IRS Abuse of U.S. Citizens is Nothing New
And remember that what you read here is just the tip of a very large, very dangerous iceberg.
There is MUCH more.”
- Investigative Reporter Edward Snook, The Oregon Observer
In 1996, Jake and I had the pleasure of interviewing Congressman George Vernon Hansen at a restaurant in Idaho for our radio program, "The Baker Report". In our meeting he showed us the physical abuse he had endured at the hands of our own government. He is now 82 years old and was also the first member of Congress to introduce the idea of the flat tax.
All of the recent events being reported in the news concerning the abuses by the IRS reminded me of his story. Many of you may not know anything about him, but you will now and perhaps you will have a better idea of what we are up against. – Katie
All they had to do is visit any American prison and they would quickly find the effects of purposeful abuse and neglect on certain prisoners.”
Please gather your kids around and teach them the truth... better that they learn some realities sooner than later when it may well be too late. However, I have included some rather sickening photos of the abuses which Hansen suffered at the hands of the state. Parents may wish to shield particularly sensitive young eyes from these graphics.
This story is not fiction -- every word is true.
The odds are that most of you have never heard of George Hansen. The people responsible for persecuting him pretty well control what you read, hear and see in the major media. Former Congressman Hansen is not some raving paranoid seeking a platform for some conspiracy theory of the week. Nope. George Hansen belongs to a much rarer breed -- an honest and outspoken politician. He paid the price when he was made a political prisoner in his own country, the good ole U. S. of A.
As you read his story, you will begin to understand why some reporter once asked him why they didn't just kill him while they had him in custody. He didn't know the answer to that. Actually the reason why "they" would be reluctant to do so is obvious: George Hansen has MANY friends among the "little people" he has championed during his adult life. It was, after all, his efforts to help them that led to his persecution in the first place. There are MANY of those "little people" (a term George would never use, by the way) in the prison system and killing George there might have created more problems than they cared to deal with. They probably hoped the after-effects of their "diesel therapy" would do the job for them. While it came close, George is on the mend.
It is probably clear to my regular readers that I feel that many of us have lost our capacity for outrage at injustice.
The insane horror of the AIDS story, the steady erosion of our most basic human rights and freedoms, the outrageous manipulation and control of our major media... the incessant drumbeat of injustices have literally numbed many of us to the point where meaningful outrage is muted or fails to materialize at all. For many, only a personal ox goring becomes an attention-getting event. Just look around the Province of Ontario these days as the Harris gang of fanatics merrily divides and conquers... I made it a point to ask the striking teachers and those attempting to save Hotel Dieu Hospital where they were when that totalitarian band of criminals in Queen's Park were pounding the helpless recipients of social services. Predictably, most whom I confronted merely began glancing around looking for security or a cop. If it were not so sad it would be hilarious.
Please read this true story. And remember that what you read here is just the tip of a very large, very dangerous iceberg. There is MUCH more.
There is something almost eerie about the complete lack of bitterness in his presentation. This is a man rooted in and drawing strength from a true Christian faith. George Hansen is a hero and a statesman.
"...and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." -- from the U.S. Declaration of Independence
When you are through reading this story, ask yourself if you have what it takes to stand up and tell our corrupt leaders or their "politically correct" patsies that we are working to take back our country. Ask yourself if it is right for our Prime Minister to illegally assault peacefully protesters and then joke about it! Ask yourself if you believe the prison system ought to be reformed and the inhumane practices such as those described herein (yes -- we do it here in this country too) should be halted. And while you are at it, ask yourself if you are prepared, given the current "politically correct" climate in our country, to be labeled a "troublemaker" or worse -- there MAY be a seat on one of those busses with YOUR name on it. Then ask yourself if it really is safer to bury your head in the sand and do nothing.
The saddest words in any language are "If only..." and "Why, THAT can't happen HERE!"
Wanna bet?
* * * * * Annotated reprint of RMS News Agency Report Vol.2 #1, January. 1997 with permission * * * *
The Government Wrongfully Drove GEORGE HANSEN, A 7-Term Veteran Lawmaker, Out of Congress, Sent Him to Prison and Destroyed Him and His Family Financially!
It took ten long years, but the U.S. Supreme Court now confirms that federal prosecution of Congressman George Hansen SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED!
That high court decision is now a year and a half old, and this 66 year-old embattled veteran congressman still awaits action by his old colleagues to clear the record and provide him urgent and reasonable compensation for this great injustice.
