Tim Ballard, the inspiration
for the American reich wing's favorite summer movie, Sound Of Freedom, is
in the news again. Honestly, I had thought I was finished with this
egotistical, endlessly self-aggrandizing Trumpist blowhard and career grifter for
the duration, but alas, Ballard has been making headlines once
again this month, not only for being rebuked by higher-ups in his beloved Mormon
Church, but also for allegations of sexual misconduct. Meanwhile, his political star continues to rise as he
threatens a 2024 Senate run to replace
the departing Mitt Romney, and endears himself to the ultra-reich by telling lies to
Congress about how the Biden
administration is supposedly enabling child sex trafficking and
kiddie porn because of loose border policies.
Ballard v Ballard? The denouncement
from on high
Now, maybe it's just a matter of he said/he said, but, according
to a September 15, 2023 report by Vice.com, it appears that Tim Ballard was deceptively exploiting his (former)
close friendship with one M. Russell Ballard (no relation to Tim). From the Vice piece:
You really need to read the entire Vice.com article -- here's that link again -- to understand the extent to which Tim Ballard's ego was invested not only in his (often exaggerated) battles against human trafficking, but also in his mission to use the full force of his multiple organizations and influence to bring all of America into the Mormon fold. (There's even a photo of a whiteboard chart outlining his master plan.)Documents obtained by VICE News show anti-trafficking activist Tim Ballard claimed that a revered and powerful figure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints played a secret, central role in Operation Underground Railroad, or OUR, the organization Ballard founded. Insiders who spoke to federal and local investigators as part of a since-closed criminal inquiry described Ballard claiming that OUR and his personal business ventures were backed by the senior member of the church’s second-highest leadership body, and part of a larger mission to use the anti-trafficking cause to bring Americans to the Mormon faith—or, in his words, “lead them to the covenant.”
“Tim is fully convinced that he is supposed to be the 'Mormon Messiah and lead people back to the church,’” read notes from an interview between criminal investigators and a former OUR higher-up.
But now a spokesperson for the church tells VICE News that while the apostle in question, President M. Russell Ballard, was once close to Tim Ballard—to whom he is not related, despite their sharing a last name—the OUR founder “betrayed their friendship, through the unauthorized use of President Ballard’s name for Tim Ballard’s personal advantage and activity regarded as morally unacceptable.”
Tim Ballard has bitten back regarding the allegations about the Church and the elder Ballard. He insists that he was not rebuked by the Church and that he never, ever, ever exploited his friendship with the Apostle. He even made a video rant about the matter. He's very upset about what he calls years-long "attacks" on him, and says his family is being threatened too. If his family really is being threatened, shame on those who are threatening them, but, for that matter... shame on the Sound Of Freedom fans who, apparently having swallowed Tim Ballard's version of reality hook, line, and sinker, have been threatening sex trafficking survivors and advocates. Threatening innocent folks is never a good thing, no matter who's doing it and who's being threatened.
Then there are the sexual misconduct allegations
As if the Church debacle weren't enough, more details have come out about the sexual misconduct allegations that may have (probably?) prompted Ballard's June 2023 departure from the rescue org he founded, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). Here's Vice.com again:
I wonder if Timmy was wearing magickal Mormon underwears in that photo, or just regular briefs or jockeys.Tim Ballard’s exit from Operation Underground Railroad earlier this year followed an investigation into claims of sexual misconduct involving seven women, according to sources with direct knowledge of the organization.
Sources familiar with the situation said that the self-styled anti-slavery activist, who appears to be preparing for a Senate run, invited women to act as his “wife” on undercover overseas missions ostensibly aimed at rescuing victims of sex trafficking. He would then allegedly coerce those women into sharing a bed or showering together, claiming that it was necessary to fool traffickers. Ballard, who was played by Jim Caviezel in the hit film Sound of Freedom, is said to have sent at least one woman a photo of himself in his underwear, festooned with fake tattoos, and to have asked another “how far she was willing to go,” in the words of a source, to save children. These sources requested anonymity because they fear retaliation.
OUR responded. Vice.com (here's that link again) quoted their response in part:
“Several weeks ago, an OUR employee who accompanied Tim on an undercover operation filed a sexual harassment complaint against him with OUR’s HR department,” the letter, which was sent this summer to donors to anti-trafficking causes, reads. “This resulted in an extensive internal investigation into Tim and his individual operational tactics and led to more women speaking up as part of the investigation process.
“It was ultimately revealed through disturbingly specific and parallel accounts, that Tim has been deceitfully and extensively grooming and manipulating multiple women for the past few years with the ultimate intent of coercing them to participate in sexual acts with him, under the premise of going where it takes and doing ‘whatever it takes’ to save a child.”
