Quote
privateye
Heftel Says Smear Campaign Cost Him Hawaii Gubernatorial Primary

[www.apnewsarchive.com]

The so-called “Heftel Smear,” a totslly separate, anonymous mail-out on the eve of the 1986 Democratic primary, alleging sexual misconduct by Heftel, deserves a close examination by students of Hawaii politics. I suspect it has not received such scrutiny in recent years for two reasons. First, the subject matter is distasteful. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it is more useful to rumors of the Smear as a weapon against the so-called “Democratic Machine,” than to follow the actual evidence. The best evidence, as reported at the time by both papers, lead back to a xerox machine in Charles Marsland’s office, his Executive Assistant at the time, Rick Reed and the Chris Butler Hare Krishna group. I spelled this out in more depth on Dave Shapiro’ blog in 2006:

[www.ilind.net]

You beat me to the punch, Privateye! I had already scanned the “lost” newspaper articles on the Heftel smear campaign orchestrated by Chris Butler, and was waiting to transcribe them to text. I’ll post them below now and anyone interested can just read the scans. I’ve also pasted the text of the AP article below for the benefit of search engines. It seems to me that Reed’s ex-wife was telling the truth and that Rick Reed and Chris Butler truly did play a very dirty trick in a major election. All’s fair in cults and politics.
• Reed Denies a Claim That He Told Adviser About State’s Report, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 30, 1986
• Reed’s Guru Denies Ever Discussing Heftel Smear, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 31, 1986










Link to the PDF file since the type is small in the image above:
[docs.google.com]


AP News Archive Oct. 10, 1986

HONOLULU (AP) _ Former Rep. Cec Heftel of Hawaii says he will announce his preference for governor once he finds out who smeared him during the Democratic gubernatorial primary race.
Heftel held a 21-point lead over his closest rival, Lt. Gov. John Waihee, in a Honolulu Advertiser poll published six days before the Sept. 20 primary election. Waihee defeated Heftel 45 percent to 36 percent.
Heftel blamed his primary race loss on a smear campaign, which he said was orchestrated by either Waihee or Republican gubernatorial nominee D.G. Anderson. They have denied it.
Heftel was particularly upset by the anonymous mailing, two days before the primary, of a confidential state report containing allegations about his personal life.
The 1983 report was made to the state Investigations and Narcotics Control office by an unidentified informant. Copies of the report were sent anonymously to news media representatives, who did not publish or broadcast it, and other gubernatorial candidates, who did not mention it.
Nevertheless, Heftel believes the report had an impact. The state attorney general's office is investigating.
During an emotional speech to about 500 supporters at a party last Sunday to mark his 62nd birthday, Heftel said the report alleged ''that I was a homosexual; that I had sex relations with children; that I, in particular, had homosexual relations with blacks; that I was a drug addict; and that I was an alcoholic.''


Heftel, a Mormon, said he doesn't drink or smoke, and doesn't even take aspirin.
As for his sexual preferences, he said, ''I've got to be the squarest, straightest person sexually that ever existed.''
Further, Heftel said he was the target of a whisper campaign consisting of unfounded rumors.
''These rumors included that I'm a racist, that I hate Japanese (the second-largest ethnic group in Hawaii), that I want local people to lose their jobs; that I'm an alcoholic; that I'm corrupt; that only haoles (Caucasians) can work for me; and that I get rich off of politics.''
City Prosecutor Charles Marsland has dismissed the report, saying there is no evidence to support the allegations made against Heftel. The report was forwarded to Marsland's office because a portion of it concerned people who had been prosecuted earlier by his office.
''Ultimately, as far as we were concerned, it (the contents of the report) proved unreliable,'' said City Deputy Prosecutor Peter Carlisle.
Anderson joined Heftel in calling for an independent investigation into the release of the state report. Heftel said he doubts the Ariyoshi administration's investigation of the report will be completed before the Nov. 4 election. He said he hopes to complete his own investigation before the election, and will make the results public.
On Wednesday, the original report, copies of the report and the envelopes used to mail them were given to the FBI for analysis, said Deputy Attorney General Keith Kaneshiro, who is leading the state's investigation. Results were expected in about 10 days, he said.
Kaneshiro said it was not unusual for the report to remain on file even though its contents had been dismissed by prosecutors.

While Heftel blamed the alleged smear campaign for his primary loss, political observers said Waihee mounted a strong grassroots campaign, particularly in the final weeks.
''I believe this election was won by the Waihee wave and not a Heftel smear,'' Waihee said.
Anderson said Heftel simply ''ran into a buzz saw ... that's been controlling this state for 30 years.'' Waihee ran with the strong support of Ariyoshi and most other Democratic Party leaders.
Patsy Mink, who finished third in the Democratic gubernatorial race, said she thought Heftel lost because of media advertisements attacking Heftel's congressional voting and attendance records.
She also said the report was circulated too late to affect the voting, and noted that the contents of the report were not reported by any media.
Heftel agreed that the great majority of voters did not hear the smear charges, but said, ''The attacks were cleverly aimed to hit where they would do the most damage, where they would create enough doubt among enough voters to affect the outcome of the election.''
Others said Heftel, a millionaire, was hurt by campaign spending reports released late in the campaign which showed that he had spent $2.2 million in his campaign, including $1.4 million of his own money. Heftel's spending was more than three times that of Waihee.
Heftel said Tuesday that he would not launch a write-in campaign.