HANSEN WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG!
Former Representative George Hansen always said he was wrongly prosecuted for lying on his financial disclosure forms. Twelve long years later, he turns out to have been right.
Congressman George Hansen was a seven term congressman from Idaho at the time of his prosecution. Ex-Representative Richard Stallings, the Democrat who defeated Hansen in 1984, said the conviction was the key. "George could have had the 2nd district as long as he wanted. If he hadn't gotten in trouble, he'd probably be the Chairman of the Banking Committee."
Hansen would be in his 14th term now. "If you want to play "What if" games, there would have been a lot of things... chairmanships, leaderships..." Hansen said, "But I just don't look back."
Hansen's 1984 conviction cost him his bid for an eighth term in 1984 -- by a mere 170 votes. It also brought incarceration in a federal prison and a $40,000 fine. In December of 1995, the conviction was vacated by the trial judge in Washington D.C. [ED: Who then took 5 months to release him!]
Hansen got back his $40,000, but wants a Lot more. He's asking the House to withdraw its reprimand and pay him for legal fees and lost wages. "I feel like the guy On Boot Hill with the tombstone that says. "Hanged by Mistake," Hansen said.
Congressman Hansen was one of the first members of Congress to point a finger at the IRS. In the late 70s he wrote a book called "To Harass Our People". He was the first to get a full scale investigation into the crimes of the IRS against the American people. His outrage over what he discovered caused him to write and help pass the "Taxpayers Bill of Rights." Without George Hansen, the IRS would be the American equal to the Gestapo by now.
George Hansen was also the first member of congress to introduce the idea of the flat tax. Hansen clearly saw the unfairness of the current tax laws and was trying to correct them for the good of all Americans, not just the rich elite. When he went to prison, his love of his fellow man and his reputation for trying to help Americans allowed him to live among the prison population with no fear of the prisoners.
The harassment and torture that befell Congressman Hansen came from prison officials, in the form of neglect for serious medical problems and health hazards in the prison work place. The torture also came from the Federal Marshals who cruelly transported him from one prison to another.
Political prisoners and those who are considered trouble-makers are given what prisoners call, "diesel therapy".
"Diesel therapy" consists of being put on diesel busses or airplanes and being transported from prison to prison for weeks and months at a time. On the surface it sounds benign. What could be the problem with making a prisoner ride in a bus for hours at a time?
TORTURE AMERICAN STYLE
Before the prisoner is put on the bus, he is put in handcuffs and shackles (leg irons). The handcuffs are tightened by a black box that stiffens the chains and puts the wrists in a 90 degree bind that painfully cuts circulation and damages the nerves. It takes several weeks for the circulation and nerves to return to normal. The handcuffs are connected with chains to a waist chain, which is in turn connected by another chain to the shackles which go around the ankles The prisoner can barely move once the shackling process is complete.
He is then placed in a small seat on a bus or airplane. [ED: George Hansen is a BIG man, standing well over 6'-3" and -- before his ordeal -- tipping the scales at well over 220 pounds.] Because of the shackles, the prisoner is forced to sit in one position for up to 20 hours at a time. And the guards will rarely go to the trouble of unshackling a prisoner. Prisoners who understand "diesel therapy" know that "fasting" is the only way to handle the ordeal without messing or wetting yourself.
But even those who are smart enough to abstain from food and drink, still have to suffer the stench of urine and feces which soon fills the bus or plane.
One other painful aspect of diesel therapy is the shoes that prisoners are forced to wear. They become too small. The cramped position and tight shackles cause the feet and ankles to swell. The shackles cut into the legs and cut off circulation. The blood pools in the feet and causes the feet to swell. The toes are forced up against the tops of the too small shoes, and unbelievable pressure is put on the toenails. The toenails soon become deformed, infected and painful.
Each day the metal shackles are put back onto raw and infected legs before the prisoner boards the bus. After weeks and months of diesel therapy, the ankles and shins have raw, infected and open wounds that will not heal.
Hour after hour, the prisoner sits in a cramped & painful position, with shackles cutting into already infected, raw flesh. Arthritis and bursitis compound the misery of the prisoners. The ingrown, infected toenails, which are jammed inside of purposely small shoes, cripple the prisoner to the point that he can barely walk or move when he is finally released from the shackles.
