Roger Lin filed lawsuit in effort to obtain United States passports for Taiwanese travelers

Washington attorney Charles Camp with Julian and Roger Lin at Taiwan Civil Government headquarters. Camp litigated Roger Lin v. United States of America in a bid to obtain American passports for Taiwanese travelers. (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Roger Lin, facing political fraud charges in Taiwan, is no stranger to lawsuits. Lin’s first foray into the courthouse was litigation to obtain United States passports for Taiwan’s stateless residents. Roger Lin v. United States of America was filed in the District of Columbia federal district court in 2006. An ambitious lawsuit, Lin tested the limits of the law by claiming the Taiwanese were non-citizen nationals of the United States and deserved American passports. No one was claiming fraud then as well-wishers urged Lin onward. More significantly, no one, including the court, viewed the case as frivolous or as a fund-raising stunt.

District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer decided Lin was asking the court to review and pass judgment on the San Francisco Peace Treaty and to determine United States sovereignty over Taiwan. Although the judge was taken with the breathtaking scope of the case, it was determined the matter was not for a court to decide as it was a political question. The case was a matter of sovereignty which belongs to the executive branch of government and the “challenge involved a quintessential political question” that required “trespass into the extremely delicate relationship between and among the United States, Taiwan and China.”

“In the face of…years and years of diplomatic negotiations and delicate agreements…[it] would be foolhardy for a judge to believe that she had the jurisdiction to make a policy choice on the sovereignty of Taiwan.”

Charles Camp was Roger Lin’s attorney and spoke to the issue in oral argument before a federal appellate panel of judges. “Taiwan was left purposefully as an open question when they signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty.” Camp elaborated, “There was no agreement that could be reached among the allied forces in Japan as to who gets Taiwan. And that question is still open.”

“We are the principal occupying force, and that is the status as a matter of law today.”

Camp further argued the political question doctrine preventing a judicial determination did not apply to the case. “There’s not a single case that the Government cites that says the political question doctrine has ever prohibited a court from interpreting a treaty or determining the existence of constitutional rights.”

Camp said Judge Collyer erred in misconstruing the passport request as a determination of sovereignty.

“We were seeking a declaration of rights under the Constitution following an interpretation of the treaty by the court. So the court just sort of stepped off on the wrong foot and then if you assume that we were seeking to have a court decide who owns Taiwan, then the political act question cases would apply and she would be right.”

Although Roger Lin failed to obtain passports for Taiwan residents he did obtain an admission from the United States Attorney that the San Francisco Peace Treaty was still in effect and left the United States as the “principal occupying power” over Taiwan. Such admissions are not exactly music to the ears for the exiled Republic of China government currently administering the island.

Questions from the bench in the Taoyuan District Court criminal fraud case against Lin suggest ROC prosecutors believe the litigation was somehow part of a scam to trick Taiwan Civil Government members into donating money. Lin is accused of masterminding a sophisticated swindle with false claims. However, the lawsuit by Lin and an ad hoc group called the Taiwan Nation Party was brought before the formation of TCG and by all appearances was a legitimate effort to prevail on an unsettled area of the law. To convict Lin of fraud will require something more than speculation about the motives behind Roger Lin v. United States of America and the legal effort to obtain American passports for the residents of Taiwan.

Ironically, the government ended its brief in Lin v. USA with an addendum from the Taiwan Relations Act. “Nothing contained in this chapter shall contravene the interest of the United States in human rights, especially with respect to the human rights of all the approximately, eighteen million inhabitants of Taiwan. The preservation and enhancement of the human rights of all the people on Taiwan are hereby reaffirmed as objectives of the United States.”

Taiwan Civil Government launches new Chamber of Commerce chapter in Washington

Taiwan Civil Government delegation at Chamber of Commerce launch party in Washington (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Taiwan Civil Government is proving to be a resilient organization. While leader Roger Lin is facing fraud charges in Taiwan and with steep bail for his release from solitary confinement, the group should be a little short on cash. However, TCG has pressed forward with a new media campaign in Washington and also launched a new Chamber of Commerce chapter.

Although there is no formal connection between TCG and Taiwanese American Chamber of Commerce the advocacy group controls four of the five members of the TACC board. A TCG delegation was at the launch party and occupied a table at center stage. Neil Hare, TCG lobbyist and its registered Foreign Agent, is head of the new Chamber of Commerce chapter. Hare is a former Chamber of Commerce executive and has ways to put TCG money to work.

During the launch presentation Hare cited his relationship with Taiwan Civil Government as his qualification to form TACC. In discussing TCG Hare boasted the group has 60,000 members, a number he has repeated. However, in a Taoyuan District court the membership has been alleged to be around 35,000. The lower count is still quite impressive since many are also willing to don uniforms and donate money. Hare’s number creep may be merely a Washington publicist’s exaggeration but is significantly at odds with what TCG is saying in Taiwan. Since a critical element to the pending fraud case are false claims the membership discrepancy raises concern.

