THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE
Armstrong's Empire Exposed
by
John Tuit
(Published in 1981)
ARMSTRONG'S FEAR OF RADER!
DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER, WHILE THE VARIOUS
INDIDIVIDUALS involved with the lawsuit were busy gathering
information and preparing for when the suit would be filed, there
were things taking place behind the scenes in Pasadena that few
were aware of.
On December 4th, while Wayne Cole was out to lunch, his
secretary took a call from Garner Ted Armstrong. His message was:
"Mike Wallace has been hounding me to death, he wants me to go on
60 Minutes. I don't want to go on and I desperately have to talk
to my father about it. Wayne Cole is the only man who can get
through to my father. Please have him call me about this."
Cole, on receiving this message, felt that he should not
call Garner Ted back without first discussing it with Herbert
Armstrong.
That same afternoon, he called Armstrong at his home in
Tucson. Cole informed Armstrong of Garner Ted's call and said: "I
felt that I should ask your counsel before speaking to Ted or if
you even want me to speak to him at all." He then went on to
relay the entire message regarding Mike Wallace's persistent
efforts to get Garner Ted to appear on a 60 Minutes program. The
spectre of his son discussing his ouster on national television
apparently was sufficient to convince Armstrong that there should
be a dialogue between him and his son and he asked Wayne Cole to
be a gobetween. He said: "Wayne, I want you to give Ted the
following message: 'Ted, I had to do what I did to get the Church
back on the track. It was not a personal attack against you, but
I could not let the Church and college continue to go the way
that they were going. If you, Ted, will admit that you were wrong
in the way that you left us and all you have done, I would be
happy to see you back in the Church. I love you, Ted, very much
and do not wish to get between you and God and harm your eternal
salvation.'"
After discussing further the potentially unpleasant and
perhaps disastrous effects of Garner Ted discussing Church and
family problems on national television, Armstrong said to Cole,
"Wayne, I'm staying alive by sheer determination and struggle. I
have felt that I need to live to get this straightened out. It
would be very easy to sit down and relax, stop struggling and it
would not be very long. I do not think I could be replaced."
Cole interrupted, "Mr.Armstrong, there should never be any
thought of anyone replacing you. God has preserved your life and
we hope and pray that He will allow you to live to finish this
Work and be here when Christ returns."
(You talk about DUPT SILLY men, Cole was one of them, thinking
Herbert Armstrong would live to the coming of Christ. I had an
apartment building in the 1985 and was wanting some work to be
done, skilled work. This fellow shows up to look at what needed
to be done. he said he could not work on Saturdays. I told him no
problem, I could not have him working for me anyway on Saturday
anyway. One thing led to another. He said he belonged to the WCG.
We got into a little heaten discussion on HWA. He told me Herbert
Armstrong would take them to a "place of safety" and Christ's
return. I looked at him and said, "Now, I will tell you
something. Herbert Armstrong will be dead YEARS before Christ
returns!" With that we parted company. Next year, in 1986,
Herbert Armstrong died! The silly DUMB people [some of them with
great "worldly education"] that were up there as some of the
"top" ministers of the WCG - Keith Hunt)
Armstrong then continued, "But if He doesn't allow me to
remain that long and I have to be replaced, I guess it will be up
to you, Wayne, to try."
Whether Armstrong really meant what he said was open to
question, as he had often made the same type of statements to
many other leading ministers in the Church. And even if he felt
that way, would it be his decision? Further events would show
that more clearly.
The next day, a call came from Garner Ted. Cole told him
that he had spoken to his father and that he was asked to be a
gobetween in this father-son estrangement. He then told Garner
Ted that he had a message for him from his father. Garner Ted
replied, "How fine. I have a message for my father also, but
first let me hear the one he has for me." After hearing the
message, Garner Ted said: "That's pretty hard for me to believe
to think that he actually believes that he could get between me
and God and harm my eternal salvation. I'm absolutely horrified
at the things he's been saying about me, comparing me with Jim
Jones and inferring that I could lead people off to such a tragic
end as he did to those people down in Guyana. I'll say one thing,
though. If my father were to announce that now is the time to
sell everything and flee to a place of safety, I wouldn't be
surprised if half the people in the Church would do just that.
Give my father all of their money, show up wherever he told them
to be, and go off with him to Petra."
