Joint Statement by Steve Quayle & Douglas J. Hagmann
Unfortunately, there are times when one must say, “enough!”
We issue this joint statement as obedient watchmen as referenced in chapter six of the Book of Jeremiah to address very slanderous and libelous public accusations that have been made against us by two individuals, Kirk McLeod, using the fictitious name Michael Erevna, and Marinka Peschmann. Our statement is not made out of haste, but only after a lengthy period of abundant prayerful consideration. Our response does not bring us pleasure, nor does it originate from any carnal desire to be proven correct or without fault in the eyes of man, but in obedience with God’s Word. We make this statement free of any destructive antipathy, unlike those who have made charges against us, our positions as watchmen and our ministry. We intend for this to be our first and last public response to this matter.
We approach our positions as watchmen with the sobriety and solemnity that is required for this responsibility, and understand that it is our charge to provide accurate and scripturally sound information and doctrine to those who seek it. We understand that we serve solely at the pleasure of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and furthermore understand that we will be accountable for our actions before God. It is God who will judge our earthly ministry, taking note of those souls who have been brought to Him through our obedience and willingness as His vessels using all venues available to us.
Adherence to sound Biblical doctrine is a Scriptural imperative from which there must be no deviation. As watchmen, we understand that we will be judged more harshly for squandering our responsibility, knowingly or unwittingly, or by creating or facilitating any doubt that would cause anyone to stray from unity under God. This includes remaining silent in the face of doubts created by an abundance of malice by those who are deliberately causing confusion, chaos and enmity among the body of the church and God’s remnant. We know that God is neither the source of confusion nor chaos, and that this condition serves only the master of lies and deception.
History is replete with examples of many who have attempted to wrest souls from God and derail watchmen through numerous overt and covert means. Although they are not always evident, they can often be identified by the chaos, confusion, and unrest they create, directly or indirectly within the body of the church. We are bearing witness to this with greater frequency as the war between good and evil ramps up with each passing day.
Just as God has made way for us the ability and responsibility to act as purveyors of truthful information, He has also commanded us, through Scripture, to protect it and protect those who are righteously seeking God and the truth through our platforms.
Consistent with the Holy Scripture, we are publishing this statement as a result of the many emails we have received, individually and collectively, about the slanderous and libelous statements and postings by two individuals named herein in public forums and venues. These accusations have caused chaos, confusion and doubt among some as they are one sided, contextually biased, and selectively fabricated. For us to allow any doubt and confusion about these public accusations is to facilitate chaos. To respond, however, is to be obedient.
Matthew 18:6 is clear: “[B]ut whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Points of Fact: Abundance of Malice
As many readers and listeners know, we’ve been subjected to a well-coordinated and malicious campaign of slander and libel over the last several months by two individuals who we once trusted, generously provided airtime, financial support, and for whom we solicited the support of others. Both were introduced to us telephonically by third parties.
It is relevant to note here that it is our policy, when dealing with individuals using false names or pseudonyms on air and in published reports, is contingent on two-(2) conditions. The first is that they have legitimate reasons for doing so (e.g. whistleblower status), we are informed that the name is a pseudonym, and most importantly, we know their true identity. In the case of Kirk McLeod, we failed to exercise due diligence.
We never met either Kirk McLeod, a/k/a Michael Erevna or Marinka Peschmann in person, although had numerous telephone conversations with both. Initially and throughout our relationship with Erevna/McLeod, he sought airtime on The Hagmann and Hagmann Report, and link status on SteveQuayle.com to elevate his visibility on the internet. To that end, Erevna/McLeod appeared twice on The Hagmann & Hagmann Report, initially on 13 October 2013 with Steve Quayle.
