The Shocking Truth About David Farrier

****PSA: Remember, if you want to browse the six-year**** _****Webworm****_****archive, make changes to your account, or see the photos in this newsletter in high res**** _****- Webworm****_****has a website!**** www.webworm.co Hi, It's taken a long time, but I've had my first OIA request! Jump To Comments That is, someone has summoned the powers of the "Official Information Act 1982", writing to the New Zealand Film Commission to ask how much taxpayer money I've gotten for my various projects. * * * * * * The OIA Act is a really good thing – it lets the public (including journalists like me) get access to information held by various government bodies. It helps keep those departments that diddle with our taxpayer money accountable. In the USA they call it a FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act. In regards to me, the request was simple: > **"Any and all correspondence regarding David Andrew Farrier & any applications he has been awarded by the NZFC."** Reading between the lines, someone wants this information so they can go, _"Look at this terrible person who is using YOUR money to make this CRAP. This terrible Webworm hack who calls himself a JOURNALIST is literally making millions off your TAX MONEY what a JOKE."_ Who made the request? Writing _Webworm_ over the last six years, I've collected the most _boring_ rogues gallery of all time, for the world's _worst_ Marvel film: Andrew Thorn? Anna Wilding? James Sved? Sean Plunket? Michael Organ? Anyone from Tickled? Dr Dan? The Hare Krishna who called me "c– t face"? I guess we'll see. __Can you guess these Webworm stars?__ Two things jumped out immediately about the request that were quite funny. First, whoever made it used my full name _(am I in trouble with mother? Are there other David Farrier's in New Zealand?!)_ and, well, the second observation I am going to leave to after the paywall, because my guess is the person who made the OIA request is probably reading this, and they're not getting my advice for free. The New Zealand Film Commission told me their deadline for releasing this Watergate-level funding information was August 7. * * * * * * I replied saying, _"This is all fine with me! Thanks for letting me know"._ Then I figured... **_why not just release this information myself?_** It's kinda interesting. You may have thoughts on it. Plus, I like that whoever requested this information will have to become a paying _Webworm_ subscriber to get it before August 7. So here comes the paywall – where, below, you can find out what David Andrew Farrier has cunningly extracted from the New Zealand Film Commission _(plus I'm announcing two Webworm live events in New York and New Zealand, and have a few reflections on Jamie Lockett – the foul-mouthed, cop hating karate-enthusiast from Mister Organ who passed away last week)._ __Jamie Lockett in a deleted scene from Mister Organ (__ you can view the scene here__)__ ****If you're a paid up**** _****Webworm****_****supporter, you will be able to keep reading below.**** ****If you're a paid up member and you**** _****can't****_****keep reading, something has gone wonky with your paid account. Email me and I will sort you out:****_****davidfarrier@protonmail.com****_ ## What Funding I've Received (And What I Did With It): ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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"But..."

Hi, I think it's fair to say I get pretty worked up when people in a position of weakness are punished, or killed, by the powerful. It's why _Webworm_ writes about the genocide in Gaza, reports on the Kiwi courtroom turning the concept of punishment on its head, and bases itself outside a Missouri prison as an innocent man is executed. Jump To Comments I think most of you are with me on this. Just reading your comments after my piece Madison reminds me of this: Police kill a black man who is escaping on his bike, and the _Webworm_ comments section fills up with dialogue like this: > _"The killing of Corey Ruiz in these circumstances is unconscionable. Why aren’t the police trained to de-escalate situations? What does it even mean that he was 'checking out parked cars'? Is thinking about stealing something a reason to kick, taser and shoot someone?" > **-Diane**_ > _"As a Brit, people tend to relate our issues with knife crime to the gun crime crisis in the USA. This is undeniable proof that the US has a completely unique issue with guns because it’s so ingrained in their culture. We certainly have issues with stabbings, but you’d never catch a police officer wielding a knife, let alone shoot down someone in the street (most officers don’t carry guns here)." > **-Alfie**_ > _"There's something so awful in how routine this all has become. In knowing how so many white conservatives are going to explain in great detail why Corey had to die, and if he had just complied and so on and so on. The news media will treat it as a debate, as if it's a totally reasonable position worth hearing, because this is all just content to them. The Democrats will offer statements, maybe even outrage, but won't actually do anything because they're afraid of being seen as 'soft on crime'. There will be an investigation, but in the end none of the officers involved will be held accountable." > **-Joe**_ Those comments all seems super-reasonable to me, and as I stayed in Madison – talking to people and watching the memorial site grow with flowers and candles – the sentiment was repeated around me. As the city continued to keep the surrounding roads closed, it was hard not to notice the cross formed on Google Maps. But – and we'll get to that word, _but_ – the dialogue online was very different. * * * The fact that humans went out en masse to immediately _justify_ the death of another human – especially a body that is not covered in white skin and homeless – is on one level totally unsurprising. On another, I still find it shocking. For some context, two key things happened around this case that were quickly seized upon to justify what had happened to Corey. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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Three Shots In Madison

