- Editor's Note: Whether Copperfield is or isn't guilty
of raping a woman in the Bahamas is not the issue. The issue is the illegal
and unconstitutional behavior of 12 FBI agents in seizing two million dollars
from Copperfield's property in Las Vegas. The FBI may or may not have obtained
a search warrant to search for "evidence" (of a rape?), which
maybe could justify taking a computer hard drive, but what possible justification
is there for taking this man's money, other than the "justification"
that all fascists employ of Might makes Right?
-
- OK, it's routine for the police or FBI to seize cash
from people clearly involved in drug dealing, but how does that apply here?
Surely, Copperfield is a wealthy man and it's not at all uncommon for people
of wealth to keep large amounts of cash in their possession. So what? How
does the presence of 2 million in cash in Copperfield's building in Las
Vegas somehow hint at criminal possession? Why not take the paintings off
the wall and Houdini memorabilia as well? What is the difference between
the behavior of the German Gestapo and SS when it removed the cash, paintings
and silverware from the homes of innocent Jewish owners in Europe and what
the FBI did to David Copperfield?
-
- The man is innocent until he's PROVEN guilty in court
at a trial with 12 jurors. This guy hasn't even been ACCUSED of anything!
The FBI supposedly launched an INVESTIGATION. Seizure by law enforcement
of people's property or financial assets merely based on someone's accusation
or allegation against them is illegal and unconstitutional in the extreme.
When will legal, academic, and constitutional scholars in this country
SPEAK UP and denounce these outrageous acts of criminal misconduct and
launch lawsuits to end this egregious maltreatment of American citizens?...Ken
Adachi
-
- By Ken Lee and Mark Gray
- http://educate-yourself.org/cn/fbilootdavdicopperfield20oct07.shtml
- October 20, 2007
-
- http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20153177,00.html
-
- FBI Raids Magician David Copperfield's Warehouse
- THURSDAY OCTOBER 18, 2007
-
- Magician David Copperfield has been linked to an FBI
investigation, authorities confirmed Thursday.
-
- A Las Vegas warehouse operated by Copperfield was raided
by 12 agents Wednesday night, TV station KLAS reports. A computer hard
drive, digital camera system, and nearly $2 million in cash were seized,
the station reports.
-
- "The only thing we're confirming right now is that
there was some investigative activity in the Las Vegas area yesterday connected
with a Seattle-area case, both of which are pending," said Robbie
Burroughs, spokeswoman for the Seattle division of the FBI.
-
- Copperfield's attorney, David Chesnoff, says in a statement:
"We understand there is an investigation, (we) are in touch with the
investigators, and are respecting the confidentiality of the investigation."
-
- Copperfield, easily one of the most well-known magicians,
performs monthly in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. He just finished a two-week
engagement at the hotel last week, and is scheduled to return Nov. 15-28.
-
- His warehouse, located in an industrial section of the
city, is rarely seen by anybody other than magic scholars, according to
Forbes magazine, which got a rare glimpse last year.
-
- The magazine said the two-story building, which Copperfield
calls the International Museum & Library of the Conjuring Arts, contains
"an Ali Baba's trove of sports cars, vintage automatons, gargoyle
heads, gadgetry and an electric chair," as well as 80,000 books, illusions,
posters and memorabilia.
-
- Copperfield is among the richest entertainers in the
world. According to Forbes, Copperfield earned $57 million in 2003, ranking
him that year as the 10th-highest paid globally.
-
- Copperfield was once engaged to the supermodel Claudia
Schiffer, but the couple split in 1999 after six years together.
-
-
- http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/14373260/detail.html
-
- FBI Investigates Copperfield For Sexual Assault
- Investigation Stems From Alleged Assault In Bahamas
-
- POSTED: October 18, 2007
-
- UPDATED: 11:00 am PDT October 19, 2007
-
- LAS VEGAS -- There have been new details released in
the FBI Investigation of David Copperfield.
-
- FBI raids of magician Copperfield's Las Vegas property
are in connection with a rape claim made by a Seattle woman, law enforcement
sources told FOX News. The woman told Seattle police the magician raped
her while she was in the Bahamas.
-
- Because the alleged incident happened abroad and the
woman did not report it until she returned to the United States, Seattle
authorities turned over the case to the FBI.
-
- Copperfield has been contacted by law enforcement authorities
and the FBI has conducted an investigation in Las Vegas, where the magician
regularly performs, his lawyer and the FBI confirmed.
-
- Copperfield's Las Vegas attorney, David Chesnoff, issued
a statement on the case Wednesday night:
-
- "We understand there is an investigation, are in
touch with the investigators, and are respecting the confidentiality of
the investigation."
-
- Copperfield has a warehouse in Las Vegas that he has
dubbed the International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts. He stores
tricks and memorabilia from around the world at the warehouse.
-
- "The investigation is related to a Seattle case.
The Seattle case is pending and that means we can't say anything about
it," Seattle FBI Agent Robbie Burroughs said.
-
- Copperfield, 51, has been a longtime performer at the
Hollywood Theater at the MGM Grand casino-hotel on the Las Vegas Strip,
where he has performed in six- to eight-week stints several times a year,
said MGM Mirage Inc. spokeswoman Yvette Monet.
-
- Stay with FOX5 News or refresh fox5vegas.com for continual
updates to this story.
-
-
- http://www.stuff.co.nz/4243896a1860.html
-
- FBI raids David Copperfield and finds millions
- Reuters | Saturday, 20 October 2007
-
- FBI agents have raided a Las Vegas warehouse owned by
magician David Copperfield for reasons they did not disclose
and media reports said that they seized nearly $2 million ($NZ2.69 million)
and computer equipment.
-
- The FBI declined to say why it raided the Las Vegas warehouse,
confirming only that it related to an investigation out of Seattle.
-
- "We're just confirming that investigative activity
took place at the warehouse," David Staretz, chief division counsel,
for the FBI in Las Vegas, told Reuters.
-
- He declined to give further details.
-
- The warehouse is where Copperfield keeps his props and
maintains an office.
-
- Media reports said FBI agents seized nearly $2 million
in cash from the building, along with a computer hard drive and a memory
chip from a digital camera system during Wednesday's late-night operation.
-
- "We understand there is an investigation, are in
touch with the investigators, and are respecting the confidentiality of
the investigation," Copperfield's attorney David Chesnoff said in
a statement cited by Las Vegas broadcasters.
-
- Chesnoff and Copperfield's publicist could not be reached
for further comment.
-
- The local CBS affiliate KLAS-TV quoted a source as saying
the cash was stashed in a safe and that agents took the cash.
-
- Copperfield, 51, whose real name is David Kotkin, is
famed for stunts such as making the Statue of Liberty disappear and walking
through the Great Wall of China. He is a regular performer at the MGM Grand
hotel in Las Vegas.
-
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