Tim Ballard

[Calm]

5 hours ago, InCognitus said:

I have not been following any of the details of this whole story other than a brief reading of a few of the posts made here from time to time, and reading a few of the news stories on KSL.  But having learned a few interesting tricks on Youtube in the last few months, I thought I'd try to help.

In Youtube recently, when you click on the "...more" link to expand a video's description, all the way at the bottom they now have a "Transcript" link, and it opens up an auto-generated transcript at the side of the video.  You can search the transcript there, but I selected the whole transcript and pasted it into Notepad, and then searched for the word "psychic".   (I prefer to do it in Notepad so that I can see a broader range of context).

There are two places where the word "psychic" is used in the entire two hour discussion (assuming the auto-generated transcript spells the words correctly - it often gets things wrong and sometimes in a humorous way).

The first time is when the woman is being introduced at the 3:10 mark, where the host says, "they call her the psychic but calls herself the sidekick, and I think others have given you that name".

The second time is at the 1:43:10 mark, but you need to back up before that point to get the context of what she's saying, but I think that is the part that you may be looking for.   She talks about the origin of the claim where "tens of thousands of dollars were spent on a psychic speaking to the deceased Prophet Nephi".  She says that story came from Troy Rollins, and that he wrongfully got into some of her emails through a "Google portal"(??), and both the host and the woman make Rollins out to be a liar.  But I don't think she describes the actual contents of her emails that I noticed.

I don't claim to have any understanding or interpretation of any of this, I'm just reporting what I found  

Thanks

[CA Steve]

So how come the "psychic" didn't warn Ballard about all these evil people trying to get him?

[MustardSeed]

4 hours ago, CA Steve said:

So how come the "psychic" didn't warn Ballard about all these evil people trying to get him?

Because that would be the end of the movie! 

[Calm]

On 12/7/2023 at 12:56 PM, teddyaware said:

For those who would like to get to know more about Janet Russon, the so-called loopy “psychic” who is being sued along with Tim Ballard, here’s your chance to get to see her in action.

Teddy, I notice you at least peeked in earlier.  Is it possible to get a summary of the video and if not, at least your opinion/interpretation of how she addresses the psychic issue and where we might find it?

The one bit I saw scanning quickly through the transcript was perhaps a claim the burner phones were set up for the undercover because the traffickers would check their phones….but I am thinking that is a defense for the texts that imply Ballard was having affairs with the women.

I found it too difficult to pay close attention to the automated transcript due to the errors and the fact it is speech and not writing, so very awkward in flow, so some narrowing down would be helpful.  I am not interested in hearing myself chat most of the time, let alone two strangers, if it’s irrelevant to the topic I am dwelling on at that moment.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Calm

[The Nehor]

On 12/15/2023 at 8:27 AM, CA Steve said:

So how come the "psychic" didn't warn Ballard about all these evil people trying to get him?

Nephi is a prankster.

[Tacenda]

 

If you need to skip to 39 minutes in, it will show what led up to the white board moment. And in my mind, it's the whole reason the church denounces Tim. Tim uses the church leaders and uses M. Russell Ballard's name on the white board to start his new fund called, "Slave Stealers". Tim wants all the foundations of several to feed into this one fund, which all goes to Tim and his wife. Tim wants money to help him become senator, and then President of the US and then Prophet/President of the church. And Tim mentions how when rescuing a child, they can help get people into the covenant of baptism in the church. 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Tacenda

[bluebell]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

 

If you need to skip to 39 minutes in, it will show what led up to the white board moment. And in my mind, it's the whole reason the church denounces Tim. Tim uses the church leaders and uses M. Russell Ballard's name on the white board to start his new fund called, "Slave Stealers". Tim wants all the foundations of several to feed into this one fund, which all goes to Tim and his wife. Tim wants money to help him become senator, and then President of the US and then Prophet/President of the church. And Tim mentions how when rescuing a child, they can help get people into the covenant of baptism in the church. 

 

Ew. 