It was evident that Garner Ted was not about to return to
the Worldwide Church under the conditions that his father had
established. Yet in spite of the fact that he had started the
Church of God International, he so desperately wanted to be
reconciled with his father. One would wonder if he would have
gone back and if so under what conditions and what type of
compromise.
(Oh, make no mistake about it, Ted would have gone back, if Rader
was put out and he Ted was second in command again, for he would
have known it was only a matter of time, that his father would be
dead, and he would inherit the wealthy WCG - Keith Hunt)
After hearing his father's message and discussing the belief
that each thought that the other could lead a group of people off
into the wilderness as Jim Jones, he was right with his message
for his father. He said: "Wayne, I want you to give my father the
following message. 'Mike Wallace has called me repeatedly. On two
occasions I have talked with him for approximately three hours.
They have already done their homework and may do a show on the
Worldwide Church whether or not I cooperate with them. Mike
Wallace has called me a S.O.B. for not already saying I will
appear on the show. I don't really want to go on 60 Minutes, but
unless I hear from my dad then Dottie (Garner Ted's sister) and I
am going to be on the program. Whatever we've had to bear because
of my moral problems was absolutely nothing compared to what me
and others in the family had borne down through the years because
of my father'."
(Ted already knew, [when he confronted his father about it] his
father had committed incest with one of his sisters, and his
father had admitted it to him, saying "I was not always close to
God." - Keith Hunt)
With a promise from Cole to do whatever he could to urge
Herbert Armstrong to call his son, the phone call was concluded.
On that same day, Cole called Herbert Armstrong in Tucson. Cole
conveyed Garner Ted's message to his father, and Armstrong was
quite noticeably affected in an emotional way by the message. He
voiced considerable concern as to what his daughter Dottie might
want to say on 60 Minutes. Armstrong then said that he was going
to call his son and that concluded the conversation with Cole.
One may wonder why there was concern about what his daughter
Dottie might say. She was not a member of the Church, but did
receive assistance from the Church, which she considered
inadequate, in view of the fact that her husband Vern Mattson had
served faithfully as an executive during the early years of the
Church. Perhaps she would say some of the things that she had
said to others. She wondered when her father was going to get rid
of Stanley Rader and stop him from destroying the Church. She
would tell of times when her father's phone numbers were being
changed and she, his own daughter, wasn't able to call him for
long periods of time. She would tell of those lengthy periods of
time when she never heard from her father. She would tell how,
when she attempted to make him see how terribly wrong he was in
both the way he had treated his son and in the way he was so
trusting of Rader, he would get angry, refuse to continue the
discussion, and hang up on her. Finally, she would say, "I hate
to say it, but all these years the only one my father has cared
for is himself. That's really all that counts to him, just
himself. He's never really cared about the family. He doesn't
give a ---- about us and never has."
This is part of the story that Dottie Mattson would
tearfully tell to the world about her father, God's apostle. With
all of the wrong in the Worldwide Church of God, the family
tragedy is really the worst part of it, especially in light of
the fact that Herbert Armstrong has often said that the Worldwide
Church of God is the fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi 4
verses 5 and 6. He claims that his preaching is the spiritual
fulfillment of that prophecy which states: "Behold, I will send
you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the
fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." The
Church was to be a fulfillment of that prophecy, but it had
failed, and was being smitten with a curse.
(The ministry of Herbert Armstrong and the WCG was NEVER a part
of that prophecy. It was all make-believe in the mind of a man
that became a vain "lengend in his own time" mentality. And tens
of thousands believed it and figured this was God's end time
apostle who would take them to the "place of safety" and Christ's
return. Most [not all, for some did have the sense to escape]
were indeed DUMB SHEEP as Herbert used to call them - Keith Hunt)
Five days went by before there was any further contact
between Cole and Armstrong. On December 10th, Herbert Armstrong
called Wayne Cole. It turned out that he had never attempted to
contact his son and wanted further clarification on what Garner
Ted hoped could be accomplished by a call from him. Cole then
told him that it was Garner Ted's desire that the two of them
reach an agreement whereby Armstrong would cease attacking his
son constantly or else Garner Ted and Dottie were going to
cooperate with Mike Wallace and appear on 60 Minutes.
Armstrong then said, "Has Ted given any indication of the
hope of coming back into the Church?"
