For my LDS readers: Secret Combinations and the Death of Seth Rich

     Retired Admiral James Lyons recently wrote about the Seth Rich murder at The Washington Times. From the article:

       With the clearly unethical and most likely criminal behavior of the upper management levels of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) exposed by Chairman Devin Nunes of the House Intelligence Committee, there are two complementary areas that have been conveniently swept under the rug.

        The first deals with the murder of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich, and the second deals with the alleged hacking of the DNC server by Russia. Both should be of prime interest to special counsel Robert Mueller, but do not hold your breath.

       The facts that we know of in the murder of the DNC staffer, Seth Rich, was that he was gunned down blocks from his home on July 10, 2016. Washington Metro police detectives claim that Mr. Rich was a robbery victim, which is strange since after being shot twice in the back, he was still wearing a $2,000 gold necklace and watch. He still had his wallet, key and phone. Clearly, he was not a victim of robbery.

        This has all the earmarks of a targeted hit job. However, strangely no one has been charged with this horrific crime, and what is more intriguing is that no law enforcement agency is even investigating this murder. According to other open sources, Metro police were told by their “higher ups” that if they spoke about the case, they will be immediately terminated. It has been claimed that this order came down from very high up the “food chain,” well beyond the D.C. mayor’s office. Interesting.

        One more unexplained twist is that on July 10, 2016, the same day Seth Rich was murdered, an FBI agent’s car was burglarized in the same vicinity. Included in the FBI equipment stolen was a 40 caliber Glock 22. D.C. Metro police issued a press release, declaring that the theft of the FBI agent’s car occurred between 5 and 7 a.m. Two weeks later, the FBI changed the time of the theft to between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m. Was the FBI gun used to shoot Seth Rich? Neither the FBI nor the Metro police will discuss.

        Another aspect that needs to be uncovered is the FBI’s “denial” that its cyber experts who share space with the D.C. Metro police department at Cleveland Avenue in the District, assisted in accessing data on Mr. Rich’s laptop. Not likely. Data on the laptop revealed that Mr. Rich downloaded thousands of DNC emails and was in touch with Wikileaks. The file with evidence of what was on Mr. Rich’s laptop sits with the FBI in a co-shared space with the D.C. police department. According to Ed Butowsky, an acquaintance of the family, in his discussions with Joel and Mary Rich, they confirmed that their son transmitted the DNC emails to Wikileaks.

Paul Delaroche: "Assassination of Henry I, Duke of Guise"

      History is replete with secret combinations. One of the most famous is the assassination of Julius Caesar by a group of conspirators. The betrayal, arrest and execution of our Lord and Savior was likewise the result of a conspiracy among the Jewish priests, the Sanhedrin, and at least one of Christ's close followers (Judas Iscariot). I suppose in more recent history we could point to various scandals involving the various commercial trusts and interests of the late 19th and early 20th century America (e.g., the Teapot Dome scandal), the deliberate misleading of Congress and the American people over the Gulf of Tonkin incident that catapulted the U.S. into the Vietnam War, the Rotherham scandal where civil authorities in the British government (including law enforcement) covered up the activity of Muslim pedophile gangs, and pedophile rings among the highest levels of the British government, just to name a few. Heck, Carroll Quigley's Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time is essentially a history of the behind-the-scenes mechanizations and interactions of powerful interests in government, industry, and finance during the period of roughly 1900 to 1960, which led to the global progressive institutions undergirding the West; and elections and elected representatives play very little role in that history. Even a dictator, such as Hitler, was largely at the mercy of the entrenched bureaucracy of the German state. And, today, we worry about the actions and motives of what many have termed "the Deep State," the "pay to play" of The Clinton Foundation, and, most recently, it has emerged how lucrative contracts have been diverted to a private equity firm run by John Kerry's and Joe Biden's children. For instance, from The New York Post:

        Over the next seven years, as both Joe Biden and John Kerry negotiated sensitive and high-stakes deals with foreign governments, Rosemont entities secured a series of exclusive deals often with those same foreign governments.

