MEMO
TO: Randy Parsons
FROM: Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S.
Counselor at Law
DATE: October 15, 1996
SUBJECT: Plans
I hope you will not mind if I am very direct with you in this
memo. I wish to discuss some matters which require an executive
decision by you, and I don't want to waste words or time.
1. There has been a lack of communication between me, Keven,
and you with respect to my pay. When Keven requested my
help at The Freedom Center, I quoted to him my retainer
($500) and my hourly rate ($75). You may already know that
this is the going rate for attorneys in the federal Public
Defender's Office, and about one-half the rates of private
attorneys. Because Keven did not refuse or counter, I had
to go on the presumption that these terms were acceptable to
him, and to The Freedom Center, because he was speaking for
it, like it or not. I also did not think I needed to
confirm his authority to approve a legal services contract.
Evidently, that authority is yours and not his,
notwithstanding his affirmations to the contrary.
2. I have had several discussions with colleagues here, in
California, and in other states on this subject. The
unanimous consensus is that I should minimize my presence in
Billings, or stay in Arizona entirely and support The
Freedom Center via email, U.S. Mail, and the telephone.
Much of that consensus derives from my attempt objectively
to describe the living and working conditions in the bunk
house. People winced when I told them how much cleaning and
organizing I needed to do, just to feel comfortable, and how
I was being forced to live on three and a half hours of
sleep per night. I should have listened to Al, but now Al
is persona non grata for reasons that are not entirely known
to me. I know that I am not the most courteous and kind
person in the world, but I cannot be a man for all seasons
when the odds are stacked so heavily, and my living
conditions are way below standard. Nor is it right to shoot
the one who brings the message about these conditions.
3. I am concerned about the wisdom of having me do carpentry,
HVAC, electrical, sheet rocking, plumbing and carpentry,
just to have a room for sleep and privacy. That tells me
that The Freedom Center does not have command of enough
resources either to pay for lodging, or construct it, nor
did The Freedom Center adequately anticipate what should
have been obvious to any human being inviting another human
being to live in. Also, I do not think that construction
work is a good use of my time. If I were to begin such a
project, I would want to finish it, so that I would not have
to walk bare-footed on dusty concrete floors, or suffer a
cold winter without heating and insulation. I know that
Rudy must be delighted to have such work done "for free",
but is it really "for free" when the litigation work must
suffer directly? I think not. The bottom line here is that
I do not think either Rudy, or The Freedom Center, have the
resources available to create a basement bedroom at least as
good as a basic motel room, using the Building Code as an
objective standard. Please correct me if I am wrong about
this. I hope I am, because it goes to your ability to keep
this entire project alive.
Memo 10/15/96 by Paul Andrew Mitchell:
Page 1 of 4
4. I am also very concerned about Keven's level of commitment
and ability to learn what he must learn to oversee FREEMAIL,
the Intervention of Right, and any other programs we might
develop to involve Americans in the Schweitzer case. There
is something gnawing at me, way down deep, as I glance over
at a man who is horribly overweight, and stares at his
terminal for hours on end without a shirt and with piles of
mess surrounding him. That does not bode well for The
Freedom Center and for what it wishes to accomplish. Do you
expect the Pentagon to be impressed, if and when we need to
meet them behind closed doors? Ask any office manager, and
they will tell you that Keven might last all of 4 hours, the
first day on any new job. I know that your heart reaches
out to him, because his parents are in jail, but you must
understand that dead wood is not going to produce wins in a
hotly contested courtroom. To me, Keven also seems very
resentful of my skills, but he is blaming the messenger
here, and that only aggravates the situation. I appreciate
the willingness by both of you to stop smoking, but that has
had no effect on Morley. One cigarette in my immediate
environment is one cigarette too many.
5. I am also extremely concerned that Keven failed to inform me
that The Freedom Center would be unable to pay me for my
professional services, in a timely manner, if that is indeed
the case. Is it? The Freedom Center is placing itself in a
very precarious position to preach the common law and
biblical principles, on the one hand, and then to invite a
legal expert to help develop a comprehensive legal strategy
for 20 criminal defendants, on the other hand, but without
being up-front with him about their inability to pay him
what he is worth. If you will take the time to study the
definition of "fraud" in Black's Law Dictionary, you will
find that it applies as well to any failure to disclose what
should have been disclosed. If you select a man for his
talent, and then engage his professional services to the
point of buying a plane ticket so he can work on location,
and of setting him up with a desk, computer, telephone,
filing cabinets, fax machine, and so on, wouldn't it be fair
for him to expect to be paid for the time he spent working
on your behalf, particularly when he works double-time
without a weekend off and only bills you for half as much?