Cole replied, "No, he hasn't. He merely wants to discuss a
means of stopping the constant charges and allegations against
him or else, 60 Minutes. "
Armstrong then responded, "I will answer him with silence".
Armstrong was not convinced that Mike Wallace wanted Garner Ted
to appear on his program, but thought instead that his son was
attempting to convince Mike Wallace to put him on. One can only
understand Armstrong's reversal and his decision to call his son
by realizing who advised him in this matter. Armstrong said:
"Stan tells me that he has spoken to officials in CBS
headquarters and was given assurances that there would be no
comments made on their network slanderous against me or the Work.
Why, CBS has even shown interest in purchasing Quest Magazine."
Armstrong had become convinced that there would be no 60
Minutes program on the Church and, with that fear removed, no
longer saw any need to effect any reconciliation with his son.
Through all this, however, Armstrong was becoming more and
more cognizant of the fact that Rader's hold on him was getting
progressively tighter. The conversation then took a sudden turn
away from Garner Ted, and totally surprising Cole, he said:
"Wayne, I do have a problem which I would like to discuss with
you in the strictest confidence. Every time I speak anywhere Stan
Rader always wants to follow me and speak as well. I have been
told that many of our members do not appreciate this practice,
and don't know what to do about it. He always writes out his
notes and pretty well reads from them in making his comments.
Stan is a very brilliant man in many ways, but he certainly is
not an effective speaker or preacher. He has plenty of
opportunity to speak and if God were calling him into the
ministry, we would have seen his development long before now."
With a comment such as this coming from Herbert Armstrong,
Rader's motives and ultimate goal were quite apparent. Armstrong
then continued outlining a list of complaints that he had about
Rader and Rader's constant attempts to move into the limelight
and place himself in a position of authority before the people.
Armstrong continued, "If I say anything to Stan, even very
gently, about this problem, he flies into a rage and screams at
me. He is very sensitive about this. He gets into such a rage
that he is opening himself up for a demon at these times."
Armstrong indicated that he didn't have the courage to deal
with this matter directly and wanted some backup support. He
sugested that Cole have the ministry write letters to him
indicating their criticism of Rader. Cole told Armstrong he
thought such a maneuver would not work. If such a thing were done
and should Armstrong then change his mind about dealing with the
Rader problem, it was obvious that any minister who would have
written such a letter would be on the purge list. The
conversation ended with no conclusion having been reached on the
Rader problem. Cole wished him well on his coming trip to
Jerusalem.
Armstrong's trip to Jerusalem was to be his first trip out
of the country since his illness the previous year. He was
finally going for the delayed dedication of the Children's
Playground at Liberty Bell Park. Armstrong met with President
Navon, Prime Minister Begin, Mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kollek and
other top officials. The Children's Playground had been sponsored
by AICF; in other words, it was essentially paid for with
Worldwide Church of God money. Even though this money was given
for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Herbert
Armstrong has never taken the chance of offending the Israeli
leaders by preaching the Gospel or mentioning the name of Christ.
He was more interested in being known by one of his other
self-proclaimed titles, "Ambassador for World Peace." Quite a
contrast to the apostle Paul who wrote in Ephesians 6:20
regarding his approach to preaching the gospel: "For which I am
an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly, as I
ought to speak." The apostle Paul was willing to be thrown into
jail and actually had been imprisoned many times for boldly
speaking the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But Herbert Armstrong was
more impressed by the opportunity to be honored personally. He
had a dinner in his honor, the inauguration was in his honor, his
name was engraved on the name plaque at the entrance to the park.
There was a special program honoring Herbert Armstrong at the
ICCY (International Cultural Center for Youth), which is an
organization founded by Eleanor Roosevelt and Moishe Kol,
Minister of Tourism. This organization is for the purpose of
promoting better relations between Israeli and Arab youth and is
almost wholly supported by Ambassador College and the AICF. In
other words, supported by the tithe-paying members in the
Worldwide Church of God. The Gospel is not preached to these
youth, however. Armstrong was proud to have a name plaque placed
on a stone marker at the square to the ICCY Building, announcing
that it was to be called The Herbert W. Armstrong Square.
Upon conclusion of his visit to Israel, Armstrong and Rader went
to London. They arrived early in the week, with Armstrong
planning to speak that following Sabbath, December 23rd, at a
special service at the Bricket Wood Campus. Members were coming
in on special buses from various parts of Britain to hear his
special sermon. This was to be the last service at Bricket Wood
prior to the vacating of the premises completely.
