Image credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Happy Thanksgiving Wheat and Tares readers! We've got a feast for you of religion, politics, and other divisive topics that (hopefully) you avoided discussing at the dinner table.
The last two months brought a whirlwind of charges against Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), with new developments sometimes occurring daily. Hawkgrrrl asked if I would publish a follow-up to my September 19th blog post about the Church's denunciation of Tim Ballard. The allegations against Tim Ballard and OUR reach into many different areas, implicating politicians, church leaders, and other influencers. We'll just be hitting highlights in this post.
Some important dates to know:
- Friday, September 15th: Vice News published a statement from an unnamed spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints denouncing Tim Ballard's "morally unacceptable" activities. The statement also claimed that neither the Church nor any of its leaders had, at any time, endorsed Tim Ballard or OUR. Vice News reporters Anna Merlan and Tim Marchman later explained on the Mormon Stories podcast (at about 17:20 and 19:45) that the media statement was given several weeks after they'd contacted the Church asking for comment on allegations mentioned in a Davis County investigation about the relationship between Tim Ballard and Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles M. Russell Ballard. (There is no familial relation between Tim Ballard and M. Russell Ballard. I checked.)
- Saturday, September 16th: Tim Ballard made the first of several public responses denying allegations made by Vice News and other media outlets. The monologue was recorded while Ballard was leading a historical tour in Boston, Massachusetts. Responses to later allegations were usually posted as press releases on The SPEAR Fund's website.
- Monday, September 25th: Tim Ballard reportedly had a disciplinary council with his local church leaders over charges related to sexual misconduct. Two days later, Tim was apparently notified that his membership would be withdrawn (excommunicated) from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The council and decision were reported by John Dehlin at the Mormon Stories podcast (at about 13:55). Katherine Ballard, Tim's wife, later stated, "Tim and I are in touch with our local ecclesiastical leaders, and such conversations... are strictly confidential and extremely personal. We are complying fully, and remain committed to our family and our faith."
- Monday, October 9: Five women filed a lawsuit against Tim Ballard accusing him of both spiritual grooming and sexual assault. According to Salt Lake Tribune's Robert Gehrke, the women claimed that Ballard used the "couples ruse" tactic "to "manipulate and coerce [the women] into sexual activities short of penetration." Gehrke also reported that the lawsuit claimed "Ballard misused donor funds to pay strippers and buy alcohol, received ketamine and dictated prophesies from The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi, and used his ties to prominent Republican politicians and leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to bolster his fundraising and gain leverage on the women." On November 21st, three of the plaintiffs identified themselves publicly as Sasha Hightower, Kira Lynch, and Mary Hall. Read the original complaint in the first lawsuit here: https://kutv.com/news/local/lawsuit-filed-by-five-women-against-former-our-ceo-tim-ballard-on-accusations-of-sexual-misconduct-operation-underground-railroad-couples-ruse-sean-reyes-president-ballard-church-officials-donald-trump-senate-run
- Wednesday, October 11: Two days after the first lawsuit was filed, a man and a woman (formerly married, now separated) filed a second lawsuit against Tim Ballard. They claimed "Ballard assaulted her while she was working with him, had her husband threatened and left her marriage on the rocks." On November 21st, the two plaintiffs identified themselves publicly as Mike and Celeste Borys. Read the complaint in the second lawsuit here: https://kutv.com/news/local/second-lawsuit-filed-by-married-couple-against-tim-ballard-alleges-sexual-assault-financial-misconduct
- Thursday, November 2: An amended complaint was filed in the first lawsuit accusing church leaders of providing "tithing records to OUR to help OUR target wealthy donors." Utah's Attorney General Sean Reyes was also accused of intimidating "the complainants." An interesting item in this amended complaint was a September 16th email from Glenn Beck to Tim Ballard, where Beck noted that he spoke with Elder Neil L. Andersen (LDS apostle), Utah Senator Mike Lee, and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes about the Church's statement on Ballard. Read the amended complaint to the first lawsuit here: https://kutv.com/news/local/tim-ballard-faces-new-allegations-involving-latter-day-saint-leader-utah-attorney-general-sean-reyes-in-lawsuit-filed-trafficking-rescue-missions-couples-ruse-operation-underground-railroad
- Monday, November 20: A third lawsuit was filed by Bree Righter, a social worker and former Marine hired as an independent contractor by OUR, claiming sexual assault and battery. She was inappropriately touched by a different OUR employee the "couples ruse" at the encouragement of Tim Ballard. She was also severely injured during a training exercise, but Ballard refused to call an ambulance because he didn't want a public record of the accident connected with OUR. Righter's story was first published in a Vice News article last week using the pseudonym Alison. Read the complaint in the third lawsuit here: https://kutv.com/news/local/woman-files-lawsuit-against-tim-ballard-our-over-alleged-misconduct-deceptive-practices-operation-underground-railroad-marine-veteran-couples-ruse-utah-anti-trafficking-operations
Each aspect of this scandal merits its own discussion, but I'll touch on five topics below. They are presented in no particular order.
