John B. Kotmair
Nothing's Sleazier than Yellow Journalism
Thu Jul 10 01:34:38 2003
208.152.73.35


[Editor's Preface] Before we share the following article 'Nothing's Sleazier than Yellow Journalism' from our member's only newsletter The Liberty Tree we have to apologize. Our readers deserve better than this sad episode of soap opera history within the realm of The Constitutional Revival Movement. But please bear with us, as we have to set the record straight for our members, and soon-to-be members on what transpired when the writer for The American Free Press [AFP], John Tiffany, was part of the staff at the Save-A-Patriot Fellowship. If after reading this report you feel lead to send an email to the editor of AFP you will find his email at the end of this report.

Nothing's Sleazier than Yellow Journalism
by John B. Kotmair, Founder and Fiduciary of The Save-A-Patriot Fellowship
http://www.taxfreedom101.com/ezines/030709.htm

I was a subscriber to Liberty Lobby's The Spotlight tabloid from its inception in 1974 until early 1990s, when I started to question some of its content. At that time, there had been enough discovered about the misapplication of the federal tax code to make it general knowledge throughout the Patriot community, yet The Spotlight, with a claim of over 100,000 subscribers, did not see fit to publish these factual findings. When Ed Ellision, the late SAPF staff member, was ejected from Liberty Lobby's convention for trying to correct a false statement being made about the applicability of the federal tax code, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. But no one read anything about this in any SAPF publication, for it is not SAPF's usual policy to talk about other "Patriot" organizations. Except, that is, when we are forced to publicly defend our reputation, and answer the concerns of Fellowship members, caused by false and misleading reports.

Liberty Lobby was forced to cease publication of The Spotlight and closed its doors on July 6, 2001, because of a liability arising from the loss of a civil suit to Institute for Historical Review, based in California. At the same time, Willis Carto, the head of Liberty Lobby, launched a new newspaper, The American Free Press, and it appears the questionable journalism has been carried over to this new endeavor. I have just become aware of an attack on myself in an article by John Tiffany published in the June 16, 2003 issue of Carto's new tabloid, and for the sake of our concerned members, feel compelled to answer this unfounded smear.

John Tiffany came to work for the Fellowship after being fired by Carto in a dispute over taxes being withheld from his pay. At Tiffany's request, I had submitted facts about the federal tax withholding laws to Carto's editor at The Spotlight, who made statements to the effect that he could care less about such facts, and at that point Tiffany left Carto's employment.

Tiffany was given the position of caseworker at the Fellowship and started to learn the associated responsibilities. He never did develop properly in that position, and after many chances and complaints from members whose work he was handling, it appeared that he was not suited for this type of work, and he was let go by the Fellowship. He returned to employment at The Spotlight.

The next contact from Tiffany was the receipt of his complaint to the Federal District Court in West Virginia, alleging that I conspired with Janet Reno and the IRS to deprive him of his property. In the complaint he contended that I misled him and caused him to stop filing tax returns, and therefore conspired with Janet Reno and the IRS, who were moving the Court to render the federal tax lien against his property to judgment. Of course, I did not give much effort or attention to such a ludicrous allegation, and just left it to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to handle. Just last month, I received from the court clerk an order dismissing his final appeal. The SAPF staff and I did get a laugh out of my being accused of conspiring with Janet Reno. In that case, politics would have made VERY strange bedfellows.

As mentioned by Tiffany in his June 16th article, Steve De Luca also did work at the Fellowship. He was hired with the knowledge that he had just recently been released from federal prison, serving several years for felony bank fraud. He was the brother-in-law of one of our respected Fellowship members, and it was our understanding that he was overzealous and committed the bank fraud because of his knowledge of the Federal Reserve Bank system - not saying that is any excuse to commit fraud. He was employed for a very short period of time because he was argumentative and disruptive, even starting a physical altercation with another caseworker.

Still trying to give De Luca a chance, I allowed him to use a computer at home to write a book using the content of certified documents he was obtaining through a friend he made in the DOJ. His brother-in-law and the brother-in-law's business partner were paying his living expenses so he would be able to write this book. He was to keep me abreast of his progress, bringing the book he was writing to me for review from time to time. If my memory serves correctly, he brought his efforts in once for review, and it was difficult to determine what he was trying to say - which he was told. After a period of time, it appeared that work had stopped on the book, and the brother-in-law's partner told me the he cut off the living expenses; the computer was never returned to the Fellowship. A couple of years later, De Luca showed up at my home around 10 PM, wanting me to read and comment on a document he had obtained from the DOJ. After I read it, he asked me if I still held to my published findings regarding the federal tax laws. I replied that I saw nothing in that document to change my mind. At that point, he became enraged and I asked him to leave. He went out the door, walked halfway to his vehicle, then turned around in a rage and ran back into the house. The dog started to growl and show her teeth. He stopped and stood just inside the door and shouted that he was going to destroy the Fellowship and me. I remember saying, "Whatever, Steve," and he turned and left. Sometime later, I was told that someone by the name of Fitzgerald was attacking me on an Internet web site; it turned out to be De Luca using that name.

There is no need to address the third person referenced in Tiffany's article, Thurston Bell. The controversy between Bell and myself is well-documented in a past issue of Reasonable Action, which, for those interested, can be purchased from the Fellowship. [More history on Mr. Bell is contained starting in the February 12th, 2003 issue of The Tax Freedom 101 Report].

The sleazy yellow journalism, however, is Tiffany writing in his article, published by Carto's American Free Press, that he "did not know it at that time, but [De Luca] had come to view Kotmair as crooked …" This is an old sleazy tabloid practice. By Tiffany not calling me a crook himself, he prevents me from being able to sue him for libel. Furthermore, saying De Luca "had come to view Kotmair as crooked" is not the same as saying that De Luca called me a crook. In carefully using the words "had come to view" Tiffany appears to be unwilling to call me a crook outright. NOTHING COULD BE MORE SLEAZY than the use of such innuendo.

Your Fiduciary

[end article from the member's only June issue of The Liberty Tree]

If you would like to send the editor of The American Free Press tabloid magazine a note of dissatisfaction on their use of 'yellow journalism' you can by sending an email to: editor@americanfreepress.net
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