On December 21st, Frank Brown, who at this time was Director
of the Church affairs in Britain, drove into London to meet
Armstrong and Rader at their hotel for breakfast. On arriving
there he was shocked to be told by the chauffeur that the entire
party had rushed off to the airport and left on the Gulfstream II
to return to the States.
Gordon Muir had received word of this sudden departure from
a friend of his who was employed at the printing facilities by
the Church in England. Gordon called me with great concern.
He said, "I'm afraid Armstrong and Rader may know about the
lawsuit. I can't think of any other reason why they would be
returning to the States so suddenly. Somehow the word seems to be
out over in England and Frank Brown seems to know about the
lawsuit. If he knows it, he must have already told Rader or
Armstrong. Jack Martin has found out from someone else over there
that Frank Brown knows about a lawsuit and also knows that I was
to the Feast at Jekyll Island and he actually asked Jack what he
knows, if anything, about the California attorney general."
We were panic-stricken. With rumors all over Pasadena, none
of them accurate but all of them in one way or another having
their original root in the truth, we were fearful that Rader may
be able to take some action to render our efforts ineffective. At
this time we didn't know any of the things that had been taking
place between Cole and Armstrong.
That same day, Frank Brown called Wayne Cole's home and told
Cole's wife about Armstrong's sudden departure. He also then told
her what he had heard about a lawsuit. Cole thought that he would
certainly hear from Armstrong upon his return, for such a sudden
change in plans must have been for a very important reason. Yet
by December 26th, Cole had not yet heard from Armstrong, so he
decided to call him and welcome him home. Strangely enough, in
that conversation Armstrong gave no reason for his sudden early
return. He bragged on for some length about his visit, his
meetings, his dinner, and all of the important people whom he had
met. Then he said that now that he had seen Begin, he was
planning to see Sadat in Cairo in February and then in April was
planning to go to Japan.
Coming events were soon to cause him to cancel his trip to
Cairo and postpone his trip to Japan. It does seem very strange,
however, that Armstrong would constantly make this three point
circuit, Israel, Egypt and Japan. Many of his trips to these
countries seemed to coincide with a time that negotiations may
have been going on at higher diplomatic levels regarding the
Arab/Israeli peace initiatives, energy problems, etc. Could there
be something more than meets the eye here?
Cole continued his conversation with Armstrong, telling him
about the continued and increasing concern on the part of many
ministers and members regarding Rader. Armstrong replied, "I'm
afraid so, that's a problem to me Wayne, and I want to talk
privately to you about it." Armstrong then said that Rader wanted
to bring lawsuits against Garner Ted and also that he wanted to
disfellowship John Schroeder, an employee in Britain who said
that he had heard rumors about the lawsuit and about Rader, but
refused to disclose the source of the rumor.
Of significance here is the fact that Armstrong made no
mention of their early return or their reason for it, and was
complaining about Rader. This conversation, of course, proves
that Armstrong, or at least Rader, knew about the lawsuit rumor,
and it would also indicate that Rader sensed an urgency to
return. He apparently felt that it was important to return to
Pasadena to nail down the source of the rumor that John Schroeder
had heard.
He was to be unsuccessful and remained unprepared for the
events soon to occur. The fact that Rader, who is not a minister,
felt that he could even suggest the removal of someone from the
Church to Herbert Armstrong would indicate the true position of
power this man actually holds. (In the present tense of 1981 as
rader had not yet been thrown out of the WCG, when Tuit wroye
this book - Keith Hunt)
Armstrong, continuing on the subject of Rader, then said,
"It's quite a problem because he keeps boring in all the time. He
is one who can just lose his temper and fly into a rage, and I
don't want to upset him. When he gets angry with me he threatens
to bring lawsuits against the Church. He says that he will tell
the world what he knows. I don't know what he knows, I don't know
what he can do to harm the Work, but that's what he said he will
do."
Discussing the matter further Cole said, "My concern is that
he is in too prominent a position in leadership in the Work and
that seems to be the biggest concern that we have coming in."
Armstrong interrupted, "That's right, and he is deliberately
trying to put himself there. I don't know. I don't want to think
that anyone has their eyes on 50, 60, 70 million dollars a year,
but that is quite a magnet, you know."