[MustardSeed]

21 hours ago, Tacenda said:

 

If you need to skip to 39 minutes in, it will show what led up to the white board moment. And in my mind, it's the whole reason the church denounces Tim. Tim uses the church leaders and uses M. Russell Ballard's name on the white board to start his new fund called, "Slave Stealers". Tim wants all the foundations of several to feed into this one fund, which all goes to Tim and his wife. Tim wants money to help him become senator, and then President of the US and then Prophet/President of the church. And Tim mentions how when rescuing a child, they can help get people into the covenant of baptism in the church. 

 

Thank you. 
Reprehensible.  

[teddyaware]

It’s often amazing to hear the other side of a controversial story on which many have already made up their minds, without hearing the other side of the story, because they fervently want the story’s shocking accusations to be true due to personal prejudices they hold (let’s hope such people never serve on juries!). Janet Russon, the alleged “crackpot psychic” who’s worked with Tim Ballard on child trafficking rescues for years, and another experienced Operation Underground Railroad operator who appears on camera for the first time, seem very knowledgeable. credible and level headed as they present the other side of this story. I’m now pretty much convinced the lawsuits against Tim Ballard aren’t going to be a slam dunk because the actual truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. But you never know, Tim Ballard and these two defenders of his could be Oscar caliber actors and psychopaths who are able to lie most convincingly.

want the story’s shocking accusations to be true (let us hope 

[Calm]

4 hours ago, teddyaware said:

credible and level headed as they present the other side of this story

Feel free to summarize as of yet I have not seen anything that addresses whether the claims she says she is psychic, which imo is the most important info she can provide, I would like to hear her say something like ‘yes/no, I am/am not a psychic’ or ‘people’s dead ancestors talk/don’t talk to me’.

Added:  The Looks like I am out of date:

Quote

The psychic who provided guidance to Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad says she never claimed to converse with an ancient Book of Mormon prophet and has been the victim of a widely reported narrative that she said is false.

Janet Russon, who has not spoken publicly about her part in OUR and the allegations against Ballard, broke her silence in a two-hour podcast called “The Last Dispensation,” which typically explores fringe beliefs among some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about secret societies, satanic ritual abuse and globalism.

Evidence gathered as part of an investigation into OUR by the Davis County attorney’s office and FBI purportedly included about 10,000 pages of psychic readings done by Russon, according to documents obtained through an open records request.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2023/12/16/psychic-who-aided-tim-ballard-says/

Quote

On an episode of the podcast that was aired this week, Russon denied Rawlings ever had the files and asserted he obtained some information illegally.

“They don’t exist. I want your audience to know, I want everyone to know, they don’t exist,” she said. “He’s never had pages in his possession.”

Russon said she believes Rawlings allegedly got access to a Google Drive link and accessed it, even though a judge did not give him permission to do so, read some emails and mistakenly attributed them to Nephi.

“There’s no talking to the Book of Mormon deceased prophet Nephi,” Russon said. “…That’s completely false.”

Quote

Russon falsely said that a statement issued by the LDS Church rebuking Ballardfor “morally unacceptable” behavior and misusing the name of late apostle M. Russell Ballard never actually came from the church. (Tim and Russell Ballard are not related.) Russon said she called the church five times and each time was told the church never issued such a statement.

A church spokesperson, however, has repeatedly confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune and other media outlets that the statement did come from the Utah-based faith.

Doesn’t give me faith in Russon to hear her contradicting everyone else on the matter including those who initially believed it wasn’t from the Church (such as Glenn Beck)

She is apparently a claimed psychic, just doesn’t talk to Nephi.

PS:  I really don’t care who she talks to, but only if she claims to be psychic and if she gets money for her readings or whatever she calls them. 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Calm

[Calm]

This is from the r/Mormon Reddit, which comment pretty much follows what I am interested in about her.

