Willis Carto archive

Including information about his associates

Fraudulent letter aims to put IHR on Mafia ‘hit list’ (5/31/2001)

A letter sent to media outlets around the United States falsely claims that the IHR is about to publish a book containing the inside secrets of the Mafia, apparently in hopes that members of organized crime will eliminate the IHR staff. The letter, which consists of a forged cover letter on out-dated IHR letterhead, an advertisement for the non-existent book, and a poor facsimile of an IHR mailing envelope, contains numerous typographical errors, formatting errors, errors of fact, and even incorrect addresses.

Although the actual sender of this phony material is not yet known, it is almost certainly the work of Willis Carto and his cronies. Since 1993, when IHR staffers discovered that Carto had illegally diverted millions of dollars, attacks such as this on IHR have not come from Jewish or Zionist groups, but from Carto. These dirty tricks included sending goons to disrupt IHR meetings, sending goons to the IHR office to harass staffers, applying for false changes of address with the U.S. Postal Service, diverting IHR mail, obtaining and using gas company credit cards in the name of LSF, attempting to enlist imprisoned members of The Order to attack IHR staffers, copying the names and typefaces of IHR publications for his own uses, and filing endless meritless lawsuits.

This latest tactic in Carto’s rule-or-ruin assault on the IHR is suspected to have been created by Gregory Douglas, Carto’s close friend, who is a known document forger, and a criminal. This maladroitly forged advertisement and cover letter have all the earmarks of Douglas, whose real name is Peter Birch or Burch. Before joining forces with Carto, Douglas used to call the IHR and talk for hours about how he smeared his enemies, including British historian David Irving. Douglas bragged of his ability to ruin anyone with his forgeries, hinted that Irving’s troubles were the direct result of his (Douglas') efforts, and offered to destroy Carto for what he had done to the IHR.

In 1995 however, when Carto started selling copies of Douglas' fraudulent history of Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller, Douglas changed his tune, and the two became fast friends. After former Carto associate Todd Blodgett testified on behalf of the IHR in Liberty Lobby’s DC bankruptcy hearing, he became the target of waves of vicious phony clippings. Similarly, after IHR supporter Paul Grubach wrote open letters calling for Carto to provide an accounting for the missing IHR millions, he, too, became a target of a smear campaign. Douglas also has knowledge about the IHR mailing that only the perpetrator of the smear would have.

This latest smear comes at a time when Carto is in a precarious legal position, facing crucial court deadlines on June 6, 8, and 15, and he is under court order to answer questions about his assets on or before June 15. Additionally, Carto is simultaneously attempting to hold a historical conference under the aegis of The Barnes Review, which he also controls. If Carto has not submitted to questioning before June 15, he is under court order to appear on June 15 (the opening day of the conference), to answer questions before California Superior Court Judge Runston Maino. Failure to appear on that date would result in another bench warrant being issued for Carto’s arrest.

By the terms of Judge Maino’s November 1996 ruling, Carto is enjoined from holding himself out as representing the IHR.