I appreciate you reading about Webworm's day in court last week. Your feedback has been overwhelming and appreciated. To all who read through to the twist at the end: __You're real ones.__ Hi, It's 2.09am, and I'm sending out this missive from Madison, Wisconsin – where early this afternoon, police decided to shoot a black man in the head three times. I was working on another story in another city, but it seemed important to be here. So I started driving. Jump To Comments Corey Ruiz – we know his name now – was suspected of checking out parked cars. He fled on a bike, and when police caught up with him he was suddenly on the ground. He produced a knife, and was kicked, tased, and then shot three times in rapid succession. It was broad daylight at a busy intersection, all captured on video that quickly spread around social media. You can hear locals screaming in disgust. It's lucky some of them decided to record, because the police in Madison don't wear body cams. __Someone started filming as Ruiz was taken to the ground by police.__ The scenes tonight were strange, because I felt like I was back in Minneapolis watching candles burn for Alex Pretti. The buildings were made of the same brick, and in the haze of a very long day I forgot where I was for a moment. Madison, Minneapolis – they both had people forming a circle around the spot where a life was lost. Signs; flowers; a loudspeaker passed from person to person. Like in Minneapolis with George Floyd, there's history here, too. A man next to me explains that back in 2015, police killed another black man on this very same street. Tony Robinson was having a mental health crisis and was unarmed. _Armed, unarmed – words used to justify who it's OK to kill, and who we leave be._ Three years before _that_ , Madison police killed 30-year-old musician Paul Heenan in a nearby parking lot. That was three rapid gunshots, too. Three deaths, by police, _all right here._ I'm a little lost for words, so I'll leave you with some photos I took. Things were peaceful when I left. People were seething, but nothing was on fire. Daylight will reveal how a busy city deals with the gravesite in the near-middle of an intersection. There's a vigil planned for 5pm; I can only imagine the anger will grow. As it should. _David._ 1am, Madison, Wisconsin.

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Webworm Wins in US Court

Hi, American James Sved and his New Zealand wife Anna Wilding have lost their case against _Webworm_ in court. They are both, I would argue, massive losers. Now onto how my day in court went down – a fascinating, weird experience, all par for the course when it comes to Anna Wilding and James Sved. Oh, and it has a twist at the end. Jump To Comments ****Thank you for choosing to support**** _****Webworm****_****financially. Without you, a case like this could mean the end for this project.**** ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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My Documentary Updates!

Hi, The stories you left under _Webworm_ 's Sam Neill tribute were incredible. Some of you had a specific memory of a favourite film or TV show, and a bunch of you even met the guy. He sounded fucking _lovely_. There was plenty of reflection in the comments, too. Siobhan's has stuck in my brain: > "When my father died, I struggled with the fact that he was one of the good ones. That the world was a worse place without him in it, and yet nobody knew. Everyone carried on about their day like the world wasn’t a little bit worse than it had been before. This celebrity death hit me harder than most, but it warms me to know that Sam Neill’s children won’t have that experience. Everyone knows, he was so loved." I encourage you to read through all the comments. As per usual, _Webworm_ has the best comments section on the internet. Today, I wanted to share a few documentary updates – including a weird new documentary I'm an executive producer on. I also have some _Tickled_ news (it's been 10 years!) and wanted to talk about meeting the godfather of podcasting – and notorious grump – Marc Maron. I'm happy to take any questions in the comments about all this stuff, and anything else in documentary-land that's on your mind. Even _"Where is Dark Tourist Season Two?"_ Jump To Comments * * * ## The New Doc I'm Involved With A few years ago, I was contacted by Giant Pictures, the outfit that helped fund and release Mister Organ_._ They had a new documentary in development called "Mockbuster" – the brainchild of Anthony Frith, a first time documentary-maker from Australia. They asked if I would be an executive producer. It was a no-brainer. I said yes. The premise had me hooked: Frith was a failed filmmaker (well, failed in that his film-making dreams were not coming true). He'd resorted to cold-emailing The Asylum, the LA based production house behind notorious knock-off movies like _Sharknado_. If you're unfamiliar with _Sharknado_ , it's about a tornado that picks up a bunch of sharks and launches them – from the air – into Los Angeles. Until _Sharknado_ , sharks had largely been confined to the water in horror and action films. Now they were airborne. Sharknado ( _Sharknado_ came out in 2013, but The Asylum had already been at it for 16 years – making as many films as they could for the least amount of money possible. A big part of their business plan relied on mimicking other films – in both title and subject – so people would accidentally purchase them, thinking they were something else. Instead of _The Da Vinci Code_ , we got _The Da Vinci Treasure._ Instead of _Transformers_ , _Transmorphers._ The day before Steven Spielberg's _War of the Worlds_ came out, they released their own shitty version. The Asylum particularly enjoys dining out on _already_ schlocky movies – so when _Snakes on a Plane_ was released, The Asylum had _Snakes on a Train_. When Roland Emmerich's _Moonfall_ came out in 2022, The Asylum was there not just with _Meteor Moon_ , but with _Moon Crash_ and _Shark Side of the Moon_ as well. With all this in mind, Anthony Frith emailed them asking to direct their next "mockbuster". They said yes. Like many __Webworm__ newsletters: This one is for paid members only. I have to paywall some stuff, so __Webworm__ can survive. There are no ads here, and it 100% survives on its paying audience - so I can pay writers, cover legal fees, and all that fun stuff. ****Thank you.**** Paying members also mean I can keep all my public interest journalism (megachurches, ICE etc) entirely un-paywalled and available for all. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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Sam Neill Was One Of The Good Ones