The only apparent connection with Taiwan by the new board is through TCG. Three of the five board members are from Global Vision Communications, Neil Hare’s public relations firm. TCG has pumped over a million dollars into GVC for professional services in the last two years.

A Global Vision Communication pay-roller on the TACC board is Shelley Hymes, who has been the recipient of six-figure consulting fees from Taiwan Civil Government. Hymes and Hare both accompanied a TCG delegation to Zurich, Switzerland in January 2018, where they met with the Switzerland-American Chamber of Commerce.

Richard Brogan, on the GVC Advisory Board, has no obvious ties to Taiwan. Brogan, a former beer and cigarette industry executive, according to his official bio, had “significant partners in the People’s Republic of China.” Brogan has not disclosed who his significant partners in the PRC are but given the Chinese threat to invade Taiwan he could prove to be a liability to TACC.

The fourth TACC board member connected with TCG is William Tseng, chief of the visiting delegation. Tseng holds the title of Minister of Energy in TCG’s shadow government and is an experienced international trader. Tseng earlier attended the United States Chamber of Commerce “Global Supply Chain Summit” conference and was part of the Zurich junket.

The fifth TACC board member, David Bolger, has his own firm called Executive Briefing. Bolger’s TACC bio states he “assists clients in the national security, defense, intelligence community” with “crisis management programs.” As the prosecution of Roger Lin by the Republic of China in-exile looks a lot like persecution, given the harsh pre-trial detention imposed on Lin and others, Bolger may get to put his crisis management skills to use. Bolger’s bio lists no connections with Taiwan.

How to pay for the new Chamber of Commerce chapter? TACC charges corporations a hefty $10,000 application fee. Individuals may join for $1,000 each. The fraud charges in Taiwan are sure to keep any co-mingling of funds between TCG and TACC from occurring.

The establishment of a new Chamber of Commerce chapter serves several purposes. One, it is a new honey pot or source of revenue. Two, TACC gives TCG a new doorway to Washington. Three, it is a potential rival to the Taiwan-American Chamber of Commerce chapter in Taipei, which is controlled by the ROC which TCG seeks to expel.

Roger Lin has been seeking White House support for TCG and has made inroads with presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway. Now Lin is seeking support for his cause from the business community. Each step forward in Washington gives Lin a stronger footing to fight his fraud charges in Taiwan where he is accused of tricking TCG members with false claims into making donations.

In the mixed up world of Taiwan, where sovereignty has been undetermined since World War II, the exiled Republic of China is locked in a showdown with Roger Lin in criminal court. Lin needs to show his efforts to oust the ROC were not fictitious. The Taiwanese American Chamber of Commerce may be the latest chapter in the ongoing crime story.

International communist newspaper calls for release of imprisoned Black Panther leader Ed Poindexter

Edward Poindexter has been locked up 48 years after his conviction for murder in a COINTELPRO-tainted trial where evidence was withheld. (credits: Omaha Police Department/Mary Loan)

The International Communist League newspaper Workers Vanguard  has spotlighted the case of imprisoned Black Panther leader Edward Poindexter and calls for his release in the latest issue. Calling Poindexter “an unbending fighter for black freedom” the newspaper declares that death is the only way the “racist capitalist rulers” after forty-eight years will let the former Vietnam veteran “leave his prison hell.” Co-defendant David Rice (later Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa) died in March 2016 at the Nebraska State Penitentiary serving a life without parole sentence. The two men were accused by Duane Peak, the confessed teenage bomber in the August 17, 1970 bombing murder of an Omaha policeman.

The article recaps the controversial 1971 trial, choreographed by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the clandestine COINTELPRO operation. The secret counterintelligence program was directed against American citizens that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover deemed dangerous. The Black Panther Party was the primary target of Hoover’s lethal fury. In December 1969, after FBI orchestrated raids against Panthers in Chicago and Los Angeles, Hoover ordered Special Agent in Charge Paul Young of the Omaha FBI office to get Poindexter and Mondo off the streets. Both men were on the Security Index, Hoover’s secret detention list.

“The sinister motivation for the frame-up of Poindexter and Mondo was made clear two decades later by Jack Swanson, the Omaha Police Intelligence Division liaison with the FBI. In a 1991 documentary by George Case, Black Panthers, Swanson boasted: “I think we did the right thing at the time, because the Black Panther Party…completely disappeared from the city of Omaha.” For his role in the frame-up, Swanson was promoted to lieutenant and later became Omaha’s chief of police.”

“FBI head J. Edgar Hoover declared the Panthers to be the “greatest threat to the internal security of the U.S.” He said of an expanded COINTELPRO: “The purpose of this new counterintelligence endeavor is to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalists.” Hoover spelled out what he meant in 1968, when he stated: “The Negro youth and moderates must be made to understand that if they succumb to revolutionary teaching, they will be dead revolutionaries.”

