Stranger Things

Feb. 15, 1974: Rev. Moon: Nixon Backer (http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Watergate/Watergate%20Items%2010290%20to%2010597/Watergate%2010309.pdf) (The Washington Post)



Sept. 19, 1977: '73 Record Tells of Plan by Sun Myung Moon Aides for Drive Against Nixon Impeachment (https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/19/archives/73-record-tells-of-plan-by-sun-myung-moon-aides-for-drive-against.html) (The New York Times)

QuoteThe head of the American branch of the church was further described in the minutes as disclosing something of Mr. Moon's ambitions, saying, "We are right on the edge of influencing people. Master wants to give an address to a joint session of Congress."

Beyond that the minutes of that meeting seem to illuminate the aspirations of the Unification Church for political and religious influence in the United States and to illustrate its tactical approach to a political operation.

May 17, 1982: The Nation's Capital Gets A New Daily Newspaper (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/unification/wtimes.htm) (The Washington Post)
Note: long and full of lots of interesting tidbits

QuoteThe Washington Times is not just any newspaper. Commonly referred to as "the Moonie paper" since its plans were announced, it is supported by the religious movement that Moon founded in Korea 28 years ago. Preaching "The Divine Principle," Moon sees himself as the new Messiah and Korea as God's chosen country. Since the church emerged in the United States in the early 1970s, questions have been raised about its finances, its suspected ties to the Korean CIA and its alleged brainwashing of young recruits. It is now an international business empire that encompasses entertainment, fishing, food retailing, publishing and, for a time, the Diplomat National Bank here. Robert Boettcher, the staff director of a 1978 House subcommittee investigation into Korean-American relations, says the church aims at creating a global theocracy that Moon would control. ...

But the real Washington story at The Times is its staff members--the ones who aren't church members. Many are familiar bylines from the Star. Some were bored writing books, others joined because of pleadings from already hired colleagues whom they trusted. Many badly needed a job; for them, their decision was proof that you can't eat your principles. Almost all had serious reservations. "You'd have to be a brick not to go though some sort of moral convulsions," says Doug Lamborne, The Times sports editor and former Washington Star copy editor. "I lost five pounds the first week. We all had these twitchy sort of feelings: 'Is what we're doing right?' " ...

With Moon and his family standing before them in ceremonial Korean dress, selected church officials played different religious and political leaders, such as Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, President Reagan and Japanese Emperor Hirohito. Each one prostrated himself before Moon, bowing his forehead to the floor three times, Soejima said. "The meaning is that Moon is higher than all of them," Soejima said. In church theology, "Sun Myung Moon is the father and his wife is the mother of the whole human race."

The next day, with the church officials assembled at Moon's estate in Tarrytown, N.Y., Moon expressed disappointment with his inability to win more converts in the United States. But he spoke with pride of The Washington Times, bragging of important officials who had attended its opening cermonies. Moon said that James Whelan, then publisher of The Washington Times, "listens to what I say and makes the newspaper as I tell him," according to Soejima. ...

"With journalism, we have now reached success by establishing The Washington Times," Moon said, according to Soejima. "We now have a direct influence on Reagan through The Washington Times."

Note: I decided to dedicate an entire thread to The Washington Times and Moon's later purchase of UPI. (https://peterdaley.net/strangerthings/index.php?topic=84.0)

May 26, 1991: Unification Church Insists Trump Apologize (https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/26/nyregion/unification-church-insists-trump-apologize.html) (The New York Times)

QuoteThe reports quoted the Trump associate saying: "If they don't like a subdivision of Mar-a-Lago, how will they feel when a thousand Moonies descend on Palm Beach every weekend?"

Sept. 5, 1995: Moon Group Paying Bush For Speeches (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/09/06/moon-group-paying-bush-for-speeches/b67d1068-9bb1-4e9c-aabd-e8ab12bf1c00/) (The Washington Post)

QuoteA series of speeches next week in Japan by former president George Bush, paid for by a group with ties to the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, has renewed bitter criticism of the church here in one of its most lucrative fund-raising countries. ...