Memo 10/15/96 by Paul Andrew Mitchell:
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6. Another concern of mine is that I was informed, only after I
arrived, that I would be responsible for raising the funds
necessary to pay for my services. This is another matter
which should have been disclosed to me while I had a chance
to accept, or reject, any offer package you had in mind. As
you may already know, developing a sound legal strategy, and
following the paperwork to its final fruition, both take a
great deal of concentration, privacy, and insulation.
Raising funds involves public relations, ringing telephones,
outreach, advertising, and a solid Internet presence, to
mention a few things, most of which are a total distraction
from the intense focus required to develop and prevail with
compelling legal arguments to a hostile federal judiciary.
From experience, I can tell you that I have what it takes to
do both of these jobs, but not within the same 8-hour day.
As it is, I have worked almost 16 hours on each and every
day I was there. This is excessive, and it begs for an
emotional, physical, mental or medical breakdown. Moreover,
requiring this kind of "contribution" will, for sure, make
stamina and endurance impossible at a time when these goals
should be foremost in your planning and resource allocation
decisions.
7. I am also concerned about the lack of management which
occurred when Dick and Charley showed up. Was I being
tested for some unspecified future role, like "paralegal"?
I hope you know by now that I will not be their secretary,
their spelling coach, their grammar instructor, and their
procedural mentor. This story about all the money they will
"soon" bestow on The Freedom Center sounds like a trap, a
Trojan Horse, and a wedge to achieve one of their main
objectives: control of the strategy. I almost broke out
laughing as Charley kept backing up on his last day there,
to the point of falling down the stairs with his back to the
basement. But, the reality of the whole situation was just
too painful for me to laugh, so I almost cried. Did you
notice? Charley miscalculated in a big way; he does not
know how, when, or where I choose to be a warrior, and his
defeat only dawned on him too late, as I drove my points
into his chest. "How about the Queen of England?" he asked.
Charley, you cannot stay on point; this is all too obvious
to us now, after you wasted 4 days of our previous time with
your ego, your greed, and your self-centered preoccupations.
Can you really blame me for getting personal, particularly
after he orders me to take a hike, with no authority for
same? Now, that's real teamwork. Evidently, he did not
know any of the events which had led up to my being there,
such as the plans which I had written and published on the
Internet, the briefs which I had mailed to you at my own
expense, and the tentative commitment The Freedom Center had
made to those plans. These two guys are from the dark ages,
as far as I can tell. Did anyone offer to reimburse me for
the time I spent and the Express Mail postage I bought? No.
Memo 10/15/96 by Paul Andrew Mitchell:
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8. The final thing I want to share with you is that Keven,
evidently, failed to inform you that, before agreeing to
work for The Freedom Center, I had already made a serious
long-term commitment to tour the country with Richard
McDonald, to conduct Supreme Law Seminars in every Union
state over the next two years. This commitment amounts to 4
days of intense work on location, every month, plus another
4 days of travel (1 day there, 1 day back, for each
seminar). When you add at least one day off each week, for
rest and relaxation, you will find that I simply cannot
devote 18 hours per day, 7 days per week, to the various
cause(s) of The Freedom Center. I want you to know that I
strongly disagree with some "Patriots" who feel that we will
win this battle only by working our brains into mush, while
our bodies and souls are screaming for rest, relaxation,
recharge, love, friendship, privacy, and entertainment.
People will say, "Get a life," and they will be right.
So, I want to end this with the following proposal: If you will
pay my first invoice in full immediately, I will drive back to
Billings for a maximum of four weeks, but you must also make
arrangements to complete the bedroom, with carpeting, painted
sheet rock, light and heat, before I return there. I will not
sleep, or work, in a construction zone; I've been there, and
done that. Once is enough. I hereby reserve the right to return
to Arizona on my own schedule after those four weeks have passed,
and to provide The Freedom Center with professional services from
the comfort of my own place.
If you cannot pay my first invoice, now that it has been faxed to
you, or if you and Rudy cannot finish the basement bedroom with
outside contractors, there is no reason in this world why I
should drive up there, except to fight for the compensation which
The Freedom Center owes me for all the work I have done to date.
Please don't get me wrong here, Randy: I like you very much, and
I am philosophically and intellectually behind LeRoy Michael
Schweitzer, but I cannot and will not work pro bono, or on a
contingency basis, for him or any of his many co-respondents,
certainly not after Broderick stiffs me for $10,000, Wallens
stiffs me for $3,000, and Crawford stiffs me for $1,000 and
threatens me criminally over a dozen times. Enough is enough. I
have a right, and a duty, to defend my own life, liberty, and
property, and this Memo is how I do that. Let us first begin by
walking our own talk.
Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell
Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S.
Counselor at Law
c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776
Tucson, Arizona state
email: supremelawfirm@yahoo.com
website: http://supremelaw.com
copies: Red Beckman, Billings, Montana state
Memo 10/15/96 by Paul Andrew Mitchell:
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