The article cites the new book Framed: J. Edgar Hoover, COINTELPRO & the Omaha Two Story which “lays bare the racist conspiracy by the FBI and Omaha police to frame up Poindexter and Mondo as part of the murderous FBI COINTELPRO vendetta against the Panthers. Based on a decade of meticulous research, the book exposes the lies of cops, prosecutors and FBI agents. It details collusion at the highest levels of the FBI with the Omaha police to suppress evidence, as well as prosecutorial intimidation and coaching of Duane Peak to concoct a scenario that tied Poindexter and Mondo to Minard’s killing.” The book “points out that within hours, the FBI knew from its informants that Mondo and Poindexter were not involved in Minard’s death—but it is the two of them that the cops and FBI targeted.”

“Peak confided in a letter from jail to a family friend, Olivia Norris: “From now on I refuse to call myself a man, or anything close to a man, because I did what I did.” He added, “I not only turned against those two bloods, but I turned against myself and my own people.” That letter, which prosecutors knew about, was suppressed along with other evidence.

“Four witnesses, including two cousins of Peak, testified that Peak was never together with Poindexter and Mondo at the times and places that Peak claimed. Peak also testified that it was he who made the 911 call. A recording of the 911 call was never played for the jury. Omaha police had sent a copy of the tape to FBI headquarters for analysis but later asked that no written report be issued, putting a stop to the search for the identity of the caller. An FBI memo pointed to a warning by the Omaha assistant chief of police that use of the tapes “might be prejudicial to the police murder trial.” Hoover himself signed off on this suppression of evidence. Testifying at a 2007 hearing on Poindexter’s petition for a new trial, vocal analyst Tom Owen confirmed that Peak could not have made that phone call.”

The Workers Vanguard explored dynamite evidence: “The cops also claimed that residue recovered from Mondo’s pants and Poindexter’s pockets tested positive for dynamite. A photo of Mondo taken moments before he surrendered his pants showed him with his hands deeply thrust in his pockets, yet swabs from their hands tested negative. In 1999, a retired top FBI explosives expert, Fred Whitehurst, submitted an analysis. “I still find that suspicious. The dynamite is in cartridges that don’t need to be opened ever except to punch a hole in them and stick a blasting cap in them. But there are dynamite particles in many places. This is not right.” He concluded: “Something doesn’t add up here unless that evidence was salted.”

The Workers Vanguard is not the first leftist publication that has championed the case. The January 2007 issue of International Socialist Review magazine featured an article entitled “Justice for the Omaha Two.”

“It is a testament to the vibrancy and breadth of the civil rights and Black Power movements that even small cities like Omaha, Nebraska, felt its impact.”

“The American media and the political establishment scoff at the very idea that there are political prisoners in the United States. Yet many sixties militants—especially Black and Native American revolutionaries—were deliberately framed by the police and FBI in their efforts to suppress the radical movements of that period. The Omaha Two were also caught in that dragnet.”

“Currently, Black journalist and Pennsylvania death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal and Ed Poindexter have the possibility of new trials. A victory in one or both cases could have an enormous impact in unlocking the doors of the American gulag.” Eleven years later, both prisoners continue to be denied new trials and still languish behind prison bars.

The Workers Vanguard newspaper article concluded: “COINTELPRO was formally terminated two weeks after the conviction of the Omaha Two in the early 1970s. But it lives today not only in the ongoing imprisonment of a generation of Panthers and other fighters for black freedom but also in the surveillance, harassment and state terror directed against those who oppose depredations of racist American capitalism….Ed Poindexter is an innocent man—Free him now!”

For more information on the case see FRAMED: J. Edgar Hoover, COINTELPRO & the Omaha Two story, in print edition from Amazon or in ebook format. Portions of the book may be read free online at NorthOmahaHistory.com. The book is also available to patrons of the Omaha Public Library.

Taiwan Civil Government delegation visits WTOP studio on media campaign to counter fraud charges

A Taiwan Civil Government delegation visit to WTOP studio in Washington   (credit: TCG) 

Working to turn an American news media whiteout on a developing international crime story, a six member delegation of Taiwan Civil Government visited the studio of Washington’s top rated radio news station WTOP in early November.

The visit was part of a media campaign to combat fraud charges brought by prosecutors of the exiled Republic of China against TCG founder Roger Lin and others. Photos of the radio station tour show the delegation was welcomed however no one is pictured being interviewed. It is not clear if the tour was one that a local girl scout troop could have arranged or was something more sophisticated for a potential sponsor or news maker.

A TCG website boasts of support from the radio station which purportedly advocated solidarity with Taiwan Civil Government’s call for normalization of Taiwan’s international status and an end to the “political persecution” of Roger and Julian Lin.

It will not be known until the group’s lobbyist Neil Hare files a semi-annual disclosure statement with the Department of Justice whether or not TCG is underwriting the radio station. The delegation also visited Roll Call Live during its Washington visit for a special program sponsored by TCG on the mid-term election outcome.

The WTOP visit is one of a number of media outlets that have welcomed a TCG delegation including POLITICO, Foreign Policy, Roll Call Live, the McLaughlin Group, and the Heritage Foundation. Curiously, the media visits and paid advertising to the New York Times and Washington Examiner have not translated into news coverage of the ongoing political fraud case in Taiwan.