Hi, Sam Neill has passed away, and it sucks. Jump To Comments It sucks because Sam was one of the good ones. I knew this fact in my bones when I went to the movies for the first time in my life. It was 1993, I was 13, and we all know the film. The wonder and _awe_ that Neill portrayed in _Jurassic Park_ has never, ever left me. I try to hold onto that feeling in this life, even in the bad bits. This is how I will always remember Sam Neill. It strikes me that his passing also comes at a strange time, because we seem to be collectively thinking about and analysing death a lot lately – to the point where we're questioning which deaths are real, and which ones are not. Every social media network is currently packed with people obsessively discussing the state of Mitch McConnell – a recent photo released after the senator "fell" has him looking more perky, alert and young __ than we've seen him in years. In a timeline where AI photos and videos are practically indistinguishable from reality (and Trump has made lying his entire personality) I'm not surprised at the debate. And while many waited over the last few weeks for what felt like the impending news of McConnell's death, the seemingly healthy senator Lindsay Graham up and died himself. Graham was a big supporter of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, and a huge critic of LGBTQ+ rights. Upon hearing of Graham's death, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him a _"Great American patriot"._ I had other thoughts. To be clear – this _isn't_ the equivalent of wishing for someone's death. Rather, my genuine belief that the world at large is a better place with Lindsey Graham no longer in it. It's definitely better if you're Palestinian, or part of the LGBTQ+ community. Amusingly Zuru's Nick Mowbray saw my post about McConnell (who he appears to be a fan of – my essay "Shitheads Attract Other Shitheads" comes to mind) and decided to reply – seemingly puzzled at why my post had popped up on his feed. Now I'm no detective, but I pointed out that maybe _– just maybe –_ it was because he followed me. * * * If it feels like pollution or bad taste __ to be talking about Nick Mowbray, Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham in the same breath as Sam Neill – _it's because it is_. It's really fucking poor form from me. And that's sort of my point. Because Sam is not like the others. I know – _I think we probably all do_ – that Sam was one of the good ones. Because while people talk shit about McConnell and fight about AI and reality, everyone else is talking about what a _real_ _one_ Sam Neill was. Actors, directors, friends, family, fans: No one has a bad word to say. While the celebrity of it all plays into things, I think there are much bigger factors. He demonstrated a gentle type of masculinity that shone bright over the Tates and Claviculars, the Brad Pitts and Leonardo DiCaprios. He cared about other people, and the natural world around him. He wasn't at Bezos' wedding. Just months ago, he was fighting back against mining in Aotearoa. He loved his animals. Like many New Zealanders, I was fortunate to run to Sam Neill a few times. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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Can Everyone Please Stop Suing Me

_****If you want to get in touch about Andrew Thorn, or any other stories, you can reach me in confidence at:****___****davidfarrier@protonmail.com****__ Hi, Over the last six years on _Webworm_ , I have developed a working theory that shitheads tend to attract other shitheads. I felt this strongly in the leadup to the release of _Mister Organ_. As Organ took me to court in an attempt to stop my documentary’s release, Sean Plunket appeared like a wet fart. More recently, after writing about Anna Wilding’s failed run for congress, her husband James Sved popped up like a fresh pimple – taking me to court and calling the American cops on me. Now, a new legal threat... from an old _Webworm_ nemesis. Jump To Comments * * * Maybe it’s a co-incidence, but five days after I first wrote about James Sved and Anna Wilding’s legal threats, Andrew Thorn appeared with threats of his own. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, I’m not surprised. I last wrote about Thorn in 2020, not long after I’d launched _Webworm_. Back then, I wrote about a chaotic “$100,000 money drop” that went feral, and how Thorn had allegedly tried to run a business colleague over with his car. __Andrew Thorn in court in 2017, pleading guilty to dangerous driving after allegedly trying to drive into a woman.__ I wrote those pieces in a much looser way than I write today, but I stand by my words. I followed that up with a Part 2, looking at Thorn’s colourful and questionable history as a music promoter. That story included a line from Thorn that I still giggle at sometimes: _"_ We do a lot, per se, in the shadows._"_ My reporting six years ago ended with him sending me this DM: * * * Things went quiet for six years, until I started writing about Wilding’s legal threats in March. Suddenly, Thorn appeared out of the blue – asking for an address where he could serve me legal documents. For some reason he thought I lived in New Zealand (does he not listen to _Flightless Bird?_), listing the address of a house I’d once rented in Auckland. That was on March 30. I didn’t reply, because there was no point. About a month later – a new email: It’s a weird one. Usually people send cease and desists to _Webworm_ – like Dr Dan in 2021, who was posting about "alternative" Covid treatments including hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin and hydrogen peroxide. But in this case, Thorn was telling me that if I did not magic up a lawyer for him to serve papers to, he would do some _“advertising in New Zealand”_ and seek an alternative way to serve me legal documents. I have no idea what he’s angry about – six years on – but I’m curious. Whether this was triggered by me writing about someone else’s legal threats, I don’t know. But in my theory of shitheads attracting other shitheads, I can’t help but wonder. And if any shitheads happen to be reading this – I implore you to read about the “Streisand Effect”. Like, for your own good. I interviewed the man who coined the term 20 years ago, and it would be super helpful for you to grasp the concept. As for what else Thorn is up to? He currently calls himself a _"serial entrepreneur and founder"_ on social media, and is listed as the director at Caelum Technologies ("building the next generation of AI-Native systems"). * * * There are so many weird things that happen in the background of _Webworm_ – so many time-sucks I never banked on when I started this thing – that I wanted to let you in on this one. I’m curious to hear about the shitheads in your life. We all have them, in various ways. **Tell me about yours**. Jump To Comments Thanks for being here. Stay sane and stay safe, _David._ _****If you haven't had the chance already, please login at****_ www.webworm.co_****, just to check all your account details are up to date.****_ * * * ## **Further Reading on Andrew Thorn:** ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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The Truth of Neil The Seal