Quote

Some of her statements are really bizarre. At about 1:43:07, she said: "What Adam Herbert said in this timeline was tens of thousands of dollars were spent on a psychic speaking to the deceased prophet Nephi--I just want to say that's false. Emails were wrongfully obtained, and the identity of Nephi was attributed to the Book of Mormon prophet and author Nephi. That was an erroneous assumption made by the district attorney and stated as fact by the district attorney in documents that are now released, unsealed and released to the public. Um, and then, of course, the ten thousand pages which he never had in his possession. Nothing of mine was ever in his possession."

So her complaints are: --Emails were wrongfully obtained. [So he accessed the materials without permission, but the materials he accessed were legit?] --The D.A. was mistaken in saying the "Nephi" mentioned in the (illegally?) obtained materials was the Book of Mormon prophet. [No explanation of who the Nephi actually was.] --He never had the pages of Janet's readings in his possession, because he never had anything of hers in his possession. [So Janet is admitting that she has pages of readings?]

She never addressed whether she was a psychic or whether she was ever paid for psychic readings. Often in the interview she clips the end of the sentence, allowing the listener to infer the intended message without actually completing the statement. Or she'll posit a question rather than make an accusation directly. (Like, who are the real victims when these women sue for damages from OUR? The amount of money they are asking could save 15,000 children!)

According to the Reddit comments, it is actually Nephi Anderson who is Tim Ballard’s great great grandfather (is he someone notable that she would choose him?**)  This is supposedly in the court documents.  I could see why there would be confusion in those overhearing their conversations (TB and Russon, not Nephi A. and Russon which I doubt ever took place, at least in this lifetime of Russon).

**Apparently he is:  https://andersonballard.com/about-anderson-ballard-company-2/

And apparently channeling dead ancestors is a Thom Harrison/Spencer of Visions of Glory thing.  A comment or reported he has said such ancestors have helped him with patients’ treatment plans.  The more I hear about him, the more it sounds like he has his own little cult thing going that included Tim Ballard.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Calm

[Calm]

Audio of a reading by Russon referring to Nephi and Blain Anderson (Tim Ballard’s grandfather):

 

[Calm]

https://www.theblaze.com/news/blaze-news-investigates-the-psychic-who-guided-tim-ballard-and-some-operation-underground-railroad-missions-for-years

(weirdly…to me at least…I recognize some of the stuff in the article word for word, so swear I read it before and yet some of it is new to me, I wonder if I just skimmed it and forgot to go back and read it straight through…yep, I linked to it the 14th)

Quote

In response to Blaze News' request for answers regarding her work and her relationship with Ballard, Russon never denied being a psychic or communicating with spirits. In fact, her email sidestepped all questions regarding her supposed paranormal powers entirely, implying that answers to such questions would not "benefit" Blaze News' "audience." She then offered an alternative list of "more important topics" for possible discussion without providing further comment on any of them. Her list of suggested topics has been included here in full:

-anti human trafficking of minors-the US border crisis-new legislation to improve border policy 

-prevention of trafficking through adoption-the crisis of children who "age out" of the opportunity to be adopted both domestically and internationally 

-the need to form and maintain alliances and cooperative relationships with other anti human trafficking organizations worldwide 

-Foster Care in the US and other countries

Russon did not reply to Blaze News' follow-up email asking for further information about her psychic work.

On the positive side for Russon, even though dramatically failing at recovering Gardy….

Quote

Multiple former OUR associates who spoke with Blaze News indicated that Russon and her readings yielded some positive results for OUR. One source claimed to have met a victim rescued during a mission in which Russon was directly involved.

Another source who went on at least one mission to Haiti with Russon claimed that Russon provided several important insights for OUR team members as they ventured out into the field. For example, during that mission, operators found a water source deep within the Haitian forest, just as Russon had envisioned, even though this water source did not appear on any map or aerial surveillance. She also accurately predicted that operators would encounter a man in a purple shirt and a cowboy hat as well as a person of authority wearing a red shirt, the source told Blaze News. A few of the readings seen by Blaze News seem to make reference to some of those details.