But legal and church groups in Tokyo that have condemned the South Korea-based Unification Church's fund-raising practices for years said the federation is merely a "front group" for the church. They have written to Bush urging him to cancel his plans because his fees would be "money which has been unlawfully appropriated from thousands of Unification Church victims." ...

Nov. 16, 1997: The GOP's Own Asian Connection: Rev. Moon (https://web.archive.org/web/20201028033056/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-16-op-54375-story.html) (The LA Times/Internet Archive)

Quote...But Republicans are also vulnerable on the foreign-money issue. Indeed, they are especially lucky that one of their most questionable relationships has gone virtually unmentioned amid the controversies about mysterious Asian political money. That is the GOP's long and lucrative relationship with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his Korea-based Unification Church.

Over the past quarter-century, the 77-year-old Moon has given the U.S. conservative movement sums estimated in the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. Most notably, Moon's deep pockets have financed the Washington Times, a leading conservative voice and one of the capital's two daily newspapers. But he also has invested heavily in building the right's political infrastructure, from direct-mail outlets to video-production houses, from think tanks to academic centers.

Much of Moon's influence-buying is done in secret and often occurs when conservatives are vulnerable to being bought. A recent example is Christian right leader Jerry Falwell, who feared his fundamentalist Liberty University in Virginia was slipping into bankruptcy. Desperate for an infusion of cash, Falwell and two associates made an unannounced trip to South Korea in January 1994, where they solicited help from Unification Church representatives, according to documents on file in a court case in Bedford County, Va. Months later, Moon's organization funneled $3.5 million to Liberty University through a clandestine channel. The money was delivered through one of Moon's front groups, the Women's Federation for World Peace. It then passed through the Christian Heritage Foundation, a Virginia nonprofit corporation that was buying up--and forgiving--Liberty's debt.

On Jan. 28, 1995, during his nationally televised "Old Time Gospel Hour," Falwell credited the directors of the foundation, Daniel A. Reber and Jimmy Thomas, with saving Liberty. Falwell made no mention of his more prominent financial angel, Moon, who is objectionable to many fundamentalist Christians because of his unusual biblical interpretations and his recruitment of young people away from their families.

I discovered the $3.5-million contribution while examining the Internal Revenue Service records of Moon-connected organizations. On the 1995 tax report for the Women's Federation, there was a line item listing $3.5 million going to the Christian Heritage Foundation. Susan Fefferman, the federation's vice president, admitted the money was targeted for Falwell's Liberty University. ...

Sept. 12, 1997: Major Media Ignore Ties Connecting Bush to Unification Church (https://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/1997c/091297/091297k.htm) (National Catholic Reporter)

Nov. 22. 1997: A Church In Flux Is Flush With Cash (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/11/23/a-church-in-flux-is-flush-with-cash/c2a09f64-01bc-4779-b8d1-d4e36bb7e528/) (The Washington Post)

Quote"Of course, the whole thing is to buy respectability," said Marvin Borderlon, a Roman Catholic ex-priest who is president of the American Conference on Religious Movements, a Rockville-based group that fights discrimination against new religions. The group is funded by the Church of Scientology, the Hare Krishna organization, and most of all, by Unificationists, who give him $3,000 a month, Borderlon said.

"They'll have a conference on the essence of religious founders, like Buddha, Jesus and guess who," Borderlon said. "He gets a room full of academics to sit there while he pronounces himself the Messiah. He gets his picture taken with them. He gets credibility, they get to have their conference. It's all very messy."

Borderlon, like many people who have received some of Moon's generous bounty, has never been able to figure out the blizzard of organizations that make up Moon Inc. "My money is never from the church itself," he said. "It's always the International Something or Other." Wide-Ranging Interests On two floors of an office building in Falls Church -- purchased by a church-owned property development company from conservative activist Richard Viguerie -- the startling range of Moon's interests and activities is played out along hallways bare of art or decoration....

