Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 1 of 34

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Fred Diamondstone
Attorney
1218 Third Ave. Suite 1000
Seattle WA 98101
206-568-0082
Michael E. Withey
Attorney
528 33rd Ave. South
Seattle, WA 98144
206-999-8308
Leah S. Snyder
Ember Law PLLC
1001 Fourth Ave., Suite 3200
Seattle, WA 98154
206-899-6816

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE

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MICHAEL E. WITHEY and SHARON
MAEDA,

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Plaintiffs,

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No.
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF
UNDER THE FOIA

vs.

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FEDERAL BUREAU OF
INVESTIGATION (FBI),

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Defendant.

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“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

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Marmion, by Sir Walter Scott

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INTRODUCTION

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1.

This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C.

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Section 552, for injunctive, declaratory and other relief, seeking the release of Federal

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Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records related to one of its informants from the 1980s,

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requested by Plaintiffs Michael Withey and Sharon Maeda.
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 1
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 2 of 34

2.

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In a precedent-setting lawsuit, a Seattle jury found in 1989 and U.S. District

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Judge Barbara Rothstein found in 1990 former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda

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Marcos and others liable for the 1981 political assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene

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Viernes. Domingo and Viernes were U.S. labor union leaders and anti-Marcos dictatorship

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activists who sought to bring democracy to their union and to their ancestral homeland. What

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remains unknown is the full extent of the Marcos-funded conspiracy to assassinate them and

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how it came to pass that these murders were witnessed by Levane Forsythe, a Seattle Office

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FBI informant, who also went on to perjure himself in an unsuccessful effort to exonerate the

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hit-men.
3.

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Plaintiffs sought documents from the FBI related to its informant, his long

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history with the FBI, his ties to the Howard Hughes Empire, how he got to the scene of the

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murders, who was involved in concocting his false testimony and other questions in order to

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complete their goal to determine facts behind the murders and the cover-up, including all of

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those involved.
4.

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The FBI has failed in its legal obligations under the FOIA to provide those

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documents to Plaintiffs and, instead, has asserted frivolous exemptions for personal privacy

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and law enforcement privilege, despite the passage of 37 years and the existence of an

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overriding public interest in uncovering the actions of the FBI and its informant.

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Accordingly, Plaintiffs file this lawsuit.
JURISDICTION and VENUE

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5.

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This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action and personal

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jurisdiction over the parties pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Sections 552(a)(4)(B) and 5 U.S.C. Section

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552(a)(6)(C)(i). This Court also has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

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Section 1331. Venue is proper in this judicial district under 5 U.S.C. Section 552(a)(4)(B) as

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Plaintiffs reside in this district.

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COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 2
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 3 of 34

PARTIES

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6.

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Michael Withey is a human rights attorney and author of Summary Execution;

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The Seattle Assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes (WildBlue Press 2018), a

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book about the Domingo and Viernes murders and the efforts to uncover those parties

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responsible for those murders. Withey was also lead counsel for the Estates of Domingo and

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Viernes vs. Republic of the Philippines et al, U.S. District Court (W.D. WA) C82-1055VR as

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more fully described herein.
7.

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Sharon Maeda is a documentary filmmaker who is working on a movie about

the lives and murders of Domingo and Viernes.
8.

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Defendant Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency established in the

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executive branch of the United States Government. The FBI is an agency within the meaning

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of 5 U.S.C. Section 552(f)(1).
FACTS

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A.

Historical Facts and Background

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9.

On June 1, 1981 Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, two anti-Marcos union

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activists, were assassinated in the Local 37 ILWU union hall in Seattle by a gang of hit men

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who were paid to kill them by the dictatorial regime of former Philippine President Ferdinand

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Marcos.
10.

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9 and ½ years later the Marcoses were found liable for the murders by a

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federal court jury, the first and only time a foreign head of state has been held liable for the

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murders of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. Estates of Domingo and Viernes vs. Republic of the

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Philippines, # C82-1055VR.
11.

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In January of 1990, U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein entered a

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Memorandum Decision against Marcos’ allies who provided funds for the payment to the

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gang for the murders and provided the murder weapon to the hit men. She specifically found

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that the murders were overt acts of a civil conspiracy initiated and operated by the Marcoses
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 3
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 4 of 34

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to harass, intimidate and operate against anti-Marcos persons and groups in the United States.

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The total damages awarded to the Estates amounted to $23.1 million.
12.

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On or about June 3, 1981 the FBI Seattle Office entered the investigation of

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the murders as a potential violation of the Hobbs Act and over 42 FBI agents worked on the

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investigation, but no charges were ever brought.
13.

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At the King County Superior Court trial of the hit men, Jimmy Ramil and Ben

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Guloy (King County Superior Court # 81-1-01924-9), testimony by first responders proved

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that Silme Domingo, with four bullet holes in his stomach, had named Ramil and Guloy as

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having shot him.

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14.

At the very end of that trial, a mystery witness, Levane Forsythe, appeared for

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the defense and testified that he was present at the murders and rushed over to the slain man

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(Silme Domingo) outside the union hall. He claimed falsely Silme Domingo said he did not

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know who shot him and committed perjury in this and other testimony in that trial.
15.

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This witness, Forsythe, was, at the very time of the shooting, an active and

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paid informant for the FBI with a “C” number ( FBI #:C-124363J1). Forsythe had for years

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been well known to the Seattle Office of the FBI as a former “bag-man” for the reclusive

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billionaire Howard Hughes and as involved in the infamous “Morman Will” hoax. Despite

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this background the FBI continued to use Forsythe as a paid FBI informant both in Seattle

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and elsewhere.
16.

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Forsythe was originally a suspect but was also used as an informant in a “loan

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shark” investigation which was one of the subject matters of the Freedom of Information Act

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requests made by Plaintiffs.
17.

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The “loan shark” investigation has not been specifically identified with

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respect to participants, accused persons, convicted persons, and others, but redacted

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documents disclosed by the FBI in response to Plaintiffs’ FOIA requests revealed that the

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investigation involved a satisfaction of lien document filed under Pierce County Auditor’s
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 4
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 5 of 34

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File # 2966535. Based on the disclosure of that redacted document, Plaintiffs determined

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that Forsythe was used as an informant in United States v. Williams, 668 F.2d 1064 (9th Cir.

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1982), and that this case identified the criminal defendants whose names were redacted by

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the FBI in its response to Plaintiffs FOIA requests.
18.

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The FBI officially closed its case against Forsythe in the “loan shark”

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investigation two days after he was dispatched to the scene of the Domingo and Viernes

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murders to report on what had occurred to his superiors.
19.

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The FBI Office in Seattle had at least three ongoing investigations in June of

1981 which intersected:
a.

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a longstanding foreign counter-intelligence operation against the Union of

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Democratic Filipinos (KDP) of which Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo were

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leaders (Seattle FBI Files ## 105-9034 and 105-10262);
b.

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the Hobbs Act investigation into the Domingo and Viernes murders in which

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Forsythe was an eyewitness (identified in some documents as File #195B-11

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and as #195B-23) and other potentially illegal activities by persons associated

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with the union, Local 37 ILWU, including Fortunato “Tony” Dictado and

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Constantine “Tony” Baruso.
c.

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the “loan shark” investigation (identified in some documents as file #SE179-58

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and as #SE179B-58) which resulted in the convictions of three individuals for

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federal law violation and in which Forsythe was both a suspect and then an

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informant. This investigation had resulted in an extensive examination of

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Forsythe’s background and history as an FBI informant.
20.