 

Quote

Some news articles, court documents — including the two sexual assault lawsuits recently filed against Ballard — and DA Rawlings' sealed documents have all stated that, in connection with her readings about Ballard's private life, Russon communes with a prophet named Nephi who, according to the Book of Mormon, lived around 600 B.C. However, those reports are incorrect. Multiple sources have informed Blaze News that the Nephi in question is actually Ballard's great-great-grandfather Nephi Anderson.

Quote

A spokesperson for the LDS church who knew Elder Ballard well claimed that there is no evidence that Elder Ballard had any knowledge that Tim Ballard had sought psychic readings or engaged in the couples ruse until recent investigations brought those reports to light.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Calm

[Calm]

@teddyaware, are you okay with her alleged conversations with the deceased Nephi Anderson?  Serious question as you appear to be presenting her as not a “crackpot psychic”, but I am not sure if you are assuming she isn’t claiming to be a psychic at all.  If you don’t believe she is a psychic, how do you explain the audio recording of her doing a reading I provided?

Edited December 27, 2023 by Calm

[Calm]

https://www.abc4.com/news/local-news/ballard-asks-court-to-strike-privileged-information-from-suit-claims-it-was-stolen/

Quote

Last week’s motion mentions nine separate exhibits, including correspondence with attorneys, private communications to “priest[s] of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” as well as “private and sensitive documents” about high-profile people, including media personalities and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.

Ballard’s motion said Borys had worked for him up until early October 2023, quitting only days before she filed her suit. As such, Borys allegedly had access to Ballard’s email accounts “almost until the day” her suit was filed.

Ballard’s motion claims the material is irrelevant to any of the accusations against him, and they should be taken out of the public records.

This part makes sense to me and I don’t understand how they can be anonymous while suing as that makes it difficult and at times impossible to defend oneself, it seems to me.

Quote

In last week’s motion, Ballard’s attorneys claim he “should not have to respond” to the suit until he knows the full identity of his accusers and which ones have alleged which accusations.

Ballard’s motion states three plaintiffs have revealed their identities to him, but they refuse to “correlate their anonymized initials with their names, which would improperly require Mr. Ballard to speculate about which identified person correlates to which allegations.” The other two have not revealed their identities.

 

[Calm]

Also:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/12/23/lawsuit-alleging-sean-reyes-tried/

Quote

Attorneys for Suzanne Whitehead filed their motion to dismiss the lawsuit Tuesday, citing a recent meeting she and other women suing Ballard had with Reyes.

“General Reyes met with the plaintiff and explained his involvement in the matter and apologized to the plaintiff,” the motion states. “Plaintiff has accepted his apology.”…

The motion notes that if it is later discovered that Reyes misled the plaintiff about his involvement with Ballard, she could re-file the suit. Her lawsuit alleging intimidation by Ballard and OUR remains in effect.

 

[Calm]

Sound of Freedom is now on Amazon Prime.

[webbles]

https://www.ksl.com/article/50830255/tim-ballard-files-response-to-lawsuits-alleging-sexual-misconduct-says-plaintiff-stole-data

Since we've talked about privilege in the context of priest-penitent, the following line in the article interested me:

Quote

The motion argues that even if the information was not stolen, it is privileged and should not have been disclosed as evidence without Ballard's consent.

The information is emails that his former executive assistant had access to.  Can work emails be considered privileged?  Or could this just be referring to emails between Ballard and his attorneys which probably would be privileged?  Though, by giving his executive assistant access to said emails, does that break the attorney-client privilege?

[longview]

On 12/28/2023 at 4:08 AM, Calm said:

Sound of Freedom is now on Amazon Prime.

My wife and I watched it last night. A very powerful and compelling movie.

It looks to be a terrifying environment to break into. Takes an enormous effort to gain the necessary intelligence to even begin planning a rescue operation.

[The Nehor]

3 hours ago, longview said:

My wife and I watched it last night. A very powerful and compelling movie.

