textfiles/conspiracy/CN/cn4-15.txt

              Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 4  Num. 15
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                    ("Quid coniuratio est?")
 
 
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SUMMARY OF CONVERSATION WITH SHERMAN SKOLNICK
February 27, 1995
 
I talked by phone for about 40 minutes with Sherman Skolnick of 
the Citizens' Committee to Clean Up the Courts. The breaking 
story that he and his associates are working on deals with the 
collapse of the Baring Brothers Bank in England. He questions, 
for one thing, if the bank collapsed on Friday then why did they 
wait until Sunday evening/Monday morning to begin breaking the 
story. He also notes that the bank is mentioned in one of the 
classic books on the "War on Drugs" -- *Dope, Inc.* by the 
editors of Executive Intelligence Review. Mr. Skolnick also finds 
questionable the story being fronted that the entire collapse of 
the bank is attributable to *one* sole employee who has now 
(conveniently) disappeared.
 
I asked as to the recent alleged threats to his person and 
liberty allegedly made by a Mr. Parshall of the U.S. Justice 
Department. He reports that he has become used to such threats 
over his 30 years of investigating government corruption but that 
in this case the threats were particularly vehement -- enough to 
cause concern. However, as stated, he notes that he has become 
used to such threats. For example, he stated that he has been 
thrown in jail for contempt of court so many times that he has 
become quite used to it. He also gave a clue to alleged Justice 
Department operations in his portrayal of how they threaten you, 
"They don't say they are going to break your legs with a baseball 
bat. They just begin to emphasize some things." So, for example, 
regarding Mr. Skolnick's allegations concerning Judge Schwartz 
(as is being documented in Conspiracy Nation), Mr. Parshall, 
according to Mr. Skolnick, was screaming that he was going to 
inform Judge Schwartz as to what Mr. Skolnick has been saying 
about Schwartz's alleged corruption.
 
Why is the Justice Department so upset? As is being reported in 
Conspiracy Nation, an IRS employee named Lynn Redmer has decided 
to "spill the beans" as to what she knows concerning corruption 
in the IRS. Skolnick views this as the sort of situation where 
"one of the [IRS] family", so to speak, has broken the code of 
silence and that this has got IRS and the government boiling mad. 
Skolnick expresses that he hopes Redmer does not herself become 
targetted for her brave whistle-blowing effort.
 
I asked as to how Whitewater was progressing. Readers of 
Conspiracy Nation may recall that Skolnick's sources had 
previously indicated to him that there was a stalemate in efforts 
to bring this story out; that the Democrats and Republicans, both 
being "dirty" in the Iran-Contra/Mena imbroglio, had come to an 
impasse where an "I won't tell if you won't tell" situation was 
in effect. This situation is beginning to moderate, due to the 
huge pressure being brought to bring this story out. For example, 
there is a Virginia attorney, connected with that State's 
government, who has been trying to launch his own investigation 
into the supposed "suicide" of White House deputy counsel Vincent 
Foster, jr. Skolnick thinks that we will see things heating up in 
March and April.
 
Sherman Skolnick had, years ago, written a book on airline 
crashes which was suppressed. He expressed his wish, during our 
conversation, to again try to publish a book. His concern however 
is that, due to narrow corporate ownership of most publishing 
houses, any book he writes will never see the light of day. I 
suggested to him that Thunder's Mouth Press might possibly handle 
him (Thunder's Mouth was courageous enough, for example, to 
publish Mike Levine's *The Big White Lie*). Skolnick said that, 
yes, he had considered Thunder's Mouth. He added that he 
certainly has got enough documentation because government 
employees are routinely albeit surreptitiously sending him 
information. I, for one, hope he does get a book out there. Mr. 
Skolnick has important information that many would want to know. 
Due to Mr. Skolnick's worldwide recognition as a veteran 
investigator into corruption, a publisher stands a good chance of 
making money from the publication of any book by him.
 
Mr. Skolnick has tons of documents lying around, and he is 
receiving more all the time. One winter, in the middle of a 
blizzard, a truck pulled up in front of the offices of the 
Citizens' Committee to Clean-up the Courts [CCCC] with boxes and 
boxes of documents for Mr. Skolnick and his associates.
 
The "CCCC" is always on the lookout for new ways to "get the word 
out". They use their recorded phone message (312-731-1100), they 
print and distribute leaflets, and they have their own weekly 
public access TV show. The Citizens' Committee is now about to 
acquire video equipment which will allow them on-the-spot access 
to their sources. Previously, when they had wanted to interview 
someone, it was necessary to have the interviewee visit the set 
of their show. Now, they will be able to pursue their quarry with 
their own cameras. Mr. Skolnick also has received as a gift a 
"super-duper fax machine" that he is trying to figure out how to 
operate. The machine, once operational, will reputedly be able to 
send out over 100 messages simultaneously.
 
Mr. Skolnick has become used to controversy. In the late 60's, 
uproar was so intense after he had brought financial corruption 
to light that the Chicago police cordoned off both ends of the 
narrow street on which he resides. Mysterious black helicopters 
routinely follow he and his associates as they pursue their 
investigations. The "CCCC" maintains their phone message, in 
part, because some government employees do not dare have their 
names on any mailing list that Skolnick and associates might put 
out. With the recorded phone message, government employees who 
want to know what is going on but who are fearful of surveillance 
can sneak to a pay phone and get the "rest of the story".
 
Finally, as a personal note, I want to add that I found Mr. 
Skolnick to be an excellent conversationalist. He was forthcoming 
with any information he had and was the sort of person who you 
could easily talk with and have the time seem to fly by. He has 
an excellent sense of humor, which is a bit too rare, I think, 
amongst conspiracy researchers (although he stresses that, 
strictly speaking, he is *not* a "conspiracy theorist"). Mr. 
Skolnick keeps the frightening truths he uncovers in perspective 
by being able to, from time to time, just stand back and laugh at 
the whole thing.
 
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et 
  pauperem.                    -- Liber Proverbiorum  XXXI: 8-9