Seriously, The FBI Devoted Massive Resources To Seize A 91-Year Old Man's Private Collection Of Artifacts?

Aerial view of FBI raid on Don Miller's residence (Star Photo/Kelly Wilkinson)

A 91-year old Rush County man's home was the scene of a massive FBI raid where agents seized more than a thousand cultural artifacts Don Miller reportedly collected over the past eight decades according to the Indianapolis Star. Miller has not been charged or arrested for committing any crime. Yet agents will spend months cataloging his cache of artifacts to determine their origins according to Robert Jones, special agent in charge of the Indianapolis office. "The monetary value of the items and relics has not been determined Jones said, but the cultural value is beyond measure. In addition to American Indian objects, the collection includes items from China, Russia, Peru, Haiti, Australia and New Guinea.," he said. We have politicians and their cronies stealing hundreds of millions of our tax dollars in plain sight, and the only thing our local FBI office has time to do is badger a 91-year old man who apparently devoted his life to collecting cultural artifacts. Is there a law against that?

UPDATE: An observant reader passes along this background information on the fascinating life of Dr. Don Miller the media reports don't mention:

A little background on Don Miller, the "artifact" collector in Waldron. Given recent developments across the pond it would appear that this old guy possessed material of extreme importance to be applied to the NATO war effort that's building up there.  

The gov's pretense to recover artifacts is a ruse. I would wager that 99.999% of the men involved on the ground at this guy's house do not know the real nature of the raid and were told to collect and catalog artifacts while special agents quietly found and took what they were actually looking for. 

Miller was an electrical genius and developed communications hardware for the MIR space station. Had a huge hand in training cosmonauts in how to use it. He was heavily involved in very high tech ham equipment and networks particularly in Russia. 

The old man had a lot of things the state department wanted but illegal artifacts isn't one of them. You can rest assured that Don Miller will not say a word about anything. How would it look for a true American WWII patriot to be outed working with the Russians, even if at the time it was completely legal to do so.

Here's a link mentioning Dr. Miller's work on the MIR Russian space station.

UPDATE II: An anonymous Internet sleuth points out that Dr. Miller had created transponders used by NASA.

Most recently Dr Miller developed the technology to locate any transmitter through triangulation after the beacon has failed. This technology would be very useful say if an airplane went down and was unable to be located . . . 

Looking at the photo of Dr. Miller's home it is very obvious that he installed several 40'-50' antenna towers on his property which is located out in the middle of nowhere. The FBI (or some agency) set up containment/quarantine tents all over his property and there is no identification of any particular government agencies on the vehicles on his property. I was able to locate video showing those towers being removed which would fall under the definition of artifact but weren't mentioned by reporters.

The fact that the the news doesn't mention that this man was very prominent in the development of nuclear weapons, space science, groundbreaking transponder technology, spectral analysis or the sole heir to his famous brothers research on the origins of life is wherein the truth lies.

The Internet sleuth also claims that Dr. Miller is the brother and sole heir of Dr. Stanley Miller, a world renowned chemical physicist. Although Stanley had a brother named Don, he is from a different family unrelated to Rushville's Don Miller. A website discussing Dr. Miller's research was taken down just last month. A 2007 story in the Rushville Republican discusses his role in the development of the first atomic bomb during
World War II.

Former NSA analyst and independent investigative journalist Wayne Madsen adds this pithy comment about the FBI's actions against Miller:

How long before the FBI sells these artifacts on the black market? They have a history of fencing stolen art work. Just across E Street from FBI Headquarters is Weschler's, art auctioneers and appraisers -- there since 1890.

More Of The Joe Miller Mystery Solved

It's been nearly four months since news came that Joseph F. Miller, a prominent Indianapolis philanthropist for GLBT-related causes and the world's largest manufacturer of poppers, was found dead in his downtown home as the result of an apparent suicide. We heard stories about his business, Great Lakes Products, being raided by federal agents and closed and computers and other evidence being hauled away as evidence, but there remains no public confirmation of any official government action being taken against Miller or his businesses prior to his death. A new twist to Miller's death was added when former Pulitzer-prize winning reporter for the Indianapolis Star Dick Cady released his new book, Deadline: Indianapolis. Upon reading his book, I found a very interesting passage in Cady's book discussing Miller's relationship with former Marion Co. Prosecutor James Kelley.

Cady stumbled upon Miller while investigating Kelley's attendance at a pre-dawn party for gay men at which three of the attendees who worked at a local gay bar turned up dead in snowy field up in Hamilton Co. where their bodies had been dumped after they were shot to death. Kelley had come within the cross hairs of the Indianapolis Police Department after he set up a special unit in the prosecutor's office to investigate police corruption. When IPD investigators learned Kelley had been in attendance at the very party where the three murdered men had last been seen alive, naturally, the police wanted to learn more about Kelley's knowledge of what happened to the three men. As Cady explained in his book, a friend of the missing men, David Leigh Harrison, had gone to Kelley to advise him the men were missing. Kelley had instructed the young man on how to file a missing person's report but wanted his name left out of it. Cady learned Harrison had been questioned by IPD about Kelley and the murders after Myrta Pulliam, daughter of Star publisher Gene Pulliam, had summoned him to her house to meet with Harrison. As Cady described what Harrison told him:

At Myrta's house I met David Leigh Harrison, a thirty-one year old homosexual who was visibly frightened. Harrison's story was complicated, yet it had a simple point: He was caught between two powerful forces, IPD and Marion County Prosecutor Jim Kelley. Earlier that day, Harrison and several friends had been interrogated by CAT detectives, who wanted information about Kelley. Harrison said he didn't give much but thought his roommate, another homosexual named David Fairfield, known as Doris, gave a complete, tape-recorded statement.


My memory snapped back to a big news story last winter. Three young men, all employees of a homosexual bar, were found shot to death in a snowy field in neighboring Hamilton County. Although a former employee of the bar, Mikco Ball, had been arrested, there were unanswered questions.

Harrison knew all three victims. He knew them from gay bars and from the carriage house apartment two of them lived in the Woodruff Place section on the east side. All three had been at a pre-dawn party at the apartment the night before they disappeared. Jim Kelley and a man from his staff also were there, Harrison said.

Through Harrison's lead, Cady was led to a young Joseph F. Miller, who at the time served as the grand jury bailiff for Kelley's office. "Joseph F. Miller, a young bailiff for the grand jury, was a friend of Harrison's. Miller was known in the homosexual community as a chicken hawk, or someone who preferred boys and younger men, and he sold marijuana and a chemical known as poppers," Cady recounted. "Miller would tell us some very interesting stories later, in a confidential interview," Cady added. Cady's book does not detail what Miller told him during that confidential interview. Following an earlier blog post on Cady's book, I was informed I should look into an arrest record of Miller's in Johnson County during this time frame regarding allegations of molestation of underage boys by Miller in the Greenwood community. Another blogger, John Michael Vore, visited the Johnson County courthouse and searched for records of the arrest. Sure enough, Vore found the smoking gun. Cause No. 2-361C filed on March 20, 1977 charged Miller with sodomy for engaging in sex with two young males, ages 14 and 15 (the victims are named in the court records but out of respect to them I will omit their names here). Miller was arrested and released on a $10,000 bond, but the charges were later dropped on November 13, 1978 after Miller failed to show in court on two separate occasions. Vore became suspicious of the validity of the allegations against Miller given the perceived and, in many instances, discriminatory treatment of homosexuals in the criminal justice system during that period of time, and the fact that the salacious charges against Miller were ultimate dismissed.

After Vore passed along to me the information he discovered on Miller's arrest in Johnson County, I followed up with several other individuals to see if I could learn more about why those charges against Miller were dropped. As with many of these cases, parents of the victims are very concerned about the impact a public trial will have on their child and the potential embarrassment and lasting emotional impact on them. The parents of both victims did not want the case to go forward. One of the victim's family relocated to Oregon after the arrest took place, while the parents of the other victim feared the impact of the publicity on them and wanted the case to go away. I also learned separate charges had been filed against Miller in Marion County. The prosecutor assigned to the case was none other than Ann DeLaney, who was in charge of sex crimes within the prosecutor's office at the time. This explained to me why DeLaney, who would later become a close political confidante of Evan Bayh, would work to keep Miller's distance from Bayh when Miller would later emerge as one of the biggest political contributors to Indiana Democrats. Bayh refused to accept money from Miller, unlike other prominent Democrats, including former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, U.S. Rep. Baron Hill and former House Speaker Pat Bauer, who accepted contributions from him.

The most interesting information I learned from following up with sources concerning the Johnson Co. arrest was how it came about in the first place and the critical role Miller played as a witness in other ongoing investigations being undertaken by IPD at the time, particularly the investigation of Kelley mentioned by Cady in his book. It was a case of two separate cases converging in a way one could not have anticipated. IPD was investigating allegations an Indianapolis gay businessman, who held himself out as aiding runaway male youths in the Indianapolis area, had been sexually exploiting them by prostituting them out to adult men in the Indianapolis area through a service called "Rent A Man." Patrons of the service included some prominent local businessmen. Old newspaper stories from the period document the existence of that investigation. At the same time the "Rent A Man" investigation was under way, IPD investigators learned of the case in Greenwood involving the two youths Miller was later charged with sexually exploiting. When police brought Miller in for questioning and he learned of the serious jail time he could be facing, Miller in a matter of speaking began singing to the police.