The letter further said that OUR’s board and lawyers had made agreements preventing executives from discussing the circumstances of Ballard’s exit from the organization he founded, making it “virtually impossible for them to defend the organization against Tim’s false narratives.” The author or authors of the letter did not respond to requests for comment. An OUR spokesperson did not dispute what was in the letter when asked about it by VICE News In July, or respond further when told that reporters could only take this as confirmation of its accuracy.
Vice also provided a link to journalist Lynn Packer's YouTube video regarding the
allegations and the statement from OUR.
On September 19, 2023, Ballard, via the organization to which he is senior
advisor, the SPEAR Fund, denied the sexual misconduct allegations. Ballard, not surprisingly, claims to have always been
a choir boy in all of his dealings with women in the course of
conducting his rescue ops. Or, in his words (according to the
SPEAR Fund statement):
“During my time at O.U.R., I designed strict guidelines for myself and our operators in the field. Sexual contact was prohibited, and I led by example. Given our meticulous attention to this issue, any suggestion of inappropriate sexual contact is categorically false.”
Still, the allegations won't go away. But hey,
no worries. Tim's star is just beginning to rise.
Bad moon rising
If you're thinking that these allegations of lying
and sexual misconduct make Tim Ballard an ideal GOP candidate, I
totally agree with you. Indeed, all indications are that he's
running for Mitt Romney's soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat in 2024.
From The Deseret News, September 15, 2023:
Rumors of Ballard’s potential Senate bid started after Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who is close to Ballard, said Wednesday he was looking forward to supporting “a great conservative, patriot, and warrior” who would be announcing a Senate run “in the days to come.”
Multiple sources close to Ballard have confirmed he is considering a run.
And although some consider him a long shot due to the Church conflicts, don't count him out (especially given the fact that, as the Deseret News article indicated, Tim Ballard and his fellow Trumpian and fibber, Utah AG Sean Reyes, are good buds). Vice.com elaborated on this point in their September 15 article:
I'd say that, judging by events in recent years, the allegations against Tim Ballard won't destroy him, at least not politically, but will only make him stronger and more dangerous, just like the overuse of antibiotics makes the hardiest bacteria stronger and more dangerous. After all, look what multiple indictments did for #NeverWasMyPresident Donald John Trump. And in slightly more recent developments, look what impeachment and acquittal did to Texas' criminally corrupt attorney general, Ken Paxton. And consider how little both of these men's sexual shenanigans, both alleged and proven, seem to matter to the diehard red base.For now, Ballard’s professional and political futures aren’t certain– but he has made ambitious efforts to move himself closer to a new power structure. On Wednesday [September 13, 2023], he testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he made a highly politicized statement about the Biden administration’s role in aiding human trafficking, one which proved immediately popular with right-wing news sites.
“Tragically, as a result of this administration’s current policies, [the Department of Homeland Security] and [the Department of Health and Human Services] have unwittingly become a child trafficking delivery service,” Ballard said, in part.
It’s difficult to imagine that Ballard could successfully run for elected office after being effectively denounced by the power structure of the most powerful religion in his home state. But he has proven himself, if nothing else, to be remarkably persistent, willing to reinvent himself—to spin new stories, to seek new allies—as many times as necessary.
Given all of that, it would appear that Tim Ballard, like so many other Christofascists littering the political and social landscape these daze, is here to stay.
Update, October 19, 2023:
The headline on the web site of Salt Lake City's CBS affiliate
KUTV (News2) reads: Ex-police officer Eric Moutsos, friend of Tim Ballard,
says he believes Ballard's accusers.
Well, maybe ex-friend would be a better description. As
reported on October 18, 2023 by KUTV, Moutsos used to be
all-in for Tim and for Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) and
for Sound Of Freedom. (He's also an anti-vax fanatic to
boot.)
Despite all of the above, Moutsos said he believes the alleged
vics of Tim's alleged sexually predatory behavior, and that if he
were still a cop he would definitely recommend criminal charges
against Ballard. He told News2, "We need beacons, we need
hope in the world. This has been absolutely devastating to me
because I wanted him to be the person he said he was."
Ballard, of course, continues to deny these "false
accusations," claiming to be faithful to his wife and his
God.
Be sure to read some of the other linked articles on the page too
-- for instance, this one regarding Utah's Attorney General (and good buddy of Ballard)
attempting to shut down News2's questions about a lawsuit against
Ballard. That's what friends are for,
right?
And here is news about the lawsuit in question. According to News2:
That lawsuit, which was filed Monday, alleged that Ballard used anti-trafficking operations as a way to sexually abuse and exploit female OUR employees and volunteers. The suit also claimed the donor-funded missions largely consisted of “going to strip clubs and massage parlors across the world, after flying first class to get there, and staying at 5-star hotels, on boats, and at VRBOs across the globe.”
Here's a direct link to the lawsuit itself, in which we learn more than we ever wanted to know about Saint Timothy's bacchanalian indulgences and sexual activities in the field. For instance...
