CM Responds to New Falsehoods by Mike Parrott, RTF
Mike Parrott of Restoring the Faith Media released a video on Nov. 21, 2021 asking for money for his own legal defense, after Church Militant sued him for defamation for falsely accusing this organization of "blackmail," "extortion," "wire fraud" and "threatening his family," among other outrageous and baseless claims.
Before getting into the falsehoods in his latest video, it is worth paying attention to explosive allegations posted to Twitter by his former business partner — the man who first conceived Restoring the Faith Media, built the website and served as co-host for many months.
He accuses Parrott of stealing the company from him (see full statement below), deceiving him by going back on a former agreement to split the company equally between the two of them, and instead signing the entire company over into Parrott's own name — without ever informing him. If accurate, this is criminal theft.
After more than a year of silence, and learning of Parrott's attempts to raise more money for himself, he is finally exposing the scheme.
Thus, Restoring the Faith Media, the very vehicle Parrott uses to spread publicity, sell merchandise and generally make a living, is itself, according to his former business partner, ill-gotten gains, taking advantage of the trust of a former friend.
It is against this backdrop that everything Parrott does should be seen.
New Falsehoods in Fundraising Video
Parrott offers new falsehoods in his latest fundraising video, e.g., that we are attempting to obstruct justice for Fr. James Jackson, that we are on a "war" against Tradition, and other absurd allegations.
First, though a minor point, Parrott claims he lives in a home with eight family members and only "one bathroom." We assume this is his attempt to garner sympathy by portraying his family as poor.
He fails to mention the complete description of his property, which he purchased on Aug. 27, 2021 for $650,000, and which states a total of 3,000 square feet with three full bathrooms.
There is also a second, two-story home on his property (yes, there is a second home) with a bathroom.
A minor point, yes, but one that should cause anyone to question anything that comes out of his mouth.
In his fundraiser, Parrott tries to garner sympathy and thus more money by falsely claiming his property only has "one bathroom." This is demonstrably false. Parrott's claim calls into question everything he says.
We will not publish his current address, as we are not in the business of doxxing, even if Parrott has doxxed Christine Niles by publishing her email address without her permission.
(Parrott also falsely claims in his fundraising video Church Militant published pictures of his home — another falsehood. He omits the fact it was his former home; he no longer lives there.)
No 'War' on Tradition
The "war" on Tradition claim is nonsensical on its face, considering Michael Voris, Christine Niles and a number of other Church Militant staff attend the Traditional Latin Mass and believe the traditional liturgy to be the highest and best form of worship offering glory to God. Church Militant has often reported on initiatives promoting the traditional liturgy, and has criticized clergy who have attempted to restrict the traditional liturgy. Parrot's claim that this is a crusade against Tradition is flat-out nonsense.
In an attempt to garner more sympathy (and thus presumably raise more money for his legal defense from traditionalist Catholics), Parrott names personalities from other traditionalist media outfits who have nothing whatsoever to do with this defamation lawsuit, and would likely not appreciate being dragged into the middle of this ongoing litigation. Church Militant's prior criticisms of these other individuals are utterly irrelevant to the current defamation lawsuit, as they involve entirely different issues that have nothing to do with the Traditional Latin Mass or with Fr. Jackson.
Elsewhere, Parrott claimed Christine Niles would be in favor of Traditiones Custodes, Pope Francis' decree restricting the Traditional Latin Mass. This is demonstrably false, as Niles is on public record stating she was devastated by the document and believes it to be a grave injustice.
Parrott falsely claims we do not want Fr. Jackson to have "adequate legal representation." This is false. When Parrott and Voris spoke on the phone for nearly 2.5 hours on Nov. 10, Parrott said he had already agreed to pay $60,000 to John Calcagni, Fr. Jackson's attorney. Voris acknowledged that and did not ask him to refund that portion of the money.
As a side note, while Parrott posted a picture of Calcagni confirming receipt of "funds," the letter does not state the amount of funds. Is it the full $60,000? There is no way to know. And it's clear by now everything that proceeds from Parrott's mouth cannot be taken at face value.
The problem is that Parrott portrayed to the public and to donors that he would have access to the "evidence" being used in Fr. Jackson’s criminal trial, and that he would conduct forensic analysis on this "evidence."
When Niles publicly questioned how Parrott expected to access that evidence, since no federal prosecutor would ever be allowed to hand over evidence in a criminal trial to an outside, third party unconnected to the case, instead of giving a straightforward answer, Parrott deflected and fabricated a wild claim that Fr. Altman — through devious means — donated money to Church Militant.
Father Altman and the other named parties have disavowed this lie, and Parrott himself admitted to Voris the fabrication was just an "emotional" response on his part, with no factual basis.
Parrott then did what's known as a bait and switch, admitting to Voris that the "evidence" he referred to is not the computer and hard drive on which the porn was found, and which is being used in Fr. Jackson's criminal trial. Rather, the "evidence" is the computer from Fr. Jackson's former church in Colorado - which has absolutely nothing to do with the current criminal trial in Rhode Island.
Laying aside the fact that there is no reason to think Parrott could possibly obtain the Colorado computer, Voris explained to Parrott that any exculpatory results of a forensic analysis of the Colorado computer could never be admitted as evidence in court, since it would never meet the strict demands of chain of custody. Also, it would have been in the hands of a party highly sympathetic to Fr. Jackson and thus there is no way the court could determine if the computer had been tampered with to obtain results favorable to the priest.
Parrott agreed. He also agreed that raising so much money for a priest who is potentially facing jail time for the worst child porn imaginable was not a wise idea. He agreed to refund the money, less the $60,000 to Fr. Jackson's attorney, and also agreed he would start the process by Friday, Nov. 12 and contact Voris to confirm.
Instead of keeping his word, Parrott aired a defamatory video on Sunday, Nov. 14, falsely accusing Church Militant of "extortion," "blackmail" and other crimes. This is why he is being sued for defamation.
He maintains the "blackmail" narrative in his current fundraising video, quoting from Niles' email in which she insisted that the "public deserves to know what will happen to the money."
It was her intent to publish a truthful account of what Parrott intended to do with the money, along with his attempts to hide from the public that he did not have access to the evidence used at trial, and thus would be unable to use 50% of the funds toward their originally stated purpose.
If Restoring the Faith were a non-profit, his refusal to return 50% of donations once it became clear they could not be used for their stated purpose would be illegal.
Even as a for-profit LLC, any attempt to raise money under false pretenses could arguably be considered fraud — also illegal.
The fact that Niles intended to expose any fraudulent scheme, contrary to Parrott's hysterics, is not "blackmail" but simply truthful reporting.
Parrott did not want these facts coming to light, and so twisted the narrative to make himself appear the "victim" and Church Militant the "bully" for exposing him.
The same can be said for the texts Parrott published from Voris. Voris clearly states we will publish the truth about the scheme if Parrott refuses to follow through on his promise to refund the money — less the $60,000 — to donors.
Again, this is not "blackmail" or "extortion" but simply truth-telling — something Church Militant is in the business of doing and will not be deterred from doing just because a wealthy businessman who likes to portray himself as a poor and downtrodden "dad with six kids, a webcam and a mortgage" flies into hysterics and engages in outrageous slander against this apostolate.
Church Militant's overarching mission has always been the salvation of souls. Everything we do is geared toward that end. As part of our work, we expose liars, schemers, hypocrites, the immoral and those who would hide behind spirituality to deceive the faithful. We do not give deceitful clergy a pass; neither will we give deceitful laymen a pass.
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