We Demand Transparency Announces:
MAJOR NEW SCHEDULE ADDITION!
Investigative Journalist Nick Bryant.
Nick Bryant has just published a masterwork on one of the most covered-up scandals of our time: the pedophila ring that involved murder, the occult, the CIA, and the Bush White House in 1991. The scandal made the front cover of the Washington Times, but was then buried. A great documentary, "Conspiracy of Silence" was made by British TV, and then cancelled on the verge of broadcast.
But Bryant is now author of the just-released Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers, Child Abuse & Betrayal (Trine Day, 2009) He speaks at our conference on Sunday, 9/13. He sat down for a seltzer and a few questions with We Demand Transparency's Sander Hicks.
Nick, I've known you for a couple of years. I remember that story you told about a meeting a big-shot editor. The editor was initially laughing at you, but by the time you left his jaw was on the floor. Your research and your material are that powerful. What can you tell us about that meeting, and what has been the mainstream media reaction to "The Franklin Scandal?"
I met with a superstar reporter, a former Pulitzer Prize recipient, of a major media conglomerate headquartered in New York City, and I told him about The Franklin Scandal. He was initially dismissive and incredulous, but then I showed him a video clip that was a montage of interviews, documents, and video footage. I watched him as he watched the video, which told the tale of a national pedophile network that pandered children to America’s power elite and also of its cover-up by state and federal law enforcement. The network was very active in Washington, DC and threw many of its DC parties at the home of a CIA asset whose house was wired for audio and video blackmail. The story was shocking and surreal, and it ran counter to everything that the reporter had been taught to believe about America.
His icy skepticism quickly melted, and he realized that I wasn’t unhinged. We sat down at a desk and looked at each other eye to eye—he asked me the names of the politicians who had been compromised. I replied that I wanted to talk about the plight of the victims first—he said the victims were “inconsequential.” I reminded him that he had two young sons, so I thought his response was jaded to say the least. A frown wrinkled his face and he snapped, “Nick, I’m insulted by that statement!” After the former Pulitzer recipient said the victims were “inconsequential,” our dialogue came to a screeching halt. He was no longer a distinguished journalist in my eyes. Unfortunately, his initial jaded and cynical response would become all too familiar to me as I shopped the story around mainstream publishing.
What new findings are in the book?
The Franklin Scandal is brimming with countless new revelations about the who and why of the pedophile ring’s cover-up, the ring’s use of the venerable Boys Town orphanage as a pedophilic reservoir, and its connections to the blackmailing of politicians in Washington, DC, and also its connections to the CIA. Moreover, the Franklin Scandal gives a bird’s eye view of the ring’s victims as they are today, and many discuss their involvement with the ring for the first time.
Tell us of the dangers you faced in getting this book done.
My seven-year investigation has been fraught with peril, and I’ve endured various tribulations: My life had been threatened, I’d been followed, I’d received ominous, anonymous phone calls, menacing emails, and Nebraska law enforcement had taken a keen interest in me. In fact, the Nebraska State Patrol pulled me over in a rental car, inexplicably deposited me in a “cruiser,” and ripped apart the car and all of my possessions. After the officers left a wake of disarray, and their search came up empty, they demonstrated their infinite compassion by allowing me to reassemble my stuff and leave the scene. I felt lucky that they didn’t charge me with resisting harassment.
What did you leave out?
I name names when it comes to the cover up: judges—both federal and state—FBI agents, Justice Department personnel, etc., and I also name the names of a few powerbroker pedophiles. However, given some of the politicians’ eminence, especially the Washington, DC politicians, it’s almost impossible for me to name names. The victims naming the politicians were molested as kids, turned onto to drugs, and then discarded, like gum that had lost its flavor, after their adolescence, and they inevitably became drug addicts and/or felons. So their word against that of an eminent politician would be a first round TKO. Because the victims invariably end up compromising their credibility, with a helping had from law enforcement, the pedophile network had a built-in concealment mechanism that has worked perfectly.
What will you be sharing with us on 9/13 at the conference?
At the conference, I’ll be talking about my investigation. I’ll discuss how Nebraska legislators originally discovered the pedophile network, and then I’ll discuss how the Department of Justice, FBI, and Secret Service managed to put the toothpaste back into the tube. The cover-up included the hijacking of three grand juries—a federal and state grand jury in Nebraska and a federal grand jury in DC—which in and of itself is mind-boggling. The cover-up also included the mysterious “suicides” of a number of people who were involved with the ring and/or it’s cover-up. I’ll also discuss the case of Alisha Owen, one of ring’s victims who refused to recant her abuse despite hours on end grilling and pressure from the FBI. A kangaroo court sentenced her to between 9 and 15 years in prison, because she wouldn’t recant her abuse, and she spent nearly two years in solitary confinement. Her seventeen-year-old brother also committed “suicide.” In the book, I show that his suicide was most likely a homicide.
