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Disabled Vet Jeremy Harrell waits for pardon · Booker Scott: Truth Be Told

0:07
Speaker 1: It's six eastern it's three o'clock pacific this is a
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Speaker 1: president of action coast to coast and around the world
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Speaker 1: from the america out loud talk radio studios if.
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Speaker 2: He says he's serious about something he means it.
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Speaker 1: It's time for the truth be told with booker scott.
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Speaker 3: At this point in this program tonight we're going to
0:26
Speaker 3: welcome someone that i believe has been one that has
0:30
Speaker 3: been targeted And he's going to tell his story. He's
0:32
Speaker 3: a veteran. He served our country. He was injured. He
0:36
Speaker 3: was on disability. And completely, without him knowing, he was
0:40
Speaker 3: being investigated. He was eventually prosecuted, convicted, and served six
0:46
Speaker 3: months in prison. It's an incredible story. But we believe
0:49
Speaker 3: that he was targeted, and we believe that it was
0:52
Speaker 3: government weaponization. And that's what we want to talk about.
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Speaker 3: His name is Jeremy Harrell. He is the CEO, the
0:58
Speaker 3: founder of a group called the Veterans Club. And Jeremy,
1:02
Speaker 3: welcome to the program. So good to have you.
1:05
Speaker 2: Thank you, sir. Glad to be here. I appreciate the opportunity.
1:08
Speaker 3: Well, let's just tell your story. First of all, what
1:10
Speaker 3: branch of the service were you in and where did
1:12
Speaker 3: you serve? I'm assuming that you were overseas, but tell
1:15
Speaker 3: a little bit about your background.
1:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I was in the United States Army and
1:22
Speaker 2: I served for eight years. the United States army. And, um,
1:27
Speaker 2: I went to, uh, to Iraq during the initial invasion,
1:31
Speaker 2: 2003 to 2004, spent 15 months there, um, come back,
1:37
Speaker 2: continue to serve and, um, and really loved it until
1:41
Speaker 2: I couldn't do it anymore. Um, and then, uh, I
1:44
Speaker 2: still had that desire to serve even beyond the uniform. And, um,
1:50
Speaker 2: And that's about the same time that I recognized that
1:52
Speaker 2: I had some issues that I needed to deal with
1:55
Speaker 2: that were related to service. And I would go to
1:58
Speaker 2: these programs with a desire to heal and get better.
2:03
Speaker 2: And as I was visiting these programs across the country
2:05
Speaker 2: with other veterans, I kept hearing that they didn't necessarily
2:10
Speaker 2: miss the job per se, but what they did miss
2:13
Speaker 2: was the camaraderie that they had with each other. And
2:16
Speaker 2: I thought, well, there's no reason that we can't have that.
2:21
Speaker 2: even though we're not in uniform anymore. So I decided
2:23
Speaker 2: with my wife to start what was then a Facebook
2:27
Speaker 2: group called Veterans Club Incorporated, where we could all get
2:30
Speaker 2: together and share that same camaraderie and support one another.
2:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've heard that before, that so many people that
2:36
Speaker 3: were in the service, they miss that more than any
2:40
Speaker 3: part of it. And that's, in a lot of ways,
2:42
Speaker 3: the reason for homelessness, even. I've had many conversations with
2:46
Speaker 3: people that know about it, and they say those people
2:48
Speaker 3: that are living under the bridges, they feel more secure
2:51
Speaker 3: there because they have that camaraderie that you were just
2:54
Speaker 3: talking about. They look over each other. They take care
2:57
Speaker 3: of each other just like they did in the service
2:59
Speaker 3: because when they got out of the service, they really
3:01
Speaker 3: didn't have anything. So your Veterans Club is a Facebook
3:04
Speaker 3: page that you start, you and your wife do, to
3:07
Speaker 3: try to help people that are suffering from the same
3:10
Speaker 3: types of things that you were in. One of those things,
3:13
Speaker 3: I guess, for you was PTSD. Is that correct?
3:17
Speaker 2: Yes, yes. I have what's called complex PTSD or CPTSD,
3:22
Speaker 2: which means that I have PTSD from both my military
3:27
Speaker 2: service in combat and also from childhood as well. PTSD
3:34
Speaker 2: is PTSD. This is a little complex because there's multiple
3:38
Speaker 2: trauma involved in that, but PTSD But yeah, when we
3:42
Speaker 2: started this Facebook group, you know, I wanted to really,
3:46
Speaker 2: here's what I know is when you think about how
3:48
Speaker 2: many people serve the country, you're looking at about 7%
3:53
Speaker 2: of America. And so, you know, I always thought that
3:56
Speaker 2: we were at a disadvantage because soon as we walked
3:58
Speaker 2: out of our door every day, 93% of the people
4:01
Speaker 2: just don't really understand, right? And I know the majority
4:05
Speaker 2: of them want to understand, and I'm so thankful that
4:06
Speaker 2: they do, and I hope they keep asking questions, and
4:08
Speaker 2: I hope that Veterans keep answering them politely and correctly.
4:13
Speaker 2: But I just wanted to connect with these other vets
4:17
Speaker 2: to say, hey, you know, I see you. I hear you.
4:19
Speaker 2: I understand. I know this seems odd. I know that
4:22
Speaker 2: you probably can't talk about this with everybody because they
4:25
Speaker 2: haven't seen what you've seen and experienced what you've experienced,
4:28
Speaker 2: but we have. And I just wanted to create a
4:30
Speaker 2: community within a community. And in doing so, Booker, it
4:33
Speaker 2: was very therapeutic for me because, you know, I've been
4:37
Speaker 2: on 20 medications. for PTSD symptoms. And there was no
4:44
Speaker 2: long-term success with those medicines. In fact, they caused other issues.
4:49
Speaker 2: And so when I started helping people, I started sitting
4:52
Speaker 2: down and having conversations with other veterans. That was the
4:55
Speaker 2: greatest medicine that I've ever taken, so to speak. And
4:59
Speaker 2: it's like anything else. When you think that you found
5:01
Speaker 2: a cure or a way to manage symptoms because you're
5:05
Speaker 2: out focusing on other people, um, you want to keep
5:10
Speaker 2: doing it, right? Because it's helpful. And so that's exactly
5:13
Speaker 2: how this kind of originated.