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Plaintiff Withey received, by way of a prior FOIA request to the FBI in 1982,

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over 20 volumes of records related to the foreign counter-intelligence operation against the

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KDP purportedly related to an investigations of a potential Foreign Agents Registration Act

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(FARA) violation, which records included the investigation of the KDP in Seattle by the
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 5
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 6 of 34

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Seattle Office of the FBI and the names, activities, beliefs, documents and actions of the

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leadership of the KDP in Seattle, including Silme Domingo.

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21.

This investigation included FBI actions which, amongst other things:

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a.

identified KDP chapter and national leaders and members;

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b.

reported on its activities including peaceful and non-violent demonstrations by
anti-Marcos organizations, at local Philippine Consulates, including Seattle’s;

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c.

took photographs of KDP members attending public conferences;

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d.

infiltrated the KDP leadership through agents or informants becoming high
ranked members of the organization and gaining access to leadership

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meetings;

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e.

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used numerous unnamed “sources” (e.g. T-1, T-2, T-3 and T-4) as well as

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“informants” in its investigation, including informants who were present

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inside secret meetings of the KDP leadership in Seattle which included Silme

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Domingo in the mid-1970s and later;
f.

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obtained internal documents describing the KDP’s policy, program and
strategies;

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g.

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collected publicly available newspapers, documents, campaigns etc. of the
KDP;

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h.

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interviewed local community leaders and dignitaries (Fred Cordova) and
newspaper employees regarding the activities of the KDP;

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i.

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included reports containing detailed descriptions of the role of the KDP in

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promoting other causes, such as ending discrimination in the construction

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trades with the United Construction Workers Association (UCWA), and the

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Seafood industry with the Alaska Cannery Workers Association (ACWA),

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which Silme Domingo helped found and Gene Viernes worked with.
j.

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The FBI file on the Seattle KDP (#105-9034) identifies Silme Domingo on at

COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 6
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 7 of 34

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least 8 known occasions, along with other key KDP members in Seattle such

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as Cindy Domingo, Nemesio Domingo, Jr (sister and brother of Silme

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Domingo, respectively), Dale Borgeson and David Della.
22.

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These FBI files also include at least one document generated and provided to

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the FBI by the Naval Investigative Service (NIS), at its office at Alameda Naval Air Station

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in Alameda California, referencing “continuing coordination maintained with the FBI San

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Francisco during the course of this investigation.” The known FBI files numbers included in

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the San Francisco office investigations are ##97-416, 97-431, 97-432, 105-27565 and 105-

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32707.
23.

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Pursuant to an Executive Order issued in 1976, the NIS had infiltrated the

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KDP with at least two informants who provided detailed information about the KDP

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nationally, including its unproven suspicion that KDP members were providing material and

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financial support to the opponents of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines.
24.

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Other NIS documents describe the fact that the NIS routinely provided the

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results of this intelligence operation to the FBI office in San Francisco, the Legat (Legal

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Attaché) of the U.S. State Department in Manila and to intelligence agencies of the Marcos

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regime.
25.

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Plaintiff Withey received, by way of subpoena issued in Estates of Domingo

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and Viernes v. Republic of the Philippines, over 14 volumes of documents related to the

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Hobbs Act investigation of the FBI in which 42 FBI agents in the Seattle office and FBI HQ

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were identified by name. These agents included Special Agent Lee Zavala, Head of Station

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Paul J. Mack and his deputy George Fisher.
26.

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The Seattle office of the FBI entered the investigation of the Domingo and

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Viernes murders in early June 1981 after receiving information that the murders may have

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been related to the two reformers activities within Local 37 of the ILWU (Alaska Cannery

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Workers) and therefore constituted a violation of the Hobbs Act, which prohibits the use of
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 7
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 8 of 34

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violence in labor disputes.
27.

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Special Agent Hector Lee Zavala was assigned to head the Hobbs Act

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investigation and it eventually employed over 42 FBI agents. Thousands of hours were

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devoted to this investigation. The FBI interviewed and wrote 302 reports on scores of

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members of Local 37, ILWU, employees of the Seafood Industry, forensic experts involved

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in the murder investigation and the identification of the murder weapon owned by

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Constantine “Tony” Baruso, eyewitnesses and the witnesses interviewed by the Seattle Police

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Department, including the same key KDP members in Seattle such as Cindy Domingo,

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Nemesio Domingo, Jr (sister and brother of Silme Domingo, respectively), Dale Borgeson

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and David Della who had been targeted in the then-existing FBI investigation of the KDP.
28.

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The files produced included both the handwritten notes of the FBI agents

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conducting such interviews, along with the formal typed 302 forms. Special Agent Gerard

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Murphy, who had been part of the Seattle FBI Office’s Foreign Counter-Intelligence (FCI)

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unit was also active and took over leading the investigation when Zavala left the FBI in 1982.
29.

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16

During the investigation, Lee Zavala grew suspicious that his superiors in the

Seattle office were not going to indict Baruso, despite the strong evidence of his guilt.
30.

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Zavala relayed to Plaintiff Withey that the federal authorities were

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considering granting immunity to Baruso in exchange for his testimony implicated the gang

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leader Fortunato “Tony” Dictado. At that time Dictado had already been charged by King

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County prosecutors with First Degree Aggravated Murder of Silme Domingo and Gene

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Viernes in September 1981 and his case was set for trial in April of 1982.
31.

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This plan was alarming to Withey who believed that the FBI and U.S.

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Attorney’s office should have followed normal procedures by offering immunity to Dictado

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to implicate the higher-up, Baruso, who had provided the funds from the Marcos intelligence

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slush fund and the murder weapon to the hit men.
32.

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Eventually Zavala thought his superiors were trying to falsely blame him for

COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 8
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 9 of 34

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not conducting a thorough investigation and took steps to forestall this. After doing so, he

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received and accepted an unsolicited job offer from Sealand Corporation and left the FBI in

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early 1982. He was succeeded by Special Agent Murphy. Zavala’s – and then Murphy’s –

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supervisors included Paul J. Mack and George Fisher.
33.

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There is no record produced that anyone from the FBI questioned Forsythe

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about his role in the murders. If this happened, the FBI has failed to produce any documents

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referring to such interview in response to Plaintiffs’ FOIA request. Lee Zavala was

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subpoenaed and testified about an unrelated matter in the Ramil and Guloy trial the day after

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Forsythe testified. There were at least two lengthy articles in the local newspapers describing

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Forsythe’s testimony at trial and his history. One included his photograph. On information

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and belief, Plaintiffs allege that FBI agents were aware that Forsythe had testified in that

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trial.
34.

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On June 16, 2015 Plaintiffs made a FOIA request for institutional records of

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the FBI concerning Levane Malvison Forsythe and his associates, employers and other

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persons. (A copy of the request is attached as Exhibit 1.) As more fully described below,

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this request resulted the long-delayed April 2018 disclosure of a small and heavily redacted

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portion of the FBI files on the “loan shark” investigation. No other documents on Forsythe

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were provided. This lawsuit involves these related investigations and the failure of the FBI to

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produce documents related to Forsythe’s extensive and paid work as an FBI informant,

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including but not limited to the “loan shark” investigation.
35.

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In response to Plaintiffs’ FOIA request, over time, the FBI has identified

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varying numbers of response pages, from approximately 1,100, to over 1,500, to 1276, to

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658, as more specifically alleged below.
36.

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This lawsuit and the underlying request involve significant public interest.

