Emails to and from Jan Morgan-Harrison about the apparently mythical Mountain Pure Water raid


(Note:  As of 9/26/2013, more than 9 months after my 2012 Christmas Eve email, Mrs. Morgan-Harrison & Mr. Coleman still have not replied. -DAB)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFALonjLay0   (or download .mp4)


Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:08:26 -0400
Subject: Re: "Rampant Injustice" / Mountain Pure Water
From: David Burton
To: Jan Harrison
Cc: Curtis Coleman
Jan, are you ignoring my emails because the "big raid" on Mountain Pure Water never actually took place?


On Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 12:46 PM, David Burton wrote:
Jan, did you overlook this email?


On Mon, Dec 24, 2012 at 1:59 AM, David Burton wrote:
Dear Mrs. Harrison,

Thank you for your reply to my inquiry about your video's reenactment of an alleged "big raid" on Mountain Pure Water. Thank you, too, for clarifying that the video reenactment was of an IRS & DOJ raid, not an FBI raid (though the FBI is the primary law enforcement agency of the DOJ).

However, your blustering about "slander" is misplaced. I identified an inconsistency between allegations in the video (the references to nationwide media coverage) and what seems to be reality (the apparent lack of any such media stories). So I went to the source (you & Mr. Coleman), to get to the bottom of the discrepancy.

Note that short snippets of news coverage may legally be used in documentaries, without permission, under the legal doctrine of "fair use." So the lack of any such snippets in your video suggests that perhaps there were none to be had.

I asked four numbered questions, none of which you answered. Can you please answer them?

1. Can you please tell me when the alleged raid on Mountain Pure Water took place? What was the date?

2. Also, can you please tell me what media covered it, and point me to the contemporaneous stories, and to the youtube footage that you mentioned, but that I cannot find? You say that several newspapers and television stations covered it, and that news footage is on YouTube, but I can't find any of that. Where is it?

3. Also, can you please tell me where the legal documents (such as the subpoena) related to the Mountain Pure Water raid can be found?

4. Also, who made the video, besides you?

Note that I'm just asking about the Mountain Pure Water raid, which is the centerpiece of the video. I'm certainly aware of the Gibson Guitar case, and I'm not suggesting that the federal government never oversteps its authority or employs excessive force (think Waco!). But I'm not asking about Gibson, Duncan Outdoor, or any other cases. I'm only inquiring about the Mountain Pure Water case.

Sincerely,
Dave Burton



On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 3:15 AM, Jan Harrison wrote:
Mr. Burton,
I do not know the purpose behind your allegations but I can tell you that your suggestion of me putting 23 years of my credibility as a associated press award winning investigative journalist on the line for a hoax are not only ridiculous, but unfounded and insulting.

Either your research ability is less than incompetent or you are intentionally attempting to spread slanderous information about the validity of the information in this documentary and discredit my reputation.

I have personally viewed news footage of every single raid covered involving the multiple businesses mentioned in this documentary and since it was published, have become aware of dozens of more raids exactly like this one.

In addition, you either have comprehension issues or you did not actually watch and pay attention to the documentary. There was never mention of the FBI agency in this video. It was the Justice Department and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service.

In addition, I have personally spoken with television and newspaper outlets who covered this story and even viewed actual news footage of the raid at Mountain Pure on YouTube provided by one of the Little Rock television news outlets. We requested permission from several news outlets to use or even purchase some of their footage we found on youtube. The price was too high and we were on a tight budget.
I want a list of the blog commenters you say you are quoting who say this is a hoax. Give me names.
By the way, the reason you have not found any record of litigation related to any of these raids is because there is none.
No indictments against any of those involved in any of the businesses mentioned as of two weeks ago.
I have personally seen the subpoena for the search on Mountain Pure as well as Duncan Outdoors and have personally interviewed over 50 people who work for these companies who were there the day of the raids and used their accounts of what happened to accurately portray how things went down. Do you really believe that over 50 people would lie about such raids and furthermore all have similar stories from raids around the country?
I have also interviewed the attorneys involved in all of the raids.

I suggest that you be more cautious about slandering the reputation of a credible journalist without just cause. Unless you can prove ANY information in my documentary is not true, (which you can not) and you persist in spreading lies that you can not substantiate about the validity of this documentary, then I demand that you cease and desist any public and private slanderous statements about the video, "Rampant InJustice" or Jan Morgan. Your persistence will result in legal ramifications. I spent 23 years building my reputation as a journalist. My integrity and credibility is essential to my continued success as a professional in my field. Therefore I take attacks on either, very seriously.

Sincerely,
Jan Morgan



From: David Burton
To: Curtis Coleman
Cc: Jan Morgan
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2012 1:17 AM
Subject: "Rampant Injustice" / Mountain Pure Water

Dear Mr. Coleman,

Are the "Rampant Injustice" videos a hoax?

The video mentions that the news of this supposed raid was "on TV" (at 7:31), and that "news accounts of this big raid hit the airwaves" (at 12:20). Yet there's no record of such a raid in any news stores that I can find, nor any record of litigation related to such a raid.

Is this a hoax? That's what some blog commenters are saying, and that's what it looks like to me. One blog commenter says he did a WestLaw search, and found no references at all to such a case.

There are other news stories about Mountain Pure Water, John Stacks & Timothy Dudley, but nothing that I can find about an FBI raid. Searching the Internet for Stacks and Dudley finds many political contributions (apparently all to Democrats), but nothing about an FBI raid.

Nor is there anything in this video to indicate when this raid supposedly happened, and there's no reproduced footage from any news coverage. There's nothing to substantiate that it actually happened.

Internet searches find other stories about Mountain Pure Water and its legal problems, but no mention of an FBI raid. Here are two stories:

Contrast the complete lack of news coverage about this supposed "big raid" to the coverage of the unrelated Gibson Guitar raids over banned tropical hardwoods, which were national news. Google reports 1.8 million hits when you search for that story:

So...
1. When did this FBI raid happen (if it really happened)?
2. Where are the media stories, which the video claims covered the story?
3. Where's the litigation that surely would have resulted from it, and that triggered it?
4. Who made this video (besides Jan Morgan)?

Sincerely,

Dave Burton
Cary, NC



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