5:15
Speaker 3: And you mentioned that you were in the, uh, you
5:18
Speaker 3: mentioned you were overseas 2003, 2004. You mentioned you were
5:22
Speaker 3: in the service for eight years. What year did you
5:25
Speaker 3: get out of the service? And then what year did
5:27
Speaker 3: you start the veterans club?
5:30
Speaker 2: So I got out of the military in 2008, February 1st, 2008, uh,
5:32
Speaker 2: is when I got out. And, uh, I started Veterans
5:38
Speaker 2: Club unofficially. I started doing things as a social group
5:42
Speaker 2: around 2017 and then officially becoming a nonprofit in 2019.
5:48
Speaker 3: Well, let's pick up the story there because that's where
5:50
Speaker 3: the story gets good. And I think to get to
5:53
Speaker 3: that part of the story, we also need to talk
5:55
Speaker 3: about the fact that you were on disability at the time.
6:00
Speaker 3: Veterans Affairs had made the determination. They had made the
6:03
Speaker 3: determination that you were fully disabled and could not work.
6:08
Speaker 3: I think you had bounced around some different jobs, but
6:10
Speaker 3: they finally put you on disability, and that's how you survived,
6:13
Speaker 3: along with your wife, who is a professional and makes
6:16
Speaker 3: a living. But you start this nonprofit organization in about 2019.
6:21
Speaker 3: You're on full disability, and take off from there.
6:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, so what I was looking for is an opportunity
6:31
Speaker 2: to kind of give back when I could, when I
6:33
Speaker 2: felt up to it. And see, the thing with mental health, is,
6:37
Speaker 2: you know, it's number one, it's not an intellectual disability.
6:40
Speaker 2: You can be very much intelligent and be disabled at
6:42
Speaker 2: the same time, but, but you have days and sometimes
6:46
Speaker 2: there's consistent days where you really can't perform or operate.
6:49
Speaker 2: And then there's other days where, where you feel like
6:51
Speaker 2: you can. And so what I would do is try
6:53
Speaker 2: to take advantage of the days that I could. And, uh,
6:57
Speaker 2: and so, you know, as we're, as we're growing this
7:00
Speaker 2: organization and it grew very fast, um, I realized that
7:05
Speaker 2: it was getting to a point now where it was
7:07
Speaker 2: really no longer kind of a social group or grassroots.
7:11
Speaker 2: It was becoming one of the fastest growing nonprofits in
7:13
Speaker 2: the United States that I wasn't going to be able
7:16
Speaker 2: due to my limitations to run this organization and keep
7:20
Speaker 2: it going. And then we were doing so many good things.
7:21
Speaker 2: I didn't want it to end. And so, you know,
7:24
Speaker 2: we hired people to come in to help a director
7:27
Speaker 2: of operations. We hired a chief of staff. We hired
7:32
Speaker 2: an operating officer. We have a database full of volunteers.
7:37
Speaker 2: And the whole purpose behind that was because I couldn't
7:40
Speaker 2: do it the way that I would like to do it.
7:42
Speaker 3: You couldn't do it physically. You couldn't do it mentally full-time.
7:47
Speaker 2: Right. And essentially, I was kind of the face of
7:50
Speaker 2: the organization, the story, and kind of the connector. But
7:55
Speaker 2: as far as the day-to-day, it wasn't me doing the
7:58
Speaker 2: admin task and things like that. It was me. It
8:00
Speaker 2: was our director of operations and stuff like that. So
8:05
Speaker 2: that's what happened. So, you know, we hired them. They
8:07
Speaker 2: got acclimated. We started, you know, we created seven nationally
8:11
Speaker 2: recognized programs. Our biggest program, equine therapy for veterans, first
8:15
Speaker 2: responders and their families. But also we're a faith-based organization
8:19
Speaker 2: as well. So we look at trauma from a biblical perspective, right?
8:23
Speaker 2: Not just what science says, but also what the Bible
8:26
Speaker 2: says about these things. which oftentimes makes you a target
8:30
Speaker 2: for some who don't want to hear that or some
8:33
Speaker 2: who think that they could cut into their profit, right?
8:36
Speaker 2: Because we were actually helping veterans heal to where they
8:40
Speaker 2: didn't have to go through the VA doors every single
8:42
Speaker 2: day because they were actually figuring out who the great
8:45
Speaker 2: physician was and they were actually leaning more on Christ.
8:48
Speaker 2: And I'm not apologizing for that, and I regret none
8:52
Speaker 2: of that. But the reality, though, at the end of
8:54
Speaker 2: the day, it hurts someone somewhere because sometimes What I
8:57
Speaker 2: was doing for free, people were making millions and millions
9:00
Speaker 2: of dollars doing it. And I'm going to be clear,
9:04
Speaker 2: I didn't take anything from the organization, that mileage. I
9:06
Speaker 2: never paid myself anything. This was strictly voluntary. It was
9:13
Speaker 2: just a passion project. It was something that I got
9:17
Speaker 2: great benefit in, and it really lent its way to
9:20
Speaker 2: my own healing in certain ways. It allowed me to
9:22
Speaker 2: be a good father. It allowed me to be a
9:24
Speaker 2: good husband. It allowed me to be a functioning asset
9:27
Speaker 2: in society. And the other thing is I didn't want
9:31
Speaker 2: to just sit on the couch all day with empty
9:33
Speaker 2: pill bottles and just get a check from the government.
9:36
Speaker 2: I wanted to be an asset.
9:38
Speaker 3: You wanted to have a purpose. Yeah, you wanted to
9:40
Speaker 3: have a purpose, yeah. That makes sense. And you're going along,
9:43
Speaker 3: everything's going great. Again, you started from a Facebook group.
