On Doing Your Own Investigation -- Former USITC General Counsel

Michael H. Stein, Esq. was the General Counsel at the U.S. International Trade Commission during my tenure at that agency as an intern, from January to June 1984.  My internship was sponsored by The American University Law School, where I was an LL.M. student in international trade law, under the supervision of Dean Claudio Grossman.

Later in July 1997 I sent a nearly identical letter to the then USITC General Counsel Lynn Schlitt; Lynn Schlitt sent the Federal Protective Service after me.

Why is it that lawyers and law professors (see post below) are responding to letters I wrote in the 1990s that the Justice Department viewed, in January 2010, to be concerning?  Am I paranoid to think that dirty work is afoot at the DOJ?

DEWEY BALLANTINE
1775 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006-4605

July 10, 1997

Gary Freedman
#136
3801 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20008-4530

Dear Mr. Freedman:

I have had no contact or communication concerning you with Akin Gump or anyone else.

Yours very truly,

/s/

Michael H. Stein

July 9, 1997
3801 Connecticut Avenue, NW
#136
Washington, DC 20008-4530

Michael H. Stein, Esq.
Dewey & Ballantine
1775 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006-4605

RE: Weapons Possession - Intent to Inflict Grievous Bodily Harm/Possible Intent to Commit Murder - D.C. Corporation Counsel Affirmation - Possible Concealment of State and/or Federal Weapons Law Violations

Dear Mr. Stein:

During the period March 1988 to October 1991 I was employed as a legal assistant in the Washington, DC office of the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld ("Akin Gump"). Attorney managers at Akin Gump terminated my employment effective October 29, 1991 upon determining, in consultation with a psychiatrist, that a complaint of harassment I had lodged against several co-workers was attributable to a psychiatric symptom ("ideas of reference") prominent in the psychotic disorders and typically associated with a risk of violent behavior. See Freedman v. D.C. Dept. of Human Rights, D.C. Superior Court no. MPA 95-14 (final order issued June 10, 1996) (name of state court judge redacted at the implicit direction of the Justice Department). In the period immediately after my job termination senior Akin Gump managers determined that it was advisable to secure the office of my direct supervisor against a possible homicidal assault, which it was feared I might commit.

In pleadings filed in the District of Columbia Superior Court, the District of Columbia Office of Corporation Counsel (Charles F.C. Ruff, Esq.) affirmed that Akin Gump personnel had genuine concerns that I might have had plans to procure firearms for an unlawful purpose and possessed the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm or commit murder. Mr. Ruff currently serves as chief White House Counsel to President Clinton (telephone no.: 202 456 1414).

I have been under investigation by the U.S. Secret Service as a potential security risk to President Clinton, and was interrogated at the Washington Field Office by Special Agent Philip C. Leadroot (202 435-5100) as recently as February 1996, about 16 months ago. Questioning by Mr. Leadroot centered on the issue of presidential assassination.

During the period January 1984 to June 1984 I served an internship in the U.S. International Trade Commission, Office of General Counsel, in fulfillment of the degree of Master of Laws at The American University. During my internship I assisted in the preparation of a General Counsel memorandum with staff attorney Tim Yaworski, who, I understand, still works at the agency. The memorandum, no. GC-H-084, dated June 6, 1984 (the first page of which is enclosed for your reference) lists Mr. Yaworski and myself as co-preparers.

At the time of my internship, in 1984, you served as the agency's General Counsel; your initials, "MS," appear on the first page of the referenced memorandum.

I believe that I may have provided a copy of the memorandum to the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld (Margarita Babb) in June 1988 in connection with my application for permanent employment at that firm.

There is a remote possibility that Akin Gump's attorney managers may have contacted you in connection with that memorandum to obtain background information about me in connection with my employment, in which case, you may, therefore, possess information pertinent to a criminal investigation conducted by the U.S. Secret Service during the period December 1994-February 1995 relating to the security of the President of the United States.

I request that you disclose to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (David M. Bowie, Supervisory Special Agent, Washington Field Office, 202 252 7801) the content of any communications you may have had with any Akin Gump attorneys regarding me. Attorneys who may have directed inquiries to you include Earl L. Segal, Malcolm Lassman, or Laurence J. Hoffman (managing partner), among others.

As you know, Akin Gump has a major international trade practice.

Enclosed are some additional documents that provide background to the matters discussed in this letter.

Be advised: President Clinton's own lawyer, chief White House Counsel Charles F.C. Ruff, is talking real guns, real bullets, real brain tissue.

Sincerely,

Gary Freedman