Whatever loyalty Miller had to his boss, the Marion Co. prosecutor, quickly disappeared when faced with the possibility of hard time in prison himself. Perhaps what Miller told police is similar to the "very interesting stories" Miller told Cady during his confidential interview with him. Miller told police he had been introduced to Kelley for the purpose of providing sex to him. Miller told police he got his job as the grand jury bailiff in consideration for the sexual favors he provided to Kelley. Miller gave police a graphic description of his sexual encounters with Kelley. He told them Kelley liked to treat him like a sex slave he had purchased at a Greek auction. Miller said Kelley's proclivity toward S&M personally turned him off and he sometimes got too rough for his personal taste. Kelley treated Miller to sex-filled trips to places like Washington, D.C., New York and Montreal. Miller furnished police with records of hotels bills, plane tickets and other expenses related to the trips he took with Kelley. He gave them personal notes Kelley had sent him which suggested much more than the typical employer-employee relationship. Miller was questioned about whether grand jury transcripts were being illegally sold, but he could offer police no evidence this was occurring. More importantly, Miller signed a sworn statement. Police also had Miller examined by a respected polygraph examiner and he passed with flying colors.

To put it bluntly, Indianapolis police had Kelley's nuts in a vice with Miller's testimony. As with so many investigations involving public corruption in Indianapolis, however, there would be a series of twists and turns that would ensure the truth of what laid below the surface would never see the light of day. Miller would later recant his sworn statement, saying he only told those things about Kelley because of the enormous pressure police exerted on him, threatening him with a long time in jail. The Kelley investigation would ultimately be dropped. A lead investigator would resign in protest. Kelley would agree not to seek re-election as prosecutor in 1978, paving the way for a match-up between Andy Jacobs, Sr. and Steve Goldsmith, a race Goldsmith would eventually win and that would propel him into the mayor's office in 1991. One of Miller's friends, a chemist at Eli Lilly who spirited amyl nitrates out the back door for Miller to sell for a profit would lose his job and be charged with sex crimes. Miller would go on to use the formula he acquired from the friendly chemist to make a fortune manufacturing and selling amyl nitrates known as poppers as a recreational drug inhalant.

The Eli Lilly connection to the Miller mystery is indeed a fascinating one. When HIV/AIDS was first discovered a few years later, many medical researchers initially believed poppers were the cause of the deadly disease that inflicted so many gay men because something virtually all of the early victims had in common was their prolific use of poppers while engaging in homosexual sex. That would be the subject of a conspiracy theory but for the fact that Lilly, to the best of my knowledge, has never researched or marketed drugs to treat HIV/AIDS, a niche that has become a multi-billion dollar industry for other pharmaceutical giants that compete with Lilly. Poppers would raise their ugly head again though when Pfizer first introduced its erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra. As gay men began combining the use of Viagra with the recreational use of poppers, a number experienced sudden death resulting from a serious drop in blood pressure. Lilly later developed its own male enhancement drug, Cialis, to compete with Viagra. Interestingly, Miller's old friend former Mayor Bart Peterson, is now Vice-President of Corporate Affairs and Communications for Lilly. As mayor, Peterson not only accepted Miller's campaign contributions, he also appointed him to the Equal Employment Opportunity board. He also attended a memorial service in Miller's honor following his death.

Last year, the Indiana Stonewall Democrats presented Miller with an award for his years of service to the gay community at an event hosted at the home of Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jackie Nytes, which was co-hosted by a number of Democratic luminaries, including former Secretary of State Joe Hogsett, who has since become U.S. Attorney for the southern district of Indiana, and Terry Curry, the incoming prosecutor of Marion County. Curry has named former Marion Co. Prosecutor James Kelley's chief trial deputy, David Rimstidt, as his own chief trial deputy.

From what I gathered from my investigation of the James Kelley-Joe Miller saga, I have reached the conclusion the face of Indiana and Indianapolis politics was forever changed because the investigations into the matters involving these two men ended prematurely. The professional reputations and political careers of some very influential individuals were allowed to be kept intact because those investigations were buried. The man ultimately convicted of killing those three gay men, Mikco Ball, may or may not have been responsible for their deaths. I did not learn any additional information that resolved the doubts Dick Cady shared in his book about his culpability for their deaths. And I still don't have answers as to why Miller's business was raided in late August and he chose to end his life. Those are mysteries that will have to be solved at a later time, if ever.

Cady Book Adds To The Mystery Surrounding The Death Of Joe Miller

Pulitzer Prize-winning former reporter for the Indianapolis Star Dick Cady has authored a memoir of his four decades in journalism. It's titled, "Deadline: Indianapolis." Perhaps no other journalist in Indianapolis can offer a better perspective on social, cultural and political life in Indianapolis than Cady. I would highly urge anyone interested in "how things really are" to pick up a copy of his book. It's available on amazon.com. I had the privilege of meeting Cady for the first time this week to pick up my own copy of his new book and to shoot the breeze with him for awhile about our respective perspectives of Indianapolis. We're both transplants; he's from Michigan and I'm from Illinois. I think it takes an outsider's perspective to see Indianapolis as the backwater town it is as opposed to the rose-colored glasses through which it is billed by our esteemed "civic leaders" as a "progressive, world class city." You don't have to dig too deep beneath the surface to find a dirty underworld filled with a cast of characters from a Mario Puzo or Agatha Christie crime novel.

I've been vilified in some corners of this community for daring to speak ill of the dead. In this case, the subject of my musings was Joe "The Popper King" Miller. We're led to believe Miller, who was perhaps one of the wealthiest men in Indianapolis, took his own life at his downtown condo along the canal for reasons that have never been explained. There has been talk of his Great Lakes Products, which manufactured amyl nitrates packaged in small glass bottles and sold world-wide over the Internet and at gay bars and adult bookstores as a recreational drug inhalant, being raided and closed down by federal agents. No federal agency has acknowledged such a raid took place at his Indianapolis business out on Harding Street, although the lights went out on websites promoting the product, and retailers of the product told users their supplies of the illicit drug would not be replenished due to the business closing. A website for the JF Miller Foundation, which Miller established to support his favorite causes, went dark as well. Other stories have been told of law enforcement carrying computers and other potential evidence out of his home. A well-placed source at IMPD denies any local law enforcement agency participated in any raid of his business. To my knowledge, the cause of Miller's death has not been confirmed publicly. The Indianapolis Star initially posted a story suggesting suicide as the likely cause of his death, but the story disappeared from the newspaper's website almost as quickly as it appeared.

Besides a paid obituary, the Star and other mainstream media sources in town have shared no additional information on his death. A gay newspaper, The Word, reported on a memorial service attended by a few hundred friends at the Indianapolis Repertory Theater, including a number of prominent members of the community. Former Gov. Joe Kernan and his wife Maggie both spoke about his life at the service as did former ACLU Executive Director and Corporation Counsel to former Mayor Bill Hudnut, Sheila Kennedy. Former Mayor Bart Peterson and a bevy of other politicians attended, along with Bren Simon, but none of them spoke. I'm told no current office-holders were present. Miller contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic politicians. Peterson took $10,000 in his unsuccessful re-election campaign, but other Democrats, including Evan Bayh, refused to accept money from him. Even Kernan turned contributions from him down I'm told. Yet Kernan spoke at his memorial service and Peterson did not.

When I stopped by Cady's home to pick up my copy of his book, he wanted me to know he had included some intriguing information on Miller in his memoir. Cady once wrote obituaries for the Star and you could bet he would have shaken his head in disgust had he still been working at the Star and saw first-hand the newspaper's treatment of his death. In a prologue to his book, Cady shares his vivid memory of the passing of Gene Pulliam in 1999 and the unpublished column he submitted as a tribute to him. Those of you who remember his columns from the Star will remember he was honest and blunt to a fault. Cady's column on Gene Pulliam began:

Many of the stories you hear about the legends of the newspaper business tend to be true but incomplete. If they usually are accurate as far as they go, they don't often go as far as they could, or perhaps should.

Why? The truth sometimes is uncomfortable, or embarrassing, or too personal, or tends to tamper with myths no one wants to tamper with.

When Gene Pulliam died the other day, I realized he probably would not get the credit for what certainly was his finest achievement.