Roger Lin and others are accused of using Taiwan’s unresolved international status to scam members of Taiwan Civil Government into making donations with alleged false claims of United States support. The staunchly pro-American group has been seeking favor from Donald Trump ever since his 2016 election. Unknown to many, TCG has made significant inroads into Washington’s power elite.

In May 2017, lobbyist Hare arranged a private chat session between Julian Lin, wife of Roger, and presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway. The May 2018 arrests of Roger and Julian thwarted a scheduled TCG delegation meeting with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and also a reception with two unnamed Representatives. The delegation was able to meet with Senators Joe Manchin [D] and Ben Sasse [R]. Most recently, Senator David Perdue [R] shared the stage talking about Taiwan with Neil Hare at a Washington Examiner event.

Although the Lins may have been skimming and pocketing donations, as yet no evidence has been provided. However, the claim that Roger Lin is the mastermind of a sophisticated swindle with a bogus “government” to entice donors misses the mark. Taiwan Civil Government is a government in-waiting.

Using Taiwan’s seven decade-old “strategic ambiguity” Lin has founded a 35,000 member organization that donates money, wears uniforms, has their own flag, and orchestrates parades. TCG is regarded by the Department of Justice as a foreign entity under the Foreign Agent Registration Act. Lin has noted that the United States does not recognize the Republic of China in-exile as anything other than a governing authority. Lin’s theory is since Taiwan is unrecognized there is room for TCG under the protection of the Taiwan Relations Act to seek sovereignty.

To prove that Taiwan Civil Government’s goals are fraudulent may not be so easy. To be sure, the TCG plan is ambitious, even grandiose. Although in the upside-down world of “Taiwan-Formosa-Republic of China-Chinese Taipei” where the status quo keeps the island out of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and Interpol while the People’s Republic of China threatens invasion, anything could happen.

Roger Lin’s chance of being the leader of a future Taiwan nation is not likely, but Lin’s ambition and effort is a legitimate political expression. ROC prosecutors who do not agree with Lin’s goal of expelling the exiled Chinese government from Taiwan could have a hard time converting that ideal into a crime.

Republic of China prosecutors explore Taiwan Civil Government money transfers to Washington foundation in political fraud case

Accused fraudsters Roger and Julian Lin greet Taiwan Civil Government members at a New Year rally (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

The latest chapter in the ongoing crime story involving Taiwan’s unresolved international status took place November 23 in a small Taoyuan District Court hearing room. Over four hundred black-suited members of Taiwan Civil Government showed up to line the hallways as the tiny room only held twenty spectators. The founder of TCG and his wife, Roger and Julian Lin, are accused with others of tricking group members with false claims into making donations.

Since their May 2018 arrests following a midnight raid and dramatic television coverage the Lins, long held incommunicado in solitary confinement punishment cells, have had to contend with aggressive prosecutors who oppose their million dollar bail. The number of disgruntled TCG members pressing charges keeps shifting. Prosecutors originally announced 110 complaining witnesses. Then, after a round of subpoenas and interrogations, the number swelled to 315 complainants. However, many of the new “victims” made affidavits refuting the prosecutors. At the hearing the number finally settled at seventy-five witnesses.

The Lins are accused of making false claims of support from the United States and about the value of donation memorabilia such as TCG vanity license plates, identification cards, and officious titles. The couple are also charged with money laundering with a focus on money transfers, both by wire and cash, to the Taiwan Civil Government Foundation in Washington. Prosecutors seem to believe the Washington foundation was used to launder money. While that may have happened, no evidence has yet been provided, the prosecutors seem to overlook the expensive TCG lobbying efforts in Washington that have poured several millions of dollars to public relations firms, attorneys, newspapers, foundations, magazines, and broadcast programs.

Presiding Judge Yi Shan Yao is faced with a challenge on the issue of support from the United States. On one hand prosecutors offer a secret letter from the American Institute on Taiwan showing there is no relationship with the United States. On the other is photographic evidence supporting Julian Lin’s claim of a private meeting with Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway.

A second challenge facing the judge is sorting out what claims were made, when, and by whom. Defense attorneys approached this issue with a correction of language. TCG activity is now permitted under international law of war instead of by grant of the United States. Also, the two terms, recognize and authorize, have previously been used interchangeably. Now each word has taken on its own definition. Judge Yi may also have to evaluate seventy-five individual stories.

The third challenge is actually delivering justice. Although that should be a given, the political dimensions of this case are enormous. Roger Lin is devoted to expelling the ROC from Taiwan. Lin is an enemy of what he considers Chinese rule, however Judge Yi is sworn to uphold the exiled Republic of China. There will be no jury trial, the ROC doesn’t believe in the jury system. The judge will decide the fate of Roger and Julian Lin.

The Lins were held in harsh pre-trial detention for over four months and were only granted bail after TCG bought a full-page advertisement in the New York Times appealing for United Nations help. This international crime story has been ignored by the English-language news media. It appears that Taiwan’s longstanding “strategic ambiguity” has closed in around the case leaving the vast majority of Americans clueless about this unique tale of intrigue, greed, and national sovereignty.