Hi, A quick PSA to begin. Jump To Comments Last month I sent out “The State of Webworm” about, well, the state of _Webworm_. Since April I’d noticed a trend of people leaving _Webworm_ , and wanted to communicate that to you. You invest in this place and my work _(some for you for the last six years!)_ , and I like to keep you across how things are going. Well, a bunch of you were super wonderful and logged into your account at www.webworm.co and made sure your details were up to date – and it has helped! Some you discovered you'd accidentally stopped paying and had been downgraded to a free account. Some of you even upgraded to a gold plan! _Thank you._ This all helps so, so much. Membership is back to healthy levels. **THANK YOU.** * * * As I noted in the comments section of my last piece, I am back in the United States. In truly surreal fashion, Everlee and her mum were messaging me as I went through customs at LAX, the place Everlee had been snatched by ICE. There was a nervous moment where the customs agent’s eyes kept moving between my US visa and his computer screen… my US visa and his computer screen… before I was finally told “Okay”. The relief was palpable. Last night was July 4: America’s 250th birthday. The United States doesn’t feel like a place to celebrate right now, so I kept it pretty low key. Some friends watched _Titanic_ in their backyard, and amusing headlines flew in. I thought it was appropriate that a headline reading _“Trump Speaks”_ was accompanied by a giant apocalyptic storm cloud and a bolt of lightning. __Left: The perfect photo to go with the headline. Right: A NY landmark briefly catches fire.__ And somewhere in all of this, I got to thinking about Neil the Seal. * * * If you’ve somehow missed the latest viral animal phenomenon (Punch feels like a year ago; Moo Deng _at least_ a decade), a large elephant seal called “Neil” is wreaking havoc in southern Tasmania. Neil is perfect internet fodder: A strange but cute brute that looks good on camera, and who happens to emerge from the waters once a year to destroy as many man-made objects as possible. And while technically a danger to humans, he moves so slowly (or sleeps) that people feel empowered to get close enough to film. Born in 2020, the endangered southern elephant seal got famous as a two year-old, after coming to ground in Tasmania. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment carefully placed road cones around him, to keep the public away. He promptly destroyed them. Someone snapped a photo and nicknamed him Neil. More locals arrived, and the legend grew. So did Neil: Currently weighing just over a tonne, his kind can reach quadruple that. This is Neil’s 12th trip — elephant seals returning several times a year to the place they were born. This year his fame has reached critical mass. His specific location has gone very public, and tourists are flooding in. Reels of Neil are getting hundreds of millions of views on social media, and the world’s press are beginning to cover him with the same unhinged enthusiasm they showed Punch and Moo Deng. A storyline is beginning to emerge covering his weight, latest location, and proximity to humans and cars. While humans secretly love to click on horrific headlines as much as they love craning their necks to leer at a car crash – they also need escapism. And funny animal videos will always be it. But what caught my attention today was the _context_. I’ve been laughing along at Neil as he fights with nearly anything vertical in front of him. Fence posts are destroyed, and cars are on the menu. Neil throws his one-tonne weight against anything he wants, and Neil usually wins. But the “why” of all this is kind of bleak: Neil is fucking lonely. He’s the only seal in the village, because all the other elephant seals are thousands of kilometres south on islands like Macquarie._“Neil was born in Tasmania, near Hobart, and he thinks that’s where home is because he doesn’t know where Macquarie Island is. And he doesn’t have a map,”_ an elephant seal expert told __ The Guardian. Why he was born so far from home is a bit of a mystery – and now he’s stuck there. __Top left: Neil's home. Bottom right: Where Neil should have been born. For him, it might as well be the moon. Tasmania is home for him, and that will never change.__ His hilarious antics of crashing into posts, fences and cars become less cute when you realise he’d usually be playing and sparring with other elephant seals. The big dude just wants to feel the pressure of leaning against another 1-tonne creature, squished together and stimming with his own kind. Instead of that, Neil has road cones. And with a growing crowd of humans around him – _currently keeping a respectful distance_ – is the risk that someone does something stupid, gets too close, and Neil has to defend himself. Like the constant examples of bears in the United States, the word “euthanasia” has started to be flung about. * * * I didn’t mean to bring you down – and so far, I guess Neil is happy enough. But it got me thinking about how important _context_ is to our understanding of the world around us. Context that is increasingly being lost, especially in this age of AI summaries lording over your latest Google query. When talking about the importance of context, the kids-shitting-in-kitty-litter trays myth comes to mind (part 1, and part 2): Parents panicking their kids are identifying as cats, when the context shows it’s essentially nothing more than a meme from the anti-trans movement. And so I’m trying to get better at stepping back to _try_ and understand the bigger picture of why Donald Trump is still in power, and why on July 4, 2026 we have a single black woman surrounded by Nazis on a DC bus. To understand why more and more people are living unhoused in places like New Zealand, and why every government in Aotearoa refuses to tackle child poverty. __Photo: Cheney Orr for Reuters__ _Webworm_ always tries to keep a larger context in sight – this essay on understanding how Evangelicalism is not just a religion, but a parallel culture comes to mind. I’d like to do a bit more of that this year – _the bigger context_ – as well as the hyper-focussed, obsessive pieces that often live on _Webworm_ (that also come, I hope, with some context). Okay, let’s all go back and return to watching Neil the Seal videos – trying to block out the fact we’re watching an incredibly lonely elephant seal spiral into madness. _David._ Jump To Comments PS: I was in Tasmania just a few weeks ago, and missed Neil beaching himself. So here are a few other photos of some Tasmanian wildlife. Enjoy: ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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Back Into The Fray