1. Sexual assault and grooming
On September 19th, Vice News reported that Tim Ballard's summer departure from OUR "followed an investigation into claims of sexual misconduct involving seven women." On October 6, conservative outlet Blaze News confirmed that the sexual misconduct allegations against Ballard were credible. "Broadly speaking," the article states, "the women who spoke to Blaze News allege that Ballard manipulated them and/or attempted to coerce them into crossing important professional boundaries during their time at O.U.R."
Basically, Tim Ballard created a technique called the "couples ruse" to ostensibly prevent operatives from having to engage in sexual acts with victims. The "spouse" served as a natural block, giving cover for the operative to refuse a trafficker. In reality, the tactic was used to justify Ballard groping and assaulting women posing as his wives as well as having them perform lewd acts, all supposedly in an effort to save trafficked victims. Often these assaults took place in training exercises to test "chemistry" between Ballard and the women. Ballard also claimed special permission to be with these women from his wife, psychics, and/or church leaders, or that he'd been married to these women in past lives. Several women mentioned that OUR employees repeatedly instructed them to just trust Tim.
For the best info on sexual assault and grooming accusations against Tim Ballard, read victim statements from the first two lawsuits: first lawsuit amended complaint here (see Exhibits A–E) and second lawsuit complaint here (see statements of AA and FT on pages 32–62). The third lawsuit documents don't include a victim statement directly, but the plaintiff detailed her experiences with the couples ruse in a Vice News article under the pseudonym Alison. An interesting perspective I recommend is an interview with Dr. John Matthias, a forensic psychologist. He was interviewed by his wife and co-host, investigative reporter Lauren Matthias, on October 15th regarding the allegations in the first lawsuit. The episode is available in podcast and YouTube video formats.
2. Unprofessionalism at OUR & misleading of donors
Concerns were raised several years ago about OUR's "alarming amateurism that potentially endangers both those carrying out missions and the people they're meant to help." Meg Conley, a Latter-day Saint blogger who volunteered on a 2014 OUR operation, recounted her own disturbing experience at Slate. "When I told an international anti-trafficking expert about the 2014 raid I attended, she immediately said, 'Do you know how wrong all of that was?' The research, I learned, tells us our 2014 raid was most likely just another childhood trauma for those 26 kids. We made their lives worse."
Most people have heard by now that OUR missions often relied on intelligence from psychic medium Janet Russon. Bree Righter's statements in a Vice News article under the pseudonym Alison provide firsthand details of other bizarre tactics, including a copy of the "Couples Ruse" agreement she signed with OUR. Righter stated that Tim Ballard dismissed intelligence previously gathered by another operative. "Ballard believed reading the report was a waste of time. God, he said, would tell them who their targets were" Righter was frustrated at her lack of training on technology. "She had in mind that she would learn about the exotic technology OUR used to identify and surveil traffickers, as well as about its policies and procedures. It slowly dawned on her, though, that she wasn't being trained on tech and policies because there were none." In her lawsuit filed a couple days ago, Righter claims she was severely injured at an OUR "cosplay training" exercise, suffering "a catastrophic orbital blow out fracture... result[ing] in severe double vision." She later "had surgery to remove the bone fragments from her facial nerve and replaced her eye socket with a silicone and titanium implant to support her eye."
An investigation was opened into Tim Ballard and OUR several years ago by Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings and the FBI primarily over allegations of fraud. It was later closed without charges being filed. Documents from that investigation revealed that several OUR employees were concerned about public perception of the organization versus reality. An interviewed employee expressed that "OUR is simply a pass-through organization, not really doing the rescues, not really doing the aftercare, just funding it all but does not tell the donors." She further stated, "[E]veryone internally knows that they don't rescue anyone anymore, but the public thinks that OUR is actively rescuing children." A former male employee stated that OUR "shifted from all the operations where they go in and work the cases and build out a real case to be prosecuted and it went away and it became more of a 'throw some money at law enforcement agencies and throw the numbers up on a board.'"
