OIG Hotline, I believe that Reverend Matt McDermott has an important role to play in addressing the issue of the FBI's constitutional violations in undermining religious communities. His interfaith relationships are well-developed, and he would be extremely well-placed to address this issue both within the bounds of the Episcopal Church and beyond, in addressing the leadership of other faith communities.
I believe the St. Mark's congregation should ask him to stay and fulfill this important role, for St. Mark's and for many others.
Accordingly, I have written an open letter to the congregation of St. Mark's, copying it to our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, in the hope of persuading this virtuous man to take on this critical role.
Most sincerely,
Lane MacWilliams
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Email sent to: info@saint-marks.com, matt@saint-marks.com. cc: sjones@episcopalchurch.org. From: lanemacwilliams@gmail.com. Date: July 30, 2023 at 3:05 PM
Re: An Open Letter to the Congregation of St. Mark's Episcopal Church
St. Mark's staff: Please forward this communication to the St. Mark's congregation immediately.
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An Open Letter to the Congregation of St. Mark's Episcopal Church:
I regret that I was prevented from speaking to you directly this morning during the announcements at St. Mark's. It had been my desire, and, indeed, my intention, to thank Reverend McDermott publicly for what has been his courageous and ethical stance over the last 21 months under exceptionally difficult circumstances.
Because I was asked to express my sentiments to the entirety of the congregation in writing, I am doing so herewith. This is, I believe, information the St. Mark's congregation needs to have access to -- and, further, it may be information that only I am capable of providing.
Twenty-one months ago, I came to Reverend McDermott with a request for guidance concerning a problem. I had, quite accidentally, stumbled across an issue of extensively falsified law enforcement reporting within local and federal law enforcement concerning law abiding American citizens.
The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative and the "target of interest" program, which draw billions in Congressional budget appropriations yearly, have incorporated broadly falsified reporting. Those law-abiding Americans who are being unjustly surveilled and harmed under their auspices number above three million. Democrats, journalists, women, and people of color are over-represented among this group. Freedom of Information Act requests extended by this population are currently returned by the FBI as blank reports.
Falsified witness statements, fake photos, AI-generated films co-opting the likeness of "targets of interest," fake messaging and falsely attributed DNA, edited and misattributed audio recordings -- all of these means were and are being utilized to implicate law-abiding American citizens of wrongdoing. The objectives appeared to be -- as they still appear to be -- anti-democratic in nature. In other words, through the FBI's corruption of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative and its affiliated "target of interest" program, the far right intended to effect an autocratic system of governance through means concealed from the American public.
After I consulted with Reverend McDermott about this problem, he himself was approached by a corrupt FBI agent by the name of Txx Lxxxx, who initially appeared to be credible and upstanding in every regard. Mr. Lxxxx requested that Reverend McDermott "help to keep American safe" by accepting funds from the FBI designated as CVE monies (Countering Violent Extremism). He was asked to serve as a witness informant on the chance any parishioners seemed to pose a risk to others. And he was asked to sign a secrecy agreement, preventing him from discussing this matter with staff and congregants of St. Mark's due to "national security concerns."
Having grown a trustful and honest congregation at St. Mark's over the prior twenty-six years, Reverend McDermott did not believe that he would have any occasion to call a parishioner to the attention of federal authorities.
So, with the permission of the Diocese, he signed the agreements extended to him by Tom Lxxxx.
Almost immediately, Mr. Lxxxx' demeanor changed. He demanded that Reverend McDermott file false witness statements against me as an FBI whistleblower. Reverend McDermott declined to do so.
Mr. Lxxxx threatened Reverend McDermott with harassment, harm, harm to his family members, and the loss of his position at St. Mark's.
Still, Reverend McDermott declined to lie at the behest of this corrupt federal law enforcement officer.
For this ethical stance in my defense, Reverend McDermott has been persecuted by corrupt members of the FBI, Tom Lxxxx foremost among them.
Good people of St. Mark's, Reverend Matt McDermott is the most worthy spiritual leader this congregation could hope to have.
You will find no replacement for his goodness, his steadfast faith while under threat, his fortitude and grace under the most difficult circumstances imaginable.
I have written to the Presiding Bishop Michael concerning this issue, and I include that document below.
I respectfully ask that this congregation, in light of this information, come together to discuss this issue in depth. I offer my assistance in illuminating this challenge to St. Mark's faith community on an immediate basis.
I believe that Reverend Matt McDermott should be asked by all of us to remain Rector of St. Mark's at this time.
It is my profound and heartfelt sense that he has the capacity to illuminate the wrongful attempt by the FBI to co-opt religious communities for anti-democratic purposes.
The Episcopal Church in general, and St. Mark's in particular, possesses the capacity to define the Church as a Sanctuary which disallows the bearing of false witness. The Church's principles of truthfulness and integrity may be determined to supersede those dictates of corrupt FBI initiatives, and prior informant agreements and secrecy agreements may be rendered nullified by the Church's authority. Individual church communities, such as St. Mark's, possess the freedom to determine that their religious ethics are more important than corrupt federal law enforcement initiatives of the far right -- and to engage in civil disobedience in rejecting those corrupt initiatives.
I have spent quite a bit of time in understanding the problem of the far right's attempts to unmake our democracy through unjust and clandestine means. The FBI and its affiliates have created a Gordian Knot for our society, which I believe the Church can -- through faithful community and collaborative effort -- untie.
Reverend Matt McDermott is capable of doing so, with our help. Further, if he can do so for St. Mark's, he can lead the way for other Episcopal churches to untie their own Gordian Knots as well. Beyond this, there are interfaith needs to address the manner in which religious communities can remain intact in the face of the FBI's unjust encroachments. Reverend McDermott is capable of being a leader in all of these settings, and our nation needs him to do so.
This virtuous man has stood in defense of me. This is our moment to stand in defense of him.
Good people of St. Mark's, do you remember the parable Reverend McDermott told us this morning about the man who, in search of a perfect community, had an angel turn his shoes toward home while he slept?
Help me to turn the shoes of this honorable man toward home.
I ask that the Church call on me to facilitate further discussions regarding this matter.
I remain yours in Christ,
Lane MacWilliams
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To: sjones@episcopalchurch.org
To Presiding Bishop Curry:
I write to you 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 Tom 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 Tom 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 techniques 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:
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."
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