Concurrent with his initial appearance, Erevna/McLeod described himself as a man of little means and few assets, and was in dire need of financial assistance. Accordingly, during his appearance, we asked our listeners to pray for Erevna/McLeod, and for those of means with the desire to advance his research, contribute and support “Michael Erevna” as verified in this unedited excerpted audio clip from October 8, 2013:
To assist Michael Erevna personally as his situation was described as “extremely dire,” Steve Quayle and another generous professional colleague gifted the sum of $5,000.00 ($2,500.00/each) to McLeod from their personal funds without any desire, request or expectation of reciprocation or repayment.
Subsequent to Erevna/McLeod’s initial appearance, we began to become uneasy with the behavior of Erevna/McLeod, his elusiveness in answering certain questions that included, but was not limited to his professional connections. Accordingly, we initiated a due diligence investigation and found the following.
Michael Erevna does not legally exist, and was actually determined to be Kirk McLeod, the Executive Director of Spark Webber, an IT company based in Mount Kisco, New York. It was further determined that McLeod, individually and through his company, provided work to such government entities as the Pentagon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc. In sum and substance, the very person who was speaking about deception within the government, among other issues, was found to have deep connections to the computer systems at the Pentagon and non-governmental entities that provide direct support of the military-industrial complex.
A current resident of Mount Kisco, Westchester County, New York, McLeod is using a company, unregistered in the state of New York by the New York State Department of State by the acronym ATSI to collect monetary contributions for his “research.” This is separate from his position as Executive Director of Spark Webber.
On November 11, 2012, Kirk McLeod filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court of Connecticut for racial discrimination. The initial filing can be accessed HERE. The suit was filed against his employer, which is an indirect subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
A summary filing of specific answers to the complaint is updated HERE.
It is relevant to note that although the suit remains open, McLeod’s personal attorney ceased to represent him, filing injunctive relief with the court on October 15, 2013 (48 hours after his appearance on The Hagmann & Hagmann Report), citing irreconcilable differences in their working relationship.
While we post, publish and speak using our own true names, operating not under the cloak of anonymity, but complete transparency, it is reasonable to ask why it is necessary for an alleged Christian truth seeker to hide behind a fictitious identity if he is not an active whistle blower or has anything to hide. Any reasonable person would consider this omission alone a serious violation of trust.
As truth became ever more elusive to us, we opted not to provide any more airtime or coverage of Kirk McLeod (Michael Erevna), or anyone else directly or indirectly involved in this issue. For reasons we can only speculate, McLeod became intent on making nuisance type allegations on the Internet, which we ignored.
It was during this period, however, that Marinka Peschmann became involved with Kirk McLeod under his false identity, Michael Erevna, and initiated an increasingly insipid series of slanderous, libelous and malicious attacks against us that are completely untruthful, deliberately misrepresented, or contextually inaccurate. With regard to Marinka Peschmann, a columnist terminated from a Canadian website and other political sites, she was an invited guest on The Hagmann & Hagmann Report on December 21, 2012 to discuss, in part, her book on the death of White House Counsel Vince Foster. Her premise contained in her book proved to be unpopular.
During several private subsequent telephone conversations with Doug Hagmann between December 23, 2012 and June 5, 2013, Peschmann complained of poor book sales and lack of promotion by The Hagmann & Hagmann Report.
Following an incident in 2013 when an unusual telephone ring back and caller ID on the office telephone of Doug Hagmann suggested some type of electronic surveillance was being conducted, Marinka Peschmann offered to investigate and file FOIA inquiries with the appropriate federal agencies. In fact, she was persistent. In retrospect, this persistence should have been an indication something was amiss. Pursuant to her request, however, Hagmann provided a sworn affidavit to Peshcmann and cooperated fully with her investigation.
Her allegations of non-receipt are patently false as the sworn documents were submitted and remain on file. This should be without question, as her self-stated journalistic prowess would never allow her to file FOIA requests without first having a fully sworn affidavit of facts in hand. One should thoughtfully consider this fact alone, as her actions, when viewed through her own statements, would make her either inconceivably incompetent or deliberately untruthful, or perhaps both.
