Stranger Things

The first link is a 607-page PDF produced by the UC exploring 40 years of Moon in America starting with his 1965 visit. I don't think I'll ever get around to reading this, but I might skim it now and then:

40 Years in America (True Parents)
 (https://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Books/40Years/40Years.pdf)
1972 interview with cigarette smoking Al Kapp (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capp).



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. 16, 1974: Sun Myung Moon a Prophet to Thousands (https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/16/archives/sun-myung-moon-a-prophet-to-thousands.html) (The New York Times)

May 30, 1976: The Pull of Sun Moon (https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/30/archives/the-pull-of-sun-moon-thousands-of-young-americans-believe-he-has.html) (The New York Times)

June 1, 1976: Sun Myung Moon: God Bless America Festival - Moon's speech starts at 13:14


July 31, 1977: Inquiry Suggests Korean Agents Tried to Gain Control of Bank in US (https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/31/archives/inquiry-suggests-korean-agents-tried-to-gain-control-of-bank-in-us.html)

QuoteTheir objective, according to the information developed here, was to make the bank a financial center for the loosely organized Korean apparatus that was aimed at influencing the United States Congress and the public on policies affecting South Korea.

The investigators have evidence that members of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church acted in concert to gain controlling interest in the bank and that they used the bank's resources for a variety of funding operations.

The main figure acting on behalf of Mr. Moon's group was Col. Pak Bo Hi, a former military intelligence officer and currently head of the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation here. South Koreans opposed to its Government and informed Americans have identified him as an operative of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, an arm of the Government whose primary role involves foreign policy rather than espionage. ...

Among the areas of inquiry are possible violations of the Bank Holding Act, fraud, misrepresentation,. improper ownership or sale of stock and failure of foreign agents to register with the United States Justice Department.

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.

June 7, 1978: Panel Told Seoul Used Followers Of Sun Myung Moon for Protests (https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/07/archives/panel-told-seoul-used-followers-of-sun-myung-moon-for-protests.html) (The New York Times)

QuoteHouse investigators today quoted United States intelligence reports as saying that the South Korean intelligence agency had used the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's followers for demonstrations in this country.

"On at least one occasion Moon received Korean Central Intelligence Agency funds for that purpose," said a summary of the intelligence reports that was read at a House hearing.

Representative Donald M. Fraser, Democrat of Minnesota, said after the hearing that Mr. Moon left the United States for London shortly before the House international relations subcommit tee tried to subpoena him to testify. ...

Previously, "the K.C.I.A. had used Moon and members of his Unification Church to stage rallies in the United States in support of Korean government policies and aims," the summary said. "And on at least one occasion Moon received K.C.I.A. funds for that purpose." At a news conference after the hearing, Mr. Fraser said Mr. Moon's lawyers knew before the evangelist left New York City on May 13 that the subcommittee had authorized a subpoena for his testimony. But Mr. Fraser said he cannot be certain that Mr. Moon himself knew, adding that the lawyers now refuse even to confirm State Department information that Mr. Moon is in London.

Later, a spokesman for Mr. Moon's Unification Church denied that the evangelist was trying to avoid an appeVrance before the subcommittee. The spokesman said Mr. Moon had flown to England as part of a tour of Europe.

Jan. 1, 1980: Gifts Of Deceit * Sun Myung Moon Tongsun Park & The Korean Scandal (https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-deceit-Tongsun-Korean-scandal/dp/0030445760)

Amazon review by Allen Tate Wood, author of Moonstruck: A Memoir Of My Life in a Cult (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688035124?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_0&storeType=ebooks&qid=1772763287&sr=1-1)

QuoteRobert Boettcher's Gifts of Deceit insightfully and thoroughly documents the activities and findings of the Frazer Committee.

This congressional subcommittee( through it's 1978 report) on International Organizations opened a window on a world in Washington which many would prefer to see closed forever.
The report of this committee informally called the Frazer Report exhaustively documents and details Sun Myung Moon's role in working to shape American foreign policy. It further names a whole host of characters including American politicians, military leaders, Korean diplomats, former Japanese prime ministers, not to mention President Dwight D. Eisenhower who wittingly or unwittingly wound up acting as agents or surrogates for Sun Myung Moon and his "Unification Church".