Hi, I'm tapping this missive out from Auckland airport in Aotearoa, New Zealand – preparing to board a plane to head back to Los Angeles. Jump To Comments Under my clothing, a series of cell numbers scrawled in vivid across my left thigh: My lawyer, my immigration attorney, some people dear to me. I'd commit them to memory, but my memory is shit _(remember the time I_ didn't remember meeting Rob Schneider_?)._ The numbers are there in case I draw the short straw and ICE steps in. I'm white, so they likely won't – but in the USA in 2026, why take any chances? Call me Wentworth Miller in _Prison Break_ , my method of escape inked into my body. __If you didn't watch the genius that is Prison Break, it involves Wentworth Miller's character breaking into a prison, in order to break his brother out - via the prison's map, hidden in his full body tattoo. What a plot! Three seasons of chaos!__ Jokes aside, I'm aware ICE photographed me while I was reporting in Minneapolis and have little doubt mad dogs Anna Wilding and James Sved have made the Department of Homeland Security aware of my movements – much like New Zealand's Sean Plunket did last year. As far as I can tell, the way ICE deals with this stuff is a _lottery_. So who knows. ****Remember, if you are paying**** _****Webworm****_****member you have access to the comments section, and can email me directly for tech support, or with any questions you have.**** ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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Everlee Is Free

****Thankyou,****_****Webworm****_****subscriber, for making this reporting on Everlee Wihongi possible. Please share this story far and wide:**** webworm.co/everleeisfree Hi, Everlee is free. She has finally walked out of the Eloy detention centre in Arizona – 70 days after being kidnapped by ICE. She will be reunited with her mother Betty and other family members shortly. Jump To Comments After two months of messing around – including the yesterday's depressing update – things moved suddenly. At 4.30pm Arizona time on June 17, a US Attorney for the Department of Homeland Security emailed Everlee's lawyer Marc Christopher: > _“The Government plans to file a motion to dismiss the above case without prejudice. I am writing to ask for your position on our planned motion. I intend to file the motion by Noon AZ time tomorrow.”_ The family's position was clear:_"Obviously he didn't oppose,"_ Everlee's mother Betty told _Webworm_. _"We were able to call Everlee and tell her and she is so pumped. This has been a roller coaster of emotions. Somehow in the past couple of hours with all the phone calls and stink we were kicking up this US Attorney received notification and now we are here."_ Everlee's lawyer Marc Christopher promptly submitted the motion to dismiss Everlee's case, and then it was a waiting game to get the judge's signature. _"I won’t believe that Everlee is out until she is actually outside the doors,"_ Betty told _Webworm_ yesterday. Then today – Friday – Everlee was suddenly marked "released" on ICE's database. This was unusual, as it appeared the judge had still not signed off. Chistopher texted Betty this explanation: > _"No order is in the system. However, ICE does have discretion to release her even without the judges order. So maybe they released her."_ It was an anxious time for Everlee's family, as they still hadn't heard from her directly: Her phone is off. Crickets. Just after 12pm Arizona time, the New Zealand consulate messaged Betty more encouraging news: > _Hi Betty, Everlee has been confirmed as released. I will give you a call when I have a bit more information, but I am working on it ASAP._ Then, moments ago, the consulate confirmed it. Betty just texted me this: > _"7am, dropped off at the International Welcome Center in Phoenix."_ That is where Everlee is: A welcome centre. Dropped back into society in the same messy way she was kidnapped: Information dribbling out in a truly maddening way. As I send this _Webworm_ , her family is en route. Thank you for following and caring about Everlee's story here on _Webworm_. Your support means the world. When the dust settles, I'll bring you a conversation with Everlee. But right now, I think she deserves some family time. She's been through a lot, and she has a lot to recover from. _David._ * * * ## **The Everlee Wihongi Series So Far:** **April 20:** When You're Daughter Is Kidnapped by ICE **April 25:** The ICE Detention Centre Housing Everlee Wihongi **April 28:** Everlee Will Remain Locked Up For Another Month **May 6:** Did Winston Peters Lie About Everlee? **May 10:** Everlee Has Disappeared **May 13:** Everlee Has Been Found in Arizona **May 28:** Everlee Update **June 7:** Story Updates: June 7 Edition **June 14:** Story Updates: From The June 12 Hearing **June 18:** ICE F**ks With Everlee (Again)