78. At the strip clubs, Ballard would pay for and receive lap dances, and ingest alcohol and pills at these practice “Ruse Ruses” on OUR’s dime with donor monies.
79. Ballard engaged in a ploy where he would tell the women that if they were offered alcohol, which is forbidden by the Mormon Church, that she should take the drink and then open mouth, kiss him and spit the alcohol into his mouth, and then he would spit it out when the traffickers were not looking.
80. However, Ballard was doing the exact opposite–he was consuming excessive amounts of alcohol (tequila) of his own volition, which he drank at strip clubs, massage parlors, and on trips, to the point of passing out. For example, he missed a $250,000 speaking engagement a few weeks ago because he was drunk and missed his flight.
81. Through these COUPLES RUSES, both in the office and in the field, Ballard eventually engaged in coerced sexual contact with several women and propositioned others.
82. Ballard participated in several sexual acts with the exception of actual penetration, in various states of undress while on an OPS mission.
83. Ballard developed a sexual position where it appeared he was having full on sexual intercourse with his COUPLES RUSE victims, while not actually penetrating.
84. While inside private accommodations, when no one else was around that they needed to fool, Ballard would claim that he and his female partner had to maintain the appearance of a romantic relationship at all times in case suspicious traffickers might be surveilling them at any moment.
85. Ballard requested the women he invited to act as his significant other, to first have a Brazilian wax.
86. Ballard would ask each woman, "Is there anything you wouldn't do to save a child?"
87. To further convince the women of his need for them on the next OPS mission, Ballard would badmouth previous female partners, claiming that the women who had allegedly gone on COUPLES RUSES in the past were "crazy," and claiming that they had fallen in love with him along the way.
88. Ballard used these mythical stories to motivate the women in his COUPLES RUSE to prove their mettle and their devotion to the cause by trying to outdo their supposed predecessors.
89. When these women found themselves questioning the legitimacy of tactics involving sexual contact, they often doubted their own instincts, relying on Ballard's breadth of knowledge about rescue missions to convince themselves that such tactics were normal.
90. Other employees of OUR would warn these women not to question Ballard or their lives would be put in danger.
91. Ballard would also tell the women that engaging in sex play with him would improve their marriage, even as he also told them not to tell their husbands about what they were doing (or it would compromise the mission, children, their lives, and other informants’ lives)
92. Ballard would repeatedly warn these women that if they failed in their COUPLES RUSE mission, they would have wasted the hard-earned money that honest donors had entrusted to OUR or be caught or killed by the cartel.
93. …In the mind of the victims, this was very real and serious and the cartel was essentially all knowing and seeing.
But hey, at least he didn't penetrate his vics! So, yeah... totally faithful to his wife. And I'm sure he still loves his God too. (Besides, everyone knows that any underground op involving a fake significant-other relationship requires that the female operative have a baby-smooth vulva. A Brazilian wax is just SOP for a COUPLES RUSE.) So all is well, and Tim has nothing to worry about. Maybe he'll even end up on the short list for Donnie John's running mate.
UPDATES, May 2024:
Tim Ballard's victims claim connection between
him and late LDS apostle
This is an MSN link, but the story was curated from Salt Lake
City's ABC affiliate KTVX (ABC4 News). Apparently those attempts
to distance LDS apostle Russell Ballard from Timmy Boy were just
another ruse. On April 26, 2024, the five women suing Tim Ballard
for trafficking them and sexually assaulting them filed an
amendment to their original lawsuit. From
the MSN/ABC4 article linked to just under the "Updates May 2024"
subhead:
The amended lawsuit now includes claims that the late Latter-day Saint apostle M. Russell Ballard “sanctioned” an OUR initiative that the plaintiffs say allowed the trafficking and assault of the women who went on undercover operations with Tim Ballard.
The lawsuit alleges that Tim Ballard claimed he was related to President Ballard, sometimes saying the Latter-day Saint leader was his grandfather or his uncle — however, the lawsuit says, “neither statement is true and there is no close familial tie at all.”...
...The lawsuit says the “couples ruse” was “sanctioned” by President Ballard.
“[Tim] Ballard claims that the COUPLES RUSE was an undercover tool to prevent detection by pedophiles when Ballard would not engage in sexual touching of the trafficked women offered up to him in strip clubs and massage parlors across the world,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also says the couples ruse “was not used to find children, but was a ruse to commit sexual assaults of his COUPLES RUSE partners.”
According to the lawsuit, Tim Ballard called President [Russell] Ballard after he allegedly went to one of the plaintiff’s homes and assaulted her.
“President Ballard did not tell Tim Ballard to go to the police and report his horrible act,” the lawsuit says. “Rather, President Ballard told Ballard to do better at obeying the COUPLES RUSE rules.”