Quote
flashlight_on_roaches
I assume Butler followers could have been initiated elsewhere. And, of course, the database does not address those who Butler initiated personally. Butler’s association with ISKON was very brief, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. Please let me know if any of these names have significance. Thx - Flash

Several followers were initiated in Los Angeles. Katyayani was initiated in Pitsburgh. Other ex Sai folks got initiated in their areas. Remember initiation ceremonies were conducted by sanyassis and leaders in the area that had second initiation. Once Butler did his own initiations he did not do a fire sacrifice, nor as far as I know he does not do second or Brahman initiation. dabcult would know more about this. The database also has the year. You can find both Devahuti and Krishna katha, but Mike Gabbard's info is missing. I think that most of the Hawaii initiations would not be Butler followers. Probably the ones done in 1971 would be more likely.

[blog.volcanicash.net]

The Advertiser ran a very good multi-part series on Chris Butler’s group back in 1969 or 70. I think it was by Walter Wright.

TREMENDOUS research ....Now I can say ...go on page 407 ....of the forum to see the proof of Butler political involment



The fire sacrifice (and I conducted a hundred of them...... some in front of AC Bhaktivedanta )

was the corner stone of the initiation when Swami B was around ..........at first he would do it himself...He did it personally for me anyway and that 1969

then if the new disciple was initiated by mail .......the ISKCON temple resident Brahmin would do a fire sacrifice ...be in Paris ...or Los Angeles ext
As long as SWAMI was around that was the way it went

Now are you saying Vera that BUTLER as not ......and does not do a fire sacrifice when he initiate disciples ??

When the Heftel smear was in the headlines Chris Butler went on camera denying the incident. It aired on the local chanels in Hawaii.

[my.firedoglake.com]

Starting in the August 21, 1977 issue of the Honolulu Advertiser, Walter Wright wrote a series of articles about guru Chris Butler and his political and business activities. These articles are an important foundation for anyone who is interested in the Gabbard family and their background. The articles document the founding of the Down to Earth natural food stores chain in Hawaii, a business that is said to be managed and run mostly by Jagad Guru Butler devotees.

Quote
dabcult
TREMENDOUS research ....Now I can say ...go on page 407 ....of the forum to see the proof of Butler political involment



The fire sacrifice (and I conducted a hundred of them...... some in front of AC Bhaktivedanta )

was the corner stone of the initiation when Swami B was around ..........at first he would do it himself...He did it personally for me anyway and that 1969

then if the new disciple was initiated by mail .......the ISKCON temple resident Brahmin would do a fire sacrifice ...be in Paris ...or Los Angeles ext
As long as SWAMI was around that was the way it went

Now are you saying Vera that BUTLER as not ......and does not do a fire sacrifice when he initiate disciples ??

No. As far as a decade after taking disciples, Butler did not do any fire sacrifices for initiation or officiate any weddings. He also did not give second initiation (the Gayatri mantra or string.)

Thank you Vera

This is just goes to show that Butler as made up his own .....HARE KRISHNA Theology

as all the ISKCON gurus to this day make a fire sacrifice ...

That was the very important part ........thats where you would make your promises ....in front of the fire that represented GOD
and was feed grains (as it was also recognise as the mounth of VISHNU ).....

But another subject ......does KATAYANI still take disciples ....is there a web site (nothing when I google her name)
as she created a non profit in california ? Where is she anyway ?
or an adress ........phone numbers where she can be reach ?

private message welcome if nesary

Quote
privateye
When the Heftel smear was in the headlines Chris Butler went on camera denying the incident. It aired on the local chanels in Hawaii.

Flash- What are the dates on those articles?

Carter told the truth. It was a big scandal in the cult at the time. People were in shock at how she could betray Butler.

Everyone who worked on the campaigns heard Butler and Reed mock and laugh about Heftel. He made it cool to talk disdainfully of him. And don't think that the people going door to door did not spread the rumors too~ or so I have been told. Everyone assumed it was true because they believed that god's best friend knew everything...He's as good as God, right? Reed did not do a thing that was not ordered by Butler. Up until that point, either did Carter. This rumor about Heftel being gay and a sexual predator was also spread during the IGG campaigns in the 70's, but it didn't work then. It appears to me that the guru lied and Reed lied... Butler has been a puppet master for many years...in my opinion.

I am outraged at what Butler is quoted as saying! Most of his followers never saw the television or read the papers, so they never saw this. They were forbidden from watching or reading unless it has to do with their "service". Just as today they are forbidden from the internet. Butler didn't give marriage advice. He avoided that. All he spoke about was politics! The opposite of what he claims, but who was around then to disprove it? Only Carter. Was she threatened?

The interesting thing about Carter -- is that she was very intelligent and professional. She was not a hippie type. Brahmanatirtha brought her into the cult. Butler really admired her and saw potential in her (remember, he loves being a star maker). Rumor had it that she was a pure devotee. People would bow to her at Koolau, which really caused her embarrassment. It was disconcerting and she stopped it. She got dumped for another woman and I think this drove her deeper into the cult for awhile. Butler paired her up with Reed and the rest is history... But she had ethics and strength of her convictions. I hope she comes out again to tell the truth. Come out, come out where ever you are!!

[www.corporationwiki.com]

Vedanta Enlightenment Devotional Association.

Kathy Hoshijo O'Connor
President