During the weeks and months of diesel therapy, the prisoner is out of contact with the rest of the world. In the case of Congressman Hansen, his wife did not know if he was dead or alive. His lawyer could not find him and therefore could not file court papers on time. Even the members of congress who were still trying to help him, could not locate him. During his diesel therapy" he disappeared into the black hole dug and run by the United States Marshals.
After "diesel therapy", Hansen was forced to operate on his feet himself. His toenails were so deformed that they pointed straight up. He could not wear shoes without excruciating pain. The only remedy that was open to him was to pull the toenails out by the roots. Our prisoners of war in SE Asia had their fingernails and toenails pulled out by their torturers. Congressman Hansen had to become his own torturer in an effort to stop the pain.
Several weeks ago, Congressman Hansen was
testifying before his former colleagues in the House of Representatives. He
told the story of his trip into Iran during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. He
was the only United States official to get into Iran to try to negotiate an end
to the crisis.
While he was there, he was shown the horrible human suffering that was inflicted upon the Iranian people by the Shah of Iran and his secret police.
He told his former colleagues about the horrors of the Shah's torture chambers. Ankles that had been smashed by heavy clubs. Legs that had been smashed and permanently scarred. Hands and feet that had no nails because they were repeatedly pulled out.
Then he stood up and walked around in front of his table. Leaning lightly on the table, he pulled up his pant leg and showed his former colleagues the raw, red scars on his own legs -- scars that stretched many inches, from his ankles up his shin bones.
He told his former colleagues about his toenails, which have never grown back properly.
He ended his "show and tell" session by informing the House that they did not have to travel to foreign countries to witness torture. All they had to do is visit any American prison and they would quickly find the effects of purposeful abuse and neglect on certain prisoners.
If his former colleagues have any sense, they will quickly reform the prison system, before any more of them end up there.
The scars on his legs and the lack of toenails were minor problems for Hansen. The major pain came from his teeth and deteriorating bones. These problems came from hazardous chemicals he was forced to work around during his job assignment in the prison power plant. The chemicals caused his bones to weaken and his teeth to become infected and turn to mush. The pain' of abscessed teeth was unbearable. To be able to function each day, without even an aspirin to dull the pain, he picked up a plastic cap used to splice electric wires. He placed the cap in the infected area and bit down on it all day and night.
During his four years in prison, he lost most of his teeth through willful neglect on the part of the prison officials.
If the IRS Will Do This To A Congressman ... What Will
They Do To You?
“Please read this true story. And remember that what you read here is just the tip of a very large, very dangerous iceberg.
There is MUCH more.”
- Investigative Reporter Edward Snook, The Oregon Observer
In 1996, Jake and I had the pleasure of interviewing Congressman George Vernon Hansen at a restaurant in Idaho for our radio program, "The Baker Report". In our meeting he showed us the physical abuse he had endured at the hands of our own government. He is now 82 years old and was also the first member of Congress to introduce the idea of the flat tax.
All of the recent events being reported in the news concerning the abuses by the IRS reminded me of his story. Many of you may not know anything about him, but you will now and perhaps you will have a better idea of what we are up against. – Katie
__________________________________________________
Biography (from
Wikipedia)
Rep. George V. Hansen
Born in Tetonia, Idaho,
Hansen graduated from Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho) in 1956 and did
graduate work at Idaho State University. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1954 and the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1964 to 1970.
Hansen moved to Alameda, Idaho,
and was established as a life insurance salesman by
1958. He was elected mayor
in 1961 and supported its merger with Pocatello the following year. Following the merger,
Hansen served as a Pocatello city commissioner until 1965.
Hansen was an unsuccessful candidate in the
primary for the U.S. Senate in 1962, but won a seat in the House two
years later in the 2nd district. He again ran for the U.S. Senate in 1968, but
lost to two-term incumbent Frank Church,
who would serve four terms. Hansen ran a third unsuccessful Senate campaign in
1972, losing the primary to 1st district congressman Jim McClure.
In 1974, Hansen upset three-term incumbent Orval Hansen in the August primary and won the
general election to return to the U.S. House. In Washington, Hansen was known
as one of the most conservative members of Congress, and a particularly vocal
critic of the Internal Revenue Service.
Congressman Hansen went to Tehran in 1979 in
the middle of the Iran hostage crisis to try to negotiate with hostage takers
through the fence of the U.S. Embassy. In 1980 Hansen published a book titled
'To harass our people: The IRS and government abuse of power.