Cady's column went on to describe how it couldn't have always been easy for Eugene S. Pulliam to be the son of Eugence C. Pulliam, the arch conservative who used his newspapers like a club to promote his political philosophy. He described the dark side of Eugene C. on the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Eugene C. refused to run his death as the top story, describing King in very unflattering terms. The moving speech Sen. Robert Kennedy (who Eugene C. similarly despised) gave during an appearance in Indianapolis on the day of his death was buried under a political story touting the candidacy of Roger Branigan, a conservative candidate for governor. From that point on, Cady described how "Young Gene" became more assertive and began to change the coverage of the newspaper. "The ardent page one editorials dwindled and stopped," Cady wrote. "Increasingly, he insisted upon--and then demanded--balance and fairness." Cady's column never ran because Frank Caperton thought it made it appear Young Gene "had repudiated all of his father's philosophy" and should be shortened and held at least for a few days out of deference to the family. Rather than tinker with the column, Cady bluntly replied, "Thanks, but it's lost its impetus and any timeliness. Send it to the electronic graveyard."

Joe Miller with former First Lady Judy O'Bannon

And so that brings me to the point of this post, Joe Miller. Cady's book recounts the collapse of James Kelley, a lawyer who got elected as Marion Co. Prosecutor in the Democratic landslide of 1974. Kelley had a reputation as a guy who didn't think much of police. If you read Cady's book, you'll gain a greater appreciation for that point of view--at least during that period of Indianapolis' history. During this period, Richard Lugar had ushered in the era of Unigov and earned the reputation of "Richard Nixon's favorite mayor." Lugar's police department was populated with dirty cops--at least 20% by Cady's estimate. The Indianapolis Police Department had no use for Kelley and was more than happy to end his career. As it turned out, Kelley gave them the rope to do it. Cady recounts getting a phone call from Myrta Pulliam at home. "You have to listen to this story," she told Cady. "It's really weird. It's about Jim Kelley." Cady rushed over to Myrta's home and explained what he learned:

At Myrta's house I met David Leigh Harrison, a thirty-one year old homosexual who was visibly frightened. Harrison's story was complicated, yet it had a simple point: He was caught between two powerful forces, IPD and Marion County Prosecutor Jim Kelley. Earlier that day, Harrison and several friends had been interrogated by CAT detectives, who wanted information about Kelley. Harrison said he didn't give much but thought his roommate, another homosexual named David Fairfield, known as Doris, gave a complete, tape-recorded statement.

My memory snapped back to a big news story last winter. Three young men, all employees of a homosexual bar, were found shot to death in a snowy field in neighboring Hamilton County. Although a former employee of the bar, Mikco Ball, had been arrested, there were unanswered questions.

Harrison knew all three victims. He knew them from gay bars and from the carriage house apartment two of them lived in the Woodruff Place section on the east side. All three had been at a pre-dawn party at the apartment the night before they disappeared. Jim Kelley and a man from his staff also were there, Harrison said.

So what does this have to do with Joe Miller? Hang on. It gets more interesting. It turns out Kelley had attended two gay parties that night. "Joseph F. Miller, a young bailiff for the grand jury, was a friend of Harrison's. Miller was known in the homosexual community as a chicken hawk, or someone who preferred boys and younger men, and he sold marijuana and a chemical known as poppers," Cady recounted. Cady later confirmed from other sources Kelley had attended the parties where the three murder victims had also been in attendance, a fact Kelley eventually admitted but claimed he had gone there on business to meet with a potential witness in a case involving dirty cops. Kelley had even briefed one of the victims' friends on how to file a missing persons report but to leave his name out of it. Adding further to the intrigue was the fact Myrta had been dating Kelley's chief deputy at the time, David Rimstidt. Ball was eventually convicted of killing the three men but some doubted his guilt. Cady found no evidence tying Kelley to the deaths, but when the news of his entanglement in the case and his efforts to cover up his role hit the newspaper, it destroyed his reputation beyond repair. As to Miller, Cady wrote, "Miller would tell us some very interesting stories later, in a confidential interview." Cady does not detail those stories.

What intrigued me was Cady's characterization of Miller back in the 1970s as "a chicken hawk", or someone who preyed on boys or younger men. A former business associate of Miller has told me he knew Miller had been involved intimately with underage boys. Another business associate and acquaintance of Miller, John Michael Vore, has written about Miller's proclivity towards underage boys. Vore became particularly intrigued and inspired to write more about what he knew after reading the account in The Word on the memorial service in Miller's honor following his death. Vore, a former speechwriter for Gov. Robert Orr, wrote:

Earlier in the last week of October, I found myself rereading an interview with former Governor Joe Kernan (D-Indiana). He spoke with a reporter at the end of the September, 2010 Indianapolis memorial for Indiana businessman and philanthropist Joseph F. Miller, Jr. who the Indianapolis Star reported as a probably suicide in late August (Link: http://twitpic.com/2unkmz). On-line blogger Ruth Holladay broke the story on Miller's death.


Six weeks later, the October, 2010 Indiana Word came out, and Kernan said the following to reporter Rick Sutton:

Former Gov. Joe Kernan "recalled a foreign trip his wife took with Miller, when Kernan was lieutenant governor, where the hired driver tried to extort extra money from the American visitors. The American tourists called Kernan in his office at the Statehouse and he phoned Sen. Evan Bayh's office. By nightfall, Marines arrived at Miller's and Maggie Kernan's hotel rooms to escort them safely to a plane . . .

"The former governor, after the memorial, told me, 'I think Joe was more angry about the extra money.'" --Source: Sutton, Rick. "Joe Miller memorialised As Man He 'Wanted to Be.'" The Indiana Word, October 24, 2010, page 44 (if you use the link above, put in "47" where the page box is; there's a mismatch between printed on on-line page numbering).



I had, prior to the memorial, spoken for hours over two phone calls with the publisher of the Indiana Word about all matters and rumors related to Joseph F. Miller, Jr., one of which was in fact a story about him getting in trouble overseas: but it was very different from Kernan's story. It was a story you wouldn't tell at Miller's memorial or as a joke, and it was one Miller told me, himself, in 2005.


The Word publisher also told me that Miller had sent out letters to various individuals with specific instructions about how to proceed in wrapping up his affairs. Perhaps this is the source of Kernan's story?

In 2005, Miller told me he had "gotten in trouble with a kid we hired to do some web work for us"; and "...it took the Secretary of State to get us out," Miller said. Mr. Miller said this to me in the context of questions to him about a relationship he had had over several decades with someone who was under fifteen, when it started. His story about trouble overseas followed his corroboration of the relationship begun when one of his "partners" was several years under the legal age of consent. I'd first heard it from the mouth of the younger partner, when that man was in his 20s, in 1990.

Thus, by saying what he did in 2005, Miller confirmed his half of a relationship, without discrepancy, from that told me by the other half, in 1990. Two sides of the coin identified it clearly.

So by the time of Mr. Miller's memorial, the publisher of the Indiana Word and his reporter knew that Mr. Miller had confirmed a story of underage sex with me, learned first-hand, from the younger "partner" in 1990; and that Mr. Miller had told me of a new incident which occurred in the 2000s, as indicated above. In Mr. Kernan's telling, Mr. Miller was concerned about a "tip"; I suggest Kernan has stumbled onto the "tip of an iceberg."

It took me 15 years before I could confirm a first-hand account of a relationship with Mr. Miller. I think that Miller lived a hidden life, and did things behind the facade of a gay, progressive philanthropists that made it very difficult to know what he was really like. Except to a few people . . .

It is a coincidence that Kernan would speak about Miller, who I met with twice, alone, during his lifetime: in 2005, and when he hired me in 1990, to work on his news monthly, Heartland, where I was given the title of Managing Editor, though I was really just a reporter. My most notable series covered a sex worker network discovered in March, 1990 and announced publicly by Stephen Goldsmith, Marion County Prosecutor: Goldsmith and I clashed in a couple of articles regarding his lying about AIDS and his treatment of sex workers, some of whom his office was trying to extradite for trial in Indianapolis.


I worked for Heartland until that Fall, when I went back to graduate school and over 3 years, wrote a non-fiction book about learning to write a novel, closeted gay Hoosier politicians, and male sex workers;I also wrote about my attempts to gain equal rights for lesbian and gay students at Notre Dame/St. Mary's College, and a priest sexual abuse crisis which erupted at Notre Dame in 1991.

I met Miller, then, in 1990, and in 2005: it was because of the second meeting with him, and subsequent research, that I wrote what I did in remarks at Ruthholladay.com regarding Miller (here and here).

Yet if anyone asked me, "How well did you know Governor Orr?" or "Did you know Joe Miller very well?" I'd have said I didn't know either very well, at all.

I found out more in 2005 because I implied to Miller that I was like him: so he told me about his life. Having been a reporter for him, I used some of the techniques I had learned while working for him, against him. I did this intentionally to find out if the story I'd heard in 1990 was true, and because I had come to believe that Mr. Miller had not been forthcoming with me in 1990, when he encouraged me and helped direct my coverage of a sex-4-hire network, via his Editor, James Jackson. Miller, Jackson and Chris Gonzalez helped pull strings for me to gain access to sex workers and a great deal of information about a sex-4-hire network; they encouraged me to take on Stephen Goldsmith in my articles, especially in clashing with Goldsmith

I did not expect expect that in 2005, Mr. Miller would so easily corroborate what I'd heard in 1990 about underage sex; not did I expect him to tell me a new story which implied its continuation with others into the 2000s, but he did. Nor did I also expect him to tell me that the way to rescue a teen I knew from an abusive situation was to "kidnap him" (Miller's words): "You know, they fight you for awhile. But after a week or so, they give in."