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ICE F**ks With Everlee (Again)

_****Because there are so many ongoing updates in Everlee's case, this post only appears online at www.webworm.co - it wasn't sent out as an email newsletter. Feel free to share this piece:****_ webworm.co/june18 Hi, Everlee Wihongi was due to appear in court today at 1pm. This did not happen. I'm just going to publish the update _Webworm_ received direct from Everlee's lawyer, Marc Christopher. It's pretty tough reading – especially where it ends. ## Everlee Update: June 18 * * * > "I wanted to provide everyone with an update regarding Everlee’s case and today’s scheduled hearing. Unfortunately, approximately 80 minutes before the hearing was set to begin, we received notice that the Immigration Court had continued the hearing until June 30, 2026. > > I want to be very direct: this is extremely frustrating and disappointing. > > Everlee has now been detained for more than two months. During that time, the government has continued to treat her as an “arriving alien,” yet DHS has still not produced the evidence necessary to establish that classification. Despite having ample time to do so, DHS has not submitted conviction records or other evidence that would support the position they are taking before the Court. > > This delay is especially troubling when viewed in the context of the procedural history of the case. > > As you know, the criminal conviction that formed the basis of the immigration case was successfully vacated in Wisconsin. The state court determined that the conviction should be withdrawn because of constitutional defects in the original plea process. Following that victory, we immediately moved to terminate the immigration proceedings. > > Rather than addressing those issues promptly, the case has become mired in delays. > > First, DHS transferred Everlee from the Adelanto Detention Facility in California to the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. Despite physically moving her to Arizona, the government allowed the case to remain assigned to the Adelanto Immigration Court for a month before taking steps to transfer venue. During that period, valuable time passed while Everlee remained detained. > > Second, when we appeared before the Court on June 12, significant concerns were raised regarding the government’s handling of the case. The Notice to Appear originally served on Everlee did not even contain the factual allegations and charges that would normally allow a respondent to understand the basis for the government’s claims. We had already filed a Motion to Terminate challenging those deficiencies, yet those issues remained unresolved. > > Now, after another two weeks have passed, today’s hearing has been continued to June 30. The practical result is that Everlee remains detained while the government continues to delay presenting evidence and while the Court continues to postpone resolution of issues that should have been addressed long ago. > > No one should remain incarcerated while the government takes months to determine where a case belongs, months to transfer venue after physically relocating a detainee, and months to produce evidence supporting the very allegations being used to justify detention. > > The immigration system often moves slowly, but there is a difference between ordinary delay and the type of delay we are seeing here. Every additional day of detention has a real human cost for Everlee and for her family. > > Despite today’s setback, we are continuing to challenge the government’s position. We will be prepared for the June 30 hearing and will continue pressing the Court and DHS regarding the government’s burden to establish that Everlee is properly classified as an arriving alien, as well as the effect of the vacated conviction and our pending arguments for termination. > > I know this news is incredibly disappointing. It certainly is for me. Please know that we remain fully engaged in the case and will continue fighting aggressively for Everlee’s release and for a fair resolution of these proceedings. > > I will provide another update as soon as we receive any additional information." * * * Just before publishing this update, another update from Everlee's lawyer: > Just got off the phone with Everlee doing all right. I spoke to her and she told me that they were on lockdown for the whole day and that the whole facility was locked down. > > She knocked on the window during the lockdown and the guards told her that there was going to be no court and that they were rescheduling for tomorrow and Friday – a total lie. * * * There have obviously been a lot of updates in Everlee's case over the last two months. I'm doing my best to keep across it all. I am not sending them all as emails, as there are too many – but they are all found at www.webworm.co. Thanks to all of you who subscribe and support my work here. Here are all of _Webworm_ 's pieces in order, to date: ## **The Everlee Wihongi Series So Far:** **April 20:** When You're Daughter Is Kidnapped by ICE **April 25:** The ICE Detention Centre Housing Everlee Wihongi **April 28:** Everlee Will Remain Locked Up For Another Month **May 6:** Did Winston Peters Lie About Everlee? **May 10:** Everlee Has Disappeared **May 13:** Everlee Has Been Found in Arizona **May 28:** Everlee Update **June 7:** Story Updates: June 7 Edition **June 14:** Story Updates: From The June 12 Hearing