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The political assassinations of Domingo and Viernes have been the subject of extensive and

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ongoing press coverage, three books about the murders (Summary Execution: The Seattle
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 9
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 10 of 34

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Assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes (WildBlue Press 2018), A Time to Rise

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(UW Press, 2017), and Victory over Marcos, (by Tom Churchill 1991) and a One

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Generation’s Time: The legacy of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, a 2013 documentary

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movie by Seattle Channel, the City of Seattle’s municipal television station.
37.

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The trial of Ferdinand Marcos marks the first and only time in U.S. judicial

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history where a foreign head of state has been held liable for the murders of U.S. citizens on

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U.S. soil. The circumstances surrounding the FBI’s handling of Plaintiffs’ FOIA request raise

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important questions as to whether the FBI is engaged in an ongoing cover-up and potential

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obstruction of justice in its handling of its informant, Levane Forsythe. It raises serious

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questions as to the FBI’s role in itself conducting a national investigation of the Union of

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Democratic Filipinos (KDP), as well as other sectors of the anti-Marcos movement, and the

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FBI’s assistance to the Marcos dictatorship’s intelligence operation against that movement in

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the United States during the 1970s and 1980s (an operation that the Defense Intelligence

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Agency described as designed to “report on and possibly and operate against the anti-Marcos

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Philippine activists in the US.”, according to a declassified DIA document that was used in

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discovery in the Estates of Domingo and Viernes v. Republic of the Philippines case.).
38.

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Serious public interest concerns exist as to the FBI’s role in failing to

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investigate its own informant’s implausible and perjurious testimony that was contrived to

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assist the hit men’s defense and cover up the Marcos funded conspiracy to murder Domingo

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and Viernes. It further raises the reasonable inference that Forsythe, as was his modus

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operandi, was sent to the scene of the murders by someone, possibly his FBI control agent,

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who had advanced knowledge that these political assassinations were going to happen on that

23

day, at that location.
39.

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This inference also derives from the proof presented in the trial of the Estates

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of Domingo and Viernes v. Republic of the Philippines which was characterized by Judge

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Barbara Rothstein as follows: “[T]he court concludes that plaintiffs provided by clear, cogent
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 10
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 11 of 34

1

and convincing evidence that the Marcoses created and operated an intelligence operation

2

which plotted the murders of Domingo and Viernes and that Mabuhay [the intelligence slush

3

fund] funds were paid to Baruso and used to perpetrate the murders.” (Memorandum Opinion

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of January 12, 1990 at pp 13-14, attached to this Complaint as Exhibit 2.)
40.

5

Plaintiff Withey had been provided information from sources with knowledge

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of U.S. intelligence files that a Lt. Colonel in the Philippine Army had traveled to the U.S. in

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mid-May 1981 to meet with Baruso and a local consular official to arrange for the murders.

8

That military man has yet to be identified or brought to justice. This visit and meeting

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coincided with Baruso’s trip to the Bay Area on May 17, 1981 where he received $15,000

10

out of the Mabuhay intelligence slush fund which he used to pay $5000 to the hit men, Ramil

11

and Guloy, and deposited close to $10,000 in cash into his bank account when he returned.
41.

12

The same sources provided information that the Naval Investigation Service in

13

Alameda Naval Air Station had on ongoing intelligence operation, approved by Executive

14

Order (because it involved a military operation against a domestic organization) against the

15

Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP). This operation included infiltrating that group with its

16

informants. According to such sources, the NIS had provided information to Marcos

17

intelligence and, presumably, the FBI Office in San Francisco, that Gene Viernes had carried

18

$290,000.00 with him on his trip to the Philippines in March and April 1981 to provide to the

19

anti-Marcos opposition in the Philippines. This claim was false. Viernes carried only $2,900

20

with him to the Philippines. The source said the files describing such intelligence activities

21

were starting to go missing. Plaintiff Withey believes that this false information created an

22

additional motive for Marcos to order the murders. It also put the FBI on notice that harm

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might come to Viernes and his fellow KDP activist Silme Domingo from the Marcos

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intelligence operation in the U.S. and/or would justify increasing its already close attention to

25

the KDP for potential violations of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
42.

26

Such knowledge could reasonably have led the FBI to place its informant

COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 11
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 12 of 34

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Forsythe at the Local 37 Union Hall where it was well known that Viernes and Domingo

2

worked to observe whatever was going to happen. Forsythe’s own description of his modus

3

operandi (that he would be called to go to a particular location, observe what happened, and

4

write a report and send it to his superiors) matches what was asked of him to do on June 1,

5

1981. Forsythe wrote a report of what he witnessed that day but denied remembering to

6

whom he sent it. He produced that report to defense counsel for Ramil and Guloy at the King

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County criminal trial, Cause # 81-1-01924-9.
43.

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9

It is also in the public interest to find out who sent Forsythe to witness the

Domingo and Viernes murders and who directed and/or authorized him to perjure himself at

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the criminal trial of Ramil and Guloy in King County Cause # 81-1-01924-9. Over 200

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community leaders, elected officials, union leaders, and the Presidents/Executive Directors of

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major civil rights, civil liberties, constitutional rights and human rights organizations have

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signed a Petition to the FBI requesting that the FBI cooperate with Plaintiffs in obtaining

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documents about Forsythe.
44.

15

Ramil and Guloy were convicted of First-Degree Aggravated Murder, based

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in part on the testimony of two Seattle Fire Department personnel that after the murders, an

17

injured man, Silme Domingo, had named the two men who had assailed him, names the

18

firemen wrote down, despite Forsythe’s perjured testimony.
45.

19

In a later trial, State v. Fortunato Dictado, King County Superior Court Cause

20

No. 81-1-02795-1, gang leader “Tony” Dictado, who drove the getaway car, was also

21

convicted.

22

46.

Another gang member involved in the murders, Teodorico Dominguez

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(nicknamed “Boy Pilay”), was murdered 18 months later after he returned to Seattle. Pilay

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had told a friend that he feared returning to Seattle because he “knew too much” about the

25

Domingo and Viernes murders.

26
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 12
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 13 of 34

1

B.

Factual Background on FBI Informant Levane Forsythe

2

47.

At that trial of Ramil and Guloy, on September 15, 1981, Forsythe testified

3

that he was in a phone booth across the street from the Local 37 Union Hall trying to call his

4

architect, Alex Bertulius, on a construction project he was supposedly involved with in

5

Alaska. By that very time, the FBI Office in Seattle, in its “loan shark” investigation, had

6

been told by Forsythe that he was involved in a construction project in Alaska.
48.

7

Forsythe testified he observed two men going into the Local 37 ILWU Union

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Hall and then come out, get into a green car and leave. He stated that the two men on trial did

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not resemble the men he saw going in and out of the union hall. He testified that he saw a

10

man come out of the union hall, holding his stomach. He claimed he went over to the man

11

and asked if he knew who shot him and the man said he did not. He claimed the man spoke

12

with a Filipino accent.
49.

13

Forsythe claimed he tried to use the phone booth to call for help but the man

14

in the booth refused to let him use it. He stated he got into his car, which had a CB radio, but

15

couldn’t get reception. He testified that he drove around the block and didn’t see anyone

16

coming down the alley but did see a fireman assisting the slain man and since he “didn’t

17

want to get involved” so left the scene without stopping or assisting. He claimed he wrote a

18

report of what he had observed on June 1st and later produced it for the Prosecuting Attorney.
50.

19

Forsythe’s testimony demonstrated a considerable knowledge of the area

20

around the Local 37 Union Hall. His false testimony addressed and contradicted every major

21

piece of testimony and evidence that the Prosecuting Attorney, Joanne Maida, had presented

22

in her case in chief, including
a.