Vore's story adds much to the intrigue surrounding the death of Miller. It suggest the possibility a raid of his business may have had more to do with his activities related to underage boys than his illegal popper business. Kernan's story of the Marines landing to whisk Miller and his wife to safety during their trip to South Africa together adds even more intrigue. Surely there must be public records somewhere to shed more light on this event. I recall no media accounts at the time of their harrowing experience. Will the news media dig for more information? Or will it, like the life and death of Miller remain just that--an unsolved mystery? Can we not handle the truth about this man? Is the truth too embarrassing and too personal for the esteemed members of our community who held him in such high regard? Are we to simply believe the fables yarned at his memorial service? Perhaps that is how it must be. Just as Cady's bosses at the Star deemed his personal tribute to "Young Gene"--too honest.

Miller Continues to Flaunt Non-Profit Status

Eric Miller returned this week to the campaign trail, taking his campaign of hate and bigotry which he calls Advance America, to the land of RVs in search of more tax-exempt, tax-deductible dollars to re-fuel his efforts. Speaking at a crowded luncheon in the Matterhorn Restaurant in Elkhart, Indiana, The Truth reported that "[c]onservative Miller discusse[d] public policy matters" and "addresse[d] issues of gay rights . . . and church regulations". Salivating over twin victories at the State House and the Indianapolis City-County Council over the issues of gay marriage and civil rights, Miller cautioned the group of followers that "[s]uccess in the latest round of legislation shouldn't be a signal for conservatives to ease up on issues they consider critical to the state's moral and economic well-being," Trevor Wendzonka reported in The Truth. In what Advance Indiana believes is the first time a mainstream reporter has pondered the brazen political activity of the supposed nonpartisan Advance America, Wendzonka astutely observed, "While Miller's Advance America is a tax-exempt, nonpartisan group, the 2004 Republican candidate for governor extolled the virtues of having a GOP majority in the General Assembly this year."

As Advance Indiana has reported in depth, Advance America has blatantly violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the Internal Revenue Code regulations governing non-profit organizations by engaging in impermissible political activities. Advance America is organized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt "education"organization, meaning contributions to the organization are tax-deductible and income received in the form of contributions and grants by the organization is tax-exempt. As reported here, Advance America performs no exempt educational activities; rather, it devotes all of its energies to lobbying state and local governments on various legislative agenda items advanced by Christian fundamentalists, and to developing voter guides it mails in mass prior to elections to influence political campaigns. Advance Indiana has also reported in depth at how Miller, the group's founder, has engaged in blatant self-dealing in order to enrich himself based upon an analysis of the tax returns the organization filed with the IRS. Miller has in the past received six-figure salaries as the group's executive director and pulled down six-figure retainer fees for his law firm, all while he was mounting his personal campaign for governor. Making matters worse, Miller has commingled the operations of his law firm and the tax-exempt organization in prime office space only one block from the State House, which is rented by the organization under something less than an arm's length arrangement. In some years, Miller has personally pocketed nearly one-third of the organization's operating budget.

As further evidence of Advance Indiana's previous reporting on the purely political nature of Advance America, The Truth reported that Miller told the group that [p]lenty of work remains on issues such as a constitutional amendment defining marriage." The Truth reported that Miller warned the group, "Our opposition is raising millions of dollars and building a grassroots network" for next year's midterm elections. In a blatant political move, the story reported that Miller told the crowd that "'having the right leadership' is necessary for churches to continue to be exempt from government regulation and taxation, Christian schools shouldn't have internal operations reviewed . . .[c]hurch suppers shouldn't be watched by food inspectors . . . and [i]ssues dealing with benefits for homosexuals must be confronted."

Miller boasted to the group about the organization's successful effort in defeating Indianapolis' Proposal 68, which would have prohibited discrimination on the basis of one's sexual orientation or identity. According to the story, Miller said, "This ordinance would have made these people a protected class of individuals, and we don't believe that should happen." In an effort to deceive the gathered crowd about the impact of Proposal 68, Miller falsely asserted that Proposal 68 "would have been costly for businesses in terms of benefit coverage for employees' partners". Proposal 68 does not require employers to offer same sex benefits; it only applies to matters of hiring, firing and promotion with respect to employment. Indiana does not currently, nor has it ever legally recognized same sex marriage or civil unions. As such, businesses are not legally required to recognize the relationship between same sex couples, although several major businesses in Indiana and elsewhere voluntarily provide similar benefits to same sex couples as they offer to opposite sex couples.

Of course, Miller couldn't leave out the argument that gay civil rights and gay marriages are "damaging to the traditional family structure." Miller dissolved his first marriage many years ago and lived much of his adult life as a single man. Miller re-married before launching his unsuccessful campaign for Governor in 2004. Neither of Miller's marriages has produced any children. Miller did not explain to the group how gay civil rights and gay marriages had prevented him from having a "traditional family structure."

Just like former KKK Grand Wizard D.C. Stephenson, who controlled Indiana government in the 1920s, Miller has his reliable disciples in the Indiana General Assembly who he can count on to advance his agenda of hate and bigotry. The Truth reported that seven loyal disciples were on hand to pay their respects to the Grand Wizard of Christian moral righteousness. The lawmakers attending the luncheon, all Republican, included Senators Marvin Riegsecker, Joe Zakas and Vic Heinhold, as well as Representatives Jackie Walorski, Bill Friend, Tim Neese and Marlin Stutzman. This is quite typical of Advance America events. The tone of the discussions is distinctly partisan, and only representatives of the conservative wing of the Republican Party are invited to participate. It also represents impermissible political activity by a non-profit organization.

The Truth's Trevor Wendzonka should be applauded for his insightful reporting on Eric Miller's political campaigning in Elkhart this week. I hope that Mr. Wendzonka and other mainstream reporters begin taking a harder look at some of the legal issues Advance Indiana has raised about the political activities of Miller and Advance America, and renew my urge for an investigation of the organization by the Internal Revenue Service. The evidence is clear that Advance America's tax-exempt status should be revoked, and its founder, Miller should be subject to the maximum penalties under the law for his blatant misuse of a tax-subsidized organization.

Star Lays Bare Miller's Extremist Religous Agenda

Score another one for the Indianapolis Star. Today’s edition features a front-page expose by Robert King on Senator Pat Miller’s anti-gay agenda, which is fueled by her extremist religious beliefs. The story opens by recounting Miller’s recent appearance before the League of Women Voters where she was asked whether she would introduce her assisted reproduction bill. King wrote, “Now the questioner was pointing to what had become one of the most glaring miscalculations of Miller’s political life . . . Critics, including conservatives, said it smacked of an Orwellian bid to dictate who has the right to reproduce. Some gay rights organizations accused Miller of being on a ‘witch hunt.’ Having sparked a firestorm of protest that reverberated across the state [and the nation], Miller ended up retracting her proposal.”

King’s article draws attention to Miller’s role as Executive Director of the Confessing Movement, an extremist element within the United Methodist Church, which advocates a decisively Christian fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible, and which is distinctly anti-gay. Advance Indiana last week featured a report on the influence Miller’s role in the Confessing Movement has had on her legislative agenda, and the efforts of Rock Indiana’s Pepper Partin to expose Miller’s extremist views to her constituents at a protest she staged last week at Irvington’s Halloween Fest, dubbed, “Indiana’s Witch Hunt.” Miller failed to show at the annual event she co-sponsors after word of Partin’s protest spread throughout the community. The story gave good play to Partin’s organized opposition to Miller.

Miller complained to King about her Confessing Movement being defined by its stand against homosexuality. “Instead, she says those who chose to stray from the church’s teaching forced the fight over homosexuality.” Rev. Kent Millard of St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Indianapolis disagreed, arguing that the movement has been a divisive influence on the church. “He said its followers tend to view their interpretations of Scripture as the only correct reading of the Bible. Their strict stance on homosexuality . . . doesn’t adequately emphasize the ‘sacred worth’ of gays.” Rev. Kathryn Johnson of the Methodist Federation for Social Action was more blunt: “She described adherents of the Confessing Movement as ‘narrow in their theological understanding’ and outside the United Methodist mainstream.”

Returning to Miller’s appearance before the League of Women Voters, King described Miller struggling to find a common ground with the women attendees. “Probably everyone in the room is a Christian,” Miller said. King noted that someone from the audience quickly corrected her on that point, forcing an apology from Miller. Miller continued, “I think that most people want their elected officials to be people of integrity, or moral conviction. I don’t think they want us to blow in the wind with the first person who offers us something, that we’ll waffle around. I think people want us to be people of integrity . . . My religious views do impact my position on issues of what I think are moral, theological integrity for me.”

