It’s all my money. My family’s money won’t be all in the bank. This is my father’s teaching. I myself have a lot of money.”
Lin’s legal team took over and foretold the upcoming defense strategy. Julian’s lawyers are Li-Jung Huang, Hui-Min Huang, and Cheng-Chen Chiang. The argument is the ROC Constitutiongives the people freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and association. Taiwan Civil Government’s exposition, whether the San Francisco Peace Treaty handed over Taiwan to the ROC, or US military occupation, is a political proposition and should be protected by freedom of speech.
Further, out of more than 38,000 members of TCG only sixty-six are complaining witnesses, less than two-thousandths of the total membership. The use of a fraud charge is improper and Lin should be released for want of a crime.
Lin’s lawyers complain of the propaganda employed against their client and that she has been called a Chinese mole, the “Black Rose” and the “Empress Dowager” to discredit her. They argue that Julian is a native Taiwanese and that it was not criminally wrong for her to marry Roger Lin and it is not wrong for her to have wealth.
Finally, it was pointed out to the court that there are two young children in need of care by their mother. Roger and Julian adopted two babies now a three year-old boy and a one year-old girl. The children were briefly displayed in the courtroom doorway provoking the imprisoned mother to lose her composure and cry. The small courtroom filled with sorrow as TCG supporters all burst into tears with Lin in a sad, somber moment.
Julian Lin continues to be held incommunicado in solitary confinement because she is a presumed flight risk and might send a message to supposed fraud confederates. It is hard to see how the two infant children could aid Lin in an escape or communicate to TCG members. The four month ban on seeing her children is stark proof that talk of expelling the ROC comes with a heavy price.
After the short hearing, Lin was shackled and returned to her lonely isolation in a bare cell. Julian’s punishment has already begun.
Roger Lin at a Taiwan Civil Government rally before his May 2018 arrest for political fraud (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)
Four months in a Republic of China in-exile punishment cell have taken a heavy toll on sixty-seven year-old Roger Lin, who is suffering from progressive prostate cancer. A tearful Lin told Taoyuan District Judge Yi-Shan Yao that he was being denied medical treatment and that he was forced to live on the floor of his tiny cell where he is denied visitors and contact with the outside world. Lin is the founder and leader of Taiwan Civil Government which advocates expelling the ROC regime which has imprisoned him. Lin faces a lengthy prison sentence under the Organized Crime Prevention Act and the Money Laundering Control Act.
Roger Lin is accused of masterminding an elaborate international political fraud ring, a decade in the making, with false claims about the future of the exiled Chinese government now ruling the island. Supposedly unsophisticated donors were allegedly duped with political double-talk into parting with their money.
Between tears at a Sept. 13 hearing, Roger Lin urged the presiding judge to drop charges against five other TCG defendants. Frequently wiping his eyes, Lin told the court the dispute was between him and the exiled Chinese government he seeks to send back to China. A three member prosecution team likened Lin and the others as “political rodents” with fictional political influence. Linsupporters in the courtroom were sobbing at the somber scene as the “Secretary-General” sought to maintain his dignity.
Chief ROC prosecutor Li-Hoa Chu sees money seized during midnight raids in May 2018 as evidence of wrong-doing because the funds were stored in a cabinet instead of a bank. Thought to be the TCG war chest, Julian Lin, wife of Roger, claims most of the money was hers and not money donated by group members. Seized in the midnight raid were large sums of currency: $134 million NT, $50,000 USD, and 2,000 Euros.
Lin plead not guilty to fraud and money-laundering charges. Lin told the judge he felt Taiwan Civil Government was the future of Taiwan and that he had been working on that goal for twelve years.
Lin was questioned about the validity of the TCG identity card and any claims made about the card. Lin stressed he “never said that alone the identity card can enter Customs.” Rather, that a ROC passport was still needed, however there will be much identity card courtesy by Customs officers.
The judge asked Lin if Taiwan Civil Government advocated a United States military government occupation of Taiwan. Lin answered, “Yes.”