Hansen was reprimanded
by the House in 1984 for failing to include transactions on federal disclosure
forms. He was defeated for re-election by less than 200 votes that year by
Democrat Richard Stallings.[1]
Hansen tried unsuccessfully to challenge the election result. He was convicted
of failing to file full disclosure forms and spent 15 months in prison. His
imprisonment included torture through medical neglect
and subjection to "diesel therapy,"
a form of punishment in which prisoners are painfully shackled and then
transported for days or weeks without respite.[2][unreliable source?]
The conviction was overturned in 1995 as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Hubbard v. United
States,[3]
which adopted a narrower interpretation of the law under which Hansen was
prosecuted. But it was not an automatic process; first Hansen filed an appeal
based on ineffective assistance of counsel, in which most of his arguments were
rejected but his sentence was reduced based on a change in the law,[4]
then in further litigation, his conviction was overturned based on the Hubbard
decision.[5]
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE GEORGE HANSEN STORY
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED
“Former Congressman Hansen ended his ‘show
and tell’ session (on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives) by
informing the House that they did not have to travel to foreign countries to
witness torture. All they had to do is visit any American prison and they would quickly find the effects of purposeful abuse and neglect on certain prisoners.”
Please gather your kids around and teach them the truth... better that they learn some realities sooner than later when it may well be too late. However, I have included some rather sickening photos of the abuses which Hansen suffered at the hands of the state. Parents may wish to shield particularly sensitive young eyes from these graphics.
This story is not fiction -- every word is true.
The odds are that most of you have never heard of George Hansen. The people responsible for persecuting him pretty well control what you read, hear and see in the major media. Former Congressman Hansen is not some raving paranoid seeking a platform for some conspiracy theory of the week. Nope. George Hansen belongs to a much rarer breed -- an honest and outspoken politician. He paid the price when he was made a political prisoner in his own country, the good ole U. S. of A.
As you read his story, you will begin to understand why some reporter once asked him why they didn't just kill him while they had him in custody. He didn't know the answer to that. Actually the reason why "they" would be reluctant to do so is obvious: George Hansen has MANY friends among the "little people" he has championed during his adult life. It was, after all, his efforts to help them that led to his persecution in the first place. There are MANY of those "little people" (a term George would never use, by the way) in the prison system and killing George there might have created more problems than they cared to deal with. They probably hoped the after-effects of their "diesel therapy" would do the job for them. While it came close, George is on the mend.
It is probably clear to my regular readers that I feel that many of us have lost our capacity for outrage at injustice.
The insane horror of the AIDS story, the steady erosion of our most basic human rights and freedoms, the outrageous manipulation and control of our major media... the incessant drumbeat of injustices have literally numbed many of us to the point where meaningful outrage is muted or fails to materialize at all. For many, only a personal ox goring becomes an attention-getting event. Just look around the Province of Ontario these days as the Harris gang of fanatics merrily divides and conquers... I made it a point to ask the striking teachers and those attempting to save Hotel Dieu Hospital where they were when that totalitarian band of criminals in Queen's Park were pounding the helpless recipients of social services. Predictably, most whom I confronted merely began glancing around looking for security or a cop. If it were not so sad it would be hilarious.
Please read this true story. And remember that what you read here is just the tip of a very large, very dangerous iceberg. There is MUCH more.
There is something almost eerie about the complete lack of bitterness in his presentation. This is a man rooted in and drawing strength from a true Christian faith. George Hansen is a hero and a statesman.
"...and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." -- from the U.S. Declaration of Independence
When you are through reading this story, ask yourself if you have what it takes to stand up and tell our corrupt leaders or their "politically correct" patsies that we are working to take back our country. Ask yourself if it is right for our Prime Minister to illegally assault peacefully protesters and then joke about it! Ask yourself if you believe the prison system ought to be reformed and the inhumane practices such as those described herein (yes -- we do it here in this country too) should be halted. And while you are at it, ask yourself if you are prepared, given the current "politically correct" climate in our country, to be labeled a "troublemaker" or worse -- there MAY be a seat on one of those busses with YOUR name on it. Then ask yourself if it really is safer to bury your head in the sand and do nothing.
The saddest words in any language are "If only..." and "Why, THAT can't happen HERE!"
Wanna bet?
* * * * * Annotated reprint of RMS News Agency Report Vol.2 #1, January. 1997 with permission * * * *
The Government Wrongfully Drove GEORGE HANSEN, A 7-Term Veteran Lawmaker, Out of Congress, Sent Him to Prison and Destroyed Him and His Family Financially!