As Miller concluded her remarks, King said the room fell silent. “She had flung wide open the doors to her political soul. She had laid herself bare and left no doubt what she stands for.” And that’s why Senator Miller is such a dangerous influence in the Indiana legislature.

Star Posts Online Story On Joe Miller's Death And Then Yanks It

Joe Miller shown with former President Bill Clinton at a fundraiser held in the home of former Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Joe Andrew

The Indianapolis Star briefly posted an online story yesterday entitled, "Advocate for gays may have killed self," which mentioned the suspected suicide death of Joe Miller before the publication removed the story. Miller owned Great Lakes Products, the world's largest manufacturer of poppers based in Indianapolis. Poppers are a recreational drug inhalant made from a liquid form of amyl and butyl nitrates that are marketed online in small bottles costing $12 to $14 to the gay community. The drug was/is often illegally distributed for sale in many gay bars, adult bookstores and night clubs across the country and around the world. Inexplicably, the Star removed the online story and ran no story in today's Sunday Star. A cached version of the online story since taken down read:

An Indianapolis man who championed the rights and health of gay Hoosiers was found dead in his Downtown home Thursday, police said.

The death of Joseph F. Miller is being investigated as a possible suicide, according to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report. Miller, 59, was a wealthy businessman who supported issues relevant to the gay community and helped underwrite the Damien Center's HIV testing and prevention efforts.

Miller helped found Indiana Stonewall Democrats, a political caucus of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Democrats.

Former Gov. Joe Kernan said he and his wife, Maggie, had known Joe Miller since 1996, when Kernan came to Indianapolis as lieutenant governor.

"He was a dear friend to both of us, and we're very sad," Kernan said Friday, a day after Miller's death. Miller, he said, "was generous to his community, to Indianapolis, and in many ways that people are not aware of."

Police found his body in his home in the 400 block of West Michigan Street about 9:45 a.m. Thursday, according to a report.

An autopsy was done Friday. Officials are awaiting toxicology test results, Chief Deputy Coroner Alfarena Ballew said.

Do you think someone told Dennis Ryerson how Miller made his money, causing him to rethink the statement, "a man who championed the rights and health of gay Hoosiers?" I would agree with the first part of that sentence, but I don't know how you could claim someone who got rich manufacturing and selling poppers to gay men could possibly give a damn about their health.

Miller donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates, including the late U.S. Rep. Julia Carson, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Petesson, U.S. Rep. Baron Hill and the Indiana Stonewall Democrats. Miller was a close friend of former Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Joe Andrew, who helped Miller gain direct notice of former President Bill Clinton. Miller also made generous donations to many gay causes, including Indianapolis' Damien Center. A testing center for HIV/AIDS at the Center is named in his honor.

Former Indianapolis Star columnist and fellow blogger Ruth Holladay first broke news of Miller's rumored suicide last Thursday. The mainstream news media has been noticeably silent about Miller's death, despite his stature in the community. Miller is believed to have made hundreds of millions of dollars from his popper business, in addition to other businesses he owned. He once boasted that his company was the largest single advertiser in gay publications. After various research studies and news reports back in the 1980s linked poppers to the spread of HIV/AIDS among gay men, most gay publications stopped running advertisements for the product. Early in the HIV/AIDS crisis, some researchers believed poppers were the cause of the disease because so many of the victims shared a common use of the drug. Other studies have shown a causal link between the use of poppers and Kaposi's sarcoma, a disease often associated with persons infected with HIV/AIDS. Poppers are also believed to cause cell mutations and leads to suppressed immune systems in users. Physicians sometime prescribe nitrates in pill form for treatment of certain heart conditions, but it is illegal to market nitrates for recreational use by humans without a prescription.

After laws were enacted to crack down on their use as an inhalant recreational drug, Miller and other manufacturers became creative in their marketing efforts and claimed the product was being sold as a room deodorizer and video head cleaner, although it was no secret that those who purchased it did so for use as a recreational drug during sex. Many gay men began dropping dead from sudden deaths years later when Viagra first hit the market. The interaction of the two drugs for sexual encounters causes a deadly drop in blood pressure. An Atlanta gay activist died in June of this year after combining the prescription drug Levitra with poppers.

Miller was honored, along with U.S. Rep. Andre Carson,  by the Indiana Stonewall Democrats just last year at an event in the home of Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jackie Nytes. Controversial radio talk show host Abdul Hakim Shabazz covered the event on behalf of Bilerico, a nationally-recognized gay blog which promoted the event honoring Miller. Former Secretary of State Joe Hogsett, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the next U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis, served as a co-host for the event.

UPDATE: A reader of the Star paper edition (yeah, there still are a few) says it appeared in the Saturday paper. I didn't see it in the Sunday early edition that comes out on Saturday. There are different versions that come out each day. The online version of the story certainly disappeared before it would typically be archived.

Howey Explores GOP Rift With Evangelical Christians: Reports on Miller's Self-Dealing

State House political reporter Brian Howey took a closer look in this week’s edition of the Howey Political Report at the developing rift in the Indiana Republican Party between moderates led by Governor Mitch Daniels and conservative, Christian fundamentalists like House Speaker Brian Bosma, Micah Clark and Eric Miller. As an example of the party's division, Howey focused on Clark’s angry reaction to Governor Daniel’s EEO Policy of non-discrimination towards state employees on the basis of sexual orientation and identity as we have reported at length here at Advance Indiana. “His comment to the Indianapolis Star-- ‘I don’t believe in the big tent. I don’t believe you get to be that big by offending a large portion of your base'—exposed a fissure within the Republican Party,” reported Howey. Howey observed, “It is a party where the evangelical Christian right can turn out between 25 and 32 percent of a primary vote for people such as John R. Price in the 1988 U.S. Senate race or Eric Miller in the 2004 governor’s race.” “That leaves at least two-thirds of the Republican Party in the moderate column,” Howey commented.

Howey opines that modern Indiana Republicans have focused on: “keep government out of our private lives; of efficient, limited government; of low taxes.” Clark, who heads the non-profit American Family Association of Indiana , is the first Indiana Republican to openly advocate against the “big tent” that Ronald Reagan first talked about more than three decades ago according to Howey. Howey says, “It is further evidence that the band of Hoosier Republicanism is growing wider, stretching far, far to the right.” Howey continues, “But since the evangelical right took over the Indiana House leadership with the ascension of Brian Bosma and State Representative Eric Turner, Republicans are a conflicted party even as they control the executive and legislative branches of government,” The story cites Bosma’s former chief of staff, Don Blinzinger, as attributing the sharp move to the right in the House leadership when Bosma and Turner replaced moderates Paul Mannweiler and John Keeler. Bosma hired an Iowa campaign operative, Steve Grubbs, who devised gay-bashing campaign tactics that helped elect State Representatives Bill Davis, Billy Bright, Bruce Borders and Troy Woodruff in 2004 to give Republicans their slim majority. Blinzinger is quoted as saying, “What I saw him do beginning in 2000 and even more so in 2004 was to play off the national Republican politics.” That paved the way for the “evangelical right” to “push for the marriage amendment,” Howey said. Blinzinger predicted that “an increased number of Republicans will have primary opponents”, and he “see[s] the Christian right becoming even more strident.”

State Representative Luke Messer, who is also the Indiana Republican Party’s executive director, insists that the party is still “committed to the big tent” according to the report. However, Messer says, “Most Hoosiers are opposed to gay marriage, but they believe there should be certain legal protections.” Messer, unfortunately, did not offer Howey any specifics on what those “certain legal protections” should be. Howey noted that other Republicans are fighting back against the takeover of the Indiana Republicans by the evangelical Republicans. He discussed the formation of a new group of moderate Republicans called “First Republicans,” which is being spear-headed by Indianapolis attorney Syd Steele, who ironically works for House Speaker Brian Bosma’s law firm. Close Daniel’s confident Bill Oesterle, who has spoken out publicly to Indiana Republicans about the need to be more tolerant and inclusive of the GLBT community says he’s not engaged in an “escalation” to the resistance Daniels is getting from Micah Clark and Eric Miller according to the report. Oesterle said, “My comments to our spring dinner were a fact. Republicans are going to be conscious of differing views. Micah Clark is operating at the fringes. Most people don’t believe in a party that is not inclusive.” Howey also quotes Advance Indiana editor Gary R. Welsh, who started Advance Indiana blog site in response to the hate and bigotry Christian fundamentalists like Miller and Clark have been directing at the GLBT community. “You can replace all the references to gays with blacks and women and see how all of them were tied to Christian [fundamentalist] beliefs,” Welsh said. “The Party of Lincoln was always on the right side of civil rights.”

Howey, who describes Governor Daniels as a moderate, aptly pointed out “[w]hat the Micah Clarks and Eric Millers don’t understand is that the more they beat up on Governor Daniels, the more friends he is likely to make in the middle, especially with the ‘late deciding women’ who detest intolerance.” Howey concluded, “Miller’s Advance America can deliver 2,000 people for rallies at the State House or pump out a burst of e-mails[,][b]ut they don’t win elections; they enforce litmus tests.” After Howey's report Clark stepped up his criticism of Daniels even more. Clark, whose reaction to Daniel's EEO Policy has been nothing short of hysteria, is now telling his followers that Daniel's "radical" policy is even opposed by Congressman Barney Frank, a gay Democrat from Massuchusets.