        Some of the deals they secured may remain hidden. These Rosemont entities are, after all, within a private equity firm and as such are not required to report or disclose their financial dealings publicly.

        Some of their transactions are nevertheless traceable by investigating world capital markets. A troubling pattern emerges from this research, showing how profitable deals were struck with foreign governments on the heels of crucial diplomatic missions carried out by their powerful fathers. Often those foreign entities gained favorable policy actions from the United States government just as the sons were securing favorable financial deals from those same entities.

        Nowhere is that more true than in their commercial dealings with Chinese government-backed enterprises.

        Rosemont Seneca joined forces in doing business in China with another politically connected consultancy called the Thornton Group. The Massachusetts-based firm is headed by James Bulger, the nephew of the notorious mob hitman James “Whitey” Bulger. Whitey was the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, part of the South Boston mafia. Under indictment for 19 murders, he disappeared. He was later arrested, tried, and convicted.

        James Bulger’s father, Whitey’s younger brother, Billy Bulger, serves on the board of directors of the Thornton Group. He was the longtime leader of the Massachusetts state Senate and, with their long overlap by state and by party, a political ally of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.

        Less than a year after opening Rosemont Seneca’s doors, Hunter Biden and Devon Archer were in China, having secured access at the highest levels. Thornton Group’s account of the meeting on their Chinese-language website was telling: Chinese executives “extended their warm welcome” to the “Thornton Group, with its US partner Rosemont Seneca chairman Hunter Biden (second son of the now Vice President Joe Biden).”

         The purpose of the meetings was to “explore the possibility of commercial cooperation and opportunity.” Curiously, details about the meeting do not appear on their English-language website.

        Also, according to the Thornton Group, the three Americans met with the largest and most powerful government fund leaders in China — even though Rosemont was both new and small.

       The timing of this meeting was also curious. It occurred just hours before Hunter Biden’s father, the vice president, met with Chinese President Hu in Washington as part of the Nuclear Security Summit.

     It is no accident, however, that we are learning of these secret combinations now. Keep in mind that The Book of Mormon was written for us and for our time. The stories and lessons contained therein are for our assistance. Thus, for instance, Nephi warned:

And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of ​all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.

(2 Nephi 26:22). Although most sin can be described as having been committed "in darkness"--that is, in secret or, at the least, out of public view--secret combinations are more dangerous to the public as a whole because they involve an understanding, agreement, or conspiracy among groups of men and women to engage in and support one another in their acts. The purpose of these secret combinations is to gain power through theft and murder, and for members of such combinations to avoid accountability for their sins and misdeeds. (See Helaman 2:8;  2 Nephi 9:9). Secret combinations have existed from the time of Cain. (Moses 5:51). And we are given examples in The Book of Mormon of how secret combinations can lead to the destruction of government, as they led to the dissolution of a unified Nephite government (3 Nephi 7:6), and civil war among the Jaredite peoples (See, e.g.,Ether 9:1; Ether 11:15). Secret combinations are not only corrosive to government, but eventually act to entice the greater body of people to join in sin and corruption, including the persecution of the righteous. (See Helaman 6:38; 2 Nephi 9:9; consider also the media and entertainment industries of today). In the end, the Lord will pour out his judgments "in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness." (Mormon 8:27); see also Rev. 6:10 ("And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?").

       The specifics of the organizations described in The Book of Mormon vary somewhat. For instance, the kingmen were composed of "judges" (something more in line with the Roman idea of magistrate combining both administrative and judicial functions) who wanted power and to overthrow the elected government by supporting a monarchy; and they were quite willing to ally with foreign powers to do so. Later, the Gadianton Robbers started with similar goals, eventually morphing into a guerrilla army and prosecuting an insurgency against the Nephite people. But common to these groups were secret oaths to support one another, including by lying and murdering. That "secret combinations" play such a significant role in the history related therein is a clear indication that we will similarly be faced with such combination in our time, and that they will likewise threaten our nation and way of life.