It took ten long years, but the U.S. Supreme Court now confirms that federal prosecution of Congressman George Hansen SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED!
That high court decision is now a year and a half old, and this 66 year-old embattled veteran congressman still awaits action by his old colleagues to clear the record and provide him urgent and reasonable compensation for this great injustice.
HANSEN WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG!
Former Representative George Hansen always said he was wrongly prosecuted for lying on his financial disclosure forms. Twelve long years later, he turns out to have been right.
Congressman George Hansen was a seven term congressman from Idaho at the time of his prosecution. Ex-Representative Richard Stallings, the Democrat who defeated Hansen in 1984, said the conviction was the key. "George could have had the 2nd district as long as he wanted. If he hadn't gotten in trouble, he'd probably be the Chairman of the Banking Committee."
Hansen would be in his 14th term now. "If you want to play "What if" games, there would have been a lot of things... chairmanships, leaderships..." Hansen said, "But I just don't look back."
Hansen's 1984 conviction cost him his bid for an eighth term in 1984 -- by a mere 170 votes. It also brought incarceration in a federal prison and a $40,000 fine. In December of 1995, the conviction was vacated by the trial judge in Washington D.C. [ED: Who then took 5 months to release him!]
Hansen got back his $40,000, but wants a Lot more. He's asking the House to withdraw its reprimand and pay him for legal fees and lost wages. "I feel like the guy On Boot Hill with the tombstone that says. "Hanged by Mistake," Hansen said.
Congressman Hansen was one of the first members of Congress to point a finger at the IRS. In the late 70s he wrote a book called "To Harass Our People". He was the first to get a full scale investigation into the crimes of the IRS against the American people. His outrage over what he discovered caused him to write and help pass the "Taxpayers Bill of Rights." Without George Hansen, the IRS would be the American equal to the Gestapo by now.
George Hansen was also the first member of congress to introduce the idea of the flat tax. Hansen clearly saw the unfairness of the current tax laws and was trying to correct them for the good of all Americans, not just the rich elite. When he went to prison, his love of his fellow man and his reputation for trying to help Americans allowed him to live among the prison population with no fear of the prisoners.
The harassment and torture that befell Congressman Hansen came from prison officials, in the form of neglect for serious medical problems and health hazards in the prison work place. The torture also came from the Federal Marshals who cruelly transported him from one prison to another.
Political prisoners and those who are considered trouble-makers are given what prisoners call, "diesel therapy".
"Diesel therapy" consists of being put on diesel busses or airplanes and being transported from prison to prison for weeks and months at a time. On the surface it sounds benign. What could be the problem with making a prisoner ride in a bus for hours at a time?
TORTURE AMERICAN STYLE
Before the prisoner is put on the bus, he is put in handcuffs and shackles (leg irons). The handcuffs are tightened by a black box that stiffens the chains and puts the wrists in a 90 degree bind that painfully cuts circulation and damages the nerves. It takes several weeks for the circulation and nerves to return to normal. The handcuffs are connected with chains to a waist chain, which is in turn connected by another chain to the shackles which go around the ankles The prisoner can barely move once the shackling process is complete.
He is then placed in a small seat on a bus or airplane. [ED: George Hansen is a BIG man, standing well over 6'-3" and -- before his ordeal -- tipping the scales at well over 220 pounds.] Because of the shackles, the prisoner is forced to sit in one position for up to 20 hours at a time. And the guards will rarely go to the trouble of unshackling a prisoner. Prisoners who understand "diesel therapy" know that "fasting" is the only way to handle the ordeal without messing or wetting yourself.
But even those who are smart enough to abstain from food and drink, still have to suffer the stench of urine and feces which soon fills the bus or plane.
One other painful aspect of diesel therapy is the shoes that prisoners are forced to wear. They become too small. The cramped position and tight shackles cause the feet and ankles to swell. The shackles cut into the legs and cut off circulation. The blood pools in the feet and causes the feet to swell. The toes are forced up against the tops of the too small shoes, and unbelievable pressure is put on the toenails. The toenails soon become deformed, infected and painful.
Each day the metal shackles are put back onto raw and infected legs before the prisoner boards the bus. After weeks and months of diesel therapy, the ankles and shins have raw, infected and open wounds that will not heal.