Armstrong then continued voicing his concern for Rader's
constant desire to continue the public dispute with Garner Ted.
Armstrong referred to Garner Ted's public allegations that his
wife Ramona had been giving sexual favors to Rader and to other
men, and said that he felt the best answer for that was one of
silence.
At the very time that we were about to file our lawsuit in
the hopes of saving the Church from total destruction through
corruption and self-dealing, Armstrong was on the verge of at
least partially removing what we considered to be the main source
of the problem, Stanley Rader. Through the evening of December
26th, Cole prepared a lengthy letter outlining all of the
concerns throughout the Church regarding Rader. The following
day, he discussed it with Dr.Herman Hoeh, one of the evangelists
and a professor at Ambassador College. Hoeh indicated that Cole's
response to Armstrong regarding Rader was in order, and appeared
to agree with it.
(Hermon Hoeh was another "nut-case" like Gerlad Waterhouse, maybe
not any where near like Waterhouse, as he was not a gifted
speaker. When the WCG disintergrated in about 1993/94 Hoeh
finally disappeared into the dust with some "Eatern" religion -
Keith Hunt)
On December 28th, Cole flew to Tucson to meet with Herbert
Armstrong and hand deliver his letter to him. The letter was a
written confirmation of all the facts that they had discussed on
their previous phone conversations. After reading the letter
Armstrong said, "Wayne, I don't believe that Stan is really
converted enough to understand the love that you have expressed
for the Church in your letter. He is the most powerful person in
the Work now. He not only speaks from the position he occupies,
but also speaks with my authority which he uses as he wishes.
Why, he even uses my underground garage and private elevator to
the office, and I don't like that."
One may wonder if Armstrong is truly concerned about Rader's
honesty and integrity or if his anger was caused more by Rader's
presumptuous use of Armstrong's exclusive facilities.
Armstrong continued to Cole, "Yes, Wayne, I know that I must
remove Stan from all executive and administrative responsibility.
He's giving the impression that he's trying to take over the
Work. I must do something to stop that."
Having heard more rumors about a lawsuit, Cole thought that
he should bring up the subject. He told Armstrong that he had
heard sufficient rumors from various sources to believe that
there may be some substance to them. He said, however, that
according to Ralph Helge, a member of the Church and law partner
of Stanley Rader's, such rumors were just rumors with no basis in
fact as there was no way any kind of a lawsuit could be brought
against the Church. Of course, some of the rumors that Cole had
to go on were a result of the delicate spoon-feeding of
information that he had been receving from Robert Kuhn so that it
would not be a total shock to him when it occurred. In spite of
the fact that this entire matter between Cole and Armstrong was
for the purpose of discussing the removal of Rader from executive
and administrative positions, Armstrong's first reaction was,
"I'm going to have to talk to Stan about this."
Would Armstrong really be able to release himself from
Rader, when at the first sign of alarm, his immediate reaction
would be to "call Stan"? Armstrong wanted to know what kind of
claim the suit was going to mention, and in spite of the fact
that Cole really didn't know, Armstrong continued to press on
that point. Cole then mentioned one rumor that he had heard
regarding the fact that Rader on a trip to Monte Carlo rented a
large yacht at a cost of $3,000 per day for several days. All of
this was paid for by the Church. Armstrong then remembered such a
yacht and that he in fact had had a cruise on it and also had
dinner on board. Armstrong and Cole prayed about the entire
situation and then Cole left to Armstrong's parting words:
"Wayne, if you see Stan taking over the Work, I will expect that
you will stand up and fight."
The next day Armstrong phoned Cole and wanted to know more
about the possibility of a suit being filed over yacht expenses.
He was very disturbed about such a possibility. Armstrong said,
"I remember we rented a big boat, a two-story boat with a full
crew. I'd gone on it for only one cruise for one day and then had
dinner on board. Ramona, Stan and others spent more time on board
than I did. Maybe if that is going to be a problem, I should
write a personal check for $30,000 and send it into the office to
reimburse the Work for the expenses of the yacht." Cole indicated
that he didn't think that was necessary and should not react to
rumor, so Armstrong did not send any check in.
It's interesting to note that Armstrong was fully aware that
the yacht was used only for personal purposes, strictly pleasure,
and was willing to reimburse the Church for the $30,000 only if
it were the source of a problem. As long as it seemed there would
be no problem over such an expenditure, he appeared to have no
guilt about not reimbursing the Church for the expense.