Taiwan Civil Government lobbyist Neil Hare at Roll Call Live event responds to fraud charges against leader Roger Lin

Taiwan Civil Government lobbyist Neil Hare at Roll Call Live special event (credit: Screenshot)

After months of biting his tongue and declining comment on the political fraud arrests of his clients Roger and Julian Lin, leaders of Taiwan Civil Government, group lobbyist Neil Hare opened up a media campaign to call for the dismissal of the charges. The occasion was a Roll Call Live post-election special program, apparently paid for by TCG.

Julian Lin had been invited by David Meyers, Vice President of Roll Call Live, however Lin was barred from attending by terms of her bail which require her to report to a Taoyuan police station every day. Until recently both Lins had been held incommunicado in solitary confinement punishment cells without furniture. In 2016, at a similar Roll Call Live show, Lin was the honorary mistress of ceremony. TCG sponsorship of that event was $20,000.

Although Julian Lin could not attend this year’s post-election program, a TCG delegation did make the trip, dressed in their trademark black suits sporting TCG lapel pins. Making the rounds of Washington media houses, the TCG delegation of a half-dozen was smaller than in the past. Group finances might be stretched thin as bond was over $1 million dollars to free the Lins from pre-trial detention. They are accused of tricking disgruntled group members out of donations by making false claims of support from the United States.

Hare has been long silent on the May 2018 fraud arrests. Hare’s firm, Global Vision Communications, was a subject of inquiry by a Taoyuan District Court judge at a pre-trial hearing in Roger Lin’s case. Recently, Hare was responsible for the placement of a full-page advertisement in the New York Times seeking international assistance for the Lins. Bail was granted one week after the newspaper ad.

In the Roll Call Live pitch Hare was every bit that a polished mouthpiece should be, albeit a little fuzzy on TCG goals. Hare hasn’t fully embraced Roger Lin’s vision of TCG becoming the provisional government of Taiwan with American military assistance. However, Hare has claimed the arrests were politically motivated because of TCG’s strong pro-American stance.

Taiwan’s seven decades of unresolved sovereignty, since the end of World War II, have left the former Japanese island caught in a strategic ambiguity called by a panel of US federal appellate judges “political purgatory.” The unresolved status has left the population conflicted and confused. There is even confusion over the name. Older residents and those of Japanese heritage call the island Formosa. The United States government uses the name Taiwan. The International Olympic Committee and the major airlines use Chinese Taipei. The governing authority goes by Republic of China.

Lack of sovereignty keeps Taiwan out of the United Nations, barred from the World Health Organization and banned from Interpol. Worse yet, the claim to own Taiwan by the Republic of China in-exile puts the island at risk of military invasion by the People’s Republic of China under the “one China” policy.

Taiwan’s political purgatory is haunted by an evil history with the 228 Massacre and subsequent White Terror period during harsh martial law imposed by the ROC on the Taiwanese people. Completing the formula of disaster is the shameful reality that the United States installed the ROC after World War II and then let them stay in charge of the island. During the bloodshed America looked the other way and ignored the cruel crimes of the Chinese.

American support for TCG’s desire to expel the ROC is a critical issue in the fraud case. Prosecutors claim there is no American role and rely on a letter, thus far kept secret, from the American Institute on Taiwan. However, countering the mysterious AIT letter are persistent rumors that TCG has secret support from the Central Intelligence Agency and Julian Lin’s tete-a-tete in Washington last year with Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump.

If Roger and Julian Lin are fraudsters, then Neil Hare is aiding and abetting political fraud. However, if the Lins are victims of an imposed government they seek to expel, then Neil Hare is a courageous American speaking out about international injustice. Hare was present in May 2017 when Julian Lin had her private session with White House adviser Conway. Maybe Neil knows something the rest of us do not.

FBI leaders led conspiracy to frame Black Panthers in Omaha for policeman’s murder

J. Edgar Hoover, William Sullivan, Charles Brennan, John Mohr, Ivan Conrad, & Paul Young conspired in August 1970 to withhold a report on the identity of a policeman’s murderer in order to frame two Black Panther leaders for the crime. (credit: Federal Bureau of Investigation)

Within hours of the August 17, 1970 bombing murder of Omaha policeman Larry Minard, leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation conspired to withhold a FBI Laboratory report on the identity of the anonymous 911 caller that lured Minard to his death.

Assistant Director Charles Brennan was alerted by an early morning call from the Omaha FBI office of Minard’s death. Brennan, in charge of the Domestic Intelligence Division, was pushing an escalation of counterintelligence actions under the clandestine COINTELPRO counterintelligence operation against so-called Black Nationalists. The FBI decided to help the Omaha police solve the crime.

Special Agent in Charge Paul Young in Omaha quickly conferred with Deputy Chief of Police Glen Gates and obtained a recording of the 911 call for the FBI Laboratory. Young stipulated the FBI could not be quoted nor would the Bureau issue a laboratory report. Young wrote to Director J. Edgar Hoover while detectives were searching crime scene rubble.