23

The identity of the hit men, who Silme Domingo knew and identified to the

24

two fireman who responded to the scene as Ramil and Guloy. Forsythe’s

25

testimony that those two men on trial did not look like the men he saw was

26

perjured.
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 13
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 14 of 34

b.

1

The color of the get-away car. Prosecution witnesses had testified that the car

2

that was seen driving away from the scene of the murders was a black Trans-

3

Am. A car matching this description was registered to Tulisan gang leader

4

Tony Dictado, who was later convicted of these murders as well. Forsythe

5

attempted to sow reasonable doubt by claiming the car driving away was

6

green not black.
c.

7

The alley way next to the Union Hall had no one in it when he drove down it.

8

The prosecutor called Jaime Malabo who testified that he was coming up the

9

alley next to the union hall and saw Ramil and Guloy walking quickly down

10

the alley with a brown paper bag and getting into a car. Forsythe’s testimony

11

contradicted this account by claiming he saw no one in the alley when he

12

drove down it and observed the firemen assisting Domingo.
51.

13

On cross examination, Maida brought out that Forsythe had claimed he had

14

delivered the famed “Morman Will” of Howard Hughes to Melvin Dumar in the desert in

15

Utah and claimed he was a “publicity seeker.” Forsythe denied he was seeking publicity. He

16

admitted he had worked for Howard Hughes and named Hughes employees Robert Maheu

17

and Nadine Hensley as persons who could vouch for him.
52.

18

It is not known how Maida discovered Forsythe’s involvement in the Hughes

19

empire and whether she obtained this information from the local office of the FBI or other

20

sources. Contact between Maida and the Seattle Office of the FBI regarding Forsythe would

21

have been documented.
53.

22

Robert Maheu’s background and history as the ex-CIA agent who ran the

23

Hughes empire and was involved with the Mafia to create plans to assassinate Fidel Castro

24

was well known to the FBI.
54.

25
26

The Plaintiffs in the Estates of Domingo and Viernes v. Republic of the

Philippines took a sworn deposition of Levane Forsythe in 1985. Michael Withey, Plaintiff
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 14
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 15 of 34

1

is this lawsuit, conducted that deposition for the Plaintiff Estates.
55.

2

Forsythe admitted he was a paid FBI informant who had been used in this

3

capacity for decades. He stated: “I had to be told what to do...what to say and what not to

4

say,” including “where to go, what to look for, how to report back.” His reports were mostly

5

oral but included written reports.
56.

6

Forsythe stated he conducted electronic surveillance on behalf of the FBI “on

7

numerous occasions” and they were court-approved (“all had a C-number”). Forsythe

8

testified at deposition that he tapped phones “numerous times,” maybe “more than 50 times.”

9

He has an FBI “C-number” which identifies “your activities and so forth. I guess they keep a

10

record of it.” He testified that he signed a secrecy agreement with the FBI in the 1940s and

11

perhaps also in the early 50s.
57.

12

Forsythe testified in his 1985 deposition that he was still being used as an

13

informant as part of a “joint Presidential task force” of the FBI, DEA and IRS. He stated that

14

his control agent of this work was Agent Ralph Hernandez who was “the person [he] talked

15

to regarding any activities with the task force”. He talked to Hernandez in a break in that

16

deposition to get his permission to provide his name and contact information.
58.

17

Agent Ralph Hernandez was with the Department of Treasury, IRS criminal

18

investigation division as a special agent. Forsythe’s work for the task force involved travel

19

and use of electronic surveillance equipment. It was an extensive operation that involved

20

years of work.
59.

21

Forsythe confirmed in his deposition that someone involved in the task force

22

had asked him about his testimony at the Ramil and Guloy trial and he had answered those

23

questions. It “was in a room in San Francisco…and there were quite a few [task force] guys

24

there.” Forsythe refused to answer whether he was paid for his work as an informant, an

25

answer which creates the reasonable inference that he was.
60.

26

Ralph Hernandez also was deposed in the case and he testified that Forsythe

COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 15
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 16 of 34

1

was considered a “reliable” FBI informant, before and after his testimony in the Domingo

2

and Viernes murder case.
61.

3

Forsythe claimed to have communicated with Robert Maheu through FBI Las

4

Vegas director Dean Elston and had met Hughes approximately 20 times. He testified that he

5

knew a Torrance, California police captain named Don Henry, who was involved in

6

providing electronic surveillance equipment and advice to Washington State. Forsythe said

7

he made financial deliveries to politicians for Howard Hughes. He used numerous aliases,

8

including: Jack Swartz, Finn Trudell, Al Cromer, and Carl Anderson when making

9

deliveries.

10

62.

In his deposition Forsythe also testified that he had taped the telephone

11

conversation he had with King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Maida between the time

12

when he came forward to state he had witnessed the murders to when he testified in open

13

court. He played that tape at his deposition. The tape reveals that Forsythe tried to draw

14

Maida into prosecutorial misconduct by telling her: “You just tell me what to say.” Maida

15

didn’t fall for his ploy.
63.

16
17

Under Washington law, such a taping was illegal unless consented to by both

parties. At no time did Maida know about or consent to the taping of that conversation.
64.

18

Forsythe testified he had written a report of what he had seen on June 1, 1981

19

and described it to his wife, Rebecca Forsythe, and a neighbor, U.S. Navy Captain, Mark

20

Williamson on the afternoon of the shooting when he arrived back home in Port Orchard

21

Washington.
65.

22
23

Rebecca Forsythe was deposed and testified under oath that her husband told

her about the murders when he returned to Port Orchard that evening.
66.

24

Additional detailed information about Forsythe was set forth in Plaintiffs June

25

2015 request for documents from the FBI and incorporated herein. (Exhibit 1, attached to this

26

Complaint.)
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 16
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 17 of 34

1

C.

The June 16, 2015 FOIA Request at Issue in This Case

2

67.

The FOIA request brought by Michael Withey and Sharon Maeda in June

3

2015 seeks disclosure of documents generated or collected by the FBI for the years when

4

Forsythe was used as an informant for the FBI. (See Exhibit 1, attached to this Complaint.)

5

Although broad in its scope, the request relied upon substantial, existing documentation for

6

the request and identified likely sources and locations of the documents sought. The broad

7

categories of the request were for:
a.

8

Documents that referred to or described the FBI’s use of Forsythe as a
confidential informant.

9
b.

10

Documents that referenced Forsythe’s testimony in the case of State of
Washington vs. Ramil and Guloy, King County Case # 81-1-01924-9.

11
c.

12

Documents related to the FBI’s knowledge of Forsythe’s sworn deposition

13

testimony in Estates of Domingo & Viernes v. Republic of the Philippines,

14

(W.D. Wash # C82-1055V.).
d.

15

Documents related to Forsythe’s contact, relationships and communications

16

with several specifically named individuals that included:

17

1.

Ralph Hernandez of the joint FBI-IRS-DEA “Presidential Task Force”
who Forsythe had identified as his “control agent,”

18
19

2.

Dean Elston of the FBI Las Vegas office,

20

3.

Pat Slavins, a former FBI agent,

21

4.

Robert Maheu, the former CIA officer and top operative for billionaire
recluse Howard Hughes;

22
5.

23

Don Henry, a former police officer in Torrance California who

24

Forsythe claimed had supplied electronic surveillance equipment to the

25

State of Washington and who taught Forsythe how to use such

26

equipment;
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 17
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 18 of 34

6.