9:47
Speaker 3: You didn't have any aspirations or expectations of where this
9:50
Speaker 3: was going to go. And as you said, it really
9:52
Speaker 3: started growing in 2019, 2020. You have to hire some
9:56
Speaker 3: people because you can't do it yourself. And then what happens?
10:00
Speaker 3: You get up to 2021 and we have the withdrawal
10:04
Speaker 3: from Afghanistan that was a complete debacle that ended in
10:08
Speaker 3: the death of 13 U.S. soldiers. You remember that? That
10:13
Speaker 3: was Abbey Gate, by the way. So what happens then
10:16
Speaker 3: at about 2021?
10:19
Speaker 2: Well, so around that time period, we really started as
10:23
Speaker 2: an organization, and then me as an individual started kind
10:26
Speaker 2: of making a name for ourselves as a truth teller.
10:30
Speaker 2: As a changemaker. And so, you know, my job as
10:33
Speaker 2: an advocate was to, you know, honor our brothers and
10:37
Speaker 2: sisters in arms. And and when I saw what happened
10:39
Speaker 2: in Afghanistan, I was very vocal about it. I did
10:42
Speaker 2: a lot of media about how it was it was
10:45
Speaker 2: the biggest botched military operation in military history.
10:48
Speaker 3: You weren't alone. You were not alone there.
10:52
Speaker 2: Right, right. I mean, you know, it was impacting veterans
10:55
Speaker 2: all the way back to Vietnam because something similar happened
10:59
Speaker 2: in Saigon in 1979, and it triggered them.
11:01
Speaker 3: 75. It was 1975. 75, sorry, yeah. That's right.
11:05
Speaker 2: I remember.
11:06
Speaker 3: I'm old enough to remember that. It made an impression
11:08
Speaker 3: on me as a kid. That's one reason why I
11:11
Speaker 3: remember it.
11:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, you know, so I was very vocal about
11:15
Speaker 2: that because we were dealing, I was dealing as an
11:18
Speaker 2: organization with the fallout. with folks who have served in
11:21
Speaker 2: both of those conflicts, Vietnam and the 20-year war in Afghanistan.
11:27
Speaker 2: And we were having to have more support groups. We
11:30
Speaker 2: were having to have more sessions for equine therapy. We
11:33
Speaker 2: had an influx of call-ins of people who were suicidal
11:36
Speaker 2: because they felt like they spent 20 years there fighting
11:39
Speaker 2: a war that was, and the country was turned right
11:41
Speaker 2: back over to the Taliban in less than 24 hours.
11:44
Speaker 3: Sure was, yep.
11:45
Speaker 2: So I talked about that, and I'm sure that that
11:48
Speaker 2: During that time, our president was Biden, and I'm sure
11:52
Speaker 2: that that didn't sit well with the people who were
11:55
Speaker 2: loyalist to him. And then there are some things within
11:59
Speaker 2: the VA that at the time, that leadership, that I
12:02
Speaker 2: felt like veterans were underserved and that I felt like
12:06
Speaker 2: nonprofits had to pick up all the pieces and we
12:08
Speaker 2: had to carry the weight of all of society's issues.
12:11
Speaker 2: I was just very outspoken that way, and I was
12:13
Speaker 2: talking to legislators, I was advocating for all the way
12:16
Speaker 2: up the chain in Washington, D.C., and there were some
12:20
Speaker 2: people who didn't like it. Some people don't like when
12:23
Speaker 2: the truth is told and exposed. And so when you
12:28
Speaker 2: finally find somebody who's willing to do that, Booker, but
12:31
Speaker 2: without any incentive, I mean, because when I talk to
12:34
Speaker 2: people that I know in politics, they say, well, Jeremy,
12:37
Speaker 2: we're not really surprised because here's why. You don't carry
12:41
Speaker 2: water for anybody. You weren't trying to be a millionaire.
12:44
Speaker 2: You were doing this out of the kindness of your heart,
12:46
Speaker 2: and it was pure. And those things are threatening oftentimes
12:50
Speaker 2: to the establishment. So going through all that, and then
12:54
Speaker 2: I won a lot of awards personally in 21 and 22,
12:57
Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden in October of 23,
13:00
Speaker 2: I had just actually come back from a treatment facility
13:05
Speaker 2: because I stay– you know, up to date with, I
13:09
Speaker 2: still have to be in treatment probably for the remainder
13:11
Speaker 2: of my life for these injuries. And so.
13:14
Speaker 3: Before you go too far, let me back up a
13:17
Speaker 3: little bit because from 2019 to 2023, you had income
13:24
Speaker 3: for your foundation for the 501c3. I think it's important
13:29
Speaker 3: to understand that because you are on disability. You get
13:32
Speaker 3: that from the VA. And now you have income. But
13:36
Speaker 3: As you mentioned earlier, already in this segment, you didn't
13:39
Speaker 3: take a dime. You didn't even take gas money for yourself.
13:43
Speaker 3: And you also weren't really doing the work. You had
13:45
Speaker 3: hired someone to be the director. You had a couple
13:49
Speaker 3: of people hired for staff. You had a board of directors.
13:52
Speaker 3: You also had an advisory board. So you had all
13:55
Speaker 3: of this going on. So the money that came in
13:58
Speaker 3: quickly went out. Over four years, I think the number
14:02
Speaker 3: was $ 400, 000 that you had. So now let's pick up
14:06
Speaker 3: the story in 2023. Yes.
14:08
Speaker 2: And there's one more point to that is our intention
14:13
Speaker 2: as an organization was to not to have a lot
14:16
Speaker 2: of money sitting around because that's money that we could
14:18
Speaker 2: use to help our veterans in need, right? So it
14:20
Speaker 2: was a point for us to spend that. But yes.
14:23
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I should clean myself up here, Jeremy, too,
14:26
Speaker 3: because I made it sound like all the money that
14:28
Speaker 3: you got, you spent on your staff and that's not
14:32
Speaker 3: the case at all. You spent it on veterans also,
14:34
Speaker 3: but I wanted to point out that you were not
14:37
Speaker 3: necessarily doing the work. You were the face of veterans
14:41
Speaker 3: club and you had hired people to actually do the
14:43
Speaker 3: work because you physically and mentally just couldn't do 40, 50,
14:47
Speaker 3: 60 hours a week.