“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.”

William Sullivan, third in command of the FBI as Assistant to the Director, was appraised of the developing counterintelligence action in Omaha and gave his written approval. Sullivan was the principal architect of COINTELPRO and kept close watch on clandestine operations.

Paul Young alerted Hoover with a second memorandum that quoted informant OM T-7 about the Minard bombing. Young’s informant stated that Omaha’s Black Panther affiliate chapter did not seem to be involved. Lack of involvement did not stop Young from pushing his plan to please Hoover.

“On August 18, 1970, OM T-7 advised that the members of the National Committee to Combat Fascism were pleased over the death of the “pig” but that their actions did not indicate that they had any knowledge of who set off the blast, and at this time seemed unaware of who could have committed the crime.”

Assistant Director John Mohr, head of the Administrative Division, assigned supervisor William Bradley to write a memorandum to Assistant Director Ivan Willard Conrad at the FBI Laboratory.

“The SAC, Omaha strongly recommends that the examination requested by the Omaha Police Department be conducted.”

“If approved, the results of any examinations will be orally furnished the Police on an informal basis through the SAC, Omaha.”

Hoover was on vacation when Conrad called Hoover by phone for instructions. Hoover conducted limited FBI business while on vacation and was only called on important matters, however Conrad understood the significance of letting a policeman’s killer get away with murder necessitated making the call.

A handwritten, initialed notation by Conrad stated, “Dir advised telephonically & said OK to do.”

Hoover returned to Washington from his vacation trip to California and promptly gave both Sullivan and Mohr an unexpected $250 cash bonus for handling matters while he was gone. Although Hoover did not directly link the money to the case in Omaha in his correspondence citing “additional responsibilities” the timing of the unusual reward is suggestive of blood money offered to settle any troubled consciences for letting a policeman’s killer get away with murder.

While Sullivan and Mohr were getting their checks, a second memorandum was sent to Conrad at the FBI Laboratory about the Minard case. “In referenced memorandum, 8/19/70, the Director approved a request to assist the Omaha Police Department in captioned case through the use of voice comparison examinations by the Laboratory.”

“By telephonic communication 8/21/70, the SAC, Omaha has requested that a Laboratory Supervisor travel to Omaha for the purpose of furnishing technical guidance to the Omaha Police.”

“The SAC, Omaha, noted that he had been instructed by the Bureau to suggest steps of possible assistance to the Omaha Police in solving the bombings. He advised technical guidance of the type requested would provide maximum immediate assistance, particularly since the existing recording of the false “bait” complaint to the police is the most important present tangible evidence in the possession of the police, and he recommended the Bureau send a Laboratory representative.”

The unidentified caller was an obstacle to placing the blame for the bombing on two leaders of the NCCF chapter, Edward Poindexter and David Rice (later Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa). J. Edgar Hoover put his own pen to paper and wrote “OK” followed with his distinctive “H” initial. The anonymous 911 caller that lured a policeman to his death would not be sought.

Young sent Hoover another memorandum two months later reminding the boss that the 911 recording was not to be used. Duane Peak, the confessed bomber, would say he made the fatal phone call solving the problem of the unknown caller. Peak got a deal for his cooperation and never spent a day in prison despite planting the bomb. “Assistant COP GLENN GATES, Omaha PD, advised that he feels that any use of tapes of this call might be prejudicial to the police murder trial against two accomplices of PEAK and, therefore, has advised that he wishes no use of this tape until after the murder trials of PEAK and the two accomplices has been completed.”

The jury that convicted Poindexter and Rice in April 1971 never heard the 911 recording. The tape was never introduced as evidence and a killer’s voice went unheard. The two Black Panthers received life without parole sentences at hard labor. Rice died in March 2016 at the maximum-security Nebraska State Penitentiary where Poindexter remains imprisoned and continues to proclaim his innocence.

The story of the flawed investigation, prosecution, and trial is now available in my new book, FRAMED: J. Edgar Hoover, COINTELPRO & the Omaha Two story, in print edition at Amazon and in ebook format at Kindle. Portions of the book may also be read free online at NorthOmahaHistory.com. The book is also available to patrons of the Omaha Public Library.

Roger Lin fraud case heats up as prosecutors seek lockdown for Taiwan Civil Government leader

Roger Lin, head of Taiwan Civil Government, was arrested in May 2018 on fraud charges    (credit: News 52 screenshot)

Roger Lin, controversial head of Taiwan Civil Government, recently had his bail increased to 30 million NT$ ($975,000 USD) after Taoyuan District prosecutors appealed the release of Lin on bond. The prosecutors would prefer Lin remain incommunicado in solitary confinement as he had been for over four months until getting ten million yuan bail. Lin is accused of deceiving some of his followers into making donations with false claims about Taiwan’s future and the role of the United States.