This week’s Howey Political Report also ran excerpts from Advance Indiana's previous reporting on how Eric Miller has enriched himself through blatant self-dealing while serving as executive director of Advance America. Judging by the internet traffic to Advance Indiana over the past 24 hours, it is generating a lot of interest. The Howey Political Report is subscribed to by state officeholders, legislators, lobbyists and political enthusiasts across the state of Indiana.

Indiana Lobby Protection Commission Hiding Data From The Public

Once upon a time, the Indiana Lobby Registration Protection Commission provided real-time data on its website about which individuals, organizations and businesses were registered to lobby the legislature at any given time, including all compensated lobbyists hired to represent those interests and the subject matter on which they were lobbying. Of course, once upon a time the ILRC was under the control of the Indiana Secretary of State until corrupt lobbyists and lawmakers became concerned that the office was getting too serious about enforcing Indiana's lobby registration and reporting laws, which were already among the weakest in the country. The law was changed to put it under the control of the legislative leaders so the fox could guard the chickens.

If you want to learn anything about who is lobbying whom on what this session, you will find nothing on the ILRC's website other than data from previous years. The most current data is dated July 3, 2013. Gift reports haven't been updated since 2012. This is done intentionally to keep the general public in the dark about what is happening at the State House. If this data had been provided to the public in real time, we wouldn't have had to wait for a report in the IBJ that pay-to-play contractor Ersal Ozdemir had hired a team of lobbyists months ago to lobby state lawmakers this session to subsidize the construction of an $87 million soccer stadium he plans to build for his new professional soccer team, Indy Eleven. [Note: Ozdemir's number one fan is his next door neighbor in a tony Carmel neighborhood, IBJ publisher Mickey Maurer]

Indiana's lobby registration and reporting laws are a joke. Essentially, lobbyists can put down on the forms anything they want without fear of any consequences for lying on the forms, particularly about gifts they provide lawmakers. Most dishonest lobbyists don't fully disclose the extent of the gifts they give to lawmakers, who have a gentleman's agreement with corrupt lawmakers not to disclose them so the lawmaker can avoid reporting them on their financial disclosure forms as well. A few years ago, I uncovered credible evidence that Advance America's Eric Miller was not properly disclosing his lobbying activities on the organization's reports filed with the ILRC. My evidence was bolstered by admissions Miller had made during a recorded interview with a former Star reporter, Brendan O'Shaughnessy, who interviewed Miller about the findings of my investigation of his organization. Miller, of course, is at the forefront of current legislative efforts to place the marriage discrimination amendment, HJR-3, on the state's ballot this year for consideration by voters.

I later filed a complaint against Miller with the ILRC. After several months passed and I heard nothing, I contacted the then-executive director Sarah Nagy and inquired about the status of my complaint. She told me that it couldn't be acted upon because I had only filed one copy, not the five copies that were required, even though there was no such requirement noted at the time to file a complaint. After I provided the additional copies, Nagy told me that the commission met behind closed doors to discuss it at its next regularly-scheduled meeting and informed me that unless I furnished the tape recording O'Shaughnessy had made of his interview with Miller, the ILRC could not act on my complaint. When I contacted O'Shaughnessy, he told me that he destroyed the tape despite me telling him how valuable the statements made on it were to prove Miller's wrongdoing. Inexplicably, O'Shaughnessy had been ordered off the investigative story by his editor, Dennis Ryerson. When I contacted Ryerson, he confirmed the tape had been destroyed and that the newspaper would not participate in providing any evidence to the ILRC against Miller. When I informed Nagy that the Star had destroyed O'Shaughnessy's recorded interview with Miller, I received the following response from her:

The full Commission has reviewed your complaint, along with your supporting materials. There is insufficient showing on your part to merit further investigation. Should you have additional and verifiable evidence, you may re-submit your complaint. At this time, the matter is closed.

It was bad enough that the Commission refused to act on the credible documentary evidence I provided but absolutely shocking that the state's supposed newspaper of record would actually destroy evidence that could be used to prove Miller's violation of the state's lobbying law. A few years later, the ILRC fired Nagy after she had haggled with lobbyists for months over how to interpret a new ethics law the legislature passed in 2010, which accomplished very little other than window dressing.  The law lowered the threshold at which lobbyists are required to report their spending on lawmakers, from $100 to $50, and banned them from taking legislators on out-of-state junkets, both of which unscrupulous lobbyists and lawmakers have no problem skirting. The Attorney Disciplinary Commission later initiated a complaint against Nagy after some of her clients complained that she took money from them for work she never performed, primarily post-conviction relief petitions for criminal defendants. The Supreme Court agreed to a voluntary suspension of her law license in 2012 after Nagy blamed her inaction on client files due to a medical disability.

If you take a look at the people appointed to serve on the commission overseeing the ILRC, it's not surprising that the agency is so ineffective at regulating and enforcing the lobby registration and reporting laws. Current members include two former lawmakers, Sue Scholer and Joe Micon, both from Lafayette, Jan Abbs, a former attorney for the Indiana Senate now working as a corporate attorney in Muncie, and Evansville attorney Terry White. The current part-time executive director of the ILRC is Charles Harris, a former staff attorney for the legislature who was responsible for drafting tax legislation. He left the legislature to accept a job at Ivy Tech as a Vice President of Development and now has a private law practice, in addition to working as the ILRC's part-time director. The commission has a budget of about $280,000 annually for 2 full-time employees and one part-time employee. So if you're not happy about Eric Miller's current actions regarding the advocacy of HJR-3 at the State House, blame the ILRC and the Indianapolis Star.

Below are links to my original research on the lobbying activities of Advance America and Eric Miller:

Advance America's Lobbying Reports Belie The Extent Of Its Lobbying Activities
Advance America's Tax Returns Misleading And Deceptive
Miller's Self-Dealing At Advance America Escalates
Miller And Advance America Abuse Non-Profit Status
Miller Enriched By Self-Dealing At Advance America
Miller Helping Miller
Miller Gloats Over Defeat Of Lobbying Reform
More Miller Self-Dealing To Report
Legality of Advance America's Payment To Miller's Law Firm Questioned
Miller Turns To Pulliam For Help
Miller Speaks Out On Election And His Future, Avoids Accountability

Miller Unloads On Daniels

IS A FUTURE GUBERNATORIAL BID ON THE HORIZON?
Advance America's Eric Miller, otherwise known as the Grand Dragon of Moral Righteousness, has taken a couple of minor, barely-noticed actions on the part of Gov. Mitch Daniels and turned them into rallying cries for his followers on the Christian right. The Howey Political Report quotes from a homobigoted e-mail Miller sent out lambasting Gov. Daniels for supporting a Indianapolis' Gay Pride Celebration and failing to speak out publicly in support of SJR-7:

"In a very disheartening move, Gov. Mitch Daniels has shunned the importance of protecting traditional marriage and embraced an Indianapolis 'gay pride' parade all in the course of a week." "For three years Gov. Daniels has been virtually silent about the Indiana Marriage Protection Amendment (SJR 7), which stalled in an Indiana House Committee this year on a tie vote.

The Governor told reporters on Friday that the marriage amendment would not be part of his re-election campaign." In that meeting with reporters, Daniels was asked about wedge issues and said, "I do believe there are other things more important to our future, at least other things that a governor and the people around him can try to work on. And, secondly, I'm always trying to bring this state together, and we don't have, I don't believe, the luxury of division."

Miller charged, "Yet, six days earlier the Governor was not concerned about divisiveness when his letter to Indy Pride welcoming homosexuals attending a festival and parade was published in the gay pride program. The annual Indianapolis gay pride event featured such apparently non-divisive items as drag queens on stage, men in leather bondage outfits kissing on the street, and a parade Grand Marshall who was honored for his authoring of a stage play and film called 'Southern Baptist Sissies.'"

Several family lobbyists told HPR at the governor's campaign kickoff that they were alarmed by Daniels' rejection of "wedge" issues. When told of the criticism, Daniels told HPR, "There's probably never been a more pro-life governor than I have been."

Miller also warned his supporters about the Indiana Department of Health "partnering with Indiana's largest abortion provider." He said that IDOH is "partnering" with Planned Parenthood in hosting a June 26 workshop with Dr. Michael Carrera, an outspoken critic of abstinence-only programs for schools. According to a Wall Street Journal Report, Carrera says abstinence-only programs "lie to kids." Miller said, "It is inexcusable that the IDOH would provide partnership in hosting a speaker who is a harsh critic of abstinence-only education - the same type of education currently taught in Indiana's public schools. Such actions can only serve to undermine those programs that have effectively presented abstinence before marriage as the expected standard for all Indiana school children."