It looks to be a terrifying environment to break into. Takes an enormous effort to gain the necessary intelligence to even begin planning a rescue operation.

It was misrepresented in just about every possible way and set up in a way to convey that impression. Calling it ‘based on a true story’ is still a huge stretch.

It is propaganda.

Edited January 14 by The Nehor

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, The Nehor said:

It was misrepresented in just about every possible way and set up in a way to convey that impression. Calling it ‘based on a true story’ is still a huge stretch.

It is propaganda.

It is painful to see how people see it as a true story, where if people knew the facts, it's just a movie that seems to prop up Tim as a hero. But there are so many more heroes that didn't take it to this extreme to prop themselves up or get money from the sales.

[longview]

2 hours ago, The Nehor said:

It is propaganda.

You can argue about some of the details but do you deny that the number slaves today (be it for sex or drudgery or others) is greater than any time in previous millenniums? Granted that the percentage of slaves may have been greater in the past than today? The amount of trafficking might run to hundreds of billions per year:

From youth underground website

Quote

The business of human trafficking

• Human trafficking is the 2^nd largest criminal trade in the world after arms.
• Human trafficking is the fastest-growing illicit trade in the world.
• Human trafficking generates over $150 billion in profits every year.
• 40.3 million people are living as slaves worldwide, 5 times the population of Switzerland.
• Globally, the average cost of a “slave” – a trafficked human being – is $90.
• The U.S. accounts for almost 52% of global human trafficking with the sex trafficking of minors accounting for the largest percentage. 
• Traffickers make over $9.5 billion annually in the U.S. alone.

Children are the prime victims

• The prime victims of human trafficking are less than 18 years old.
• There are 5.4 victims of human trafficking for every 1,000 people in the world.
• 1 in 4 victims of human trafficking are children.
• Approximately 130 people are trafficked worldwide every hour. Most of these are children.
• Over one million children are trafficked for the sex trade every year.
• Approximately 30 million children have lost their childhood to human trafficking in the past 30 years.
• Some children forced into human trafficking are as young as 4 years old.
• 4 million people are living in forced marriages. This is slavery.
• One third of the 15 million victims of forced marriage are under the age of 18. Nearly half of these are younger than 15.
• 152 million children were victims of child labor in 2016, which amounts to nearly one in every 10 children worldwide.
• Sexual exploitation earns 66% of the global profits of human trafficking.
• The average age of a sex trafficked child is 13-14 years old.
• A pimp can make up to $150,000-$200,000 per child a year.
• 1 in 3 children who run away from home are approached by a trafficker within 48 hours of their running away.
• 76% of transactions for human trafficking with underage girls, start on the internet.

 

A human rights issue

• 50% of sexually trafficked and exploited children are male.
• Male survivors of human trafficking are the silent victims of an already hidden crime.
• Human trafficking is just one symptom of an enormous refugee crisis – the largest since World War II.
• There has been a 600% increase in sex trafficking of migrants in Europe over last three years.
• 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across borders worldwide every year. These figures are the highest ever recorded in history since the slave trade two centuries ago.
• More than 20,000 minors have disappeared into human trafficking in Europe alone over the last 2 years.
• At least 10,000 unaccompanied minor refugees have been reported missing after reaching Europe, and many of them are believed to have fallen victim to trafficking.
• 139 goods from 75 countries are made by forced and child labor.
• 9 million people are subjected to forced labor every year.
• Cases of human trafficking caused by climate change in the past 5 years have increased by at least 600%.
• 75% of victims who were trafficked in the past decade were advertised online.

 

What about Switzerland?

