Useful Idiots

It turns out that Chris Hansen over at SEDM has taken offense to being called a Sell Out and has written a rebuttal to my last article which he posted on the SEDM website. Hansen claims that he never turned over his customer records.

After digging a little deeper, I think he’s telling the truth. Mea culpa. That said, I'm rather certain the reason is one that Hansen will not be happy to hear.

On December 13, 2006 the US District Court issued an amended Order that included the following command:

"Within 21 days of the date this Order is stamped "Filed," Defendant shall produce to the United States all records in his possession, custody, or control or to which he has access that identify the names, addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers (or employer identification numbers) of persons or entities who purchased any of Defendant's products." [Amended Order]

The government motioned the court to hold Hansen in contempt for non-compliance with the December Order. In its brief, the government stated that Hansen sent them a 200+ page document with his reasons for not obeying the Court's Order and that he failed to turn over his customer list. (Motion for Contempt, p. 2).

The document trail ends here. We don't know how the court ruled on the government's motion to hold Hansen in contempt and it's impossible to know if Hansen ultimately turned over his customer records or not. One thing we do know is that the information the government initially attempted to suppress with the injunction remains online. Kudos to you, Mr. Hansen, for fighting the good fight.

But there's more to this story...

The government's brief to hold Hansen in contempt also states, Hansen "is continuing to offer and sell products that are designed to encourage and assist customers to violate the tax laws and that interfere with the administration and enforcement of those laws. Rather than obey the Order, Hansen is conducting business as usual." (Motion for Contempt, p. 3).

This got me thinking. By the time the injunction was issued in December 2006, the Department of Justice had already showed that it can forcibly seize and take down websites on many occasions. Why didn't they exercise this power and take down the SEDM or Fam Guardian websites?

Going a Little Deeper

Attached to the government's Motion for Summary Judgment (which was granted), is the Declaration of Shauna Henline. In her Declaration, Ms. Henline states,

"5. Since April 2003, when my position was created, the IRS has identified and referred to the Ogden FRP [Frivolous Return Program] at least 155 frivolous returns, claims and correspondence received from taxpayers associated with Chris Hansen, The Family Guardian or the Sovereignty Education Defense Ministry (SEDM). Attached to the materials received from these taxpayers are documents that identify Hansen, the Family Guardian or SEDM as the source or author."

"10. Audits have been completed for 72 of Hansen's customers, resulting in additional tax assessments of $1,049,654 (or an average of $14,578 per customer). This amount does not include interest and penalties." (Motion of Summary Judgment, p. 632).

And there it is folks!

The IRS doesn't need Hansen to turn over his customer records in order to identify his customers! And the government doesn't need to shut his websites down because they do better with him selling his products and spreading his (mis)information.

To be fair, Hansen has compiled some useful information, but the thousands of pages of his verbose material will almost certainly result in more confusion than clarity for his readers. I don't agree with many of his conclusions and certainly not the "state national" position he clings to for dear life, even when it has failed him in court. Furthermore, it's evident that what he's pushing has not worked for those who have used it.

In the end, although Hansen's efforts are creating a bit more work for the foreign thieves, the IRS is still handsomely compensated for it and they now know how to identify people using his information.

The same goes for Pete Hendrickson and the Cracking the Code (CtC) fraudulent filings that the IRS can also identify. Hendrickson is the author of the best-selling book, Cracking the Code: The Fascinating Truth About Taxation In America. Both Hendrickson and his wife have spent years in the gray-bar hotel as a result of filing the CtC returns that he teaches in his book. After his release, Hendrickson is still preaching the same message, operating his website and selling his books.

Even today, people are still filing returns using the CtC method. It's not uncommon for these people to get a refund check from the IRS. Hendrickson boasts more than a thousand successes on his website, going as far as to show pictures of refund checks received from his readers. The only problem is that a year or two later, they receive a Notice from the IRS demanding that they amend their return or face a $5,000 frivolous filing penalty. Hendrickson has first-hand knowledge that what he teaches results in fines and possibly jail time. He is certainly one paytri-idiot that has no moral compass.

Hansen and Hendrickson aren’t the only useful idiots out there. Every law ‘guru’ talking about revocation of election, unlimited money, changing your status to be a “state national”, “I’m the creditor”, "I’m a beneficiary” or “I'm one of the sovereign People” and anything else I might have missed, they’re all useful idiots.

The moral of the story: Beware of the useful idiot, for he is a government agent, although he doesn’t know it.

For anyone interested in reading Hansen’s rebuttal you can do so here.

Until next time...