The timing of Miller's attack on Daniels right after he launched his re-election bid can't help but make some wonder whether Miller may be considering a rematch against Daniels in the 2008 GOP primary. He has continued to maintain his political campaign committee since his 2004 loss, and his name is prominently displayed on Advance America's website and banners at any events the organization holds for its supposed nonprofit purposes.

The Indy Pride letter attack is noteworthy in that Daniels has sent a very similar letter supportive of past Indy Pride gatherings without any similar complaints from Miller. Likewise, Daniels has avoided talking about the gay marriage issue since taking office. This is the first time Miller has publicly attacked Daniels for his silence on the issue. As for Miller's description of the Indy Pride parade, let's end Mardi Gras celebrations everywhere. "Drag queens on stage?" "Men in leather bondage outfits kissing on the street"? Me thinks the twice married and childless Miller protests a little too much.

The AFA's Micah Clark has worked himself up in a lather this week as well. Responding to Daniels' statement that he did not want to make wedge issues like gay marriage a part of his re-election campaign, Clark told his followers:

Just days after defeating Eric Miller in the Republican Primary, candidate Daniels met with homosexual activists regarding a "gender identity" employee policy, which as Governor, he later enacted. Then on May 19th, a representative from the Daniels' Campaign met with, and gave a donation to, a "transgender" rights activist group.

Clark apparently didn't get a recent e-mail message from the Governor on the issue which other folks received. Daniels stated: "As I clearly said on June 15th, and have always stated, I support the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman, and would support an amendment to confirm this further in Indiana law . . . Either the out-of-state organization that contacted you received incorrect information about my position on this matter, or they were grossly unfair."

Advance America's Americanization Agenda: A Page Out Of The KKK's Playbook

Advance Indiana has been criticized by some for comparing Eric Miller and his Advance America organization to D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan. But the striking similarity between the legislative agendas sought by the two groups and their leaders in two different eras separated by more than 80 years is unmistakable. Advance America’s and Eric Miller’s push for anti-immigrant legislation in the current session is just the latest example.

In a recent communication to his supporters, Miller commented on two separate anti- immigrant-related bills pending before the legislature which we told you about last week. Letting his views be made clear, Miller articulated the position of the organization on two bills dealing with immigrants:

Advance America believes that individuals who are in Indiana illegally should not be given the same privileges and rights and assistance as citizens of Indiana as well as those who are here lawfully . . . House Bill 1310 which would have given illegal immigrants driver’s licenses died in the committee on a 6-6 vote. I spoke against the bill and pointed out that we should not be rewarding illegal activity. Nobody forced these individuals to come here illegally. Driving is a privilege, not a right . . . I spoke in favor of Representative Eric Turner’s bill, House Bill 1383. This bill is designed to prohibit government assistance (government assistance is of course paid for by the tax payers of Indiana!) from going to illegal immigrants. Advance America believes that individuals who are not here legally should not receive taxpayer money in the form of public assistance.

Reading between the lines, it isn’t much of a reach to conclude that Miller’s support of anti-immigrant legislation is targeted at Indiana’s rapidly growing Hispanic population, many of whom have entered the country through Mexico without inspection in search of jobs and a better way of life, no different than any other immigrant group throughout the course of our nation’s history. Essentially, the legislation supported by Miller puts the State of Indiana in the business of immigrant enforcement, a power secured solely to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution.

One of the bill’s most controversial provisions, which would have barred public schools from enrolling the children of illegal aliens, was removed from the bill to assuage its critics. In opposing HB 1310, Miller takes the position that even legal non-immigrants, who the new federal Real ID law says must be offered driver’s license, cannot be issued a driver’s license in Indiana without a social security number.

While Miller’s bill seeks to penalize the tens of thousands of undocumented persons living and working in Indiana, it offers no penalties to the businesses in Indiana which employ them illegally. Perhaps that is because some of his supporters, including several prominent business owners, employ non-documented workers from time to time.

To many of the people he seeks to punish with his legislation, our federal government has at least tacitly approved of their presence here. U.S. Border Patrol does little to prevent their undocumented entry into the country, and immigration enforcement officials rarely punish employers who provide them jobs. Even the IRS issues them tax identification numbers so they can open bank accounts up at federally regulated banks, which welcome their business, and pay taxes on their earnings.

So how can Miller’s position be likened to the KKK? Well, in the 1920s the KKK under the leadership of D.C. Stephenson had its own legislative agenda, which it called the “Americanization” agenda. At the time Indiana was experiencing a large influx of European immigrants, many of whom were Catholic. To make Indiana inhospitable to Catholics, the KKK pursued legislation centered on the American flag, the Bible and the federal and state constitutions. Sound a little familiar? As the issues were put before the legislature by the Klan one by one, one of the chief spokesmen said: “The politicians are either for it or against it; there is no middle ground.”

Displaying the flag in public schools, mandatory instruction in the Bible, and anti-Catholicism were to become part of our public schools’ curriculum. Teachers were to be barred from wearing religious garb in the public classroom, a move intended to prevent nuns from teaching in public schools. Because the Catholic immigrants were setting up their own private parochial schools, they too became a target. Legislation was sought to mandate that private schools use the same textbooks as the public schools. Also, any graduate of a private school would be barred from teaching in a public school. Conveniently, the bill exempted the all white protestant Culver Military Academy. One pro-Klan legislator even sought to outlaw parochial schools altogether.

Last year, Miller and his organization successfully enacted into law a measure we dubbed the “Eric Miller Patriot Act.” As a way of promoting patriotism in our schools, that law requires all public classrooms to display the American flag and to provide a daily opportunity for students to participate in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Public schools are also required to provide a daily moment of silence in each classroom to allow the students to pray, meditate or engage in any other silent activity while all the students are either standing or sitting.

Don’t forget the controversy over House Speaker Brian Bosma’s allowing overtly Christian prayers to be offered at the start of each day’s legislative business to the exclusion of other religions. Although that practice has been ruled as an unconstitutional establishment of religion by U.S. federal district Judge David Hamilton, Miller’s group has been at the forefront in pushing efforts to challenge the legal ruling. In his most recent communication to supporters, Miller spoke in support of two separate resolutions in the House and Senate which support Bosma’s appeal of the ruling. Miller falsely asserts that Hamilton’s opinion “banned prayers at the Indiana House of Representatives.” He promises, “We will let you know which Representatives refuse to support prayer in the House of Representatives.”

Lest we also forget the leading role Miller and his organization took in efforts to block passage of Indianapolis' Human Rights Ordinance, which bar discrimination of gays, lesbians and transgender persons in housing and employment. He warned his supporters, if the HRO becomes law, businesses will no longer be able to deny employment to a person because of their sexual orientation. He said, "It will force these businesses to treat homosexual couples the same as a married couple involving a man and a woman . . . [and] would be granting legal recognition to the homosexual lifestyle . . . another step in moving toward homosexual marriages."

And last but not least, don't forget that the leaders of both organizations both set their sights on the Governor's office. Stephenson's political aspirations died with the death of a State House secretary, who Stephenson was convicted of murdering because she was carrying his child conceived out of wedlock. Miller ran unsuccessfully against Gov. Daniels in the 2004 Republican primary, but he probably hasn't given up on his quest. He frequently takes issue with the administration over such issues as gay rights and, most recently, the Department of Health's exemption of abortion clinics from more stringent state regulation. He also still maintains his campaign committee.

Now, after reading all of the foregoing evidence, Advance Indiana would challenge anyone to explain how Advance America’s agenda differs from that of the KKK's in the 1920s. You simply can’t deny it.

Indiana's Real Indiana Jones Dies

Don Miller, the man at the center of national intrigue nearly a year ago when dozens of FBI agents descended on his home in Rush County supposedly for the purpose of seizing and examining an incredible collection of artifacts he collected during his well-traveled career has died at the age of 92 according to the Indianapolis Star. An electrical genius, Miller worked at times for NASA and the Russian government developing communications equipment for their space programs. The FBI's interest in Miller reportedly pertained to legal questions concerning some priceless antiquities among his vast collection, including Aztec, Egyptian and Ming Dynasty artifacts. As the Star notes, Miller was never charged with any crimes and no lawsuits were ever filed against him in the year following the raid on his home.

. . .  Miller never faced any charges related to his collection. No lawsuits were filed against him in the year since the seizure. In his final months, townsfolk told The Indianapolis Star he had disappeared from public life.

And even after his death, progress of the federal investigation remains shrouded in mystery. FBI Special Agent Drew Northern declined to comment about the case Tuesday night. Officials from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis anthropology department, which is assisting the FBI in identifying and preserving the artifacts, also would not comment.

But a legal expert told The Star it could take years, if not decades, before experts can sort out the legalities of the thousands of objects seized by the government.

"Even just figuring out which ones are illegally possessed in the United States is an enormous task when he's purchased them over so many years, so you can see why this is such a difficult problem to solve," said David B. Smith, a Virginia-based attorney with a background in asset forfeiture.

"Without his help, it's just going to be enormously difficult to figure out which ones he legitimately purchased, which are legal and which ones aren't," Smith said. "It's a huge problem." . . .