14:47
Speaker 1: Yes.
14:48
Speaker 2: And so, you know, And I'll get to a little
14:54
Speaker 2: more of the discretionary part of that a little bit later.
14:56
Speaker 2: But you're right. I was kind of building partnerships. I
15:00
Speaker 2: was making connections. I was actually doing staff retreats for
15:04
Speaker 2: the VA's mental health program managers at our facility, believe
15:08
Speaker 2: it or not. It's weird how the complainant benefited from
15:11
Speaker 2: our services. But yeah, so in 2023, I had just
15:16
Speaker 2: come back from a treatment, a personal treatment program, and
15:20
Speaker 2: had just got back in. And I was sitting down
15:22
Speaker 2: with the director of operations, and he was going to
15:24
Speaker 2: brief me on what had occurred because I'd been gone
15:26
Speaker 2: for two weeks. And then there was a knock at
15:29
Speaker 2: the door. He goes and opens the door to our headquarters,
15:34
Speaker 2: and it's two gentlemen, plainclothes, walk in and just ask
15:39
Speaker 2: to talk to me. And that happens all the time.
15:41
Speaker 2: We have an open-door policy, right? You know, they come
15:45
Speaker 2: in and they look like a couple of veterans and
15:48
Speaker 2: they just introduced themselves by name and said, hey, you know,
15:51
Speaker 2: we'd love to have a conversation with you. And I said, sure,
15:54
Speaker 2: let's go upstairs where it's more private in the office.
15:56
Speaker 2: And we went upstairs and, you know, they started talking
16:00
Speaker 2: to me and asking me unusual questions. And very quickly,
16:04
Speaker 2: I recognized that this wasn't a conversation, that this was
16:07
Speaker 2: an interrogation. And so then I asked them to disclose
16:11
Speaker 2: who they were, because at this point, they didn't let
16:15
Speaker 2: me know who they were. They didn't identify themselves as
16:18
Speaker 2: federal agents for the VA Office of Inspector General.
16:21
Speaker 3: What kind of questions were they asking you that tipped
16:24
Speaker 3: you off?
16:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they were asking me, you know, what my
16:28
Speaker 2: role was there. They were asking me, mainly what they
16:32
Speaker 2: were focusing on was, how are you able to do this?
16:38
Speaker 2: As if someone with my disability should not be able
16:40
Speaker 2: to do anything, right? And so I said, well, there's
16:44
Speaker 2: a lot to that. We have a board of directors
16:47
Speaker 2: who are very professional people who help this thing run.
16:50
Speaker 2: I don't own a nonprofit. No one does. I said,
16:53
Speaker 2: but other than that, I said, I have an advisory
16:55
Speaker 2: board to make sure that we keep between the rails
16:58
Speaker 2: and we're doing everything the way we should. And then
17:01
Speaker 2: I said, of course, we have, you know, close to
17:03
Speaker 2: 600 volunteers that help from time to time. I said,
17:08
Speaker 2: and then, you know, there's me who, comes in and
17:11
Speaker 2: does things as I can. Right. So, um, but ultimately, uh,
17:15
Speaker 2: I said, you know, God's at the center of this
17:18
Speaker 2: organization and, uh, he, he really decides whether it's successful
17:22
Speaker 2: or not. And luckily he's been shown favor. Right. So
17:26
Speaker 2: that's kind of how I answered that, you know, and
17:28
Speaker 2: he didn't really like that answer, you know, and he said, well, you're,
17:31
Speaker 2: you're permanently and totally disabled and you're, you're a successful
17:36
Speaker 2: nonprofit founder. And I said, well, okay. Yeah. Um, but
17:42
Speaker 2: I don't have, I'm not disabled because I have an
17:44
Speaker 2: intellectual disability. Right. I'm disabled because I have an anxiety
17:47
Speaker 2: disorder and I have some other physical things, but they
17:51
Speaker 2: were primarily speaking on the, on the, the, the, you know, anxiety,
17:55
Speaker 2: the PTSD.
17:56
Speaker 3: So the premise is because you're on disability, you are
17:59
Speaker 3: getting a check every month that you should not be
18:02
Speaker 3: doing anything but sitting at home and watching Lucy or
18:07
Speaker 3: whatever program you want to watch. The price is right,
18:09
Speaker 3: I guess. That is what they expect you to do
18:12
Speaker 3: when you're getting a government check. You cannot start a 501c3,
18:17
Speaker 3: and you can't hire people, and you can't bring in money,
18:20
Speaker 3: or otherwise you're going to get a visit from the
18:22
Speaker 3: federal government. And that's some of the weaponization that we're
18:25
Speaker 3: talking about. We're going to continue on with this conversation.
18:27
Speaker 3: You'll want to stay around for the rest of this
18:31
Speaker 3: because it's going to get really, really good here coming
18:34
Speaker 3: up right after the break. Don't go anywhere. Stay with us.
18:50
Speaker 1: I bleed red, white, and blue in my ways.
18:55
Speaker 4: You just can't change.
18:59
Speaker 2: Wrong or right, I give my life. This place called USA.
19:07
Speaker 1: More Truth Be Told with Booker Scott in a minute
19:10
Speaker 1: on America Out Loud.
19:12
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19:15
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19:18
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19:23
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19:27
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19:31
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19:37
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19:40
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19:44
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19:48
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19:53
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21:07
Speaker 3: Have you ever worried about someone coming to your front
21:10
Speaker 3: door and asking to have a conversation and they take
21:13
Speaker 3: you into a room and they start asking you questions
21:16
Speaker 3: that you know exactly where this is going? Personally, I
21:20
Speaker 3: never have. I can't imagine what it feels like. but
21:22
Speaker 3: Jeremy Harrell does. He's visiting with us. Jeremy, let's pick
21:26
Speaker 3: up the story right where we left off there going
21:28
Speaker 3: into the break. You were upstairs in an office. You're
21:31
Speaker 3: talking to the guys from the VA. They're asking you
21:33
Speaker 3: bad questions, and then what happens?
21:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so I very quickly realized that they're there
21:40
Speaker 2: because of me, and they finally showed me their credentials.
21:45
Speaker 2: And again, they were Department of Veteran Affairs Office of
21:48
Speaker 2: Inspector General Agents. At that point, I've never been in
21:53
Speaker 2: trouble in my life other than a speeding ticket in 2008,
21:56
Speaker 2: but I did know enough from watching enough on TV
22:01
Speaker 2: to know that I should probably seek legal counsel. I
22:05
Speaker 2: told them at that moment that that's what I was
22:07
Speaker 2: going to do. The agent looks at me and he says,
22:10
Speaker 2: I've spent a year and a half following you. When
22:14
Speaker 2: you think about waste, fraud, and abuse— Spent a year
22:17
Speaker 2: and a half following me, and he says, I just
22:18
Speaker 2: want to tell you that you've done some amazing things
22:22
Speaker 2: for veterans. And he hands me a court summons, and
22:26
Speaker 2: then he tells me that I'm indicted, federally indicted for
22:29
Speaker 2: theft of government funds, and that I had to be
22:31
Speaker 2: in court on this day, which was only about nine
22:34
Speaker 2: or ten days after that. And so they walk out.
22:39
Speaker 2: I go downstairs. And I'm mortified. I just don't even
22:43
Speaker 2: really know what it all means, to be honest. All
22:46
Speaker 2: I knew about being indicted was that our president, Donald Trump,
22:50
Speaker 2: was indicted a lot. I knew it was legal, but
22:54
Speaker 2: I didn't know exactly.
22:55
Speaker 3: You knew it wasn't a good thing, didn't you?
22:57
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. I knew very quickly that it wasn't anything
23:00
Speaker 2: that you want to be a part of. And so
23:02
Speaker 2: the first thing I did is I went over to
23:04
Speaker 2: one of our advisors' office. He is an attorney. He's
23:07
Speaker 2: not a criminal attorney, but he's an attorney. And And
23:10
Speaker 2: I had him look at the paper, and he had
23:14
Speaker 2: a tear in his eye. And I'm like, what's going on?
23:18
Speaker 2: He said, Jeremy, this is serious. And he said, I
23:21
Speaker 2: just don't understand how they could do this or why
23:24
Speaker 2: they would do this. And I said, well, I don't
23:26
Speaker 2: know either. When in America did it become a crime
23:30
Speaker 2: to volunteer to help people with suicide prevention and helping
23:34
Speaker 2: them get connected and getting the benefits that when did
23:36
Speaker 2: that start being illegal? Right. I just couldn't believe it.
23:39
Speaker 3: Right.
23:40
Speaker 2: And, uh, and you know, the worst thing Booker that
23:43
Speaker 2: I've ever read to date in my life was on
23:45
Speaker 2: that form. It said the United States of America versus
23:50
Speaker 2: Jeremy Harrell. And I thought, how in the world does
23:54
Speaker 2: a man who serve honorably in peacetime and in combat,
23:58
Speaker 2: how in the world am I now considered a an
24:02
Speaker 2: enemy of the country, that the whole reason I'm in
24:05
Speaker 2: this mess, the whole reason I've ever had to get disability,
24:08
Speaker 2: it was because of my service. So it's just still
24:13
Speaker 2: very difficult for me to process, but that's what it
24:15
Speaker 2: said on the letter.
24:16
Speaker 3: You give eight years of your life to actually give
24:21
Speaker 3: your life if you have to, going overseas and fighting
24:24
Speaker 3: in battles, and then you come back here and you
24:27
Speaker 3: start an incredible veterans club. to help other people that
24:31
Speaker 3: had gone through the same thing that you have. And
24:34
Speaker 3: the next thing you know, you get a knock on
24:35
Speaker 3: the door, you get indicted, and then you go to trial.
24:38
Speaker 3: And let's talk a little bit about what they accused
24:41
Speaker 3: you of and what you eventually got convicted of, and
24:44
Speaker 3: you actually served six months in prison. Let's talk about
24:48
Speaker 3: what they say you did.
24:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, so what they say I did is, you know,
24:54
Speaker 2: they tried to say, that the day that I signed
24:58
Speaker 2: my initials on a DocuSign with other board members of
25:02
Speaker 2: the Veterans Club Incorporated, that that was the day where
25:06
Speaker 2: I become not permanent, totally disabled, and I become employable
25:12
Speaker 2: because I signed my initials on a DocuSign, right? So
25:15
Speaker 2: now they're saying that starting in 2019, right when I
25:20
Speaker 2: started the organization, funny how that works, that all of
25:23
Speaker 2: a sudden I was doing something wrong. Right. And that
25:27
Speaker 2: they think that because I was able to help veterans
25:32
Speaker 2: and they were explaining it as if I did all
25:34
Speaker 2: this by myself, first of all. But but they were
25:37
Speaker 2: trying to explain to the jury, like, if he can
25:38
Speaker 2: do that, if he can. They kept saying highly successful
25:42
Speaker 2: founder and CEO that CEOs make a couple hundred thousand
25:47
Speaker 2: dollars a year. He could have easily, you know, and
25:50
Speaker 2: they're talking to a jury. that, you know, without sounding judgmental,
25:56
Speaker 2: we'll probably never see those numbers. I mean, we're in
25:59
Speaker 2: the Eastern District of Kentucky. The economy's not good there.
26:04
Speaker 2: And so they were trying to manipulate the jury to go, well,
26:07
Speaker 2: how's this guy? You know, I have to go to
26:09
Speaker 2: work for 15 bucks an hour and break my back
26:12
Speaker 2: every day, and here's this guy. You know what I mean?
26:14
Speaker 2: That's kind of the manipulation tactics they were using.
