Letter to U.S. Secret Service: Ideas of Reference 1996

This letter suggests that one of the reasons for my enduring negative reaction to my former employer, the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, relates purely to the fact that I saw Akin Gump's alleged reason for my termination--namely, that my perceptions of my workplace were paranoid--as an assault on my cognition.  According to the late Frank Barron, an expert in creativity studies, twelve characteristics set creative persons apart from the non-creative, one of which characteristics is -- "4. They are independent in their cognitive faculties, which they value highly."

For more than twenty years now, my cognitive faculties have been under attack from all quarters.  I seem to be seeking validation for my perceptions.

January 16, 1996
3801 Connecticut Avenue NW
#136
Washington, DC  20008

Philip C. Leadroot
Special Agent
U.S. Secret Service
Washington Field Office
Washington, DC  20036

Dear Mr. Leadroot:

The enclosed computer disc includes the texts of the most recent letters to my psychiatrist, Dr. Georgopoulos: letters dated November 13, 1995; December 11, 1995; and December 27, 1995.  The disc also includes two letters to the U.S. Department of Justice: letters dated November 13, 1995 and January 3, 1996.

My current situation remains largely unchanged since the time this matter first came to the attention of the U.S. Secret Service, in late 1994.  I continue to hold a body of beliefs regarding my employment experience at the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld that are, according to the Government of the District of Columbia, the product of a serious mental disorder that renders me potentially violent and not suitable for employment; and according to attorney managers of Akin Gump possibly homicidal.

According to Dennis M. Race and Laurence J. Hoffman, two attorney managers at Akin Gump, my thinking at the time of my job termination was dominated by paranoid “ideas of reference" that caused me to attach a persecutory personal meaning to ambiguous events in the environment (such as my belief that I was subjected to a pattern of harassment by a supervisor who was later determined by a Federal District Court to have exhibited racial animus toward minority employees under her supervision).

My current situation is well illustrated by the following hypotheticals:

1.  The date is November 1, 1963.  A man in Dallas, Texas (who had recently spent some time in the Soviet Union) sends a letter to the U.S. Secret Service that states that his situation is desperate.  His letter is a plea for help.  The Secret Service does nothing  By November 23, 1963, well . . .

2.  The date is April 1, 1995.  A young veteran in Oklahoma City sends a letter to the U.S. Secret Service that states his situation is desperate.  His letter is  plea for help.  The Secret Service does nothing.  By April 30, 1995, well . . .

I want to assure the U.S. Secret Service that the above hypotheticals are pure fiction and relate to no historical events.  But, mind you, if you read any meaning into these hypotheticals, you risk a determination by Dennis Race and Laurence Hoffman--and the Government of the District of Columbia--that you are a severely disturbed individual whose thinking is dominated by paranoid ideas of reference, and who is potentially violent, possibly homicidal, and unemployable.

Such is my current situation.

Sincerely,

Gary Freedman