1

Alex Bertulius, an architect from Seattle who Forsythe testified he had

2

been trying to call on the day he witnessed the murders of Domingo

3

and Viernes;
7.

4

Mark Williamson, Ralph Springer, Nadine Hensley, Bob Golden and
Johnny Meyer.

5
e.

6

Documents referencing civil or criminal lawsuits involving Forsythe as a
party.

7
f.

8

Documents referring to Forsythe’s political cash contributions on behalf of
Howard Hughes or Hughes’ companies.

9
10

g.

Documents concerning Forsythe’s aliases, some of which were specified.

11

h.

Results of the lie detector tests administered to Forsythe.

12

i.

Documents pertaining to the FBI/IRS/DEA Task Force whose members asked
Forsythe about his testimony in State of Washington vs. Ramil and Guloy.

13
j.

14

Documents about anyone who contacted Forsythe about going to the location

15

where he observed the events of June 1, 1981 (when Ramil and Guloy

16

murdered Domingo and Viernes).
k.

17

Documents referring or pertaining to the identities of persons to whom

18

Forsythe provided any oral or written report of his observations at the scene of

19

the June 1, 1981 murders.

20

(Exhibit 1 to this Complaint.)
D.

21
22

The FBI’S Response Failed to Comply with Its Legal Obligations Under

FOIA

(1) The Subject Matter of the Documents Provided Was Very Narrow

23
24

68.

The heavily redacted documents produced relate to only one relatively small

25

aspect of Forsythe’s work for the FBI but reveal for the first time that Forsythe worked as an

26

informant for the Seattle Office of the FBI. Forsythe testified under oath that he worked as
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 18
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 19 of 34

1

an informant for the FBI for many years, as described in paragraphs 51-61 above. These

2

activities generated contemporaneous documents within the FBI, and no one from the FBI

3

has asserted under oath that all those documents were routinely destroyed.
69.

4

In response to this FOIA request, the FBI claims, without providing any

5

declarations of persons conducting its search, that it has no records related to the Presidential

6

task force or Forsythe’s work for it, has no records of his “C-number”, no record of any of

7

his reports, no record of the secrecy agreements he signed, no record of any use of Forsythe

8

to secure or install electronic surveillance equipment, no record of his testimony at the Ramil

9

and Guloy trial, and no record of any interview of Forsythe about his presence at the scene of

10

the murders in any investigation, including the Hobbs Act investigation that involved 42 FBI

11

agents.
70.

12

Briefly summarized, the heavily redacted documents produced on April 24,

13

2018 contain FBI files from Seattle and FBI Headquarters related to a loan shark

14

investigation in which Forsythe was identified as a potential suspect and then as a source of

15

information, i.e. an FBI informant. One document that was partially disclosed with all names

16

redacted bore Pierce County Auditor’s # 2966535, satisfying a lien recorded under #

17

2955101.
71.

18

The loan shark investigation covered a period between 1979 and 1985 when it

19

was closed. Two individuals, whose names were all redacted by the FBI from the document

20

filed under Auditor’s # 2966535, were named in the Ninth Circuit opinion in U.S. v.

21

Williams, 668 F. 2d 1064, a case that Plaintiffs have only identified because of the disclosure

22

of the Auditor’s file number:
“In mid to late October, before the loan was due, Farmer began receiving threats
concerning repayment from Don Henry, who was introduced to Farmer by
Marcheselli. Finally, in late November, Farmer decided to go to the F.B.I.

23
24

The F.B.I. agents undertook an investigation and arranged to have Farmer
cooperate in their investigation by having him wear a body recorder to tape any
subsequent conversations with the defendants. Portions of the resulting tape
recordings were introduced at trial against Williams and Jenkins. Marcheselli
Fred Diamondstone

25
26

COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 19
#

ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 20 of 34

pled guilty before the trial and testified for the government.”

1
2

U.S. v. Williams, 668 F. 2d 1064, 1066. (emphasis added)

3

72.

This investigation involved six FBI offices (Seattle, Tacoma, San Francisco, St.

4

Lake City, Anchorage, Indianapolis), and the U.S. Attorney’s offices in Seattle and Tacoma

5

Washington. Three individuals (whose names were redacted) were criminally charged, tried

6

and convicted of Extortionate Credit Transactions and conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

7

894 and 2.

8

73.

The disclosed files reveal that Forsythe was both an informant/source of

9

information and, at times, a potential suspect in this investigation who is referred to in many

10

documents. The files also disclose that Forsythe and the other subjects of FBI reports should

11

be considered armed and extremely dangerous.

12

74.

The disclosed files describe Forsythe’s supposed employment as a

13

construction contractor in Anchorage. This was his cover story for why he was present at the

14

scene of the murders. It describes his work with Alex Bertulius (who Forsythe claimed he

15

was trying to call at the time he was present at the murder scene). The FBI concluded in

16

February of 1980 that, in fact, there was no ongoing construction activity there that would

17

have involved any substantial amount time by Forsythe.

18

75.

The documents also contain a significant background history on Forsythe,

19

including his involvement with Howard Hughes and the “Morman Will” case. Portions of the

20

book, Empire, by Steele and Bartlett are contained in the file and refer to Forsythe’s role as a

21

key eyewitness on behalf of Robert Maheu in his lawsuit to regain control of the Hughes

22

operation, as well as his claim to have delivered the “Morman Will” to the Utah gas station

23

attendant Melvin Dumar, thus perpetuating the hoax.

24

76.

One two-page document was disclosed that demonstrates a background

25

investigation of Forsythe’s public records in Kitsap County. That document bears the initials

26

of the agent “HLZ”, short for Hector Lee Zavala, the lead FBI investigator in the Domingo
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 20
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 21 of 34

1

and Viernes murders. The document does not indicate any direct contact between Zavala and

2

Forsythe, however.

3

77.

The only FBI official named in these documents was Paul J. Mack, the Seattle

4

FBI Station Chief Agent in Charge. On information and belief, Plaintiffs believe Mack was a

5

close associate of former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who had initiated the infamous

6

“COINTEL” operation against numerous domestic organizations and individuals, including

7

the KDP, as part of their “foreign counter-intelligence operation” against the KDP described

8

above.
78.

9

Forsythe was interviewed by an unnamed FBI agent in the loan shark

10

investigation and there is a document which states that the FBI has determined that Forsythe

11

was not involved in the loan sharking and that the case was “closed.” The date this occurred

12

was on June 3, 1981, just two days after Forsythe was present at the Domingo and Viernes

13

murder scene.
79.

14

Numerous FBI Special Agents in Seattle and elsewhere had extensive ongoing

15

contact with its informant Forsythe over a period of years prior to the murders and the

16

conclusion of the loan shark investigation. Paul J. Mack, as the Chief of Station in Seattle,

17

and his deputy George Fisher, who had supervised all three of the active FBI investigations

18

alleged herein, also had such knowledge of Forsythe.
80.

19

The FBI has provided no documents related to Forsythe’s presence, reports or

20

role in relation to the events of June 1, 1981, notwithstanding the facts that (1) the FBI office

21

in Seattle became actively involved in a related Hobbs Act investigation which was opened

22

within two to three days of the murders of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, and (2)

23

Forsythe’s testimony in the Ramil and Guloy trial and his photograph were prominent news

24

in the Seattle daily newspapers the day after his testimony and while the “loan shark”

25

investigation was ongoing.

26
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 21
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 22 of 34

1

(2) The FBI Misrepresented the Nature and Extent of Responsive Records

2

81.