Lin elaborated the Department of Defense was responsible under the San Francisco Peace Treaty and that Japan recognized the United States military in Japan including Taiwan. Lin explained that at the end of World War II the Taiwanese were Japanese nationals under colonial rule.
The judge asked if the United States had a military presence in Taiwan. Lin answered the American Institute on Taiwan has raised the American flag and uniformed Marines now guard the State Department facility.
Lin said the Justice Department consented to the Taiwan Civil Government by accepting the registration of Global Vision Communications as a Foreign Agent for TCG in the United States. When asked if the United States authorized TCG to issue identity cards Lin answered that the group delegations have used the cards in the United States unimpeded.
The judge pressed Lin if the United States authorized the TCG identity card. Lin replied, “No.” Lin explained that Taiwan Civil Government Foundation was established which was to be linked to a Bank of America account to enable TCG members holding the identity card to use them as valid documents to conduct banking in the United States.
Lin was asked about TCG’s vanity license plates. Lin said the plates were to be used concurrently with the ROC issued plates for liaison purposes. In 2016, Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung declared the license plates a “violation of law and order” and said the plates and identification cards had no “legal validity.” The mayor called on the ROC to respond to the issue, however the Ministry of Interior declined to act citing freedom of speech. Vehicles continued to need official ROC license plates and the TCG plates could not be installed in violation of traffic code regulations.
The judge asked Lin why Taiwan Civil Government does not directly open a bank account in Taiwan to which Lin replied that TCG had not registered as an organization with the ROC government.
Defense attorney Chen-Hsing Chang told the court that “money laundering” applied only when the source of the money was illegal. Commenting on firearms seized in the May raid, Chang said the weapons were legal and belonged to the Black Bear squad, TCG’s paramilitary unit. Chang said TCG’s views on the status of Taiwan were clearer than religion thus eliminating any element of treachery.
Chang said at present TCG had 38,000 members and only three hundred of them were classified as victims. Of the supposed victims, Chang asserted only sixty-six were actual complainants, less than two thousandths of the members.
Defense attorney Chun-LungChen said Lin was not guilty and had a constitutional right under the ROC constitution to freedom of expression and association. Chen argued that Lin’s incommunicado pretrial detention was a violation of both freedom of expression and Lin’s right to defend himself and that he presented no flight risk. Chen said Lin was being arbitrarily detained on speculation.
Prosecutors have carefully avoided alleging a breach of national security or treason charges for establishing a “civil government” and Lin’s frequent pronouncements that the Republic of China in-exile is not the legally recognized government of Taiwan. Such a prosecution would evoke the four decades of martial law suffered under the ROC by the Taiwanese people and give Lin public support unavailable to him if he is seen as a scam artist.
Although Roger Lin was granted no other relief, Judge Yi-Shan Yao did order hospital treatment of Lin while in custody. A TCG member who claims to have seen Lin taken to a hospital said Lin was handcuffed and shackled while being transported.
Some information comes from an online report by citizen reporter Lin Shan-feng who was present in the courtroom.
Nebraska’s electric chair where the FBI sought the execution of the Omaha Two (credit: Nebraska Dept. of Corrections)
On December 4, 1969, in a Federal Bureau of Investigation orchestrated pre-dawn raid in Chicago, Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were shot to death. Fourteen handpicked policemen, armed with twenty-seven firearms including a Thompson submachine and shotguns, converged on Hampton’s apartment at 4:45 a.m. Police fired a barrage into the quiet apartment killing the two Panther leaders and wounding all of the other occupants.
Attorney Paul Wolf has commented on a December 8, 1969 raid in Los Angeles. “Four days after a similar raid on a Panther apartment in Chicago, forty men of the Special Weapons and Tactics squad, with more than a hundred regular police as backup, raided the Los Angeles Panther headquarters at 5:30 in the morning. The Panthers chose to defend themselves, and for four hours they fought off police, refusing to surrender until press and public were on the scene. Six of them were wounded. Thirteen were arrested. Miraculously, none of them were killed.”