26:18
Speaker 3: So the prosecution was saying, okay, this guy has been
26:21
Speaker 3: on disability the whole time. He is also the CEO
26:24
Speaker 3: of this nonprofit that is bringing in hundreds of thousands
26:29
Speaker 3: of dollars. And meanwhile, you're in the jury and you're
26:32
Speaker 3: making $ 15 an hour. And so he's really, I guess
26:36
Speaker 3: the way they do it is they say he's taking
26:38
Speaker 3: advantage of your tax money because he's still taking disability.
26:42
Speaker 3: I want to point out that, well, you tell everybody
26:46
Speaker 3: who said that you should get permanent disability. Was that you?
26:49
Speaker 3: Did you go looking for it? Tell us how that happened.
26:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah, so the
26:55
Speaker 2: way the VA disability process works, which is still a
26:57
Speaker 2: great mystery to most veterans in this country, let alone
27:01
Speaker 2: a jury in five days. But yeah, so the VA,
27:05
Speaker 2: they put you through a series of exams. And at
27:08
Speaker 2: the end of those, they're called compensation and pension exams.
27:11
Speaker 2: And it's where they talk directly about the disability. And
27:14
Speaker 2: then at the end, they make a recommendation. They send
27:17
Speaker 2: it to the Department of Veteran Affairs regional office where
27:21
Speaker 2: there are raters who actually look at the report from
27:24
Speaker 2: the doctors and they compare it to some chart that's
27:28
Speaker 2: kind of a mystery on what the chart is. And
27:30
Speaker 2: then they determine your level of disability. So I never
27:34
Speaker 2: said I mean, it wasn't a choice that I made. Right.
27:36
Speaker 2: So when they looked at the evidence and they looked
27:38
Speaker 2: at all the notes of me in treatment, they come
27:42
Speaker 2: to the conclusion that I was unemployable, that I was permanent,
27:45
Speaker 2: totally disabled. that I would never have any future exams
27:50
Speaker 2: and that I was to try to enjoy my life
27:52
Speaker 2: the best I could is basically how that went. But
27:56
Speaker 2: that wasn't true because apparently total and permanent doesn't exist.
27:59
Speaker 2: And apparently when they tell you there's no future exams,
28:02
Speaker 2: that only applies to some people, not anybody who's exposing
28:06
Speaker 2: the truth, not anybody who's actually making a difference and
28:10
Speaker 2: helping veterans get better and is a threat to the establishment.
28:15
Speaker 2: When it becomes that, then there is future exams and
28:18
Speaker 2: all kinds of other what I call harassment and targeting
28:22
Speaker 2: and weaponization. And so, yeah, so it's the VA who
28:25
Speaker 2: determines your rate of disability.
28:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, you weren't doctor shopping. That's the point I'm trying
28:29
Speaker 3: to make. They determined that you were disabled, permanent disabled,
28:34
Speaker 3: and you could not work. And you start this and
28:37
Speaker 3: you're just trying to help other people. I'm just trying
28:40
Speaker 3: to help. You didn't take any money from them. They
28:42
Speaker 3: didn't pay even your gas money. And then you have
28:45
Speaker 3: a knock on your door. You end up being convicted.
28:48
Speaker 3: The jury convicts you and you're sentenced to six months.
28:51
Speaker 3: You also have to pay restitution because in a federal case,
28:55
Speaker 3: you have to pay restitution total. How much do you
28:58
Speaker 3: have to pay?
28:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's getting up there around $ 300, 000 at this point,
29:06
Speaker 2: which is an astronomical amount of money for me and
29:09
Speaker 2: my family. but really not a lot of money when
29:12
Speaker 2: you think of the government. But not only did I
29:15
Speaker 2: get sentenced to six months in prison, I also got
29:18
Speaker 2: sentenced to six months home confinement after prison, which is
29:22
Speaker 2: kind of currently what I'm on now. Of course, I
29:24
Speaker 2: have different levels of freedom to do different things, but
29:28
Speaker 2: it's still very much confinement. And then, yeah, I have
29:32
Speaker 2: the restitution piece, right? That's the money that the VA
29:38
Speaker 2: and the federal court says that they think that I
29:40
Speaker 2: owe the government.
29:41
Speaker 3: And when is that supposed to start? Let's start there,
29:44
Speaker 3: because this is an interesting part of the story here.
29:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the judge, when he makes the judgment, he
29:51
Speaker 2: sets and defers my restitution out until March 1 of
29:55
Speaker 2: 2028 at the amount of $ 100 a month.
29:59
Speaker 3: Okay, so in 2028, March 1st, 2028, you have to
30:05
Speaker 3: make your first payment of $ 100. And every month after that,
30:09
Speaker 3: you're going to be paying $ 100 on your way to
30:11
Speaker 3: paying off $ 300, 000. That is what the judge ordered when
30:16
Speaker 3: you were sentenced. Is that correct?
30:18
Speaker 2: Yes, sir. That's absolutely correct. But that is not what happened.
30:22
Speaker 3: Okay, tell us what happened.
30:24
Speaker 2: So while I'm in federal prison, I get a phone
30:27
Speaker 2: call from my wife. who says, you need to call
30:31
Speaker 2: the attorney. I call the attorney. The attorney tells me
30:34
Speaker 2: that the judge has ordered that I pay $ 52, 000 within
30:41
Speaker 2: three days. Now, keep in mind, I'm confined in a
30:44
Speaker 2: federal prison in Kentucky. I have no access to anything,
30:48
Speaker 2: barely the phone, right? And so I said, well, how
30:52
Speaker 2: am I supposed to do that from prison? Well, what
30:55
Speaker 2: they knew about me, Booker, is that But, you know,
30:59
Speaker 2: according to my history, in reality, I've been a real follower.
31:03
Speaker 2: And so what they knew that I would do, because
31:05
Speaker 2: I am compliant, is that I would ask my wife
31:11
Speaker 2: to figure out how to get the money to get
31:13
Speaker 2: to them in three days. But the problem with that
31:17
Speaker 2: is I wasn't supposed to pay any of that money.