Fortunately for President Russell Ballard, he shuffled off this mortal coil on November 12, 2023. At the time of his death at the age of 95 he was, according to his Wikipedia write-up, the third most senior apostle in the Mormon Church. When I looked at the Wiki piece just a few moments ago, there wasn't a peep about the Tim Ballard/OUR controversies.
Tim Ballard arranged penthouse for A.G. Sean
Reyes with women and cocaine, lawsuit alleges
The saga just gets sleazier. Also included in the amended lawsuit
complaint cited above are allegations that Tim Ballard arranged a
decadent party for his good bud Sean Reyes, Utah's Attorney
General. From the Salt Lake Tribune, April 30, 2024:
After a criminal investigation was opened by the Davis County attorney’s office, Ballard was upset, the suit asserts, “especially since Ballard made arrangements for General Reyes to use a penthouse at Mac’s Place with women and cocaine.”
Mac’s Place is an exclusive social club located north of Pioneer Park. It has frequent high-profile guests and contains meeting spaces, a shoeshine stand, barber chairs and massage tables.
Reyes, whose decadelong personal and professional relationship with Ballard has come under scrutiny, denied the latest allegations through a spokesperson Monday. Reyes announced in December [2023]that he would not seek reelection.
No doubt Reyes' decision not to seek reelection is totally unrelated to the Ballard scandals. I'm sure it's just because he wants to spend more time with his family, like a good Mormon-ish man should.
Texts between Sean Reyes and Tim Ballard
raise questions about criminal investigation
On the other hand, maybe
Reyes' decision not to seek reelection is totally related to his
(former?) friendship with Saint Timothy. From Salt Lake City's
FOX affiliate FOX13, March 11, 2024:
As the Utah Attorney General’s Office continues its criminal investigation into Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad, the alleged victims say they do not trust it – especially after reading newly-released text messages exchanged between Ballard and Utah AG Sean Reyes...
...“This state legislator is a punk,” Reyes wrote. “He has tried to get me impeached. His statement that OUR is criminal is defamatory per se. Would make for a good case. Thousands of views and (retweets). I know we are focused on (Sound of Freedom). But it’s a good chance for OUR to tell its story. Who in OUR is best for me to talk to about possibility of filing a lawsuit? Striking him down would send a message nationally.”
The text message was in response to a tweet published by Sen. Nate Blouin (D-Millcreek) on July 4, 2023.
“Reminder that @OURRescue is a criminal organization,” Blouin wrote.
Blouin has since acknowledged that his use of the phrase "criminal organization" was a bit much, but said his point still stood, and that he found it very concerning that Reyes was still in office at this point. And then there's this...
Reyes has also been a subject of investigation because of his ties to OUR. Nevertheless, one of the current criminal investigations is now being run by the Utah AG’s Office.
“I was molested and sexually assaulted by Tim (Ballard) in four different states, five different countries, in the span of ten months,” said plaintiff Celeste Borys.
"After hearing their stories in person, I believe them,” Reyes said.
In that same announcement, Reyes stated he would no longer be running for reelection.Reyes promised to recuse himself from the ongoing criminal investigation because of his “past friendship” with Ballard...
Does this mean the bromance is over?
For his part, Democrat Senator Bruin laughed at the idea of being
sued for the purpose of "thousands of views and
retweets."
Tim Ballard is still a hero on the reich,
despite all the lies and sex scandals
That notorious weapon of the American Nazi Party, the Conservative
Political Action Conference, or CPAC, featured Ballard as a
speaker at their February 2024 conference. He was in top form
with his lies and gaslighting about the Biden administration,
claiming that under Biden's tutelage border agents have become,
either wittingly or unwittingly, a "sex trafficking delivery
service."
Granted, the Biden administration, as well as previous administrations including Trump's, have not adequately addressed the problem of human trafficking in general and child trafficking in particular (be it sex or forced labor trafficking) -- but the repeated attempts by Ballard et al. to demonize Biden while lionizing Trump in this regard are the very definition of gaslighting.
In regard to the infamous summer 2023 cult hit
film Sound Of Freedom,
which was very, very, very loosely based on Ballard's
"anti-trafficking" work, he once again feigned ignorance about the
meaning of the term, "QAnon adjacent," using the flimsy
excuse that the film had been made and completed before QAnon hit
the headlines. Maybe so, but Ballard and the film's star, Jim
Caviezel, have been exploiting the QAnon narrative nonstop ever
since the film's release. See this July 22, 2023 Whirled post,
under the subhead, "Because of Caviezel and Ballard,
'Q-adjacent' doesn't even begin to describe it."
In light of the developments over the past few
months, it appears that Tim Ballard is no longer considering a
run for political office, at least not for this election cycle.
But there's always the next cycle, and I maintain that his body
of lies and those multiple sex scandals add up to impeccable
creds for republican party officeholders in the Error of Trump.
Related on this Whirled:
