For years, Conn ended up doing the investigative journalism that true journalists wouldn't do. Jones may have been certifiable but he was also politically connected and very powerful. According to Conn, "If you were in politics, you didn't get very far unless you knew Jim Jones." Conn was a blogger without a computer or internet access. He attempted several times to inform the authorities and the media. Not until 1972 did a reporter take note, writing 8 articles using Conn as his primary source. That reporter's name was Lester Kinsolving and he wrote for the San Francisco Examiner. After four Kinsolving articles appeared in the Examiner in 1972, Jones sent his henchmen down to the Examiner in true Community Organizing style (according to Conn) and bullied that paper into backing off. Ultimately, that's exactly what they did and the four additional articles on Jones were never published by the Examiner (although yours truly has access to them).
In the summer of 1977, about a year and a half prior to the Jonestown massacre on November 18th, 1978, Conn met with Dennis Banks and Lehman Brightman in the middle of the night to warn them both of how their affiliation with Jim Jones could damage the American Indian movement (they were both American Indians). Unbeknownst to Conn, both were closer to Jones than he thought. Brightman ended up blowing Conn's cover and phoned Jones. Here is a LINK to the transcript of that call (scroll to Part 4).
At the time, Jim Jones was the Chairman of the Housing Commission. According to Conn, the morning after his meeting with Banks and Brightman, Jones collapsed while leading an HC meeting and had to be whisked away via ambulance. "I still have my suspicions that Jones may have been present personally in the house when I had that meeting with Banks and Brightman," says Conn.
In any event, after Conn's cover had been blown, the media began showing interest in the story and Jones began re-locating his cult to Guyana. Conn believes there were two things that spooked Jones. The first was that Conn mentioned he had been in touch with a Treasury agent during his meeting with Banks and Brightman. In reality, he had been in touch with an ATF agent but Conn believes Jones grew very concerned that the IRS was after him. The other thing Conn believes bothered Jones immensely was the realization that someone had been onto him for that long without his knowledge. "Jones was incredibly narcissistic and a control freak," says Conn. "I believe to this day that the fact that someone knew what he was up to for that long without his knowledge and / or ability to control the situation disturbed him to a great degree."
Read David Conn's account of the DOWNFALL OF JIM JONES here.
So where does Jerry Brown come in? In 1977, Jerry Brown was the Governor of California and Conn is convinced that he looked the other way when it came to Jones. "There is no way Jerry Brown got to where he is," says Conn, "without knowing what kind of person Jim Jones was. I know for a fact that Brown made multiple visits to Jones' temple."
On top of all this, if Brown was truly interested in legitimately pursuing Jones, all he had to do was refer to or contact the San Francisco Examiner.
Onto Vadum's article in the AMERICAN SPECTATOR. Speaking of Community Organizing, Brown has always been a big fan.
The New Left crusader known as Governor Moonbeam when he was the state's chief executive from 1975 to 1983 has had close ties to the group for years, according to a former ACORN official.Remember what Conn said about Jones sending his henchmen (community organizers) down to the offices of the San Francisco Examiner in 1972 to bully the newspaper into backing off.
Now, in 2009, we're learning that there is a very real possibility that Jerry Brown may be setting a pre-determined outcome in his ACORN investigation relative to James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles exposing them as enablers of prostitution and the sex slave trade.
Adding to Brown's woes, ACORN's lead organizer in San Diego, David Lagstein, was caught on tape suggesting Brown's investigation was a sham.Not to use an old American Indian metaphor but there appears to be smoke signals being sent from, of all places, San Francisco.
"The attorney general is a political animal as well," Lagstein told a Democratic gathering last month. "Every bit of communication we've had with [Brown's office] has suggested that fault will be found with the people that did the video and not with ACORN."
Brown's office was also revealed to have recorded reporters without their consent, an apparent violation of state law.
Is it possible that O'Keefe and Giles could be punished for unauthorized recording while the attorney general's former flak, Scott Gerber, who taped reporters, gets off scot-free?
I had the opportunity to interview David Conn back on OCTOBER 4TH
Enjoy.