In addition to reading like a first rate who dunnit Boettcher's book gives the reader a behind the scenes look at official Washington which to this day has done nothing about the principal findings of the Frazer Committee: namely that the Unification Church has engaged in systematic violations of U.S law. Banking and currency laws, securities and exchange commission laws, Immigration and naturalization laws and charities fraud laws.
Boettcher's book is the first book which reveals the global geo-political ambitions of the Moon organization. It is a must for students of foreign relations, students of destructive cults, and for students of the U. S. Constitution particularly those who take an interest in the first and the thirteenth amendments.

May 7, 1982: Unification Church Ruled Eligible For Tax-Exemption Barred By City (https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/07/nyregion/unification-church-ruled-eligible-for-tax-exemption-barred-by-city.html) (The New York Times)

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)

Sept. 14, 1984: The Rev. Sun Myung Moon is in Prison For... (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/09/14/The-Rev-Sun-Myung-Moon-is-in-prison-for/5743463982400/) (UPI)

QuoteThe Rev. Sun Myung Moon is in prison for tax evasion, but money from his Unification Church-run enterprises, much of it from Japan and Korea, is being channeled into U.S. conservative causes, it was reported Thursday. NBC News and The Washington Post reported that Col. Bo Hi Pak, an American-based Korean who runs newspapers related to the Unification Church, has funneled $500,000 so far this year to advance conservative causes through a group called the Conservative Alliance.

NBC reported that Robert Bauer, a Democratic lawyer, said the commercials might have to be labeled 'foreign propaganda.'

'The public ought to know that an issue that is of American concern -- to be decided by the American Congress, or to be decided in American elections -- ought to be decided by Americans,' he said. 'Financing for this purpose supplied by a foreign source is subject to regulation, and those regulations have to be observed.'

Sept. 14, 1984: Enterprises Run by The Rev. Sun-myung Moon's UC are Helping Finance... (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/09/14/Enterprises-run-by-the-Rev-Sun-Myung-Moons-Unification/6500463982400/) (UPI)

June 1986: Messianic Personalism: A Role Analysis of the Unification Church (https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1385473.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A6fa64f5a223c247922484f29972cb0d1&ab_segments=&initiator=&acceptTC=1) (Arthur S. Parsons/
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion)

April 27, 1987: Arrests, Brainwashing Charges : Controversy Dogs Moon as Power, Converts Grow (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-27-mn-945-story.html) (The LA Times)

Quote"Moon made it clear that the Little Angels . . . and other seemingly philanthropic projects were in reality geared toward his ambitious and carefully thought out plans for winning control and influence over political and other secular institutions," said a congressional subcommittee that investigated the Korean influence-buying scandal of the mid-1970s. ...

Moon first entered the public political dialogue in this country when he became an outspoken supporter of President Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate scandal. (Moon said in a speech early this year that he gave Nixon "a most incredible recommendation" to resolve the Watergate crisis and that Nixon was driven from office because he "did not heed that advice.")

Dec. 20, 1987: Seeking Influence, Rev. Moon Spends Big On New Right (https://web.archive.org/web/20160101114959/http://articles.philly.com/1987-12-20/news/26204100_1_conservatives-moon-organization-unification-church) (Philly - Internet Archive)

QuoteAmong those benefiting from the Moon organization's generosity have been such prominent conservatives as Richard Viguerie and the late John T. ''Terry" Dolan, founder of the National Conservative Political Action Committee, court records and other documents show. Financial support - secret or acknowledged - has been offered by church leaders to nearly every New Right group nationwide, conservative activists say.

In addition, the church has helped U.S. conservatives and the Reagan administration pursue their most challenging foreign policy initiative - a rollback of communism - by aiding vigilantes and guerrilla forces in Central America, Afghanistan and the Philippines.

Moon's motive, he has told his followers, is to increase his political influence in the United States and push the country rightward. Moon, a South Korean who was convicted in this country in 1982 of tax fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice, has contended that he is destined to control America and save it from communism.

May 26, 1991: UCInsists 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?"

1992: The Resurrection of Reverend Moon (PBS Frontline Documentary)


Nov. 8, 1993: `Moonies' Cult Visits Cambridge (https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1993/11/8/moonies-cult-visits-cambridge-pa-controversial/) (The Harvard Crimson)

July 26. 1995: Bush Address in Japan Drawing Criticism (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/07/26/Bush-address-in-Japan-drawing-criticism/1172806731200/) (UPI)

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 UC (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.