It is not known to what extent the FBI had spoken to Miller about his collection before his death. Miller's relatives could not be reached by phone Wednesday. Northern described the agency's investigation only as "ongoing."

But if the case goes to court, it's likely the law will not be on the side of Miller's estate, Smith said . . . 

Internet sleuths at the time suggested a far more nefarious reason for the raid, which coincided with the ongoing search for the missing MH370 Malaysian Airlines plane, which seemed to vanish without a trace. Miller supposedly invented technology to locate a transponder for a missing plane through triangulation even after the beacon had failed. The missing MH370 plane had among its passengers several engineers who helped develop cloaking technology to help aircraft evade radar detection. The Chinese employees on board the plane worked for Freescale Semiconductor, an Austin, Texas-based company. No remnants of the plane or the remains of its passengers have been found since it went missing more than a year ago.

Governor Rebuffs Miller: Won't Allow Discrimination in State Government

Governor Mitch Daniels, a Republican, yesterday dealt a blow to Eric Miller's and Advance America's advocacy of legalized discrimination against Indiana citizens based upon their sexual orientation when he issued the Administration's first EEO Policy Statement, which specifically prohibits discrimination in state hiring, firing and promotion based upon a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. The policy reads in part that "sexual orientation and gender identity shall not be a consideration in decisions concerning hiring, development, advancement, and termination of civilian employees." The policy statement continues, "Further, we will strive to maintain a working environment free of sexual harassment and intimidation." The policy statement also encourages more "progressive affirmative action in state employment."

The only disappointing aspect of the policy is its exclusion of non-civilian employees, such as military personnel serving in the state's guard units. A federal statute signed into law by former President Clinton, known as "Don't Ask Don't Tell" allows discrimination in the military based upon a person's sexual orientation. Since its enactment, the number of military personnel discharged because of their sexual orientation has grown substantially.

Former Governor Frank O'Bannon had adopted a similar EEO policy, which was reaffirmed by former Governor Joe Kernan upon his succession to office. Governor Daniels had adopted a similar policy for his gubernatorial campaign committee while he was seeking the office last year. Daniels downplayed his position at the time because of the heated battle he had to wage against Eric Miller for the Republican nomination. Daniels met secretly with a handfull of gays and lesbians to assure them he opposed discrimination against gays and lesbians after winning the Republican nomination. Publication of the meeting, however, set off a firestorm with Miller and his Advance America organization. Miller and his minions threatened to withhold their support of Daniels if he did not support their position opposing the extension of civil rights protections to persons based upon their sexual orientation and gender identity. Daniels had been earlier criticized by many civil rights advocates, including me, for failing to issue a statement earlier. He attributed the need to deal with pressing legislative issues as the reason for the delay. His staff also maintained that the non-discrimination policy adopted by the Kernan administration had remained in full force and effect upon his taking office.

Governor Daniels should be applauded for standing up to Miller and Advance America on this critical issue. Since Governor Daniels obviously agrees with the need for this type of civil rights protection for state employees, he should agree that similar protections should be afforded to all Indiana citizens. It is the hope of Advance Indiana that Daniels will not in the future buckle under to pressure from Miller and his organization. He showed true leadership in adopting his Administration's EEO Policy Statement, knowing that he would come under fire from Miller and Advance America.

Daniel's approval of this policy can only be viewed as a major setback to Miller and Advance America. This comes on the heels of two big victories for his organization. Advance America and Miller successfully advocated the passage of SJR 7 during the past legislative session, which would amend the Indiana Constitution to specifically ban same sex marriages and civil unions. He also succeeded in defeating the adoption of a new civil rights ordinance for the City of Indianapolis, which would have extended civil rights protections to gays, lesbians and transgendered persons. Miller, a Republican who exerts tremendous influence over Indiana Republican politics, can only be viewed as weakened when the state's highest ranking Republican rebuffs his agenda. It also demonstrates bipartisanship on the critical issue of civil rights. And that is a victory that all Hoosiers can celebrate.

D.C. Stephenson-Meet Advance America and Eric Miller

A single organization in this state has recently mobilized all of its efforts to one cause--discrimination of gay, lesbian and trangendered Hoosiers. That organization calls itself Advance America and is led by Eric Miller. The similarities of this organization and its leader to the Ku Klux Klan and D.C. Stephenson are frightening. Anyone committed to ending discrimination against all persons in Indiana must be prepared to challenge this organization and its leader head on. I will endeavor to make sure everyone knows what this organization and its leader are really about.

Advance America was originally founded by Eric Miller and a few of his far right religious followers in 1980 as Citizens Concerned for the Constitution, the same year Miller was admitted to practice law in Indiana. Miller has served as its executive director and registered lobbyist for many years. Miller stepped down as executive director to run for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2004. Current Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels resoundingly defeated him in the Indiana Republican primary.

Advance America's website touts itself as the "largest pro-family, pro-church, pro-private and home school and pro-tax reform organization" in Indiana. It boasts a membership of over 42,000 families, 1,600 businesses and over 3,800 churches around the state. According to its website it is "a nonpartisan, tax-exempt, educational organization and as such does not endorse any candidate or political party." Its purported mission is "to [inform] and [educate] the citizens of Indiana as to how their government works and what they can do to make a difference on issues of importance to them." When the Ku Klux Klan first obtained its charter to operate in Indiana it purported to be a "purely benevolent and eleemosynary" (i.e. compassion, mercy) and a "patriotic fraternal order." Don't be fooled by Advance America's description. As I will explain, Advance America is not a nonpartisan organization, and it is not an educational organization. It is purely a political organization. It advocates and promotes far right religious public policies and aids in the election of candidates who support its agenda. The agenda it is currently advocating is a rip-off of the KKK's Americanization agenda from 1925.

Advance America's website (www.advanceamerica.com) displays the voting records of all Indiana House and Senate members on legislation it advocates for or against. Its hot button issue during the 2005 legislative session was SJR 7, a proposed constitutional amendment which provides that marriage in Indiana consists only of the union of one man and one woman. It further provides that Indiana law may not be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups. This constitutional amendment passed the Indiana Senate and House overwhelmingly. It must be approved by the next successive session of the General Assembly and then voted on by the state's voters before it becomes a part of the Indiana Constitution. Indiana already has a Defense of Marriage Law banning same sex marriage, a proposal advanced by Advance America several years ago. The amendment is completely unnecessary and goes even further by banning same sex unions and any other legal incident of marriage enjoyed by spouses of heterosexual marriages. If adopted, it would become the first amendment approved which would constitutionalize discrimination against a class of persons. Most recently, Advance America and Eric Miller bombarded Indianapolis city council members with e-mails, letter and telephone calls and successfully defeated the adoption of a new civil rights ordinance for the City, which would have barred discrimination in employment and housing against persons based upon their sexual orientation. In 1925, the KKK used the legislative process to discriminate against Catholics and immigrants. Today, Advance America uses the legislative process to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

Other legislative agenda items of Advance America have included: the mandatory display of the American flag in all public schools and require students to recite the pledge of allegiance; provide tax credits to parents who send their children to Christian schools; require that the motto "In God We Trust" be placed in all public schools; expanding tax-exempt status of churches; and opposition to expanded gambling activities in Indiana among others. Indiana's Constitution specifically bars the use of public funds for the benefit of a religious institution. Nonetheless, Advance American uses its own tax exempt status to push provisions which clearly violate this prohibition. If you look at the Ku Klux Klan's "Americanization" agenda from 1925, it is difficult to distinguish from Advance America's legislative agenda. Like D.C. Stephenson, its leader is politically ambitious. Eric Miller unsuccessfully sought the Governor's office in 2004. Despite its nonpartisan, tax exempt status, Miller utilized Advance America's grassroots organization and fundraising base to launch his own political campaign.

Like D.C. Stephenson Eric Miller is a hypocrite. While Miller fervently devotes his efforts to banning same sex marriages and civil unions based on the false belief that it represents an assault on families in Indiana, actions he has taken in his own personal life raise serious questions about his commitment to family. Miller's first marriage ended in divorce. A few years ago he married for the second time. Miller has produced no children from either marriage even though he argues that God reserves marriage for heterosexual couples because they can procreate and insure the survival of the human race. Does Eric Miller and his followers actually believe that committed relationships between gays and lesbians are a threat to heterosexual marriages given that more than 50% of them end in divorce? Why doesn't his organization devote its effort to saving heterosexual marriages? Does he discuss the harm heterosexual divorces causes to Indiana families?

The fact is that Eric Miller and Advance America are all about fomenting hatred of gays and lesbians in order to advance their narrow view of moral righteousness. Miller is a high tech re-incarnation of D.C. Stephenson. Since it is no longer fashionable to discriminate against Jews, Catholics and African-Americans, Miller and his organization must turn their hatred on gays and lesbians. The danger he and his organization pose to this state cannot be underestimated. If we are to succeed in ending discrimination in Indiana, we must expose Miller and Advance America for what it truly is--Advance Hate. Only then will we be able to change hearts and minds and end the influence of this dangerous organization.