During this time, Hagmann was informed by a reliable editor of an international news website that Peschmann was angry that he would not promote her book about Vince Foster due to a disagreement with her conclusions outlined in her book. Ms. Peschmann immediately became extremely agitated and told this editor and others that she was going to “take [him] down,” and “do everything possible to ruin [him]” as a result.
Upon learning of these comments and feeling that the relationship of trust was questionable, at best, Hagmann requested that Peschmann immediately cease and desist any representation in his name in this or any other matters. By this time, Peschmann furnished the NSA FOIA reply to Hagmann, who erroneously referred to the NSA FOIA number as a “file number.” It was upon learning that Hagmann had no desire to be represented by Peschmann when she began her rabid attacks to malign his reputation, hanging her hat on this innocuous error. As an aside and contrary to the claims of Peschmann, Hagmann never threatened to sue Peschmann, although did inform her of the desire to seek legal counsel on matters related to the core matter. Given the curious obsession of Peschmann with Hagmann, one would think she would produce authenticated proof of her accusation. She has not, as none exists.
Straining to maintain relevance and angry over being dropped from representing Hagmann in the press, Peschmann spoke telephonically to a few of our colleagues, stating her intentions to “ruin Hagmann and Quayle” by publishing a report claiming that the information contained in the sworn affidavit was a lie and we were profiting from fear. This resonated with former guest Michael Erevna (Kirk McLeod) and together, they began their public campaign of slander and libel in the fall of 2014.
Despite being a self-proclaimed journalist who claims to always speak and write the truth, it is evident that Peschamnn was either a willing participant in propagating the false name of Michael Erevna on her website, or failed to conduct the necessary due diligence pertaining to his fictitious identity, even after having reason to do so. One should thoughtfully consider this fact as well, as her intentional propagation of this fictitious identity, would again make her either inconceivably incompetent or deliberately untruthful, or perhaps both.
Yet another issue Peschmann has raised as being untruthful is the allegation that the former website of Douglas J. Hagmann was never the target of termination by its host server, GoDaddy. According to Peschmann, whose journalistic abilities and motives should be much clearer by now, the fate of HomelandSecurityUS.com rested on Hagmann’s ability to pay $50.00. Investigation would have found the publication of this email from GoDaddy, sent on June 22, 2012:
June 22, 2012
Dear Sir or Madam,
Our records indicate that you are responsible for the HOMELANDSECURITYUS.COM domain name and its hosted content. We have received complaints about your domain name and the contents of your website. Upon reviewing the situation, we have found that they are in violation on section 7 of your Domain Registration Agreement. (http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/legal_agreements/show_doc.asp?se=%2B&pageid=REG%5FSA)
We understand that this can be a very sensitive topic, and that there will likely be a difference of opinion as to the nature of the complaints. We are not making a determination in favor of either, but do not wish to be involved in such disputes. As a result, we ask that you move the registration and hosting for these sites to another provider (Not affiliated with GoDaddy.com or our Reseller division, WildWestDomains.com).
If you can initiate this move within 48 hours of the transmission of this notice, there will not need to be any downtime for your site. If the transfer is not initiated by this time, we may have to suspend services to your website. We strongly recommend you reply to this message as to your intentions. This will further help insure that no unnecessary downtime results for your site.
If you have any questions, please let us know. Please be aware that this decision is final, and we do not wish to debate the actual content of your site.
Regards,
Network Abuse Department
GoDaddy.com
24/7 Network Abuse Department
Hotline: 480-624-2505
ARID1020
Additionally, Peschmann and McLeod have maliciously misrepresented one of the most trusted tools in carrying our broadcast: the Hagmann & Hagmann App. Prominent on her website (as well as on McLeod’s), they devote much print space and feigned outrage over the apparent intrusiveness of the tool. Perhaps the best example of the lack of journalistic prowess of Peschmann and the IT abilities of McLeod exists here, as what they portray as an App that wants listeners’ private information is merely showing the default settings of the user’s phone. Unlike Peschmann or McLeod, we verified these facts with the creator of the app after this ludicrous accusation for clarification.