“The similarities between the Chicago and Los Angeles raids are undeniable, with a special local police unit closely linked to the FBI involved in both assaults, spurious warrants seeking “illegal weapons” utilized on both occasions, predawn timing of both raids to catch the Panthers asleep and a reliance on overwhelming police firepower to the exclusion of all other methods. Both raids occurred in the context of an ongoing and highly energetic anti-BPP COINTELPRO, and—as in the Hampton assassination—bullets were fired directly into Pratt’s bed. Unlike the Chicago leader, however, Pratt was sleeping on the floor, the result of spinal injuries sustained in Vietnam.”
On December 10, 1969, two days after the raid in Los Angeles, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was unhappy with a lack of action in Omaha. Hoover sent a stern memorandum to Paul Young. “While the activities appear to be limited in the Omaha area, it does not necessarily follow that effective counterintelligence measures cannot be taken. As long as there are BPP activities, you should be giving consideration to that type of counterintelligence measure which would best disrupt existing activities. It would appear some type of counterintelligence aimed at disruption of the publication and distribution of their literature is in order. It is also assumed that of the eight to twelve members, one or two must surely be in a position of leadership. You should give consideration to counterintelligence measures directed against these leaders in an effort to weaken or destroy their positions. Bureau has noted you have not submitted any concrete counterintelligence proposals in recent months. Evaluate your approach to this program and insure that it is given the imaginative attention necessary to produce effective results. Handle promptly and submit your proposals to the Bureau for approval.”
Young, mindful of the deadly raid in Chicago a week earlier, selected two Omaha leaders, Edward Poindexter and David Rice (later Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa) for COINTELPRO misdeeds. Young planned an ambush in Carter Lake, Iowa after being tipped by United Airlines personnel about a shipment of Black Panther newspapers arriving at Eppley Airport in Omaha. Details were never finalized as Young’s agents were unable to obtain the sought cargo information.
Young was able to satisfy Hoover’s blood lust for lethal outcomes with a plan to blame the two Panthers. Instead of gunplay to kill, Young’s counterintelligence plan would use Nebraska’s electric chair to execute the men. The Omaha Two faced death sentences at their controversial 1971 trial for the August 17, 1970 murder of Patrolman Larry Minard.
The electric chair was last previously used in 1959 to execute serial killer Charles Starkweather. It was used three times since the Minard murder trial in 1971. Nebraska abolished the death penalty in 2014 and then restored it in 2016. Nebraska executed its first prisoner by lethal injection in August 2018.
Omaha police sent the most critical piece of evidence, a 911 recording of a killer’s voice, to the FBI Laboratory for analysis to identify the anonymous caller who lured police to a bomb-rigged vacant house. However, the search for Minard’s killers was not a search for truth. Hoover ordered results of the laboratory testing squelched with no written report. The jury never heard the voice on the 911 recording, a voice that did not fit with the FBI-orchestrated prosecution scenario.
Although it took three days of deliberation to reach a verdict, the jury convicted Poindexter and Rice; however, the jury spared their lives and ruled out execution. Rice, who became Mondo in prison, died at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in March 2016. Poindexter remains imprisoned at the maximum-security prison where he continues to proclaim his innocence.
Roger and Julian Lin at a New Year Day rally (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)
Roger and Julian Lin, held incommunicado in a Taiwan jail in solitary confinement since their May 11 midnight arrest, finally get to hear the accusations against them. Leaders of Taiwan Civil Government, the Lin couple is accused of defrauding TCG members out of millions of dollars. Supporters say the pair are political prisoners for seeking to oust the occupying Republic of China in-exile. Washington insiders who accepted money from TCG for various publicity events, litigation, and lobbying will be awaiting the outcome of the September 13 preliminary hearing in Taiwan with more than a little curiosity.
