Legal Defense & Research Trust
PO Box 7487
Ocean Park, Maine 04063
Web site: Barbara Hartwell vs. CIA
http://www.barbarahartwell.blogspot.com
IF HE CRIES, TAX HIS TEARS...
If found guilty, the couple could receive what amount to life sentences. Just one charge, for possession of destructive devices, carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.
The Browns, who were convicted of tax-related felonies in January 2007, fled authorities and holed up in their fortified and well-provisioned Plainfield home for nearly nine months. They entertained guests, accumulated weapons, spoke with news reporters and threatened violence against any agent who tried to arrest them.
An 11-count indictment unsealed yesterday accuses the Browns of conspiring with supporters to interfere with arrest attempts and stockpile weapons and homemade bombs. The indictment describes pipe bombs, exploding rifle targets, improvised booby trap guns and cans of gunpowder wrapped with nails. In testimony during the trial of several supporters last year, federal agents described finding Ed Brown's fingerprints on several of the devices, which were scattered strategically around the house near detonation cords, matches and high-powered rifles.
Throughout their tax trial and the standoff, the Browns challenged the authority of the federal government, saying repeatedly that no law required them to pay taxes and that they were not subject to federal jurisdiction.
During their separate arraignments in Concord yesterday, the couple maintained their positions. Though they were not allowed to speak to each other before the hearings, they both rejected appointed counsel, refused to offer pleas and expressed their view that the indictment was invalid.
"I am not the person on this indictment," Elaine Brown, 68, told federal Magistrate Judge James Muirhead yesterday. "I do not plan on taking part in any proceeding on it whatsoever."
Elaine Brown, who appeared in a green prison uniform and slip-on sneakers, looked transformed by her incarceration. Her previously coifed brown hair was gray and cut short. She wore no makeup, and she appeared to have lost weight. In letters to supporters posted online, she has complained about the prison food.
After Elaine Brown entered the courtroom, she began writing on papers at the defense table. Muirhead later read the papers and described them as an offer of a promissory bond of $1 billion and a "private offset bond" of $2 billion "so she and her husband can go free." Muirhead said he could not accept them.
Though she was seated next to Bjorn Lange, a federal public defender who assisted her in the final two days of her tax trial, Elaine Brown told Muirhead that she did not wish to have a lawyer. Lange, who avoided calling her by name, agreed to serve as her standby counsel and recommended that Muirhead enter a plea of not guilty on her behalf.
"I'm satisfied that the woman beside me has sufficiently understood," he told Muirhead near the end of the hearing.
'A higher law'
Ed Brown, 66, similarly rejected the court's authority, refusing to agree that he understood the constitutional rights that Muirhead described. He rejected the assistance of Michael Iacopino, a Manchester attorney who was appointed to assist him, though he said that he would accept a "council" of legal advisers.
"It's not the type of law that we operate under," Ed Brown said. "It's a higher law."
Ed Brown appeared in court in leg shackles, wearing a neon orange Strafford County jail uniform with his familiar gray mustache and glasses. For most of the hearing, he sat with his hands clasped in his lap, raising his eyebrows, scrunching his face and shrugging as Muirhead asked him questions. Like his wife, he unsuccessfully suggested a bond in exchange for their freedom, but Ed Brown offered more: $5 billion.
Now that we've heard the media lies and propaganda, time for the Truth.
[Taken from comments section at Concord Monitor]
Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes Are the rule.
Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat.
Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he Tries to think.
Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries, Tax his tears.
Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways, To tax his ass.
Tax all he has, Then let him know, That you won't be done Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers; Then tax him some more, Tax him till He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in Which he's laid.
Put these words Upon his tomb, 'Taxes drove me to my doom.. .'
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service FeeTax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimu m Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our
nation was the most prosperous in the world.