(And Wayne Cole was still a "yes man" to HWA. For a short time
Wayne Cole did finally come over to Ted and the CGI, but did not
stay long [probably knew Ted better than most] and he also
disappeared into the dust. Well most if not all of those top WCG
ministers needed to do that - disappear into the dust and never
be heard from again - Keith Hunt)
At about this same time, I had heard that there was a
possibility that Armstrong might be successful in removing Rader
from his position of prominence. There was a possibility, I was
told, that Rader would be put on the AICF payroll only and that
he would remain an advisor to Herbert Armstrong, but have no
other executive duties in the Church.
In discussing this with Gordon Muir, Gordon said, "Maybe you
should not have bothered with the lawsuit. It looks like
everything may be getting taken care of anyway." We discussed it
somewhat and finally agreed that just the presence of Rader, no
matter what his official position, was still dangerous. To have
him in an official position of lower authority, as a sop to the
members and ministers who were complaining about him, could
actually make him more dangerous. In such a position, he would
not be recognized as one having any official authority, yet he
would still have his influence and control over Herbert
Armstrong, though not in an obvious way. I felt confident that no
matter what, we had to proceed, and in fact even if we didn't
want to proceed, there was nothing we could do about it at this
time, as the entire situation was in the hands of the Attorney
General's office. As each day went by, we were anxiously awaiting
word as to when the suit would be actually filed. Each day seemed
to bring the words "Maybe tomorrow."
On January 2, 1979 Cole received a call at his office from
Armstrong, who asked him to go to a private phone and call back.
Armstrong said, "I don't want this call to be overheard by
eavesdroppers". Although Church officials were later to deny that
phones were tapped at the Church headquarters, Armstrong's very
own comment in that regard and his concern for privacy would
indicate that he was quite aware that the phones were not
private. Armstrong then said that he had written a letter to
Rader, and proceeded to read it to Cole. In the letter he
outlined to Rader the concern that many have about Rader trying
to take over the Church. He said: "But you are pushing yourself
into taking over. People do look on you as an attorney,
experienced in finance, etc., but not as a minister and shepherd
over God's people. So what I propose is that you resign from the
administrative positions in the Church and college, but continue
in the AICF and as personal assistant and advisor to me."
Armstrong then asked Cole if he knew what Rader's salary
was, to which Cole responded, "No, I've heard rumors but I don't
really know what the figure is." Armstrong didn't reply directly
at the time, but went on to state that he thought it was best to
have Rader retained as financial and legal advisor to the Church
at a figure of $75,000 per year, plus fees for additional
services, and then put Rader on the payroll of the AICF at a
$100,000 a year. Armstrong then said, "That's the total then of
what he gets in salary." Armstrong then went on to explain that
the $100,000 salary from AICF could be kept confidential and that
no one need know anything about it. Armstrong said to Cole, "Keep
this quiet, as I want it to look as though Stan volunteered to
resign. I don't want it to be known that he actually triggered
it. If Stan doesn't volunteer, then I will force it. There's no
turning back now."
Armstrong then went into a discussion about changes in
membership on the Board of Directors. He mentioned the names of
some individuals that he would remove and others that he would
install on the board. He said, "I can put people on and off the
board as I wish. It's really been a dummy board up to now." In
making this statement, he confirmed what Robert Kuhn had told us
at the offices of Cohn and Lifland earlier and also confirmed
that the organization was operating in violation of the law under
which it was chartered which calls for an elected board.
While these calls between Armstrong and Cole were taking
place, we were becoming very uneasy wondering when the complaint
would be filed. It seemed that as we drew toward the end of the
year, each day the story from Chodos was that it would be another
day or so. We just hoped and prayed that the suit would be filed
before anyone would be able to confirm the rumors of the
impending action. Earl Timmons had been telling me that Chodos
was going to let him know in advance in order that Earl may show
the court officials locations of various offices at Church
headquarters. This would be necessary, as the Attorney General
was going to attempt to have the judge rule in favor of an "ex
parte" receivership. A receivership of this type is one that is
imposed without any advance notice to the parties involved. This
was an important factor as it was felt that should any advance
notice be given to the defendants, they would have time to shred
and dispose of sensitive documents and evidence. We were on pins
and needles waiting day by day, moment by moment.
.......................
To be continued with "The Raid"
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