Things look ominous for Roger Lin and five others arrested with him. In keeping with the harsh pretrial detention of the Lins, the preliminary hearing has strict rules. The hearing is to be held in a small courtroom limiting the public to eighteen seats and five for the news media. Entry to the courtroom itself requires a security pre-clearance with search and identification examination. The Lins are scheduled to appear at different times so apparently Roger and Julian will not even be able to see each other in court.
Another clue to trouble ahead for Lin was the inability to obtain bail or visitors. The ROC court did not elaborate on the incommunicado order denying the Lins any visitors but did refuse bail because prosecutor’s feared there was hidden money which could fund an escape from Taiwan. Further, in dicta, the court commented on a purported procedural error by the defense, either showing judicial bias or defense attorney incompetence depending on who was correct.
Initial news reports at the time of the midnight raid on TCG headquarters and homes accused the Lins of operating a massive Ponzi scheme and keeping large sums of money stashed in a cabinet The Ponzi talk has faded when purported details of the TCG scam began leaking out. Supposedly the fraud ring of top TCG officials tricked donors out of their money by making false claims of future United States assistance expelling the ROC from Taiwan.
Prosecutors have apparently ignored large sums of money spent by Taiwan Civil Government to influence the Trump Administration. TCG lobby efforts and spending were winning the group friends in high places in Washington. Julian Lin connected with Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway. However, TCG connections in Washington do not support the scam theme that ROC prosecutors are trying to prove and likely will not surface in court.
Although it is too early for Roger Lin to offer his defense, a recent statement by purportedly 250 of the 315 complainants gives a suggestion to future legal strategy. The statement, if accurate, claims that names were falsely used by prosecutors of TCG donors who do not consider themselves victims. The remaining sixty-five complainants are purportedly political operatives recruited by TCG opponents in the Democratic Progressive Party, disgruntled TCG members, or homeless persons paid to complain.
Public opinion has polarized around two views of Roger Lin as either a criminal mastermind or a political prisoner. Taiwan’s longstanding strategic ambiguity lies at the core of the case which has continued to hold interest on the island. Washington, on the other hand, lies a world apart from Taiwan where only insiders will be paying attention to events in a small courtroom far away.
A’isha Mohammed, a national activist of the Jericho Movement, wrote the first Amazon Customer Review of my book FRAMED: J. Edgar Hoover, COINTELPRO & the Omaha Two story. Mohammed was one of the first to read the new book and found herself immersed in the story of injustice in middle America. The Jericho Movement, dedicated to freeing political prisoners in the United States, has long followed the Omaha case.
Mohammed wrote that FRAMED “is a hard hitting account of the COINTELPRO set up of Edward Poindexter and Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa.” Poindexter and Mondo (former David Rice) were convicted in April 1971 for the murder of an Omaha policeman following a highly controversial trial. COINTELPRO was an illegal, clandestine counterintelligence operation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that targeted citizens for their political activity.
“A must read for anyone seeking the truth about this case and ultimately about other Political Prisoners in the USA. The book is captivating, well researched and provides personal and intimate insights into the lives, trials and tribulations of Edward Poindexter and Mondo.”
“The reader is forced to do a critical analysis of not only the US injustice system but also a personal evaluation of all they have learned and heard through false propaganda. After decades of intense research, and I can imagine much emotional pain over the racist, oppressive, injustices uncovered, Mr. Richardson has written one of the most compelling stories ever—an emotional, raw piece of US history and a current status. It is a truth that people don’t often get to see or study in depth.”
Mondo died in March 2016 at the Nebraska State Penitentiary serving a life without parole sentence. Poindexter remains confined at the maximum-security prison in Lincoln. Imprisoned forty-eight years for a crime he denies, Poindexter was implicated by the confessed fifteen year-old killer who got a deal and never served a day in prison. J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, had targeted Poindexter and Mondo because they were Black Panther leaders and ordered the FBI Laboratory to withhold a report identifying a 911 caller which would have implicated someone else in the crime. Police were lured to a vacant house rigged with a bomb by an anonymous 911 caller.