Dec. 5, 1997: Moonies Stage A Mass Wedding (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/36942.stm) (BBC)

QuoteLast weekend, the US capital Washington witnessed an extraordinary event when some 20,000 couples took part in a mass marriage blessing ceremony organised by the Unification Church, whose followers are often known as Moonies. Most of the couples - dressed in identical white wedding gowns and sombre dark suits - were having their wedding vows renewed. Others were having their union blessed for the first time. Officials said it was the biggest event the Church had held. Our correspondent Katty Kay was there. ...

Amongst them was a man who had been through one of these weddings and had since left the Church. He said that just as followers come under intense pressure if they try to leave the movement, so couples come under intense pressure if they try to separate.

For those who find it hard to surrender their own free will to the will of the church an arranged marriage with little chance of escape is a frightening proposition - and they know that separation is not part of the Reverend's plan.

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)

2004: Sun-myung Moon Crowned King of Peace at Senate Building:


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

June 23, 2004: Rev. Moon's Crowning on Capitol Hill Brings Disclaimers (https://www.npr.org/2004/06/23/1972357/rev-moons-crowning-on-capitol-hill-brings-disclaimers) (NPR Radio - Transcript (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NYrXmK-Ya6T-DieX3aWKOLJrF8cIgowk/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116356966810846663713&rtpof=true&sd=true))

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. You 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." ...

June 24, 2004: Moonie Leader 'Crowned' in Senate (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/24/usa.religion) (The Guardian)

April 11, 2006: Sushi & Rev. Moon (https://web.archive.org/web/20140801144439/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/chi-0604sushi-1-story-story.html#page=1) (The Chicago Tribune/Internet Archive)

QuoteLike Moon himself, who served a 13-month prison sentence for tax fraud in the 1980s, the seafood companies have at times run afoul of U.S. laws. In June 2001, True World Foods' Kodiak, Alaska, fish processing company pleaded guilty to a federal felony for accepting a load of pollock that exceeded the boat's 300,000-pound trip limit. The firm was fined $150,000 and put on probation for five years under a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The company also has been cited for sanitation lapses by the Food and Drug Administration. Last year, after repeated FDA inspections found "gross unsanitary conditions" at True World's suburban Detroit plant, the facility manager tried to bar inspectors from production areas and refused to provide records, according to an FDA report. The plant manager told the inspectors that his True World supervisor was "a great man, that he was a part of a new religion, and that if we took advantage of him, then `God help you!'." Later, according to that FDA report, an employee wearing a ski mask approached one female inspector, put his thumb and forefinger in the shape of a gun, pointed at her and said: "You're out of uniform. Pow!"

Saying they had been "hindered, intimidated and threatened," the FDA inspectors took the unusual step of securing a court order compelling True World to let them inspect the facility. Yashiro, chief executive of True World Foods, said in a written statement that the "isolated instance ..... arose from a miscommunication."

April 21, 2008: Moon, Money & Messiah (https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/spiritofthings/moon-money-and-messiah/3274428) (ABC National News - 54 Minutes)

QuoteSun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church (the Moonies), claimed that he was 'humanity's Saviour, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent' in 2004. Moon's influence within the US government is remarkable given his extremely critical views of American society and his own Messianic designs, the subject of John Gorenfeld's investigations in his book, Bad Moon Rising.

Two more pieces supplying 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. - Update: I have no idea where it is. I'm certainly not in the habit of parting with books.

Well, I didn't expect to see a thesis with this title!
2012, Fall: Save the Human Race, Punch a Moonie in the Face: The
Unification Church from Cult to Corporation (https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/65310/WilkinsonFall2012.pdf) (Amanda A. Wilkinson/University of Wisconsin)

Sept. 2012: Remembering Former Rep. Don Fraser's Battle with the Moonies (https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2012/09/remembering-former-rep-don-frasers-battle-moonies/) Iric Nathanson for the Minn. Post) Iric was a staff assistant to former Rep. Don Fraser.