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Everlee Update: June 1

Hi, I am on the road in Australia at the moment, but wanted to share this update from Everlee Wihongi's family about the hearing that happened on June 12. In short: ICE and the courts are messing with her, and she's not out yet. She will be – _she must be_ – but further works needs to be done by her legal team – and, you'd hope, by the New Zealand government. _David._ Jump To Comments * * * ## Update From The Wihongi Family RE: June 12 Hearing First, despite Everlee having been transferred from California to Arizona more than a month ago, her case had never been formally transferred to the proper Immigration Court. The Immigration Judge acknowledged that this should have been done much earlier and stated that the failure to transfer the case appeared to be the result of a clerical error. The Judge expressed frustration that the matter had not been handled properly and apologized to the parties for the delay. Second, the Notice to Appear (NTA) filed against Everlee on April 15, 2026 did not contain the specific legal charges explaining why the Department of Homeland Security believed she was inadmissible to the United States. Because of that defect, Attorney Christopher filed a Motion to Terminate Proceedings on May 1, 2026. The motion had never been addressed, and DHS had not amended the NTA or provided supporting records despite having more than forty days to do so. DHS attorney didn’t know why they didn’t respond to the motion other than to say perhaps someone assumed the case would be moved to AZ. During the hearing, DHS acknowledged that additional review of the case was necessary. The government attorney requested additional time to review Everlee’s record and indicated that DHS would need to supplement the file if the case could proceed further. The hearing also highlighted communication issues within the detention system. Although Everlee had a hearing scheduled in Adelanto, Arizona detention officials never informed her of the court date or arranged for her appearance by video. Fortunately, because no testimony was required and Attorney Christopher was present, her absence did not negatively affect the case. Attorney Christopher presented the Wisconsin court records showing that Everlee’s 2014 conviction had been vacated. The Immigration Judge acknowledged that it appeared that the conviction had, in fact, been vacated. Based on the records before him, the Judge noted that the original basis for the inadmissibility charge appeared to no longer exist. However, because DHS had not yet completed its review or formally amended the charging documents, the Judge did not make a final ruling on termination. The DHS attorney also referenced several other prior arrests and convictions appearing on Everlee’s criminal history. Attorney Christopher has already thoroughly reviewed those matters and, based on current immigration law, none appear to constitute grounds of inadmissibility. The vacated 2014 conviction remains the only offense that had previously served as the basis for DHS’s inadmissibility allegations. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Judge ordered the case transferred to the proper Immigration Court in Arizona. As of today, Everlee’s case is officially being moved to the Arizona court system, where it should have been pending all along. While today did not result in an immediate release order, the hearing exposed significant procedural problems in the government’s handling of the case and confirmed that the conviction originally relied upon by DHS has been vacated. We will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available.

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A Huge Win For Everlee

Hi, Finally I can bring you some great, amazing, wonderful news about Everlee Wihongi's case. As you will be aware, ICE kidnapped the New Zealander from LAX airport two months ago, on April 10. Jump To Comments A few hours ago, a judge in Wisconsin ruled that Everlee's 2014 marijuana charge has been vacated. Back in 2014 she made a plea deal, but her lawyer at the time had never warned her about the immigration consequences: That because marijuana is a controlled substance, it was an automatic deportation offense. Everlee had no idea about this, so she took the plea. Life went on for her – until, this year, it didn't. Having this charge from 12 years ago vacated is _huge_ , because it's the reason ICE kidnapped her (well that, and the racism). **ICE now has zero legal grounds to keep her detained.** __Everlee appearing via videolink from the Arizona ICE prison, to a courtroom in Wisconsin.__ * * * There is still work to be done. She's not out yet. Everlee's lawyer will now get the court order signed by the judge, and that then goes to the immigration court. Everlee has her immigration court hearing in three days' time, on June 12. Technically, Everlee may be free as early as next week. But ICE could also try and pull some shit. As I explained a few days ago, her case is being heard by a _California_ detention facility judge, because Everlee was detained in Los Angeles. But ICE moved Everlee to Arizona – and there's a chance the judge in California will go, _"I am not ruling on this case because it's in Arizona."_ Everlee and her team know the risks, and are taking a number of steps to mitigate this. And if things don't go Everlee's way, they have some other plans. I won't go into them here, for risk of compromising their case. But as of right now, as I send this missive, there is absolutely no justification for ICE to be holding Everlee Wihongi. _(Someone tell that to New Zealand's minister of foreign affairs Winston Peters, who has given exactly zero shits this entire time – never apologising for throwing Everlee under the bus by telling the media she'd lied on a form at LAX. As I reported back in May,_ there was no form_)._ _Webworm_ spoke to Everlee's mother Betty a few minutes ago, to ask that hack journalistic question of how she felt. In this case, it seems like a _very_ valid question: > "Just like wanting to cry, scream and howl at the moon all at once. An overwhelming sense of relief and joy." Us too, Betty. Us too. _David._ __You can control your whole Webworm account by logging in at__ www.webworm.co__- including changing your email address, account type, and updating your card details. There is also a__ FAQ page__about all things Webworm.__ ## **The Everlee Wihongi Series So Far:** **April 20:** When You're Daughter Is Kidnapped by ICE **April 25:** The ICE Detention Centre Housing Everlee Wihongi **April 28:** Everlee Will Remain Locked Up For Another Month **May 6:** Did Winston Peters Lie About Everlee? **May 10:** Everlee Has Disappeared **May 13:** Everlee Has Been Found in Arizona **May 28:** Everlee Update **June 7:** Story Updates: June 7 Edition __Spotted by a Webworm reader in Auckland, New Zealand.__