FRAMED is a sometimes minute-by-minute account of the crime, frame-up, trial and appeals that explores the context and history of the deadly August 17, 1970 bombing that rocked Omaha and left the city wounded with a racial pain that has not healed.
Mohammed closed her review with a high recommendation and a call for a greater awareness. “I would also love to see this book taught as a course in high school or colleges. It IS an American story.”
Investigators comb a ruined vacant house for clues to a fatal August 17, 1970 bombing (credit: Omaha Police Department)
Forty-eight years ago, at 2:07 a.m. on August 17, 1970, a bomb exploded in the face of Omaha Patrolman Larry Minard who was examining an abandoned suitcase in a vacant house. Minard and seven others were responding to an emergency 911 call about a woman screaming. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was called soon after the blast and was running license plate checks and calling informants before dawn.
Detective Jack Swanson arrived at a stakeout watching a suspect’s house. Richard Gibson was a man of interest to Swanson according to a police report until an early-morning call from the FBI cleared Gibson. “At this time, we were contacted by agents of the FBI who stated they had talked with Gibson at this time.”
A telephone call was made to FBI headquarters from the Omaha office at 7:45 a.m. Assistant Director Charles Brennan was informed by memorandum about the call concerning the death of a policeman. “Omaha Office offered assistance in covering out-of-state leads and FBI Laboratory facilities offered. Omaha advised it had notified military and Secret Service, was following closely, and alerted its racial informants in pursuit of investigation.”
Brennan was also assured, “Pertinent parts will be included in teletype summary to the White House, Vice President, Attorney General, military and Secret Service.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul Young wasted no time in privately talking to Deputy Chief Glen Gates, who was in charge of the police while Chief Richard Anderson was out of town. According to a confidential FBI memorandum, Young and Gates discussed a piece of crucial evidence, the recorded voice of the anonymous caller captured by the 911 system. The search for truth was over.
Young set in motion a conspiracy to implicate the leadership of the National Committee to Combat Fascism in the bombing. Young wrote to J. Edgar Hoover. “Enclosed for the Laboratory is one copy of a tape recording obtained from the Omaha Police Department.”
“The enclosed tape was recorded from an existing tape recording used by the Omaha Police Department in their normal emergency telephone calls.”
“Deputy Chief Gates inquired into the possibility of voice analysis of the individual making the call by the FBI Laboratory. He was advised the matter would be considered and that if such analysis were made and if subsequent voice patterns were transmitted for comparison, such analysis would have to be strictly informal, as the FBI could not provide any testimony in the matter; also, only an oral report of the results of such examination would be made to the Police Department. Gates stated he understood these terms and stated the Police Department would be extremely appreciative of any assistance in this matter by the FBI and would not embarrass the FBI at a later date, but would use such information for lead purposes only.”
“It should be noted that the police community is extremely upset over this apparent racially motivated, vicious and unnecessary murder. In slightly over three months this division has experienced more than ten bombings, probably all but a few of them being racially motivated. Of these bombings, four were directed at police facilities with extensive damage.”
“Any assistance rendered along the lines mentioned above would greatly enhance the prestige of the FBI among law enforcement representatives in this area, and I thus strongly recommend that the request be favorably considered.”
The 911 recording was sent to the FBI Laboratory for testing that was called off a week later after J. Edgar Hoover ordered no lab report be made. Although the FBI returned the tape to Omaha police it was never shared with defense attorneys. The jury that convicted Black Panther leaders Edward Poindexter and Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa, then David Rice, never heard the voice of a killer that lured Larry Minard to his death. J. Edgar Hoover knew that a policeman’s killer would away with murder in order to convict Poindexter and Mondo.
Mondo died in March 2016 at the maximum-security Nebraska State Penitentiary where he was serving a life without parole sentence. Poindexter remains imprisoned proclaiming his innocence.
Richardson Reports 