PART IV:  INVESTIGATING THE FEDS

Chapter 4:  How is Business?

 

Finding office space in 2005 was a daunting task with rates doubling or tripling versus the advertised rate.  Perhaps the online chat I had about putting our local gay bar out of business with the response of “you think like me” would have been a clue Homeland Security was sabotaging my entrepreneurial efforts.  Regardless, business was not good.  In February of 2006, after I gave Kay one of my direct mail pieces upon request after a progressive organization’s event, a man named Mason said, “Don’t worry.  I’ll make sure they never leave the post office.” 

 

I was somewhat stunned, but given the statistical improbability of not receiving a single phone call or email after thousands of dollars in advertising, I eventually understood that there was a force of some kind against me beyond my difficulties in finding office space.  The progressive organization had a handful of members, including Kay, and its mission included educating voters.

 

Over Memorial Day weekend in 2006, my partner and I went on a primitive camping trip in Hoosier National Forest.  I overheard John, the agent I gave a “DOJ style” interview with at our local gay bar, say that the managers had decided that I either became an agent or I would go to jail.  That seemed ridiculous to me at the time, but they would become proactive in destroying my reputation and career. 

 

As my business was not thriving, in June of 2006 I decided to look for additional work or a full time job.  My search was short lived as a result of my interview with a Robert Half division.  The interview went very well, and Kim really liked my portfolio.  However, Homeland Security sent an agent into the office.  He sat next to me while I was taking my skill assessment tests, and he waited at the front desk with me until I left.

 

I am unsure if he told them I was under government protection or under investigation, but despite a solid interview, Kim became very nervous and shook while telling me she loved my work and would be in touch.  Despite my follow-up, I never heard back.  I found it odd that protection meant I was not able to earn a living, but that was my naivety in not realizing I was under investigation and one of Homeland Security’s tactics is to bankrupt their suspect.

 

As our finances continued to get worse, and employment was out of question, refinancing the house was our best option to eliminate credit card debt and finish home renovations.  The loan went through in August after Brady, a new employee at the credit union, was removed from the equation as a result of nearly missing our close date.  Not returning our phone calls, in conjunction with my ill received warning of getting Brady terminated if the loan did not go through, confirmed deliberate foul play.

 

In 2007, the objectives of different groups of agents became evident as Homeland Security became more aggressive.  I purchased several months of advertising to kick off the year in a law journal having a vertical niche of custom and pre-made websites for attorneys.  After leaving the appointment, I could see the frustration on the faces of agents on the forty minute drive home.  They showed the same frustration when I appeared to have an inside track for a job at Ernst & Young, but they were somehow able to make this marketing campaign fail as it was statistically impossible to not receive a single phone call or email. 

 

A January sales meeting with a retail store owner ended with the promise to generate and deliver a proposal.  Unfortunately, the owner was not present upon delivery of the proposal and did not return follow-up attempts.  Perhaps he realized who I was after seeing me in person and my reputation preceded me, or Homeland Security could have been sabotaging business leads.

 

Because local businesses were not jumping up and down for my web or print design services, I closed the local office.  I moved all advertising to cover two different metropolitan areas for 2007, and I set up a virtual office in one of the largest cities beginning in November of 2006.  Beyond providing ample office usage time, they also offered mail forwarding and phone answering services.  Strangely, there was only one person who answered phones when I signed the lease, yet a woman by a different name answered calls for my business.  I did not think much of it at the time, but despite thousands of dollars in advertising, my phone never rang as a result.  Either the secretary was not answering or forwarding my calls, or there was another issue.

 

Near the end of January, my partner decided to perform a test alarm on our Brinks home alarm system.  The test failed as the alarm system did not contact Brinks utilizing our telephone line, so he made an appointment with a Brinks service technician.  Despite not finding an issue with the alarm system itself, the technician did replace the battery.  He also checked the phone connection, and he wrote, “All ok for line seizure” on the service order.

 

In April of 2007, we purchased a new multifunction printer, copier, fax, and scanner which also had a phone with an LCD display on the main unit in addition to the phone’s display.  We noticed that the main unit’s display would show “Ext. Tel in Use” in random intervals, and I would realize in 2008 that our phone line would not have a dial tone on a relatively frequent basis.  In doing research into surveillance technologies including something called an “Infinity Device,” I finally realized that “External Telephone in Use” is a key indicator of phone line seizure for remote surveillance without having to install monitoring equipment onsite.

 

The lack of phone activity for business was likely attributed to our phone line being seized.  Sometimes I would turn the phone on and off until a dial tone returned, and other times I would leave the phone on until the phone line would sound the alarm of the phone being off of the hook.  Sometimes the phone would quit ringing at a half ring, and other times I would answer the phone to hear the same silence without dial tone for several minutes after the phone would ring.  Thus, beyond having the ability to listen to our conversations and activities within our home, they would also have the ability to redirect inbound phone calls.

 

Despite the phone line discovery, the phone did begin ringing after I had phone calls routed direct instead of through a secretary in August of 2007.  I could assume the secretary was not passing calls through as a result, but this could also be attributed to less line seizure activity.  However, I did overhear an individual commenting on his telephone in December of 2007 about how much political influence I had while at our local farmer’s market.  He noted that they should remove their equipment from our house.  Our living room and kitchen were a hotbed for entrapping Homeland Security agents listening to our conversations, and the phone was usually in the office.

 

I did find items that looked as if they may be listening devices in my car and at home that looked like plastic photo film, yet they were black and rectangular.  I could best describe them as flat computer chips made of plastic, and they had adhesion tape to hold them in place.  It is likely they were for surveillance as I had never seen anything similar, but unfortunately I did not save them for proof because I was not expecting foul play at that time.

 

There were several solid business leads from my advertising after the virtual office phone line rang direct, but I only received a single call from advertising that listed my wireless number.  One of the leads ended abruptly as the owner of the business was not present at our designated meeting time.  He offered a sincere apology, and he said they opted to go with another company.  I will never know if Homeland Security affected the outcome.

 

Another lead also came from a call to the virtual office line, and it would confirm Homeland Security’s role in the nightmare I had been living for years.  I met with one of the decision makers of the firefighter’s memorial at a restaurant West of my virtual office for a few hours, and we parted ways in a positive light with his assured recommendation to the others on the board. 

 

At a February 2008 Assembly candidate political event, the same Assembly seat I ran for in 2004, I told Jenn of the proposal I was completing for the firefighter’s memorial.  Jenn seemed surprised and asked me to elaborate, and within a few minutes afterwards, Jenn and Leah decided to leave.  On their way out to the door, which was approximately 10 feet away, Jenn said to Leah in a loud whisper, “I cannot believe that he can still get business after everything we’ve done!”

 

As Ed was a firefighter, coupled with Jenn and Leah’s close association with Ed, it was possible I did not win the bid for the memorial’s website as a result of sharing information about my proposal with Jenn.  However, what went on behind the scenes was purely speculation with facets of evidence due to sloppy missteps and deliberate arrogance.  

 

I will probably never know of all actions Homeland Security took to smear my name and my ability to earn a living, but I knew it was a rather large operation.  Kurt, the agent who Richard seemed to report to, stated once in a 2007 online chat that he had done his part after I asked if he was protecting the incumbent Assembly Representative I ran for office against.  Although I asked who else did their part, he refused to shed any more light on the situation.  However, I knew my business and career were a target, and the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to add up as I continued to research and examine all of the evidence.