by bks » Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:12 pm
There are several threads going on about "Franklin". Please limit posts in this thread to discussion/questions coming out of a reading of the book.
I'll say at the outset that my impression of the book is highly favorable. I think it's a great achievement, and the accumulated evidence is quite sufficient to prove the existence of a child prostitution ring of the kind testified to by the five people Bryant got on record (five thus far - I still have 100 pages to go). Still, my interest in this thread is primarily in applying pressure to parts of the case that are most susceptible to questioning, for the purpose of strengthening the case. If others want to discuss the strongest aspects of the case Bryant has assembled, I'm all for that as well.
In case it needs to be said, I'm not a victim of the scandal. I'm interested in full disclosure and justice, and think that every US citizen is entitled to both.
Given the extraordinary amount of information presented and the large number of threads running through it, I'm going to just start with a topic without any structure in mind, and see where it goes. Feel free to suggest your own discussion points, but let's please keep this focused specifically on issues arising from a reading of Bryant's book.
So:
1. pp. 118-119. At a few points in the book, we come across information evidence that, if it ever publicly available, would be a "game-changer". This is one of the places. Bryant reports that Caradori and Ormiston visit one of the charter plane companies that transported kids with L. King, and find itineraries with children's names on them. They strike gold, IOW. They make copies, but are forced to surrender them before leaving, which they do, reluctantly. They leave with nothing. Caradori requests the documents through a contact at the National Credit Union Administration.
In the meantime, while he waits for them, his own records are subpoenaed by the FBI. He turns over to the Omaha FBI in person. While there, he sees a file from the charter company from which he has requested the charter flight records on the agent's desk as he submits his own.
When the charter flight records arrive to Caradori, they have been altered, with the children's names removed.
QUESTIONS/ISSUES: This episode has several aspects to it that might be reasonably considered convenient to a skeptic: first, that Caradori and Ormiston saw the records they claim, only to be forced to turn over the photocopies (they couldn't find a way to keep any of them?); second, that Caradori conveniently happened to see the records he had requested sitting on an Omaha FBI agent's desk (implying that the Omaha FBI had a role in their alteration); and third, that when the records arrived, they were altered.
It's entirely possible this is exactly what happened. Still, it's convenient, because records showing children on the flights would be very hard to explain away. Can anyone answer:
a. Did Caradori and Ormiston try visiting the other charter companies and searching their records? We know he was rebuffed by one (p.118), but given the importance of this lead, and given how dogged he was, would he not have tried the others? Did he? Bryant does not say.
b. Has Ormiston confirmed the outlines of this account? I believe Bryant took this account not from Ormiston, but from Caradori's investigation notes. Perhaps I missed it in the book.
c. Are there any publicly available flight manifests with the children's names on them?