31:20
Speaker 2: But not only that, now they're bringing my wife, who
31:23
Speaker 2: is not a co-defendant, who has no skin in the game,
31:26
Speaker 2: Now they're forcing her to do things that I believe
31:30
Speaker 2: is unconstitutional, but not even that. The money that they
31:33
Speaker 2: wanted to give come out of an account that is
31:37
Speaker 2: a joint account that her salary goes into. They didn't
31:41
Speaker 2: even allow us to divide assets or allow us to separate.
31:47
Speaker 1: Exactly.
31:49
Speaker 2: They simply didn't care. They've been very venomous about how
31:53
Speaker 2: they've approached this with me. You would think that I
31:55
Speaker 2: have done some horrific crime somewhere, and in reality, you know,
32:00
Speaker 2: we help people stay alive. Right.
32:02
Speaker 3: Jeremy, why did that judge make that determination to come
32:05
Speaker 3: after for $ 52, 000 right then?
32:07
Speaker 2: Well, that's still a question that we're trying to figure out.
32:11
Speaker 2: You know, somehow the prosecutors have been able to use
32:15
Speaker 2: a loophole in law um, to try to manipulate the
32:18
Speaker 2: statues in order to be able to take the money. And, and, and,
32:24
Speaker 2: and so that, that, you know, and they knew that
32:26
Speaker 2: I'd be in prison. I couldn't really fight it the
32:28
Speaker 2: way that I traditionally fight things and advocate. Um, and
32:32
Speaker 2: they just really took advantage of us in a vulnerable space. But,
32:36
Speaker 2: but since January of this year, we have given them $ 83, 000.
32:39
Speaker 2: I keep in mind, we're not supposed to pay anything
32:43
Speaker 2: until March 1st, 2028.
32:48
Speaker 3: So let's talk about your future. Let's talk about a
32:51
Speaker 3: pardon from President Donald Trump. He is one that was
32:55
Speaker 3: also weaponized and targeted by Fannie Willis, by Letitia James
33:01
Speaker 3: in New York, Jack Smith in Washington, D.C. and South Florida.
33:06
Speaker 3: He felt what the Biden Department of Justice could do.
33:11
Speaker 3: And I would think he would be sympathetic to your story.
33:14
Speaker 3: because you have sort of gone through the same thing.
33:17
Speaker 3: Where are you right now with that? I know that
33:20
Speaker 3: Attorney Ed Martin, who is part of the Department of Justice,
33:24
Speaker 3: appointed by Donald Trump, he has been involved in some
33:27
Speaker 3: of this case. Let's talk about that.
33:29
Speaker 2: Yes. So, you know, very quickly, we made the determination,
33:34
Speaker 2: speaking with a lot of prominent attorneys in the United
33:37
Speaker 2: States about this case, that they, number one, There's not
33:41
Speaker 2: another case like it. I think that's important to point
33:45
Speaker 2: out the way the details are in this case. This
33:48
Speaker 2: is usually an administrative action. If the VA thinks you're
33:50
Speaker 2: getting better, well, then they just do it administratively. It's
33:53
Speaker 2: not criminal proceedings. So I have attorneys who have experience
34:01
Speaker 2: with pardons and clemency who have presented my case before
34:07
Speaker 2: Ed Martin in Washington, D.C., and it was very clear
34:12
Speaker 2: after that meeting that it was considered weaponization at its finest.
34:17
Speaker 2: And in fact, this case is an ideal case For
34:22
Speaker 2: a pardon, and that's not just my opinion as a
34:26
Speaker 2: person involved here. This is the opinion of many lawyers,
34:31
Speaker 2: some who have been appointed, has worked with Trump in
34:34
Speaker 2: cases that he's been dealing with in New York and
34:37
Speaker 2: have reviewed this, who have said that if there's any
34:40
Speaker 2: case that should be pardoned, this one's won. And so,
34:45
Speaker 2: you know, the case has been presented to Mr. Martin.
34:48
Speaker 2: It's been presented to the pardon czar, who is Alice
34:51
Speaker 2: Marie Johnson, and it has been sent to White House counsel.
34:56
Speaker 2: We have also had assistance from Senator Rand Paul's office.
35:02
Speaker 2: We have done a lot in Kentucky together. He's been
35:04
Speaker 2: an avid supporter of our programs and has been present
35:08
Speaker 2: at a lot of our events. He also understands exactly
35:11
Speaker 2: what I do and why I do it. And so
35:15
Speaker 2: at this point, it's a waiting game. We're hoping that
35:19
Speaker 2: whenever the president decides to do more pardons, that my
35:22
Speaker 2: name will be at the top of that list.
35:24
Speaker 3: Did Ed Martin send a letter to the U.S. attorney
35:29
Speaker 3: in Kentucky and ask him why he prosecuted you like
35:33
Speaker 3: he did?
35:34
Speaker 2: So what happened, according to my attorneys, is that once
35:37
Speaker 2: they presented the case, Ed said that he wanted a
35:41
Speaker 2: statement from the He actually tasked them to get a
35:45
Speaker 2: statement from the Eastern District of Kentucky on why they
35:52
Speaker 2: charged and what they thought about me potentially getting clemency,
35:55
Speaker 2: because apparently there's a formal rule where they get their
35:59
Speaker 2: say right in how it goes. And so my attorneys
36:03
Speaker 2: sent an email to those prosecutors in the Eastern District
36:06
Speaker 2: of Kentucky, and they were not happy to receive notice
36:11
Speaker 2: that my case had been presented. in front of Mr.
36:14
Speaker 2: Martin and that he was requesting that they send him
36:17
Speaker 2: additional documents about the case, an explanation about the case.
36:23
Speaker 2: And so they sent that form directly to the Office
36:26
Speaker 2: of Pardoned Attorney. And so from my understanding, they did
36:29
Speaker 2: receive that at the Office of Pardoned Attorney and that
36:32
Speaker 2: that part is considered closed. But my lawyers did call
36:36
Speaker 2: and say that in the many, many years they've been
36:38
Speaker 2: doing this, that they haven't seen prosecutors be so angry
36:43
Speaker 2: And it seems so personal.