Borderlon, too, said Moon's various groups seem awash in cash. "I've made numerous trips to Japan for them," he said, "and they take me to see these great fancy businesses they have there. There's always huge amounts of cash involved in doing anything with them. In dealing with them, you have to accept cash. I came back from Japan once with $10,000 in my pocket -- cash." ...

"Tom McDevitt always told me that Father has directed us to get members elected to Congress so we can take over America," said Craig Maxim, a church member who quit in 1995 after spending several years as a regional leader and a singer at Moon's various mansions.

McDevitt ran an unsuccessful Republican campaign for a Virginia House of Delegates seat in 1993. Campaign records show many of McDevitt's contributions came from church members and businesses. Now press spokesman for several Moon-affiliated groups, he did not return repeated calls.

Moon's most ambitious foray into the political process in recent years was the American Freedom Coalition (AFC), a conservative group that built popular support for Col. Oliver L. North during the Iran-contra probe. In addition to about $5 million, Unificationists provided the personnel that gave the coalition its grass-roots strength, former church members said.

And then they gained the support of all the dead US presidents up until 2003, and I imagined these were free.
2002-2003: George Washington, Lincoln, JFK etc., Mohammed, and Han Hak-ja's Mother Deliver Messages from Heaven. (https://peterdaley.net/strangerthings/index.php?topic=76.0)

June 21, 2004: Hail To The Moon King (https://www.salon.com/2004/06/21/moon_7/) (John Gorenfeld for Salon)

QuoteThe deeply weird coronation of Rev. Sun Myung Moon in a Senate office building -- crown, robes, the works -- is no longer one of Washington's best-kept secrets.

ou probably imagine your congressman hard at work in the Capitol debating legislation, making laws — you know, governing. But your newspaper probably didn't tell you that one night in March, members of Congress hosted a crowning ritual for an ex-convict and multibillionaire who dressed up in maroon robes and declared himself the Second Coming.

On March 23, the Dirksen Senate Office Building was the scene of a coronation ceremony for Rev. Sun Myung Moon, owner of the conservative Washington Times newspaper and UPI wire service, who was given a bejeweled crown by Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill. Afterward, Moon told his bipartisan audience of Washington power players he would save everyone on Earth as he had saved the souls of Hitler and Stalin — the murderous dictators had been born again through him, he said. In a vision, Moon said the reformed Hitler and Stalin vouched for him, calling him "none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent." ...

Another good piece for some background information:

June 9, 2009: Moon's Ever-Changing Face-Lift (https://www.equip.org/articles/moons-ever-changing-face-lift/) (J. Isamu Yamamoto for The Christian Research Institue)

QuoteThis shift in focus to the Family Federation and away from the Unification Church has been effective in attracting prominent and respected political leaders and celebrities to the movement's public functions, thus drawing more attention from the news media. In fact, the Women's Federation for World Peace, a sister organization of the Family Federation, paid former president George Bush and his wife, Barbara, about $1 million to speak about family values at several Moon events in the United States and Asia. Bush, Gerald Ford, Jack Kemp, and other notable public figures have addressed Moon-sponsored conferences under the assumption they were affirming conservative views of the family yet not endorsing the theology of Moon.

Nevertheless, the press has had a field day in subtly scoffing at Moon's marriage ceremonies and his association with high-profile conservative politicians and entertainers. For that reason, Unificationists, as well as Moon himself, often claim that the American press has been on a relentless campaign to persecute him and his movement. In fact, they believe such persecution led to his unjust 13-month imprisonment in the Danbury Federal Penitentiary for tax evasion from 1984 to 1985. Some followers of Moon also admit that Unificationists purchased the Washington Times newspaper in 1982 in order to provide a positive portrait of Moon and his political conservatism.

