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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Audio Clip: Hutcherson in Latvia

posted by on March 20 at 15:00 PM

Pastor Ken Hutcherson says it will probably be a few days, at least, before he gets his hands on the video that he claims will prove the White House backed his recent trip to Latvia (where he appeared with a Holocaust revisionist and called for a “full report” from the local U.S. embassy on its alleged support for gay rights).

But if, in the end, Hutcherson cannot prove that he was endorsed by the White House as a special envoy to Latvia, and if the complaint to the FBI about Hutcherson’s alleged misrepresentations abroad moves forward, then what Hutcherson said in Latvia may take on increasing significance.

Thanks to a tech-savvy Slog reader who posted in this comment thread, I was able to call Latvia and reach Ivan Boryagin, a member of the Latvian church that Hutcherson was visiting. Boryagin, who helps the church out on tech matters, told me that Hutcherson presented himself in Latvia as having “a mandate to represent the White House.”

He also sent me this digital audio clip, which he says is a recording of Hutcherson speaking in Latvia.

On the clip, a man who sounds like Hutcherson talks about having “the power and the commission” to look into certain questions in Latvia.

Federal law states:

Whoever falsely assumes or pretends to be an officer or employee acting under the authority of the United States or any department, agency or officer thereof, and acts as such, or in such pretended character demands or obtains any money, paper, document, or thing of value, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

RSS icon Comments

1

What is this, the Hardy Boys? Maybe he's a CIA agent and you're blowing his cover.

Posted by gillsans | March 20, 2007 3:22 PM
2

Whatever gillsans. This is important because Hutcherson is not only making common cause with a far-right church in another country, he's trying to make inroads among Slavic churches in Washington state to support his hate initiatives. See

Seattle Times Jan . 27, 2007.

Then there's the whole matter of the "Pink Swastika" guy. Maybe the traditional media will be a little more circumspect about giving Hutcherson the free media he needs to advance his agenda.

Nice work Eli.

Posted by stilwell | March 20, 2007 3:38 PM
3

Is it a little incriminating to name that MP3 "Hutch in Hot Water?" Postman changed his snarky headline yesterday for similar reasons ...

Posted by frederick r | March 20, 2007 3:40 PM
4

Frederick R: We just changed it.

Posted by Eli Sanders | March 20, 2007 4:05 PM
5

Yeah the Slavic churches have done some real scaremongering down in Sacramento.

Posted by Dave Coffman | March 20, 2007 5:05 PM
6

BTW, if you think these churches are that far off, review Eli's article from a while back:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=20917

Posted by Dave Coffman | March 20, 2007 5:27 PM
7

nail this bastard.

Posted by blehpunk | March 20, 2007 7:34 PM
8

Good for him. At least he's standing up for what's right.

Posted by Jesse | March 21, 2007 1:01 PM
9
Kenneth Hutcherson answered the question with a remarkable statement, ‘Public morals should be protected by the national constitution. Now that requires a hard work on the part of the religious leaders as the basic law should conform to the opinion of the majority. I was excited to see a sincere desire on the part of the ministers to join their efforts in the face of the homosexual threat’.

Trying to do there what he can't do here.

Posted by vishanti | March 27, 2007 9:48 PM

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