Hour after hour, the prisoner sits in a cramped & painful position, with shackles cutting into already infected, raw flesh. Arthritis and bursitis compound the misery of the prisoners. The ingrown, infected toenails, which are jammed inside of purposely small shoes, cripple the prisoner to the point that he can barely walk or move when he is finally released from the shackles.
During the weeks and months of diesel therapy, the prisoner is out of contact with the rest of the world. In the case of Congressman Hansen, his wife did not know if he was dead or alive. His lawyer could not find him and therefore could not file court papers on time. Even the members of congress who were still trying to help him, could not locate him. During his diesel therapy" he disappeared into the black hole dug and run by the United States Marshals.
After "diesel therapy", Hansen was forced to operate on his feet himself. His toenails were so deformed that they pointed straight up. He could not wear shoes without excruciating pain. The only remedy that was open to him was to pull the toenails out by the roots. Our prisoners of war in SE Asia had their fingernails and toenails pulled out by their torturers. Congressman Hansen had to become his own torturer in an effort to stop the pain.
While he was there, he was shown the horrible human suffering that was inflicted upon the Iranian people by the Shah of Iran and his secret police.
He told his former colleagues about the horrors of the Shah's torture chambers. Ankles that had been smashed by heavy clubs. Legs that had been smashed and permanently scarred. Hands and feet that had no nails because they were repeatedly pulled out.
Then he stood up and walked around in front of his table. Leaning lightly on the table, he pulled up his pant leg and showed his former colleagues the raw, red scars on his own legs -- scars that stretched many inches, from his ankles up his shin bones.
He told his former colleagues about his toenails, which have never grown back properly.
He ended his "show and tell" session by informing the House that they did not have to travel to foreign countries to witness torture. All they had to do is visit any American prison and they would quickly find the effects of purposeful abuse and neglect on certain prisoners.
If his former colleagues have any sense, they will quickly reform the prison system, before any more of them end up there.
The scars on his legs and the lack of toenails were minor problems for Hansen. The major pain came from his teeth and deteriorating bones. These problems came from hazardous chemicals he was forced to work around during his job assignment in the prison power plant. The chemicals caused his bones to weaken and his teeth to become infected and turn to mush. The pain' of abscessed teeth was unbearable. To be able to function each day, without even an aspirin to dull the pain, he picked up a plastic cap used to splice electric wires. He placed the cap in the infected area and bit down on it all day and night.
During his four years in prison, he lost most of his teeth through willful neglect on the part of the prison officials.
Hansen was forced to sell his homes in
Virginia and Idaho. Everything he and his wife had accumulated during years of
hard work went to lawyers or to pay the fine. Even though his retirement was not supposed to be
touched, through some nefarious deal, it was tapped to pay fines, thereby denying
his wife the means to live. She was approaching sixty, had a heart condition
and diabetes, but she was put out of her home and didn't even have the money to
rent an apartment. With the help of their children and a job, she just barely
made ends meet until Hansen was released.
They are now in their 60s and they are
starting over with nothing. He still
has health problems associated with prison life, and still needs further dental
work. He drives a leased Honda and lives with his wife in a rented apartment in
Pocatello, Idaho. Thankfully, his federal pension has been restored.
"They almost made us homeless, but when
this is all over, it will all be erased." Hansen is an optimist who is now
awaiting the action by his old colleagues which will clear the record and
provide him urgent and reasonable compensation for this great injustice.
MEDICAL NEGLECT IS THE EQUIVALENT OF TORTURE
While in Washington, Hansen presented
Congress with a medical statement part of which is excerpted below:
"Upon my release
from federal custody on March 8, 1996, I have spent the past 24 weeks in an
intense effort to seek the medical and dental relief so long denied me by the
federal government. This was not easy because so many serious problems had
developed during the three years I had been held in medical limbo that it was
not a simple thing to develop and coordinate the many necessary treatments all
begging for early attention.
"There was also the
problem of limitations in my insurance coverage and having the necessary funds
available to meet the abnormal demands my emergency medical and dental needs
presented. A quick professional evaluation showed the dental requirements alone
to be largely uncovered by insurance with costs estimated at $10,000 and
perhaps much more.
"People could
hardly believe what they saw in the examination of my condition. I could only
explain that I am a victim of the government game of 'select and neglect.'