The FBI’s FOIA office has made serial misrepresentations about the number,

3

nature and extent of the responsive documents and the time it would take for the FBI to

4

respond to the request.
82.

5

The first FBI substantive response in 2015 stated that “personal privacy”

6

would prevent the release of the documents sought, but that death of a subject or public

7

interest would affect such privacy interests and allow for greater access. (Exhibit 3 to this

8

Complaint)
83.

9

In response, Requestors supplied the death certificate for Levane Forsythe and

10

proofs of deaths of other individuals named in the Request to defeat the assertion of personal

11

privacy concerns.

12

84.

Seven months later, the FBI reduced its earlier estimate that there were 1500

13

pages but stated that there were 1100 pages of documents that would take approximately 22

14

months for the FBI to process. (Exhibit 4 to this Complaint)
85.

15

On July 7, 2017, the FBI wrote that there were “approximately 1276 pages” of

16

documents that would take an additional 281 days for the FBI to process. (Exhibit 5 to this

17

Complaint) The responsive documents reviewed by the FBI were stated by FOIA agents

18

Becky Bronson and Travis Mumah to pertain to an investigation of the Seattle office of the

19

FBI in which Forsythe was a “bit player” as an informant in a “loan shark” investigation.

20

(Id.). The investigation was stated to take place between 1980 and 1986 and was dropped

21

without charges being brought. The FBI at one point claimed that Forsythe was referred to in

22

only 12 pages that were part of the files of the Seattle office of the FBI and FBI

23

Headquarters; no other governmental agencies were mentioned. These misrepresentations

24

raise serious questions whether the FBI’s response was arbitrary or capricious.
86.

25
26

This was the first time Plaintiffs even knew that the Seattle office of the FBI

was involved in using Forsythe as an informant as he had denied such involvement in his
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 22
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 23 of 34

1

deposition.

2

87.

On April 26, 2018, the FBI substantively responded to the FOIA request and

3

stated that only 658 pages of documents were reviewed and only 234 were produced, with

4

substantial redactions. (Exhibit 6 to this Complaint) No documents from “OGA”—other

5

government agencies were produced, though OGA materials were referenced. No OGAs

6

were actually identified.
88.

7

Then on May 14, 2018 the FBI stated that it had reviewed one page of records

8

to the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for United States Attorneys but had

9

determined that the referred record is not responsive to the request. (Exhibit 7)
(3) The FBI Falsely Claims that the Request Was Negotiated to a Reduced Set of
Documents From 1276 Pages Identified by the FBI

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

89.

Although the FBI tries to characterize the production of April 26, 2018 as a

“negotiated” production, in fact, the FBI rejected the terms of the Requestors’ proposal to
limit the scope of the request to those pages, out of the 1276, that refer or pertain to the FBI
agents working in the Seattle office of the FBI, including any of the 42 FBI agents who
worked on the investigation of the Domingo and Viernes murders. (Exhibits 8 – 13 to this
Complaint).
90.

There was no “negotiated” reduction to the June 2015 request and the

assertion that it was negotiated raises serious questions as to whether the FBI acted in an
arbitrary or capricious manner.

21

(4) The FBI Refused Production of Documents and Improperly Redacted the
Names of Individuals Which Have Long Been a Matter of Public Record

22

91.

Three individuals, whose names were all redacted but who are named in the

23

Ninth Circuit opinion in U.S. v. Williams, supra were investigated and eventually indicted.

24

All three are named in that case.

25
26

92.

Plaintiffs timely appealed the FBI’s failure to completely review all

documents that it had identified and to disclose requested documents, (Exhibit 14). In its
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 23
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 24 of 34

1

supplemental response to Plaintiffs timely appeal, the FBI provides a document which, for

2

the first time, identified and named a single defendant (Marcheselli) and provided the cause

3

number of one of the criminal actions which it had withheld in its April 2018 production of

4

documents. As such, this response raises serious questions as to whether the response was

5

arbitrary and capricious. The Williams and Jenkins names, identified in the Ninth Circuit

6

decision in U.S. v. Williams, supra, continue to be redacted and non-disclosed, as are the

7

names of nearly all FBI agents in that investigation.

8

(5) The FBI’s Responses Continue to Misrepresent the Documents

9

93.

10

When, on April 24, 2018, almost three years after the initial request was

made, the FBI first produced any documents, albeit heavily redacted, it became clear that:
a.

11

Only portions of 234 pages, not 1276, were provided; only 658 pages were
reviewed

12
b.

13

Forsythe was both an informant/source of information and, at times, a

14

potential suspect in this investigation who is referred to in almost all the

15

documents comprising 234 pages that were partially produced, not only 12

16

pages as the FBI had falsely represented in Exhibit 9 to this Complaint;
c.

17

There were documents not produced which originated with “other

18

governmental agencies” or OGAs, whose identities were not provided and to

19

whom the request for documents was supposedly forwarded to on a date not

20

specified. (Exhibit 6 to this Complaint);
d.

21

Publicly available documents, such as the Satisfaction of Lien #2955101, filed

22

under Auditor’s # 2966535 were redacted to remove the names and

23

identifying information even though the information was public;
e.

24

No declaration was provided showing compliance with the FBI’s legal duty to

25

search all requested files and documents and/or an explanation under oath, as

26

to any documents which had been destroyed;
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 24
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 25 of 34

1

f.

No Vaughn index was provided;

2

g.

No explanation was given as to why only 658 pages were reviewed rather than

3

1276 pages, and why only 234 pages were provided. No explanation is

4

provided as to the remaining 618 pages that were neither reviewed, nor

5

provided.
94.

6

The FBI has provided no documents related to Forsythe’s presence, reports or

7

role in relation to the events of June 1, 1981, notwithstanding the fact that the FBI office in

8

Seattle became very actively involved in a related Hobbs Act investigation which was

9

opened within three days the murders of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes.
95.

10

In 1982 when it produced the Hobbs Act files, the FBI did not claim any

11

“Personal Privacy” exemption for the identity of these FBI agents investigating the murders

12

as part of the Hobbs Act investigation, though it does claim privacy for almost every agent

13

whose names were redacted in the “loan shark” investigation files. In fact, a list of 42 agents

14

involved in the Hobbs Act investigation was supplied by Plaintiff Withey to FOIA’s Chief

15

David Hardy and Travis Mumah as part of the Requestors’ efforts to assist the FBI in

16

complying with its legal requirement to conduct adequate searches of its files to respond to

17

this FOIA request. (Exhibit 13).

18

(6) There Are No Legitimate Personal Privacy Interests

19

96.

The FBI’s initial response to the Request blindly asserted, without any

20

apparent attempt to investigate the known or ascertainable facts, that the “personal privacy”

21

exemption, in 5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(6) and (b)(7)(C) prevented the disclosure of any documents.

22

In response, Requestors provided the FBI with the death certificates or other evidence that

23

many, if not all, of the key individuals identified in the Request, starting with Forsythe

24

himself, had passed away and therefore had no legitimate privacy interests. Requestors

25

further pointed out the reasons why there was a strong public interest in the disclosure of the

26

documents, irrespective of any personal privacy concerns.
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 25
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 26 of 34

97.

1

In its production of April 26, 2018, the FBI has redacted every single name of

2

every individual referred to in the documents save three, Forsythe, Paul J. Mack, a “Special

3

Agent in Charge” in the FBI office in Seattle and Francis J. Mullen, Assistant Director.
98.