3. Political ramifications
It was bizarre to have Utah's governor Spencer Cox address allegations against Tim Ballard and admit he reached out to Church leaders to corroborate the media statement published by Vice News. Utah's Attorney General Sean Reyes took the brunt of the political repercussions, with Utah legislators initiating an audit into his office over "mounting questions related to spending and the Attorney General's association with Tim Ballard, the founder of Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.)." One commenter told KUTV news that although the audit isn't a crisis, it will be a distraction to Reyes' re-election campaign. One of Reyes' key issues, human trafficking, will also need to take a back seat. "'I would never, ever mention human trafficking at all,' said [Utah ad executive Kelly Casaday], 'Because no matter what you say, it's going to come back to, 'Oh, Tim Ballard.''"
Timothy Ballard's Hypothesis and American Covenant books are Mormon riffs on White Christian Nationalism. Dave B. wrote about White Christian Nationalism earlier this year. Some of you might be curious as to the difference between that and Deseret Nationalism (DezNat). Basically, Deseret Nationalism is more of a separatist idea, the desire for a theo-democratic ethnostate in the American West after the secular United States destroys itself. Tim Ballard is more in line with the idea that the United States was founded on religious beliefs, and we need to uphold that original Christian covenant with God. One OUR employee stated, "[R]estoring America to the covenant was a 'big mission of his (Tim)' and he was 'called' of 'God' to do this." Tim Ballard expects to become a U.S. Senator and President of the United States.
As mentioned in my previous post, the timing of the Church's statement condemning Tim Ballard was suspicious given Ballard's expected announcement to run for Mitt Romney's senate seat. My theory was that Tim Ballard's "overt Christian Nationalism (not to mention QAnon theories) [would] put the Church in uncomfortable spots having to clarify 'official' positions." Tim Ballard's nationalistic fervor is an outgrowth of the White Christian Nationalism promoted by President Ezra Taft Benson and Cleon Skousen in the twentieth century, according to scholar Matt Harris who was interviewed on the Mormon.ish podcast last week. Dr. Harris pointed out that while President M. Russell Ballard (and many other members of the Church, I might add) would "reject the idea that he's a White Christian Nationalist," he still adheres to those beliefs. "[I]f you ask him simple questions like... [Do you believe the United States] was founded as a Christian Nation? He would say yes. Do you believe that the founding fathers were Christian men? He would say yes. Do you think that this country will flourish if we return to the principles of Christianity? He would say yes." (Statements at about 1:08:54.) If you're curious about the racial element and Anglo-Israelism, I highly recommend Stirling Adams' video on "Race, Lineage, and the 1920s–1940s Genealogical Society of Utah."
4. Culpability of the Church and/or Church leaders
The Church claimed in its media statement to Vice News it "never endorsed, supported or represented OUR, Tim Ballard or any projects associated with them." (Shortly after this statement, the Church took down two articles referencing him and OUR on their website.) As I noted in my previous post, for-profit church-owned entities most certainly did endorse and support Tim Ballard. On September 19th, Deseret Book still had seven of Tim Ballard's books for sale on their website. Three of those books were published by Church-owned Deseret Book Company and its two publishing imprints, Covenant Communication and Shadow Mountain. Also for sale on the Deseret Book website at the time of my post were podcasts and sermons by Tim Ballard. Within a week, however, all books and audio recordings featuring Tim Ballard were removed from the Deseret Book website. Why were these actions necessary if the Church's hands were clean regarding Tim Ballard and OUR?
The day after the Church's statement was published by Vice News, Idaho businessman Russell Brunson rushed to Tim Ballard's defense. It was President Ballard's office, he claimed, who introduced Tim Ballard to Brunson. "[M. Russell Ballard] personally called me and asked me to help Tim Ballard in Operation Underground Railroad." On November 2nd, the amended complaint in the first lawsuit made a shocking allegation that President Ballard shared tithing records with OUR to direct them to wealthier donors. Note: that allegation came from documents from the Davis County investigation. The investigator in that case, Troy Rawlings, told the Salt Lake Tribune they had "insufficient evidence to substantiate [that] allegation" at the time the case was closed. A related allegation from Rawlings in Exhibit J of the amended complaint is that President Ballard's son-in-law was "involved in investing O.U.R.'s money and Elder Ballard and/or his family [was] benefiting from the investments." This appears to be a reference to son-in-law Brad Brower. Reddit user devilsravioli pointed out that Brower is on the board of Liberty89 where he is cited as the founder of "Brower Financials." The business license for Brower Financial Services, Inc., is still active according to the Utah.gov website, but the registered agent is Brad's older brother, Lee M. Brower. A great overview of President Ballard's speckled business history along with the current allegations with Russell Brunson and Tim Ballard is Christie Porter's November 14th Salt Lake Magazine article, "Mormon Apostle M. Russell Ballard Dies Amid Questions About Tim Ballard, O.U.R. Connection."