" People are told
that you are being assigned to an easy 'white-collar' institution: But the real
truth is that you can then be selectively assigned to hazardous jobs and
conditions with no protection, or be selectively sent on extended bus and
airplane trips in chains with hardened and dangerous criminals where you remain
harshly bound hand and foot, for 18 to 20 hours a day in the most cramped and
confining circumstances -- a treatment called 'diesel therapy.' Blood
circulation and pinched nerves never quite recover from this as my current
health situation will attest.
It is this selective
treatment that seriously undermines your health to begin with. Then you get the
second phase which is the neglect treatment, where you are denied or cleverly
discouraged from obtaining needed medical and dental relief -- a very painful
time when you are dealing with painful abscesses and infection, severe
swellings, open sores and even more serious matters involving internal organs.
Having most of my perfectly good teeth rapidly deteriorate to shattered
remnants broken off at the gum line or in painful splintered condition can only
prompt your imagination as to the pain involved -- without relief -- and that
was only the dental part of the problem.
"This is the
"Gulag" or political prisoner operation that goes on in federal
prisons (and others), where former public officials and law enforcement
officers often find themselves singled out for that "select and
neglect" process.
The federal prosecutor
in my own case, (now overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court) Reid Weingarten, has
publicly verified this kind of treatment in federal prison.
Mr. Weingarten, who
conducted the improper prosecution against me, is now a criminal attorney
defending a former FBI official who was an investigator of public corruption
and served as FBI liaison to the White House. The Washington Post of Sunday,
July 28, 1996, in a feature article, described Weingarten as 'a star federal
prosecutor' and quotes his concern for his client who served a 12 month
sentence in federal prison.
Weingarten said:
`It was leaked to guards that (my client)
had been FBI. He was confronted constantly by guards who took him for a spy and
by any inmate with a generic grudge against law enforcement. He came back a
shell of himself...he was crushed and deliberately.'
"I was in prison
four times as long as Weingarten's client and I didn't allow myself to become a
'shell.' However, I did suffer the same kind of abusive treatment which tore me
up physically and which I am now struggling to repair and deal with.
"My medical and
dental condition has become a scandal to many leaders of Congress in Washington,
both House and Senate, who have asked me to present my 'souvenirs' in line with
legislative and oversight responsibilities.
This has been done
twice... During these 'show and tell' visits, I have wryly joked with these
Congressmen about my visit to Iran in 1979 where I was taken through the
torture chambers of the Shah's main prison and shown where shins were broken,
teeth smashed and nails pulled. Never did I dream that I would later have
shins, teeth and nails to match from being wrongfully sent to prison in the
United States of America."
Upon his return to Pocatello from Washington,
D.C. he wrote a letter to his former colleagues, giving them a further medical
update:
"To capsulize, I've
been and continue to be involved with oral surgery, root canals and periodontal
repair involving sixteen different doctors; and concurrently I have been and
continue to be in the care of medical specialists of all sorts for serious
infection in the legs, feet, body organs, chest and shoulder muscles. The diagnoses
have included inflammatory bursitis, serious neural damage, E. Coli, troubling
irregularities of bodily functions, severe and permanent debilitating stasis,
dermatitis of the legs, and severe toe disorders, secondary pedal edema
accompanied by painful fungus infection (secondary to being shackled with legs
in a dependent position for long periods of time and from confinement).
"Obviously, this
has necessitated the use of heavy dosages of medication to relieve the
inflammation, control E. Coli and fungus and dental infections. and to
alleviate pain. This has largely prevented me from doing any real or sustained
work, except unavoidable maintenance tasks. I am hopeful that this intensive
treatment and continuing recuperation will allow me to increasingly get back to
full and normal productivity at a reasonably early time. Hopefully, this
information will be useful to you."
CORRUPTION PERMEATES OUR GOVERNMENT
While continuing to recuperate, former
Congressman Hansen is busy trying to awaken his former colleagues to the
corruption which is now rampant in our government.
RMNews reprints this confidential letter
without revealing to whom it was written and faxed on January 7, 1997:
"...I have discussed the matter of
providing you with the basic information on the genesis of the Ron Brown
(Department of Commerce) corruption process (worldwide), beginning with Viet
Nam, spreading like cancer to other nations wholesale, and exploding with the
Lippo Bank (Taiwan, etc.).