4

Such a wholesale assertion of the personal privacy exemption is arbitrary and

5

capricious, especially since the Requestors have already been provided with the identity of

6

the 42 FBI agents in the Seattle office who were involved in the investigation of the

7

Domingo and Viernes murders. (Exhibit 13)
99.

8
9
10

recognized that Plaintiffs are entitled to “greater access to the documents” if the subjects are
deceased. (Hardy Letter dated July 6, 2015 (Exhibit 3).
100.

11
12

In its initial response to the June 16, 2015 Request, the FBI’s David Hardy

The FBI apparently made no attempt to determine if any of the FBI agents

whose names were redacted are still alive.
101.

13

Here the passage of more than 35 years since the events referred to in the

14

produced documents and the present weighs significantly in favor of disclosure. The FBI has

15

identified no legitimate privacy concerns that outweigh the public interests in disclosure in

16

this case. None exist.
102.

17
18

The public interest in disclosure far outweighs the negligible personal privacy

interests, if any.
103.

19

The significant public interest here is to hold accountable all those responsible

20

for the murder of two U.S. citizens on U.S. soil by agents of the Marcos regime in the

21

Philippines and its cover-up. See, Estate of Domingo v. Republic of Philippines, 694 F.

22

Supp. 782 (W.D. Wash. 1988).
104.

23

Digging out the evidence of those who acted in concert in the murders is in

24

the public interest. Evidence of an attempt to cover-up the identity of all of those who paid

25

for, arranged for, and participated in a murder conspiracy funded by a foreign government

26

and carried out on U.S. soil is in the public interest. Forsythe’s efforts to exonerate the hit
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 26
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 27 of 34

1

men was closely connected to the goals of the murder conspiracy to avoid detection.

2

Acquittal of Ramil and Guloy, as was Forsythe’s and potentially the FBI’s intent, would have

3

led to charges being dropped against Dictado and no charges ever being brought against

4

Baruso, Malabed, the Lt. Col. or the other higher ups in the conspiracy. There is an important

5

public interest in finding out who, if anyone, in the FBI – or known to the FBI - sent Forsythe

6

to the scene of the murders because it would imply foreknowledge of the murders and failure

7

to prevent them.
105.

8
9

To the extent that those involved in the cover-up were acting in concert with a

now-deposed foreign government, the public interest in that government’s activities on

10

American soil is substantial. Privacy interests of living (and certainly deceased) individuals

11

who facilitated or investigated the cover-up are far outweighed by the public interest.
106.

12

Those individuals who funded and/or participated in the murder conspiracy

13

had a substantial interest in making sure Forsythe succeeded in convincing the jury that

14

Ramil and Guloy were not involved because their acquittal would have ended the inquiry,

15

sparing Dictado, Baruso, Malabed and eventually Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos from

16

additional scrutiny.

17

107.

The information sought is likely to advance the public interest in personal and

18

political accountability by determining the identity of individuals and/or organizations that

19

may have acted in concert or collaboration with Baruso, or who aided and abetted him or his

20

co-conspirators, including Marcos and Malabed , i.e. those who sent Forsythe to the scene of

21

the murders, received Forsythe’s report about what he allegedly observed there, were

22

involved in Forsythe’s taping of his call with King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney

23

Joanne Maida, and/or who had knowledge of Forsythe’s attempt to cover up the murders by

24

testifying falsely at the Ramil and Guloy trial.
108.

25
26

Examination of Forsythe’s close association with the Robert Maheu, whose

background and criminal activities as an ex-CIA officer who the Kennedy Administration
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 27
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 28 of 34

1

used to contact the Mafia to assassinate Fidel Castro, are known to the FBI, is certainly in the

2

public interest. The documents produced in April of 2018 refer to those individuals and

3

Forsythe’s probable connection to them. Many of the individuals referred to in the FOIA

4

request and the produced documents are associates of Howard Hughes and Maheu. Their

5

relationship with Forsythe forms the subject matter of many of the requests. The documents

6

produced by the FBI substantiate this concern in that they contain portions of the book,

7

Empire, about Howard Hughes which refers to Forsythe. Other documents related to those

8

relationships which exist in other FBI files were not provided.
109.

9

The presence of Forsythe, a long time FBI informant, at the murder scene,

10

together with the lack of veracity of his cover story for being at that location raises an

11

inference that he, or whoever sent him there, was aware that a murder or other criminal

12

conduct was about to take place. Whether Seattle FBI agents had advance knowledge of the

13

murder plot or other potential criminal activity at the ILWU Union Hall on June 1, 1981 or

14

whether the FBI lacked such advance knowledge and merely investigated their informant’s

15

presence at the scene, after the fact – or not – are all matters of public importance and

16

concern. The Seattle FBI office knew that Forsythe was one of its informants and that he

17

falsely testified as a witness to the Domingo and Viernes murders, as reported in the local

18

press. According to Treasury Agent Hernandez, the FBI, the Treasury Department and DEA

19

continued to use Forsythe, thereafter, as a reliable informant.
110.

20

The fact that for the first and only time in U.S. judicial history a foreign head

21

of state, Ferdinand Marcos, was held personally liable for the murders of U.S. citizens on

22

U.S. soil magnifies the public interest in identifying how Marcos and his government were

23

able to collude with U.S. residents to prepare, carry out and cover-up these murders.
111.

24

The presence of an FBI informant at the scene of political assassinations

25

originating with a foreign government raises issues of public concern, especially when that

26

same informant tried to derail the criminal investigation in its tracks. The FBI’s and the
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 28
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 29 of 34

1

public’s interest in enforcing the law and deterring and punishing criminal conduct requires

2

nothing less than full cooperation and disclosure.
(7) There Is No Legitimate ‘Law Enforcement’ Interest Because the Prosecution
of the Individuals Named in the Documents Was Terminated Over 30 Years
Ago

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

112.

information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the
production of such law enforcement records or information (A) could reasonably be expected
to interfere with enforcement proceedings ....” To justify withholding, the DOJ must
therefore demonstrate that “disclosure (1) could reasonably be expected to interfere with (2)
enforcement proceedings that are (3) pending or reasonably anticipated.”

11
12
13
14
15

113.

18
19
20

of defendants and witnesses in a long ago terminated criminal prosecution would in any way
impeded law enforcement functions amounts to an “arbitrary and capricious” assertion of an
exemption to the FOIA.
114.

law enforcement investigations or prosecutions or would disclose guidelines for law
enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected
to risk circumvention of the law. This “7(E)” Exemption does not apply.
115.

25

The agency must at least provide some explanation of what procedures are

involved and how they would be disclosed. Here the FBI has provided no such explanation.

23
24

The FOIA also exempts records or information compiled for law enforcement

purposes to the extent release of such records “would disclose techniques and procedures for

21
22

The criminal prosecution of the three individuals originally charged in the

“loan shark” investigation was terminated in 1987. The claim that the disclosure of the names

16
17

Exemption (7)(A), asserted by the FBI here exempts: “(7) records or

116.

The law enforcement exemption for investigative techniques, used back in

1981, requires the government to explain how 37-year-old techniques and procedures could
reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law today. No such explanation would

26
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 29
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 30 of 34

1

be plausible. The assertion of this exemption was arbitrary and capricious.

2

(8) There Is No Legitimate Grand Jury Secrets Exemption

3

117.

There is no legitimate “Grand Jury Secrets” interest, as asserted by the FBI,

4

because the individuals named in the FBI documents were indicted, defended and convicted.

5

Any “secrets” submitted to the sitting Grand Jury were either irrelevant or used in the

6

ensuing prosecution and thus publicly disclosed.
118.

