To Episcopal Church Leadership: Preservation of Evidence Request

Email sent to: sjones@episcopalchurch.org, bishopmarc@diocal.org, ea@diocal.org. Cc:  matt@saint-marks.com, info@saint-marks.com. Date: July 28, 2023 at 1:07 PM

Re:  ATTN:  The Most Reverend Michael Curry and the Right Reverend Marc Andrus

To Presiding Bishop Curry and Right Reverend Andrus:

I write to you both on behalf of Reverend Matt McDermott of St. Mark's Palo Alto, California.

Please be aware that this communication is sent to you at my own initiative and without Reverend McDermott's advance knowledge, though I am copying St. Mark''s on this email.

Please be apprised that a copy of this communication will be shared with the Office of the Inspector General Hotline of the U.S. Department of Justice and with the Office of the Honorable Avril Haines, Director of ODNI.

Reverend McDermott has announced his retirement from the spiritual leadership of St. Mark's, but it has come to my attention that this impending departure is not of his own volition.

In point of fact, his retirement is being coerced by a corrupt FBI agent by the name of Txx Lxxxx, who first approach Reverend McDermott in 2021 with an offer of CVE (Countering Violent Extremism) funds through Infragard (the civilian arm of the FBI) in return for what appeared to be an eminently reasonable request to report to Mr. Lxxxx any suspicious behavior on the part of St. Mark's congregants.

In 2021, Reverend McDermott had spent twenty-six years building a trustful and resilient faith community at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and he did not expect to be reporting the presence of any "extremists" in his Church.  Accordingly, he signed informant and secrecy agreements extended to him by Mr. Lxxxx, no doubt with the approval of the Episcopal Diocese of California.

Soon after these forms were signed, Mr. Lxxxx' demeanor changed.  Instead of the eminently reasonable federal law enforcement officer he had presented himself to be at the outset, he now demanded a falsified witness statement from Reverend McDermott concerning a particular parishioner who happened also to be serving as a whistleblower of FBI malfeasance in the form of the agency's perpetration of knowingly falsified law enforcement reporting against law-abiding Americans.

That whistleblower is none other than I myself.

Reverend McDermott expressed to Mr. Lxxxx his unwillingness to lie about a parishioner.  After I left St. Mark's due to my concerns over the pressure Reverend McDermott was experiencing, he held his ground by explaining to Mr. Lxxxx that he was also unwilling to lie about a former parishioner.

At that point, Mr. Lxxxx threatened Reverend McDermott, delineating for him the manner in which his career and personal life could be ruined if he did not comply with arbitrary FBI demands.  Mr. Lxxxx explained a portion of the FBI's unconstitutional "target of interest" program to Reverend McDermott, the initiative about which the Office of the Inspector General Hotline of the U.S. Department of Justice is currently conducting an investigation.  He explained that, if Reverend McDermott did not comply with Mr. Lxxxx' demands, he himself would be rendered a "target of interest," after which a number of staff and congregants would be coerced to file false witness statements about him as the spiritual leader of their own parish.

Still, Reverend McDermott held to his principles and declined to lie at Mr. Lxxxx' directive.  Further, Reverend McDermott may have returned some or all of the CVE funds that Mr. Lxxxx had originally extended to St. Mark's under false pretenses.

Now, nearly two years later, it appears that wayward FBI agent Txx Lxxxx has followed through with his initial threat.  Reverend McDermott has himself been wrongfully designated a "target of interest," just as I was wrongfully designated a "target of interest" before him.

The harassment, harms and false reporting that have resulted from Mr. Lxxxx' malfeasance are now leading Reverend McDermott to resign from his own church community, just as they forced me to leave St. Mark's, although I considered this my spiritual home.

This is wrong.

The false witness statements aggregated by Txx Lxxxx are wrong.  The fake photos meant to bolster those accounts are wrong.  The AI-generated films and fake messaging meant to "prove" malfeasance on the part of "targets of interest" are wrong.

The sanctity of the Episcopal Church must take a stand against far right factions of the FBI which are attempting systematically to disrupt, discredit and divide communities of worship.

These unscrupulous FBI initiatives are not limited to the Episcopal Church, nor to the Christian faith at this point in American history.  Rather, they are broadly targeting all faith communities which serve as a bulwark against autocratic aims.

The Episcopal Church took a strong stand after former president Donald Trump ordered that peaceful protesters within LaFayette Square be tear gassed, following which he marched to the front of Trinity Church with an upside-down Bible in one hand and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs standing beside him.

