The Real Franklin Coverup Story

If you've been reading the comments section, you know we've been dealing with a nutty troll called Bohemian Grover, who's constantly imploring people to check out a supposed scandal called the Franklin Coverup. Fortunately, our buddy Gravy at the JREF forum managed to locate the Grand Jury Report on its investigation of the charges.

Brief background: In the late 1980s, the feds seized control of a credit union known as the Franklin Credit Union, in Omaha, Nebraska. A man named Lawrence King, who had sung the national anthem at the Republican National Conventions in 1984 and 1988, headed the credit union. It is apparent that King embezzled funds from the credit union to support his lifestyle, which apparently included the use of (male) prostitutes.

That's pretty bad, but later charges surfaced claiming that King had employed underage prostitutes, both male and female to service major figures in the Republican Party. One book claims that George H.W. Bush, the father of the current president, attended sex parties hosted by King. A grand jury was empaneled to investigate these charges and in 1990 they issued their report, which I'll wager Bohemian Grover has never read, because it is a stinging rebuke to his nutty claims.

We spent most time on the allegations contained in the videotaped statements of four individuals taken by the investigator for the legislature’s Franklin Committee. Two of the victims recanted their video statements and testified that a third victim, Alisha Owen, was perpetrating a hoax for personal gain. All witnesses mentioned by her were sought for corroboration or contradiction. We also viewed videotapes, heard audiotapes, and read depositions of other alleged victims of sexual abuse, which we determined to have no relation to Franklin or persons connected therewith.

Finally, we considered evidence relating to a possible adult male prostitution ring operated throughout the country by Franklin principals, and a possible income tax scheme used by an affluent Omahan to finance male homosexual prostitution. All of the above necessitated our studying satanic and pedophile activity in eastern Nebraska, particularly the Omaha metropolitan area.

When we concluded our investigation, we had met for 82 days, reviewed 395 exhibits, issued 136 subpoenas, heard live testimony from 76 witnesses, watched over 30 hours of videotapes and listened to numerous audiotapes.

And their conclusion?

There is no doubt after reviewing all relevant evidence, that the story of sexual abuse, drugs, prostitution, and judicial bribery presented in the legislative videotapes is a carefully crafted hoax, scripted by a person or persons with considerable knowledge of the people and institutions of Omaha, including personal relationships and shortcomings.

Update: In the original post I referred to King as a black man; as Edmund points out in the comments that has nothing to do with the story.

Update II: I would add that while I am would not be surprised at any story involving individuals committing acts of child molestation, I would say that the odds of such stories being true become vanishingly small the more adults are involved.  Say that the story involves 2 adults; I would say that implies a likelihood of 1/2^2 or 1/4 as likely as a story involving one adult.  Three adults = 1/3^3 or 1/27th as likely.  Four adults?  1/256.

When you get to stories like McMartin, or the Franklin case, or Wenatchie, the possibility is almost infinitesimal, for the simple reason that the crime is so horrific that admitting even one more adult to a pedophile "ring" increases the risk of exposure enormously.