7
8

jeopardize. Asserting this exemption was arbitrary and capricious.

9

E.

Plaintiffs Filed A Timely Administrative Appeal Which the FBI Denied;
Plaintiffs Have Exhausted Their Administrative Remedies

119.

Following the April 2018 disclosure, on July 19, 2018 the Plaintiffs appealed

10
11
12
13

to Director, Office of Information Policy (OIP) United States Department of Justice. (Exhibit
14) The appeal raised each of the failures of the FBI alleged in this complaint.
120.

14
15
16
17

On September 28, 2018, Plaintiffs received a letter from the Director of the

Office of Information Policy, which letter attached one additional document which had not
been provided in the April production and stated that, otherwise, the appeal was being
denied. (Exhibits 15 and 16)
121.

18
19

There are no pending Grand Jury, law enforcement investigations or actions to

Plaintiffs have exhausted all their administration remedies and this lawsuit is

timely filed and appropriate.

20
21

F.

The FBI’s Handling of this Matter Raises Questions as to Whether It Has
Acted in an Arbitrary or Capricious Manner

122.

As alleged herein the FBI’s handling of the Plaintiffs’ Request raises

22

questions, under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 522 (a)(4)(F), whether it has acted in an arbitrary

23

or capricious manner by, inter alia:

24

a.

Misstating the number of responsive documents to Plaintiffs;

25

b.

Taking thirty-four months to provide any documents to Plaintiffs whatsoever;

26

c.

Claiming its incomplete response was a result of a negotiated agreement

COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 30
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 31 of 34

1

where the email correspondence conclusively establishes that no such

2

negotiated resolution was agreed by the parties;

3

d.

Failing to provide any review or characterization of all 1276 responsive pages;

4

e.

Failing to provide the identity of individuals who had been publicly disclosed;

5

f.

Failing to provide a Vaughn Index;

6

g.

Asserting frivolous “personal privacy” exemptions for the identity of FBI

7

agents where it made no effort to determine if they were still alive and where

8

the passage of 35 plus years makes de minimis any privacy concerns and the

9

public interest far outweighs any existing privacy concerns;
h.

10

Asserting frivolous “law enforcement” privileges where there have been no
ongoing law enforcement interests in this matter for over 30 years;

11
i.

12

Asserting a frivolous “grand jury secrets” exemption where the Grand Jury in

13

the loan shark investigation returned an indictment of three individuals over

14

35 years ago, any such information submitted to the Grand Jury was publicly

15

disclosed at trial and there is no evidence of any ongoing Grand Jury

16

proceedings related to this matter.
123.

17

The totality of the circumstances here justifies the inference that the FBI has

18

acted in its narrow self-interest to protect itself, its informant Forsythe, its agents and its

19

reputation rather than comply with its statutory obligations under the Act.
124.

20

The FBI’s non-disclosure of FOIA materials in this case raises questions of

21

whether the FBI was aware - and sought to prevent investigation or documentation - of (a)

22

the presence of its informant at the scene of a murder, (b) the circumstances that led him

23

there and (c) his false testimony, all in an effort to prevent further investigation into the

24

Marcos-Malabed-Baruso-Dictado conspiracy to murder two American leaders of the

25

movement to end the Marcos dictatorship. These circumstances support the inference that

26

the FBI had fore-knowledge of the murders, failed to warn the targets, sought to exonerate
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 31
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 32 of 34

1

the Marcos paid hit-men, and/or covered up the broader conspiracy involving the Philippine

2

dictator. Any of these constitutes a cover-up on behalf of those responsible for the murders of

3

Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, obstruction of justice, and/or failure in its duty to

4

properly direct, supervise and hold accountable the FBI’s confidential informant Levane

5

Forsythe.
125.

6
7

The FBI’s mishandling of this FOIA request was part and parcel of this

obstruction of justice and cover-up of these murders.
RELIEF SOUGHT

8

Wherefore, the Plaintiffs seek the following relief:

9

A.

10
11

without redactions;
B.

12
13

An Order that the defendant promptly produce all the responsive documents

An Order overruling each of the statutory exemptions asserted by the FBI in

response to Plaintiffs’ June 2015 Request;
C.

14

An Order directing the defendant to produce for deposition all persons

15

knowledgeable about the FBI’s response to Plaintiffs Request for determining:

16

i. the responsiveness of the FBI to the initial Request,

17

ii. the nature and extent of the search the FBI conducted for responsive
documents,

18
19

iii. the circumstances surrounding the FBI’s failure to produce any documents

20

related to Forsythe’s presence at the murder scene, his activities as an

21

informant and otherwise as sought by Plaintiffs’ FOIA request and as alleged

22

above, and the “Presidential Task Force” assignment that Forsythe described,

23

and
iv. the circumstances surrounding Forsythe’s presence at the scene of the

24
25

Domingo and Viernes murders and his testimony in the trial of Ramil and

26

Guloy;
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 32
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 33 of 34

D.

1

An Order that the FBI prepare a Vaughn Index of the responsive documents,

2

including the documents of “other government agencies” (OGAs), within 45 days of service

3

of the Summons and Complaint to the extent it continues to assert any exemptions to such

4

production as order and to supply this Court with any such documents for in camera review;
E.

5

An Order directing the FBI to identify all “other government agencies”

6

referenced in its denial letter of April 26, 2018 within 45 days of service of the Summons and

7

Complaint;
F.

8
9

An Order directing the FBI produce to the United States Attorney for the

Western District of Washington all documents and files specifically or implicitly identified in

10

¶19 of this Complaint, as well as all other documents and files related to any FBI or “Joint

11

presidential Task Force” use of Levane M. Forsythe as an informant, in their entirety;
G.

12

An Order setting a hearing so that the Court may enter written findings

13

concerning the circumstances surrounding the withholding of documents, redactions of

14

names and content from documents, failure to produce all responsive documents, and its

15

assertions of personal privacy, law enforcement privilege and Grand Jury secrets exemptions

16

raises questions as to whether this actions have been arbitrary or capricious agency action (as

17

further alleged herein) as well as enter an order referring this matter to the Department of

18

Justice’s Special Counsel for investigation, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Section 522(a)(4)(F) of the

19

Act;
H.

20

An award of costs and attorneys’ fees to Plaintiffs’ counsel incurred in this

21

action pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Section 522 (a)(4)(E) of the Act;

22

/ / /

23

/ / /

24

/ / /

25
26
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 33
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX

 Case 2:18-cv-01635 Document 1 Filed 11/09/18 Page 34 of 34

1

I.

Such other relief as the Court may deem just and proper.

2

DATED THIS 9th day of November 2018.

3

LAW OFFICE OF MICHAEL E. WITHEY

4

By:

5

s/Michael E. Withey
Michael E. Withey, WSBA 4787
Of Attorneys for Plaintiffs
mike@witheylaw.com

6
7

LAW OFFICE OF FRED DIAMONDSTONE

8
9

By:

10

s/ Fred Diamondstone
Fred Diamondstone, WSBA 7138
Of Attorneys for Plaintiffs
fred@freddiamondstone.com

11
12
13

EMBER LAW

14
15

By:

16

s/ Leah S. Snyder
Leah S. Snyder, WSBA 44384
Of Attorneys for Plaintiffs
leah@emberlaw.com

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
COMPLAINT FOR RELIEF UNDER THE FOIA
– PAGE 34
#

Fred Diamondstone
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1218 Third Ave, # 1000
Seattle WA 98101
(206) 568-0082
(206) 568-1683 FAX