So, it is possible that the Episcopal Church has been singled out by the far right for "compliance testing" and "civilian pacification" programs. (It is perhaps necessary to explain that the "civilian pacification" programs of the FBI are not peaceful.)

What I will observe is this:

We are immensely fortunate in having a Commander-in-Chief in President Joseph R. Biden who understands the sources of the far right's bid for autocracy and, further, who is doing everything humanly possible to warn the American public about the "insider threat" to our democratic norms.

In addition, the Office of the Inspector General Hotline of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Honorable Avril Haines of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are laboring diligently to illuminate the threat posed by far right segments of the FBI to our civil liberties and human rights.

The techniquies being employed by far right factions of the FBI to co-opt religious communities at this time are identical to those utilized by the Nazis in the 1930's and 40's.  Initial offers of support and funding masked a treacherous intention to unmake Germany's Christian churches altogether, as described in this New York Times article outlining extensive documentation gathering in advance of the Nuremberg Trials:

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/13/weekinreview/word-for-word-case-against-nazis-hitler-s-forces-planned-destroy-german.html

Further information about the FBI's forays into undermining Muslim faith communities within the U.S. can be found within Michael German's excellent book, "Disrupt, Discredit and Divide:  How the New FBI Damages Democracy" under the chapters "Disrupting Muslim Civil Society" and "Scapegoating Muslim American Communities."

Please consider this letter to constitute a formal preservation of evidence request concerning all communications between the FBI and the Episcopal Church leadership regarding compensation, through CVE funds or otherwise, extended to Church staff and congregants as "witness informants."  Beyond this, all demands for falsified witness statements to be signed by Episcopal clergy and/or Episcopal congregants should be thoroughly documented.  The cell phone devices belonging to the Episcopal community and containing direct communications from FBI personnel should not be destroyed as the FBi often instructs informants to do -- but rather, consciously preserved for any investigative requirements.

Beyond this, I respectfully request your immediate intervention on behalf of Reverend Matt McDermott and his family.

Reverend McDermott's resignation should not be accepted by the Diocese of California at this time.  It it has been accepted, that decision should be rescinded.

Rather, a thorough investigation of this matter by the Office of the Inspector General Hotline of the U.S. Department of Justice should be allowed the necessary time to be conducted.  The Episcopal Church may understandably desire to undertake its own investigation of this matter in the interests of preserving the independence and sanctity of the Episcopal Church, both within the United States and worldwide.

Outreach to other Christian denominations, and, indeed, other faith communities, would be highly appropriate under these circumstances.  People of faith, goodwill, and integrity remain strong when they stand together.

The fortitude of the Episcopal Church relies, as all American faith communities rely, on the separation of Church and State.

No federal official should be demanding falsified witness statements from Church clergy.  No federal official should be demanding secrecy about those unlawful directives from Church clergy.  And no federal official should be demanding from Church clergy or congregants lists of names of "suspicious" parishioners on a "quota" basis.

These all stand as hallmarks of the totalitarian abyss -- one which world history has witnessed a sufficient number of times to now prevent.

Our democracy depends upon our willingness to defend one another's civil liberties and human rights as vigorously as we would defend our own.

The Episcopal Church has an important role to play in this defense.

It is my hope that you will engage most immediately in this cause by requesting that Reverend Matt McDermott delay his resignation until such time as the necessary investigations into this matter can be conducted in their entirety.  After that, the choice regarding Reverend McDermott's leadership of St. Mark's should be returned to his independent deliberation and free will.

In the meantime, I respectfully suggest a formal moratorium on all witness reports supplied to the FBI about Episcopal clergy and Episcopal congregants.

Thank you for your attention to this critical matter of preserving the sanctity of our invaluable communities of worship.

In Christ,

Lane MacWilliams

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The FBI is a deeply divided agency.  There are many FBI employees who view their vows to the Constitution with the utmost seriousness and honor, and who strive to defend the fundamentals of our democracy with courage, fortitude and commitment.  The fact that some segments of the FBI appear to have embraced a lawless course is not a justification to assail the FBI in general.  As President Joseph R. Biden has so rightly expressed, violence is never justified in any circumstance.  The rule of law must always be honored and upheld.  It is our shared determination to preserve the civil liberties and human rights of all Americans that renders the United States a democracy.  We must never abandon this promise. All of our most cherished freedoms depend upon it.

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