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Obsession, Third Jihad Producer Once Arrested for Impersonating Secret Service Agent
Filed under Opinion Editorials, Jewish organisations worldwide, Islamophobia, USA foreign policy, Films and movies, Islamic fundamentalism, US elections, Philanthrophy, Lobby Groups, Neo-Cons - on Monday, October 13, 2008 - By: Silverstein, Richard
Many of the journalists who’ve reported on the Clarion Fund and its anti-Islam “documentary” Obsession have wondered why the film credits listed fake names for the two producers.

Yesterday we reported that the real name of one of the producers is Erik Werth. Thanks to Meg Laughlin of the St. Petersburg Times, we may have the answer. The Charlotte Observer reported the following in 1995:

Charlotte Observer (North Carolina)

August 2, 1995 Wednesday THREE EDITION

Man charged in Secret Service ruse

COLUMBIA - A former U.S. Treasury Department adviser has been charged with impersonating a Secret Service agent in order to get a airline service charge dropped, U.S. Attorney Pete Strom says.

A federal grand jury Tuesday indicted Erik Werth, 25, of Rosslyn, Va., a former policy adviser to the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for enforcement, Strom said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Ruschky said the undersecretary oversees agents in the Secret Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and the Customs Service.

The indictment accused Werth of impersonating a Secret Service agent by threatening to have an employee arrested at the Columbia airport on May 22. He caused a disturbance by demanding a waiver of a service charge for changing his plane ticket, Ruschky said. If convicted, Werth faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

I can imagine why Clarion might’ve given Werth a false identity in fear that his past would damage the credibility (if it ever had any) of the film. I also find it ironic that Werth was arrested for assuming a false identity and Clarion did precisely the same thing in shielding Werth from scrutiny.

All of this skullduggery becomes all the more confusing given that the new Clarion documentary Third Jihad DOES list Werth as producer. I guess Clarion decided that they were no longer embarrassed by having someone accused of a federal crime connected to their project.

Maybe Hank Scheinkopf, Clarion’s new PR flack will have a ready explanation for this to journalists who call him asking for one. And to anyone in the Jewish community either contemplating hosting a screening of this film or attending one, I’d urge you to factor this little bit of sleaziness into your calculations.

If someone is sleazy enough to believe they can abuse their former role in the U.S. government’s national security apparatus in order to weasel out of an airline ticket fee, who knows what they wouldn’t do to smear Muslims in pursuit of a juicy story.

To any intrepid researcher who can confirm how this case was disposed I’d be grateful.

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2008/10/10/obsession-third-jihad-producer-once-arrested-for-impersonating-sec...

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