• Switzerland is primarily a destination and a transit country for women, children, and transgender people subjected to sex trafficking.
• Switzerland is primarily a destination and a transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, including forced begging and forced criminal activity.
• Switzerland is home to between 2,000 and 3,000 victims of human trafficking.
• The majority of human trafficking victims in Switzerland are women and children forced into prostitution, begging and stealing.
• Some human trafficking victims in Switzerland are as young as 14 years old. Most of the victims have experienced violence and abuse prior to arriving in Switzerland.
• Switzerland is a destination for foreign trafficking victims primarily from Central and Eastern Europe.
• Switzerland noted an increase in the number of women trafficked for sexual exploitation from Eastern Europe, specifically Romania.
• Traffickers in Switzerland get away on suspended sentences, instead of being sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence for trafficking.
• Of the 22 convictions of human traffickers in Switzerland, only 11 resulted in prison time 2016.
• Switzerland has cases of domestic servitude especially in the diplomatic community, a hidden crime in a sheltered community.
• The helpline numbers in Switzerland are +41 800 24 7 365 and 0 800 24 7 365, available 365 days a year – around the clock.
• The Geneva hotline number is 0800 20 80 20 (open from 14:00-18:00 Monday-Friday).
• For more information, check the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs website.

 

Note: Youth Underground is based in Switzerland.

From Los Angeles Porn Industry

Quote

The girls who do stay in the business doing these niche types of work, soon find the industry is nothing like they imagined. From common practices such as sticking a sponge in their vagina to conceal the blood from continuous penetration to the heavy use of drugs to numb the pain, it is a nightmare for the performers. The suicide rate among pornographic actors and those in the sex industry as a whole is one of the highest per capita because of this. Most of the women who stay in the industry long term either get addicted to drugs, pick up abusive habits or worse.

The above are just part of the tip of the iceberg.

[The Nehor]

48 minutes ago, longview said:

You can argue about some of the details but do you deny that the number slaves today (be it for sex or drudgery or others) is greater than any time in previous millenniums? Granted that the percentage of slaves may have been greater in the past than today? The amount of trafficking might run to hundreds of billions per year:

From youth underground website

From Los Angeles Porn Industry

The above are just part of the tip of the iceberg.

I am not denying that human trafficking is a HUGE problem. I am not sure why you think this is some kind of vindication of Ballard or this movie. It is a red herring.

The movie portrayed human trafficking in an inaccurate way. By misrepresenting the problem Ballard can show that he is the solution. He wants us to think that what we need are a bunch of Rambo-style badasses out of an action movie and he is ready to play that role. The movie indirectly aids human trafficking by pointing people who see it to the wrong problem and the wrong solution.

There are organizations out there that understand the problem, come up with ways to mitigate it, and do good work to help people avoid it and escape it. Then there is Tim Ballard. All the reputable organizations question his methods and see them as counterproductive. He is all style and no substance. He is trying for dramatic moments and video shoots publicity while doing little good and actively doing harm. Money that could go to competent people fighting the problem instead goes to fund Ballard’s showmanship.

Tim Ballard is the equivalent of someone seeing that Prohibition has some negative impacts and decides to mitigate them by becoming Al Capone and profiting off of it.

[MustardSeed]

30 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

I am not denying that human trafficking is a HUGE problem. I am not sure why you think this is some kind of vindication of Ballard or this movie. It is a red herring.

The movie portrayed human trafficking in an inaccurate way. By misrepresenting the problem Ballard can show that he is the solution. He wants us to think that what we need are a bunch of Rambo-style badasses out of an action movie and he is ready to play that role. The movie indirectly aids human trafficking by pointing people who see it to the wrong problem and the wrong solution.

There are organizations out there that understand the problem, come up with ways to mitigate it, and do good work to help people avoid it and escape it. Then there is Tim Ballard. All the reputable organizations question his methods and see them as counterproductive. He is all style and no substance. He is trying for dramatic moments and video shoots publicity while doing little good and actively doing harm. Money that could go to competent people fighting the problem instead goes to fund Ballard’s showmanship.

Tim Ballard is the equivalent of someone seeing that Prohibition has some negative impacts and decides to mitigate them by becoming Al Capone and profiting off of it.

Slow clap, nailed it, amen. 

[Tacenda]

50 minutes ago, MustardSeed said:

Slow clap, nailed it, amen. 

To a "T"! Good for Nehor!