The name J. Isamu Yamamoto, the writer of the above piece sounded familiar. Low and behold, I bought his book about the UC (https://amzn.to/4pYVSAz) 19 years ago. I think it's in my office.

Dec. 14, 2020: Paula White Joins Forces with Demonic 'Moonies Cult', Praises Founder and Prays for 'Unification' (https://protestia.com/2020/12/14/paula-white-joins-forces-with-demonic-moonies-cult-praises-founder-and-prays-for-unification/) (Protestia)

Sept. 12, 2021: Trump spoke at a 9/11 Moonies Conference Organized By The Widow of the Rev. Sun-myung Moon, Praising the Controversial UC (https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-speaks-at-moonies-911-event-praises-unification-church-2021-9) (Business Insider)

Quote"I want to thank the Universal Peace Federation and in particular Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, a tremendous person, for her incredible work on behalf of peace all over the world," Trump said in his remarks. "What they have achieved on the peninsula is just amazing. In just a few decades, the inspiration that they have caused for the entire planet is unbelievable, and I congratulate you again and again."

Jim Stewartson, the founder of the anti-disinformation organization The Thinkin Project, wrote on Twitter that the event was "deeply harmful and deceptive. This is being pitched by a who's who of establishment extremists as some sort of peace mission to unify Korea," Stewartson wrote. "In reality, it's dangerous propaganda whitewashing a dangerous cult."

Note: Time Magazine in April 2024 reported that Trump was paid $2.5 million for the above. (https://time.com/6961050/unification-church-ffwp-moonies-us-election)

QuoteToday, the mainstream Unification Church and its splinters compete for endorsement from the American right. Dunkley's leaked Zoom call also revealed a ramping up of political influence operations in "America centering on the work of the Washington Times."

On Aug. 12, 2022, former CIA director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich addressed a Unification Church-front Universal Peace Federation (UPF) event in Seoul to mark the 10th anniversary of Moon's death. Trump, meanwhile, sent a video message that described Moon as a "true inspiration" and Hak Ja Han as a "amazing and wonderful woman." According to financial records, Trump received around $2.5 million to make that and two other video appearances between 2021 and 2022, while former Vice President Mike Pence was paid $550,000 for speaking at a UPF event. In May, Trump sent another video message to a UPF event.

Strait says the Unification Church leadership twists such paid endorsement "as proof of the divinity of mission" to coerce more donations from its members. The effect is circular: the more donations the church can solicit, the more it can spend on attracting high profile patronage, which it then leverages to attract more donations.

Dec. 18, 2021: Paula White Honors 'True Mother' Moon at Interfaith Prayer Rally for Korean Unification (https://faithfullymagazine.com/paula-white-tue-mother-moon/) (Faithfully Magazine)

QuotePaula White, spiritual advisor to former President Donald Trump, called Hak Ja Han Moon, wealthy widow of Unification Church founder the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, "a jewel from God" during an event described by organizers as the "likely the largest and most diverse interfaith gathering ever" on December 5 in South Korea.

"I want to take a moment and honor as well as encourage Mother Moon for her great work as a spiritual leader who loves the Lord and seeks to carry out and to comfort the heart of God in all the areas of conflict in the world," White said during her remarks at the Cheongshim World Peace Center in Gapyeong-gun, about an hour from the capital Seoul.

White is senior pastor of City of Destiny Church in Apopka, Florida, and formerly served as head of the Trump White House's faith-based office. She claims to have been Trump's spiritual advisor for more than two decades and has often vouched for his Christian faith. Her ministry remains controversial with those who accuse her of teaching a prosperity gospel that financially abuses sincere believers.