Roger and his wife Julian Lin, along with Yu Hsiang-ching, TCG’s landlord, were released on hefty bail a week after a full-page ad in the New York Times sought international assistance for the imprisoned group members. Taiwan Civil Government seeks the expulsion of the exiled Republic of China administration from Taiwan and the installation of a temporary United States military government pending resolution of the island’s sovereignty.

The October 31 detention hearing was again held in a tiny courtroom that seats twenty people. Four hundred TCG members, all clad in their black business suit uniforms, lined the hallways. To counter the show of support by group members, eighty extra police and security personnel were present giving heightened tension to the scene.

Julian Lin’s bail was raised to 20 million NT$ ($650,000 USD) from the previous seven million and Yu’s was doubled to six million NTS ($195,000 USD). The additional bail money demanded was raised by TCG members within twelve hours giving this unique crime story a strong display of group loyalty to the supposed fraudsters.

Meanwhile, Neil Hare, TCG’s lobbyist in Washington, has been unleashed from his no-comment posture to be an outspoken advocate. Hare wrote a screed for a website called Federal News Network where he talked about the “battle for Taiwan.”

“One strongly pro-American group in Taiwan has been feeling the political pain of its convictions…. They would like to see the US regain control of Taiwan as a bridge to the Taiwanese people determining their own future.”

“This pro-US stance landed the leaders of the TCG, Dr. Roger Lin and his wife Julian Lin, in prison. Despite more than a decade of very public and peaceful protest, two lawsuits in the United States, and a robust global public relations effort, the Taiwan Authority accused the Lin’s of fraud. The Lin’s were recently detained for five months in prison, incommunicado and without any bail hearing. And, while they were released on bail temporarily, they were detained a second time and forced to pay additional bail for their release. They now live in constant fear.”

Hare then departs from his report on the history of the fraud case to offer a theory that the People’s Republic of China push to suppress Taiwan created hostility to Roger Lin by the Republic of China.

“Just as the Taiwanese people have been denied their human right, the Lin’s are being bullied and coerced for exercising their right to free speech and the legal rights we would deem fair in the US. In the wake of China’s efforts to suppress corporate references towards Taiwan and influence diplomatic rejection of Taiwan, it is no surprise that the Lin’s pro-US position is now being cloistered as well.”
Hare ends his pitch with a dramatic prediction and a confusing call for international recognition.

“The United States must reconsider their approach to Taiwan by formally recognizing it. In addition, the US should stand up for the Lin’s and tell the Taiwanese Authority to drop all charges against them. The future and foundation of Taiwan depends on it.”

If the future of Taiwan depends on the outcome of the fraud case then maybe Neil Hare should suggest another New York Times ad because the Federal News Network may not have enough readers to move a mountain.

 

Judge asks questions about Global Vision Communications in alleged Taiwan fraud case

Wearing a Taiwan Civil Government lapel pin, lobbyist Neil Hare speaks at the Heritage Foundation.         (credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Taoyuan District Judge Yi-Shan Yao recently questioned Roger Lin, the purported mastermind of what prosecutors have billed a political fraud ring, about the role of Global Vision Communications in Taiwan Civil Government operations. Lin told the court that GVC had no role setting up the Taiwan Civil Government Foundation, Inc. which has become a subject of judicial interest. Lin and others are accused of deceiving TCG members into making donations with false claims.

Global Vision Communications is a Washington public relations firm hired by Lin in 2015 to conduct a lobbying campaign for TCG to increase awareness of Taiwan’s unresolved international status. Neil Hare, president of the firm, declined comment on the courtroom query. Hare has previously stated he works under a non-disclosure agreement and was not concerned with events “on the ground in Taiwan.”

Hare might want to become more familiar with what is happening in Tayoun District Court. The judge also questioned Julian Lin about the Washington public relations firm owned by Hare.

Hare has registered with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agent Registration Act as a Foreign Agent of Taiwan Civil Government and arranged a full-page New York Times advertisement that sparked surveillance of Roger and Julian Lin four days after publication. The newspaper has been silent on its advertiser’s arrest on fraud charges and has not reported a single word about the case or the group link to Washington insiders, including Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway.

Hare did make a formal statement, posted on a Taiwan Civil Government website, about a second New York Times ad that contained an appeal from Julian Lin for United Nations help: “Despite over a decade of very public and peaceful protest, two lawsuits in the United States, and a robust global public relations effort, the Republic of China government have accused the Lins of fraud….the Lins are being denied their right to free speech and legal rights we would deem fair in the U.S.”

Hare said the “pro-US stance has landed the leader of the TCG, Dr. Roger Lin and his wife Julian Lin in prison.” Hare stated Roger Lin was “expressing a legitimate political belief.”

Hare was the go-between for a parley and photo shoot with Julian Lin and presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway at a POLITICO event sponsored by TCG in May 2017. Hare did not detail the contact with Conway in his periodic FARA reports. The omission appears to conflict with federal law unless the POLITICO get-together was of little or no significance, which would undermine Julian Lin’s boast of her White House connection.