[ED: Just as Rep. Ron Brown was about to blow
the whistle on the Clinton government, he was killed in a mysterious plane
crash... or so the government said, until an autopsy showed that he had
apparently been first shot in the head. This is one reason why Congress is so
afraid to actually do anything significant to clean up government. It also
accounts for the confidentiality of this letter. As George Hansen well knows,
the shadowy power players behind the scenes are dangerous psychopaths. ]
[Note: For a shocking exposé of the
assassination of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown by the Clinton Administration
following Brown’s threats to expose the Clintons’ treasonous dealings with
Communist China, see the thoroughly-researched book on this sad episode by Jack
Cashill titled “Ron Brown’s Body”. DL]
You indicated this could be most helpful, so
I talked to the former high political official mentioned, and he is most
willing to help give you a confidential start -- this could involve more than
one knowledgeable individual.
"...with regard to our discussion on the
delicate but provable fact that the CIA is keeping two sets of books to deceive
Congress and maintain a very dangerous and dirty operation, I am prepared to
back up this charge with reliable evidence and experts from the DEA, DIA, CIA,
and Department of Justice -- and also establish the surprising extent to which
the CIA (and affiliates) is saturating the street corners and school yards of
America. [ED: with drugs] It's dangerous to challenge these people (provable)
and a reluctance exists on the part of legislative committees because of many
'staff technicians' maintaining allegiance and rapport with the agencies from
which they were recruited.
This seems to be a matter for the independent
consideration of your committee which enjoys no conflict of interest, and the
courage of a fearless Chairman. Certain other Members of Congress are in
position to be helpful in this (both parties). Hopefully, this can be discussed
meaningfully soon (while the best proof remains current and available)."
BLATANT CORRUPTION GOES TO THE HIGHEST LEVELS
The following confidential document generated
from the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee on the same day that
Congressman Hansen faxed the preceding letter, January 7, 1997:
"This Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight reorganizes today in the face of awesome and unusual challenges for
which we are particularly prepared to effectively deal with, and for which
there is little tolerance among cynical and frustrated citizens for lack of
action.
"Politics as usual and scandalous
government corruption have created great alarm and distrust of public agencies
and officials, particularly at the federal level where we have jurisdiction and
responsibility.
"The last half of this century has seen
our government repeatedly and increasingly engage in acts of violence and abuse
against its own citizens and then lie, manipulate and cover-up to avoid
detection and responsibility.
Key enforcement agencies of the Justice
Department, including the FBI, as well as the CIA and IRS are wallowing in
scandal and citizen abuse -- often sensationally fatal.
"This blatant corruption and failure of
government operations is clearly widespread and goes to the highest levels
regardless of politics while partisan fingers point at others and reform lays
in gridlock. Congress has an especially difficult problem in instituting real
reform because the legislative committees generally staff heavily from 'the
technicians' in the agencies they oversee, (RMS news translation: In other words, the CIA etc, place their own people
on legislative committees to insure nothing is done which would harm the CIA,
IRS, etc.) and a cocoon of self-serving protectiveness
develops to retard objective oversight. This is why this Committee is ideally
suited to become the real Legislative ombudsman to a frustrated and cynical
public desperate for reform and relief -- we do not have that built-in conflict
of interest.
"Obviously this Committee does not have
the resources to deal with the mass of legitimate complaints that could be
pressed upon us, but we can aggressively pursue issues on a worst-first basis
while providing an interested ear to citizens hopeful of germinating a case
upon proper presentation of evidence. And it's only fair that our efforts be as
even-handed and bi-partisan as possible.
"There is no question that cynical
citizens want answers to such current questions as campaign finances and the
influence of foreign funds on elections and government operations. We plan to
deal with this immediately.
But somewhere along the line, it might be
appropriate to find out why we've had fifty years of uninterrupted Presidential
deception from the U-2, through Cuba and Gulf of Tonkin and Watergate, to
Iran-Contra, and the current reported cover-ups.
Also, Presidents
continue to feel they can use federal enforcement agencies as their personal
pit bulls. Why?
No doubt, victims of the holocaust would like
to know why this government sat on this issue throughout WWII; and the victims
of our government secret chemical and nuclear tests on citizens deserve honest
answers and just compensation.
This committee does indeed face awesome and unusual
challenges. May we rise to the success the public prays for.
Confidential"
If the Government Reform and Oversight
Committee follows through on this letter, maybe there is hope for America. This
letter is the brightest hope out of Washington in decades.
----------------------------------------------------------
By Investigative Reporter Edward Snook of the
Oregon Observer
Reprinted from the Oregon Observer with
permission
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