Quote"Letters went out to thousands of lawyers, clergyman and politicians," Boettcher recalled. "They even went after Fraser's wife and children. His wife, Arvonne, was described as fanatical left-wing feminist whose job at the State Department put her in a conflict of interest with her husband in Congress. They tried to make something sinister out of Fraser's daughter's participation in an anti-Vietnam War demonstration at the University of Minnesota."

While Fraser and Boettcher never had direct dealings with Moon,  they did have extensive contacts with two of his key operatives: Neil Salonen, who headed  the Unification Church in the United States, and Bo Hi Pak,  who ran a Washington, D.C., front group for Moon known as the Freedom Leadership Foundation.

Sept. 13, 2012: Sun Myung Moon, We Hardly Knew Ye—or Your Church's Finances! (https://nonprofitquarterly.org/sun-myung-moon-we-hardly-knew-yeor-your-churchs-finances/) (NP: Powering Nonprofits, Advancing Justice)

Nov. 23, 2018: Yolanda Adams, Hezekiah Walker Share Reaction After Partaking in Controversial Unification Event (https://www.christianpost.com/news/yolanda-adams-hezekiah-walker-share-reaction-after-partaking-in-controversial-unification-event.html) (The Christian Post)

June 3, 2019: Donald M. Fraser, Lawmaker Who Bared a South Korea Plot, Dies at 95 (https://web.archive.org/web/20190603192611/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/obituaries/donald-fraser-dead.html) (The New York Times/Internet Archive)

QuoteThe hearings grew out of the scandal known as Koreagate, a conspiracy by the Korean C.I.A. to bribe a group of Democratic congressmen to further South Korean objectives, including reversal of a decision to pull American troops out of South Korea. That scandal did not directly implicate Mr. Moon, but it led to resignations, censures and indictments. One American, Representative Richard T. Hanna, a California Democrat, was convicted and imprisoned.

Mr. Fraser's Subcommittee on International Organizations, pursuing information from a Korean defector, documented a vast plot, dating to 1970, that bestowed cash, gifts, campaign contributions, honorary degrees and other favors on American officials. While some federal agencies knew of the skulduggery, little was done about it, largely because the Nixon and Ford administrations were concerned with strategic ties to South Korea, an ally of the United States. ...

The K.C.I.A.,Mr. Moon and his church operatives, Mr. Fraser said, "systematically violated U.S. tax, immigration, banking, currency" and other laws to reap fortunes and promote Mr. Moon's global religious movement, noted for its mass weddings and its links to vast commercial interests. The panel determined that the effort to manipulate American policies had ultimately failed.

Korean officials, the Unification Church and Mr. Moon, who left the country as a subpoena to testify was issued, rejected the subcommittee's allegations. But Mr. Moon returned to the United States and, in 1982, was convicted of tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He served 13 months. He died in South Korea in 2012.

In "Gifts of Deceit," a 1980 book about the Korean scandals, Robert Boettcher, who had been staff director of the investigating subcommittee, said that Unification Church followers, derisively known as Moonies, had mounted a propaganda campaign to intimidate Mr. Fraser during the hearings.

Nov. 20, 2020: Open Letter to the Family Federation USA - Support Donald Trump for President (https://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/HyungJinMoon-20/HyungJinMoon-201105.pdf#search=%22donald%20trump%22) (Richard A. Panzer/True Parents)

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.

Sept. 13, 2021: Trump Hails 'Moonie' Church Founders In Virtual 9/11 'Rally' (https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-hails-moonie-church-founders-120518174.html?guccounter=1) (Yahoo News/HuffPost)

QuoteBesides providing commentary for a heavyweight boxing match on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, former President Donald Trump hailed founders of the controversial Unification Church in a virtual speech at a conference hosted by the religious group. Trump commended the aim of the "Rally for Hope" to reunite North and South Korea. And he praised "tremendous person" Hak Ja Han Moon, billionaire widow of the late church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon, for her "incredible work on behalf of peace all over the world."

What the Moons "have achieved on the peninsula is just amazing," Trump went on. "In just a few decades, the inspiration that they have caused for the entire planet is unbelievable, and I congratulate you again and again." Trump also hailed the "incredible story" of the Unification Church, whose followers are often called "Moonies." Church members, who consider that term offensive, refer to themselves as Unificationists.