Hare arranged a meet between a TCG delegation and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and two United States Senators, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Joe Manchin of West Virgina. Ross cancelled minutes before the session in May 2018 at the Heritage Foundation under orders from the White House where he was called to an urgent meeting. Senators Sasse and Manchin went ahead with the TCG sponsored show. The delegation was to meet two United States Representatives later the same day at a Roll Call Live event, also arranged by Neil Hare, and paid for by Taiwan Civil Government. The two unnamed Representatives cancelled their appearance when they learned of the fraud arrests in Taiwan.

The lobbying tactics used by Global Vision Communications are media-based with advertising, events, sponsorship, and cocktail parties. The firm partnered with Angel Enterprises, headed by Shelly Hymes, for junkets and publicity events. The two companies snagged hefty fees for their costly campaigns. Hare defends the expense maintaining that TCG made significant inroads into the halls of power in Washington. The reach of TCG is important in the fraud case as prosecutors claim the Lins were making fictitious claims of United States support for their agenda to oust the exiled Republic of China from Taiwan.

Hare has remained tight-lipped about the case, an unusual silence for the mouthpiece of an organization. Resisting temptation to play spin doctor, Hare has followed pace with a news media whiteout about the case. Hare says he has not been contacted by ROC prosecutors and could be expected to tell them very little. Judge Yi-Shan Yao is not likely to get much help from Neil Hare about the business of Taiwan Civil Government.

Washington lawyer Neil Carr in bull’s eye of Taiwan Civil Government Foundation fraud probe

 Washington lawyer Neil Carr at Taiwan Civil Government rally
(credit: Taiwan Civil Government)

Washington securities attorney Neil Carr is one person a Taoyuan District Court judge in Taiwan would like to question. Carr became a man of interest regarding the establishment of the Taiwan Civil Government Foundation registered in the District of Columbia. Carr’s possible role surfaced during questioning by Judge Yi-Shan Yao at a recent preliminary hearing for Julian Lin, accused of fraudulently deceiving members of Taiwan Civil Government.

Taiwan’s seven decades of political purgatory have left it administered by the Republic of China in-exile, without a seat in the United Nations, and forced to compete in the Olymics as Chinese Taipei. The unresolved status of the island long called Formosa has spawned a rainbow of Taiwanese independence groups and political parties. The pro-American TCG is one of the most vocal and controversial with its advocacy for a temporary United States military government to expel the Chinese. ROC prosecutors claim instead that TCG leaders are an organized crime ring to exploit money from gullible group members.

When Lin was asked by the judge about TCG identity cards her answer involved the Taiwan Civil Government Foundation which was to be linked to the identity cards through a Bank of America account. The purpose was to create an identification system for Taiwanese to conduct banking in America. Lin was an authorized signatory for the foundation and pointed out she was added to an existing account. The Bank of America account is confirmed by a foundation report to the Internal Revenue Service which included bank service fees.

Lin explained she would make payments to attorneys and public relations companies for their professional fees. Lin told the judge that because the United States has strict regulations for handling funds an “American lawyer” took her to the bank to add her signature to the account.

Tax records for the foundation reveal payments to Neil Carr’s law firm Babirak & Carr. There was also a September 2014 speaking tour in Taiwan for TCG where Carr was entertained and paraded around. Carr made the trip with crony Scott Bloch, a disgraced Bush Administration attorney, where Carr was given a seat at the weekly TCG round table meeting. Presumably Carr’s activity for Taiwan Civil Government, headed by Roger Lin also facing fraud charges, was proper and legal. Carr has declined comment.

Neil Carr is a managing partner at Somertons. Carr’s caseload includes business, corporate, finance, securities, mergers, acquisitions, international transactions, and the foreign corrupt practices act. Carr is in position to have been the “American lawyer” that helped Julian Lin with her banking.

The TCG Foundation was formed in 2010, although did not file its first tax return as a tax-exempt organization until 2013. The primary purpose for the exemption was “protection of the human rights of the people of Taiwan.”

The foundation underwent a name change to Taiwan Civil Government Foundation, Inc. and filed with the Internal Revenue Service as a Political Organization. The filing noted an expenditure of $12,000 for identification cards. The foundation also paid Neil Carr’s law firm Babirak & Carr a tidy sum of $17,301.03 for “professional fees.”

The first report to IRS as a tax-exempt organization reported an expenditure of $58,000 for identification cards. The report stated that approximately 10,000 cards were issued to the “people of Taiwan to identify their legitimate status as the real people of Taiwan.” It cannot be determined from the tax filings if the $12,000 amount is part of the $58,000 expense or in addition.

The foundation’s primary business was apparently to handle the issuance of TCG identity cards. The foundation’s registration in the District of Columbia has since been revoked and it is unknown what became of the Bank of America account. Answers to questions about TCG finances are hard to come by in the face of a pending fraud trial.

Neil Carr may want to think twice before scheduling a vacation trip to Taiwan. Now that Roger Lin is out on bail the exiled Republic of China has an extra punishment cell available. If ROC prosecutors level charges against Carr, being a high-rolling lawyer would make him a flight risk which could qualify Carr for some nasty pre-trial detention.