Another question is the propriety of apostolic involvement in fundraising. It is not unusual to have private donors fund projects of importance to Church leaders. The rebuilding of the Nauvoo Temple was funded by a "very substantial contribution" by a wealthy family, according to President Gordon B. Hinckley. Similarly, the Joseph Smith Papers project was financed primarily by the Larry H. Miller and Gail Miller Family Foundation. What about apostles participating in fundraising activities for groups unaffiliated with the Church? I doubt President M. Russell Ballard shared tithing records, but it appears at minimum he was willing to arrange the meetup between a wealthy philanthropist (Russell Brunson) and an independent charity (OUR). Such an effort surely implied some level of apostolic endorsement. Eyebrows raised earlier this year when Elder Ronald A. Rasband was announced as a keynote speaker at a $250 per plate fundraising dinner for Scripture Central. In an episode titled "Apostle for Hire" over at the Mormon.ish podcast, co-hosts Rebecca Bibliotheca and Landon Brophy discussed their discomfort with that collaboration.
5. Fringe Mormon beliefs: sacred bloodlines, end-time visionaries, etc.
Related to Mormon riffs on White Christian Nationalism and Anglo-Israelism is the belief in sacred bloodlines. Grand Scoobah, friend of the blog, posted on YouTube a video snippet of Tim Ballard and Rod Meldrum stating that Joseph Smith was a descendant of Jesus Christ. I first learned of this theory back in the early 2000s with Vern Swanson's book Dynasty of the Holy Grail: Mormonism's Holy Bloodline. Swanson argued that Joseph Smith was a "pure descendant" of Jesus Christ by inheriting Christ's Y-chromosome from his father, Joseph Smith, Sr., and Christ's mitochondrial DNA from his mother, Lucy Mack Smith. President M. Russell Ballard, another descendant from Joseph Smith, Sr., and Lucy Mack Smith, may have found the theory of this holy bloodline appealing. I noticed news coverage of the death of President M. Russell Ballard mention his bloodline several times. The story was told of President Ballard telling his 19-year-old missionary son, "Remember, the blood of prophets flows in your veins." A press release stated, "President Nelson said conversion, commitment and consecration 'were in [President Ballard's] blood. Can you imagine — we had the privilege of sitting beside a man who is the great great grandson of Hyrum Smith. And Joseph Smith was his great great uncle. Every day, I feel a debt of gratitude for the privilege of associating with a direct descendant of those respected and revered leaders.'" (In contrast, Hawkgrrrl wrote in January 2022, "no, I'm not impressed that you descended from so-called Mormon royalty–on the contrary, the act of pointing out your pedigree immediately makes me think less of you and your faith-based bona fides.")
Recently, several folks did deep dives on Tim Ballard's connections to end-times visionary Thom Harrison ("Spencer" from John Pontius' Visions of Glory book), connecting Ballard to the same movements that produced Mormon criminals in the news like Chad Daybell, Lori Vallow Daybell, and Jodi Hildebrandt. Generally, we're dealing with doomsday prepping, near-death experiences, communicating with entities beyond the veil (psychic mediums, ketamine-induced episodes, or Snuffer-like angelic visitations), energy healing, and Mormon variations of white Christian Nationalism. If you're excited to jump down this rabbit hole, first check out devilsravioli "Visions of a Glorious Thread" over on Reddit. Next, watch or listen to the Hidden: A True Crime and Mormon Stories podcast crossover with Lauren Matthias, Megan Connor, Mindy Caldwell, and John Dehlin: Part 1 here and Part 2 here. For relevant background, also check out my old Wheat and Tares posts on Mike Stroud (first post and second post), Julie Rowe, and President M. Russell Ballard's 2017 general conference address.
If you're still hungry for details on the Tim Ballard saga, I recommend looking at previous articles/posts/interviews of these folks: Vice News reporters Anna Merlan and Tim Marchman, investigative journalist Lauren Matthias of Hidden: A True Crime Podcast, and Reddit users Chino Blanco (a friend of the blog) and devilsravioli. You may want to also follow some of these good people on social media to keep updated on new developments.
No comments:
Post a Comment