Like past hits, such as Illegitimate First Presidency and the Miracle Making of President Nelson, RFM dismantles something complicated and takes the listener on a step by step journey through the evidence. In this case, a decades-long conspiracy, choreographed by the First Presidency, to commit federal criminal acts -- fraud -- in service of secrecy, a purely selfish and fear-based goal.
"Brazen," is my one word digest of the evidence explored in this 3+ hour podcast.
Unlike so many of the "messy" incidents in church history, this criminal conspiracy is recent and astonishingly well-documented. There are no "outs" for interpretation of facts or the law. Church devised a scheme and chose to break the law. Zero ifs ands or buts.
In summary: take an organization which is allergic to transparency (LDS church), put it in a place which demands transparency (the stock market), and what do you get? The answer: on the surface, you get circles within circles of cunning lip service to the law. Beneath the surface, simple fraud.
Stunning episode, RFM!
At one point in this episode, RFM reads the "warning" on the SEC forms at issue:
Wow! Who in their right mind would mess with that? And yet, under FP approval, Ensign Peak made tens of thousands of intentional misstatements and omissions of facts on documents with that warning. For more than 2 decades.ATTENTION-- Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Out of curiosity, I looked up 18 U.S.C. 1001. It reads:
If the church hadn't settled, people could have gone to jail.18 U.S.C. 1001 wrote: (a)Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1)falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2)makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3)makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001
Serious stuff, girls and boys. I have seen quite a few apologetics put forth to justify or absolve church leaders of any wrongdoing in this matter. Such as: it was like a speeding ticket, or, they got bad legal advice. Wrong, and wrong. The facts DO NOT support these apologetics, and it isn't close.
The evidence found during a 5 year investigation is damning as hell and shows a brazen conspiracy to break the law while giving pathetic lip service to the law.
So what? I was thinking about this today - what happens next? Well, on one hand, the material and context may be harder for many to appreciate than, say, Joseph's polygamy or institutional racism or the Book of Abraham. So maybe, at most, this issue is a slow burner. But the facts and evidence are just so completely at odds with notions of "complying with the law" as reiterated by the First Presidency so frequently. I think more people will begin to understand this issue, with all of its complexity and nuance, like a picking at festering scab. As more people do, more will realize the facts here are way, way worse than the church made them sound. I believe it will break a lot of shelves in the long run.