Rev. Moon — who considered himself the messiah, as does his widow — notoriously arranged mass marriages for church members who were strangers to each other. Some 20,000 couples were married in a single ceremony in 2010. Former church members tell stories of the organization's mind manipulation. Trump made no appearances at events memorializing Saturday's 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

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.

Feb. 18, 2022: A Strange Unification (https://publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/a-strange-unification) (A Public Witness)

QuoteBack in the early 1990s, the Unification Church demanded an apology from a brash real-estate mogul they accused of using the church as "a scare tactic" in a "morally reprehensible" effort to get Palm Beach, Florida, officials to grant his zoning wishes. But that religious sect, founded by Sun Myung Moon — and thus often derisively called the "Moonies" — has apparently since made amends with that owner of Mar-a-Lago.

While many current officials and former presidents marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks last September at ground zero, former President Donald Trump instead offered commentary for a pay-per-view boxing match in Florida and virtually addressed a Christian Nationalism event at the National Mall. And he sent a recorded message to a conference held by the Unification Church. He thanked the Church's Universal Peace Federation, and he praised the widow of the sect's founder for her "amazing example of the power of faith in Almighty God." ...

In this issue of A Public Witness, we take you inside the Unification Church, its unusual religious teachings, and its quest for political influence. Then we listen to what U.S. politicians said at the most recent event to offer a word of warning about this heretical movement. ...

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)

Aug. 20, 2023: How Sun Myung Moon 'Digested the Scientists' & Fueled Climate-Change Denial  (https://web.archive.org/web/20230820142526/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/sun-myung-moon-unification-church-climate-change-denial-1234808552/)(Rolling Stone/The Internet Archive)

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)

March 28, 2024: Six Linked to Church Attended Kishida-Gingrich Meeting in 2019 (https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15212470) (The Asahi Shimbun)

QuoteA bevy of people connected to the Unification Church accompanied former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich during his visit to future Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2019 in Tokyo. All but two of the eight-member contingent had ties to the church, The Asahi Shimbun has learned. ...

Gingrich visited Kishida on Oct. 4, 2019, at the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo along with Michael Jenkins, the current president of UPF International. Jenkins was president of the U.S. branch of the Unification Church between 2000 and 2009. Masayoshi Kajikuri, chairman of UPF Japan, was also in attendance, Gingrich said. Kishida was the LDP's policy chief at the time. The meeting was arranged by UPF Japan, according to Gingrich. Gingrich is known for his close ties to the UPF, having spoken at several of the organization's large-scale gatherings.

Aug. 28. 2024: Meet the Moonies: Inside the Cultish Religious Group Recruiting at the University of Minnesota (https://racketmn.com/meet-the-moonies-inside-the-cultish-religious-group-recruiting-at-the-u-of-m) (Racket)

QuoteTaira, who was raised by a Buddhist father and Christian mother, joined the church in 1983 while living in Japan. She says she struggled with religion growing up, and that a fellow teacher in Japan was the first person to introduce her to the church. Taira spent three and a half years in Albania doing missionary work before she was sent to the U.S. She arrived in Minnesota to spread the word of the church in 2000, and now lives here with her family.

Why Minnesota? Because a lottery decided it was so. When she got to the U.S. with the rest of her foreign recruiters, a raffle decided who went where—or, in Taira's words, god decided. Twenty-four years later, Taira remains in Minnesota doing what she can for the church, including recruitment efforts and regular donations. Taira says she and her family donated $100,000 before she came to America in 2000 and $10,000 per year since—or, by my back-of-napkin math, about $340,000 over roughly 40 years. She was almost apologetic when she told me these numbers, as if $340K is a modest sum.

Aug. 27, 2025: 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 (https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6379955420112) (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

March 13, 2026: Inside Michelle Pfeiffer's Life in 'Controlling' Cult Which Left Her Broke (https://www.hellomagazine.com/us/889353/inside-michelle-pfeiffer-life-in-controlling-cult-which-left-her-broke-no-food-drink-madison/) (Hello!)

QuoteIt wasn't until her husband at the time, Peter Horton, began researching a new movie about the Moonies – followers of Rev Moon Sun-myung's Unification Church, Split Image, that things began to fall into place. Michelle said she was researching "this cult," when she realized "I was in one."

"We were talking with an ex-Moonie and he was describing the psychological manipulation and I just clicked," Michelle added.