As you might be beginning to see, there seems to be something much more sinister propelling McLeod and Peschmann aside from mere maliciousness, duplicitous and deceit. Their obsession has been quite disconcerting to us.
Lastly, although perhaps most importantly, Peschmann crossed into serious territory when she published her accusations that Douglas Hagmann lied about a police action that took place as a result of a very personal and private incident involving his wife, his ill father-in-law and his caregiver at that time. Hagmann went on record and spoke about this incident shortly after it happened. Unknown to Peschmann, however, is that the person she spoke with at the police department contacted Doug Hagmann within 5 minutes of Peschmann calling, to make him aware of the predisposition sensed during her inquiry. Perhaps Peschmann forgot that Doug Hagmann has been an investigator in the private sector for 30 years and knows the clerks and brass of the local police force well.
Unfortunately, as this incident is part of a much larger issue that has caused much pain and anguish to Hagmann’s wife and immediate family. As such and considering the ongoing nature of the matter, Doug Hagmann has chosen to protect his family from further strife over trying to satisfy the strangely obsessive needs of a so-called professional. Sadly, it is expected that Peschmann will not respect such boundaries, regardless of the fragility of this situation and the family members involved. So be it.
Meanwhile, Mr. McLeod, using the name Michael Erevna, vociferously condemns us for allegedly profiting from spreading fear porn under the banner of Christianity. He portrays a sense of revulsion from our legitimate attempts to inform the public of the threats to our freedoms, and even warns people not to contribute to our efforts in any manner. While he appears to find disdain with our efforts, he himself appears to have established a fictitious company named ATSI in Mount Kisco, NY which he uses to accept contributions. Research with the New York State Department of State, however, found no record of this being a registered business within the state of New York under his real or fictitious name.
Again, he has never publicly admitted the monies he received to assist him with his research, and never disclosed his business entanglements.
Meanwhile, Ms. Peschmann continues her campaign of lies against us as well, obvious investing an incredible amount of time writing prolifically and actively encouraging others to join her to “expose” us in our Christian endeavors. Any person of reasonable sensibilities would be wary of the time and effort she, in collusion with McLeod and others, are committing to their endeavors, and look closely at the personal and professional alliances and history both have but have deliberately chosen not to include.
Although we could expose more, we feel this is sufficient and have neither the time not the desire to hurt anyone. Our only desire is to briefly address this unfortunate situation.
To our listeners and readers, we submit to you that we are seeing exactly what author Tom Horn wrote about in book Blood on the Altar, where he writes about sinister demonic forces assailing true Christian ministries. Excerpted from page 31:
“…just about every Bible expositor I know has been tirelessly harassed online the last few years by fake defenders of the faith.”
“With that in mind, the next time you are online reading some diatribe about Chuck Missler, Gary Stearman, Steve Quayle, David Flynn, J.R. Church, L.A. Marzulli, Cris Putnam, Jonathan Cahn, yours truly, or any of the other current favorite targets, ask yourself if the hatchet people attacking them ever bothered to obey Scripture…”
“’[B]e careful little eyes what you read,’ because destructive forces seek to contaminate your mind and spirit (see Prov. 4:23-27) in order to prep you for service to the dark side.”
Clearly, this is a spiritual war and the unseen hand of the enemy is at work. It should be crystal clear in light of the disturbing, patently offensive and blasphemous image published by Kirk McLeod, under the name Michael Erevna on his website, using the image of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as the basis of a caricature of Steve Quayle.
The spirit of truth will always prevail in spite of our humanity. 1 John Chapter 4, verse 6 instructs us to know the spirits – whether they are of God or not of God. After all the slander, libel, castigation and impingement against the truth, the truth is still the truth.
“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” [KJV]
For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 2 Co 13:8 [KJV]
The truth will always prevail in spite of our humanity.
Indeed, there is Blood on the Altar.