36:46
Speaker 3: This was back in June, correct? When Ed Martin sent
36:50
Speaker 3: that letter to the people in Kentucky, the prosecutors in
36:53
Speaker 3: the U.S. Attorney's Office. Is that correct?
36:56
Speaker 2: Yes.
36:57
Speaker 3: So that was June.
36:57
Speaker 2: June, July.
36:58
Speaker 3: Yeah. And then did you have a garnishment in your
37:01
Speaker 3: bank account as a result of that?
37:06
Speaker 2: So that's another one of those million-dollar questions, right? So
37:09
Speaker 2: not only did that occur... But everything was very quiet
37:13
Speaker 2: once I was released from prison. A key part of
37:16
Speaker 2: this story is that, in reality, I was detained nine
37:21
Speaker 2: days longer than I was supposed to. And so Savannah Chrisley,
37:25
Speaker 2: who you may know from her family just being pardoned,
37:29
Speaker 2: and the director of the BOP, Billy Marshall, they caught
37:33
Speaker 2: wind of that and advocated for my release immediately. And
37:38
Speaker 2: I actually got a call from the Bureau of Prisons
37:41
Speaker 2: Director Billy Marshall personally about the fact that they kept
37:45
Speaker 2: me too long.
37:47
Speaker 4: Right.
37:47
Speaker 2: And so I didn't hear anything from prosecutors until I
37:52
Speaker 2: got notice that there's a law firm in D.C. called
37:55
Speaker 2: Paul Weiss Law. And it's very familiar. It's been in
37:59
Speaker 2: the news recently where they have promised the Trump administration
38:04
Speaker 2: $ 40 million in pro bono attorney work for causes that
38:08
Speaker 2: the administration supports because of a little feud they had.
38:12
Speaker 2: I'm not too familiar with it, but I know that
38:16
Speaker 2: they kind of owe this work to the Trump administration.
38:19
Speaker 2: They got on the case for an appeal. for the money,
38:24
Speaker 2: the restitution. And so when they got noticed that this
38:28
Speaker 2: law firm, it's a very powerful law firm, was on
38:31
Speaker 2: the case, they started the collection actions immediately and it
38:35
Speaker 2: almost appears as if they just want to try to
38:38
Speaker 2: get what they can while they can yeah i think
38:40
Speaker 2: there's a there's a fear there that that this that
38:43
Speaker 2: i may in fact receive a pardon and i may
38:45
Speaker 2: in fact receive relief on these garnishments and these um
38:49
Speaker 2: these financial uh penalties and so you know they just
38:53
Speaker 2: kind of they're throwing things at the wall to see
38:55
Speaker 2: what sticks Well.
38:56
Speaker 3: Jeremy, it's a hell of a story, I tell you.
39:00
Speaker 3: I want to thank Robin, too. She's part of the
39:02
Speaker 3: America Out Loud team, and she sent me your information
39:06
Speaker 3: and said, this is really a sad story. It made
39:08
Speaker 3: me cry. Maybe you want to look into it. I'm
39:10
Speaker 3: glad I did. I hope things start going in the
39:14
Speaker 3: right direction for you now. I know it's been a
39:16
Speaker 3: tough couple of years, but you've made it through it.
39:19
Speaker 3: So I know you're still working on yourself, and God
39:22
Speaker 3: bless you for that. And Thank you so much for
39:24
Speaker 3: your service as well. And thank you for coming on
39:26
Speaker 3: the show and telling us your story here tonight.
39:28
Speaker 2: It's my pleasure. thanks for having me and I pray
39:31
Speaker 2: that this doesn't happen to anyone else but the reality
39:34
Speaker 2: is I've learned that the government can pretty much do
39:36
Speaker 2: what they want and that's a very scary thing as
39:38
Speaker 2: an American.
39:39
Speaker 3: Amen brother. Is there anything else we can do for you?
39:42
Speaker 3: Do you have a website or anything? What about the
39:44
Speaker 3: Veterans Club? Do you want to put a plug in
39:46
Speaker 3: for the Veterans Club while you're here? I know we've
39:48
Speaker 3: talked about it but Is there a website?
39:51
Speaker 2: Yes, I would love that. For anybody interested in being
39:55
Speaker 2: a part and getting involved, whether it's financially or volunteering,
39:59
Speaker 2: we always need help. Most nonprofits do. Our website is veteransclubinc.org.
40:05
Speaker 2: dot org so it's veterans club inc dot org and
40:10
Speaker 2: you can learn more about our mission and what we
40:11
Speaker 2: do and of course you can follow us on on
40:14
Speaker 2: social media as well um we'd love for you to
40:16
Speaker 2: be a part you don't have to be a veteran
40:18
Speaker 2: to serve with us um we just ask that you
40:20
Speaker 2: love them and then uh and then we'd appreciate any
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Speaker 2: kind of help that you'd like to give but uh
40:25
Speaker 2: but very thankful for the opportunity to share this story
40:28
Speaker 2: And the reality is if they do this to me successfully,
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Speaker 2: they'll do it to other veterans. And then who's going
40:33
Speaker 2: to do the heavy lifting out there in the nonprofit realm?
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Speaker 3: That's right.
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Speaker 2: It's a scary thing.
40:37
Speaker 3: His name is Jeremy Harrell. Go to that website. Support them.
40:41
Speaker 3: Support their work. Jeremy, thank you so much. Hang in there.
40:44
Speaker 3: Good luck to you.
40:45
Speaker 2: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
40:47
Speaker 3: And don't forget that you were told. I'm Booker Scott,
40:51
Speaker 3: and thank you so much for listening to The Truth
40:53
Speaker 3: Be Told on America Out Loud tonight. Coming up next,
40:56
Speaker 3: it is Unleash the Political News Hour. And don't forget,
40:59
Speaker 3: you were told 2,000 years ago that you are the
41:02
Speaker 3: salt of the earth. And salt without flavor, it has
41:04
Speaker 3: no value. So whatever you do, keep being salty. Have
41:08
Speaker 3: a great night.
41:09
Speaker 1: There is only one truth. You've been listening to The
41:12
Speaker 1: Truth Be Told with Booker Scott on America Out Loud.