John Rees (journalist)
John Herbert Rees is a British right wing journalist and government informant resident in the United States.[3] Based in Baltimore, Maryland, he was active during the 1970s and 1980s.
John Herbert Rees | |
---|---|
Born | Vladas Hrikavicias[1] c.1926 |
Nationality | American |
Other names | John Seeley, John O’Connor |
Occupation | journalist, publisher, private intelligence operative |
Spouse(s) | Sheila Louise O’Connor/Rees[2] |
Early life
In the course of his speaking career with American Opinion Speaking Bureau (AOSM), a John Birch Society organization, Rees himself claimed to have been born in Lithuania circa 1964, then going by the name of Vladas Hrikavicias.[1] He toured the country with the speaking bureau relating his experience living under Soviet Communism and denouncing the “communist hordes who forced him to flee Lithuania by Ox-cart.”[1]
Intelligence work
Rees allegedly benefited from information collected through a loose network of private informants on college campuses in the United States, that Political Research Associates referred to as often having better placed infiltrators among campus groups than the FBI's own agents.[4] The network would pass information along to Rees, who would in turn forward it to the director of intelligence at FBI headquarters, especially when there was a credible risk to students. From there it would be forwarded to field offices. These activities were part of a network of private right wing groups that the FBI used to gather intelligence on cults active on campus, government critics and activists violently opposed to the Reagan Administration's foreign policy stance in Central America.[5]
In 1979, Rees worked with John Birch Society's late Congressman Larry McDonald and John K. Singlaub to create the Western Goals Foundation.[4]
Rees also criticized Lyndon LaRouche and the LaRouche movement saying the organization had "taken on the characteristics more of a political cult than a political party," and a cult-like "blind obedience."[6] Among the publications he was associated with were Review of the News and American Opinion, published by the John Birch Society, with which Rees was an active collaborator.[7] His own Information Digest reported on extremist movements on both the left and right ends of the political spectrum.
One of Rees' lovers, author Grace Metalious, signed a will just before her death leaving her entire estate to him, with the understanding that he would take care of her children, because she did not trust her estranged husband, George. John Rees did not accept the will, asking that it be turned over to her children. George was able to invalidate the will, but to little result as her estate proved to be insolvent from years of lavish living, overgenerosity towards "friends", and embezzlement by an agent. At the time of her death she had bank accounts totaling $41,174 and debts of more than $200,000.[8]
Rees appeared as himself in the 1982 Western Goals Foundation documentary, No Place to Hide: The Strategy and Tactics of Terrorism, written, produced, and hosted by G. Edward Griffin. Rees is described as being the publisher of Information Digest.[9] The current copyright holder, Reality Zone, has made the film available for free on YouTube. He additionally appeared in the Western Goals Foundation documentary, The Subversion Factor: A History of Treason in Modern America, part 2: Open Gates of Troy, also available by the copyright holder on YouTube.
Information Digest was taken over by S. Louise, and John Rees, used his understanding of international affairs and geopolitics to launch and manage International Reports: Early Warning, a newsletter aimed at provide international events from a 360 perspective (left, right, center - in-power and against the government).
Bibliography
Interviews
- "Ralph Nadar, Rip-off Artist". The Review of the News, August 29, 1979.
- "Popular Historian Gary Allen: An Exclusive Interview with the Leading Authority on Trilateralism". The Review of the News, February 27, 1980.
- "Under Secretary Fred C. Ikle." The Review of the News, October 25, 1981, pp. 39–48.[10]
Articles by other authors
- Stein, Jeff. “Local Police Spy Joins Congress Staff”. Undated.
- “Congressional Aide Spies on Left (Information Digest)”. CounterSpy, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 1976. (pp. 18–24)
- Berlet, Chip. “How Government Intelligence Agencies and Private Right-wing Counter-subversion Groups Forge Ad Hoc Covert Spy Networks that Target Dissidents as Outlaws”. Political Research Associates, 2 February 1993.
- Berlet, Chip. “The Maldon Institute“. Political Research Associates, 8 September 2000.
- Banyan, Will. “The Illusion of Elite Unity: Elite Factionalism, the ‘War on Terror’ and the New World Order (Part 1)”. Conspiracy Archive, January 2008.
Filmography
- No Place to Hide: The Strategies & Tactics of Terrorism (1982) - A documentary produced by Western Goals Foundation featuring John H. Rees. Copyright is now held by Reality Zone, who released the film for free on YouTube.
- Interview with John H. Rees excerpted from the 1982 Western Goals Foundation documentary, No Place to Hide: The Strategies & Tactics of Terrorism on Internet Archive.
- The Subversion Factor: A History of Treason in Modern America, Part 2: The Open Gates of Troy. Western Goals Foundation, 1983.
See also
References
- “Congressional Aide Spies on Left”. CounterSpy, Spring 1976. p. 22. Full issue available.
- “Congressional Aide Spies on Left”. CounterSpy, Spring 1976. p. 18. Full issue available.
- Levin, Hillel. "Spies as Newsmen: The Information Digest Ploy". The Nation, October 7, 1978. pp. 342-348.
- Berlet, Chip. "The Hunt for Red Menace", Political Research Associates, February 2, 1993.
- Gelbspan, Ross. "Groups Give FBI Data on Foes of US Latin Policies." Boston Globe, March 15, 1988.
- Mints, John. "Ideological Odyssey: From Old Left to Far Right." Washington Post, January 14, 1985
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2007-12-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2018-01-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Griffin, G. Edward (1982). No Place to Hide: The Strategies & Tactics of Terrorism (Documentary). Alexandria, VA: Western Goals Foundation. OCLC 10744020.
- Scott, Robert Travis. "Arms Control in Print." Arms Control Today, Vol. 11, No. 11, December 1981, pp. 10-12. JSTOR 23622995
External links
- IMDb
- The Nation
- Liberty Lobby, Inc. v. John Rees, Sheila Louise Rees and the Information Digest (1986)
- Liberty Lobby, Inc. v. John Rees (1988)
- FBI files on John Rees and National Goals, Inc. obtained through the FOIA and hosted at the Internet Archive