Aug. 20, 2022: Donald Trump & Mike Pompeo Spoke At A Moonies-Affiliated Event, Despite Japan Controversy (https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-pompeo-appear-at-moonies-linked-event-despite-japan-assassination-2022-8) (Business Insider)

May 4, 2023: Trump, Pompeo Celebrate Group With Unification Church Ties (https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14900434) (Asahi Shimbun)

Sept. 14, 2023: Paula White Praises Deranged Moonies Cult Leader: 'She Loves the Lord'  (https://protestia.com/2023/09/14/paula-white-praises-deranged-moonies-cult-leader-she-loves-the-lord/)(Protesia)

Aug. 27: The Korean Crisis Of Freedom & Democracy (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/aug/27/korean-crisis-freedom-democracy/) (Newt Gingrich For the UC-Owned Washington Times)
Note 1: A subscription is needed to read that, but the the UC-Owned Segye News has it available here. (https://www.segye.com/newsView/20250831508001)
Note 2: Newt fails to mention the Unification Church is at the center of this "recent all-out assault on religious liberty".

QuoteWhat I did not foresee was how radical the new government would be in going after its political opponents and advocates of religious liberty. The recent all-out assault on political and religious liberty has been breathtaking. Major conservative and religious leaders have had their houses and offices raided on a gigantic scale.

Sept. 5: Pompeo, Gingrich Denounce Korean Special Counsel's Plan to Summon Unification Church Head (https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-09-05/national/socialAffairs/Pompeo-Gingrich-denounce-Korean-special-counsels-plan-to-summon-Unification-Church-head/2392513?detailWord=) (Korea JoongAng Daily)

QuoteNewt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and considered by some to be a "mentor" of Trump, also criticized the Lee Jae Myung administration in an Aug. 27 opinion piece in the Washington Times. He accused the Korean government of an "all-out assault on political and religious liberty" that has been "breathtaking." Both Pompeo and Gingrich have ties to Unification Church–affiliated events.

Note: Link to post. (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19rFMSUFPX/) It's interesting he doesn't mention the Unification Church/Moonies/The Family Federation thing - again. I am sure that was not accidental. Who not deeply familiar with the UC would recognize her name?

Reminder: Time Magazine reported in April 2024 that Trump was paid $2.5 million by the UC. (https://time.com/6961050/unification-church-ffwp-moonies-us-election)

Sept. 10: Trump's Spiritual Advisor, Paula White, Praises Moonies Cult Leader: 'I Believe In Your Calling' (https://protestia.com/2025/09/10/trumps-spiritual-advisor-paula-white-praises-moonies-cult-leader-i-believe-in-your-calling/)(Protesia)

Sept. 10: Far-Right Figures Are Gaining Influence, & Bending Trump's Ear on Korea (https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/1218030.html) (Hankyoreh)

Sept. 18: Gingrich Condemns Lee Jae-myung Government's Religious Suppression (https://www.chosun.com/english/world-en/2025/09/18/N4GAFJOLSFGMHGJW7TKJEC53EE/) (The Chosun Daily)

QuoteNewt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House, criticized, "The new left-wing government in South Korea is attacking various religions, but it seems to have a mad intention to destroy Mother Moon ...

In a Washington Times column on the 27th of last month, Gingrich referenced large-scale raids on conservative and church leaders in South Korea, stating, "The Lee Jae-myung government's recent full-scale suppression of politics and religion is suffocating," and, "I did not expect the new government to be so radical in suppressing political opponents and advocates of religious freedom."

Note: He called her "Mother Moon"? Good god, why? I don't recall anyone who isn't a member refering to her as that. Facebook direct link (https://www.facebook.com/newtgingrich/posts/pfbid02ZLTDQBv98khNx5hcqTFR8nPHGNhh7RzjbW3HuiTWGJsT4nSQYBGkVSRKtt4CeQBJl?rdid=IpoK89xMX367tNgH#) and screenshot:



Sept. 22: Newt Gingrich: This Country is Sliding into a Pro-Chinese, Communist Dictatorship (Fox News)


Lots to unpack in that. And this time Newt names neither Hak Ja-han or the name of her "church". Perhaps he couldn't call her "Mother" without sounding nuts?

QuoteThe leader of one of the churches is an 83 year old women who they have locked up in a way that resembels North Korea or communist China