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May 28: Everlee Update

_****This post only appears online at www.webworm.co - it wasn't sent out as an email newsletter. To stay across Webworm though, make sure you are signed up.****_ Join Webworm Hi, Today, Everlee had her second attempt at getting in front of a judge in Wisconsin – appearing over video link from the Eloy Federal Contract Facility in Arizona. As you will recall, this was meant to happen a week ago, but the WiFi went down in the ICE facility (or so Everlee was told). This time, she did manage to appear. Today's hearing was to vacate her 2014 marijuana charge off her record – the thing ICE appears to be using to keep her detained. The grounds for vacating the charge is because of the shoddy representation she got from her attorney back then. _"Everlee shared her testimony and got questioned by the district attorney and killed it. She did a really good job,"_ her sister-in-law Courtney Wihongi says. _"This was really big getting her testimony and the questioning done and on the record."_ But there is still more to be done. The judge didn't make a decision because they want Michael Peterson, Everlee's old attorney from 2014, to give testimony. As you will recall, Peterson was disbarred for lying to clients, and forging a judge's signature. Still – the judge wants to hear from them. Everlee's current lawyer Marc Christopher did try and get in touch last week, but got no response. Today, the judge will issue a subpoena that Everlee's current legal team needs to _"exhaust all avenues"_ to get to her old, shitty lawyer. Then, on June 9, it's back to court in Wisconsin. Either the old lawyer will be present, or Everlee's team will show evidence that they _tried_ to get him as best they could. Not sure how much faith I have in a disbarred lawyer being findable or willing, but we'll see how it goes. __Everlee's 2014 lawyer: disbarred.__ Whatever the case, things will continue on June 9 – and the judge will make their decision on vacating a 14-year-old weed conviction that Everlee has already paid for. From there – there will be an immigration court hearing on June 12. Hopefully Everlee and her team have good news to take into that hearing. **_It's been 48 days since Everlee was taken by ICE at LAX airport on April 10._** _David._ * * * ## **The Everlee Wihongi Series So Far:** **April 20:** When You're Daughter Is Kidnapped by ICE **April 25:** The ICE Detention Centre Housing Everlee Wihongi **April 28:** Everlee Will Remain Locked Up For Another Month **May 6:** Did Winston Peters Lie About Everlee? **May 10:** Everlee Has Disappeared **May 13:** Everlee Has Been Found in Arizona **May 21:** Everlee Foiled By ICE, Again

webworm.co

Everlee Foiled By ICE, Again

All of __Webworm__ 's public interest journalism – including its reporting on Everlee Wihongi – is kept free of paywalls, and of advertising. This is made 100% possibly thanks to __Webworm__ 's paying members. If it causes you zero financial hardship, consider signing up. You can cancel anytime. Support Webworm Hi, Early this afternoon members of Everlee Wihongi's family met with her lawyer at the Fond du Lac County courthouse in Wisconsin, about an hour's drive northwest of Milwaukee. "_Fingers crossed that it goes well,"_ Everlee's mother Betty texted me. The hearing was due to take place at 1.30pm. Jump To Comments Everlee's lawyer, Marc Christopher, had one main aim today: To get Everlee's "marijuana possession" conviction from 2014 vacated. Without that historical conviction, Everlee goes free. That was the plan. Most of Christopher's argument revolves around Everlee's previous lawyer from 10 years ago giving bad advice, and being a terrible lawyer. As _Webworm_ reported on April 28, he was disbarred for lying to clients, and forging a judge's signature. Everlee's former lawyer (often a sweaty mess) never told his client that pleading guilty could cause problems with her with future immigration. Back in 2014, Everlee was under the impression that after admitting the charge, she would be punished – and life would go on. And for a decade, it had. She trained and became a successful welder. She got a partner. She got a dog. Everlee was also meant to be a key part of today's hearing. She had important points to make on the stand (in her case, "the stand" was calling in from the Eloy Federal Contract Facility, an ICE prison in Arizona) – about her previous case, and her life in the USA. Everlee didn't get to take the stand. As 1.3opm rolled around, Everlee couldn't call in. Magically, the WiFi in the ICE prison had ceased to work. As I've written about previously on _Webworm_ , ICE marches to the beat of a different drum. A key part of their M.O. is making sure those imprisoned don't get to meet with their lawyer easily, and in cases like today – don't get to take the stand in front of a judge in a different state. __Confusion in the hallway after Everlee couldn't Zoom in from the ICE detention facility.__ _Webworm_ talked to Everlee's sister-in-law Courtney Wihongi a short while ago. The family was trying to make sense of what had just happened. > _"It was a freaking crap show. We've been working for the past two weeks to try and get Everlee to be able to appear via Zoom. On Monday, we were guaranteed – between the New Zealand consulate, and our lawyer working with the facility – the facility guaranteed us that it would work out, and that Everlee would be able to appear via Zoom for the hearing today."_ Betty got a call from Everlee at 1.15pm, stating that the facility has no internet and she would not be able to appear via Zoom. "_I just knew. I thought something would happen,"_ Betty tells me. It was incredibly frustrating, as she was on the phone to her mother – who was inside the courthouse. However the judge wasn't content having Everlee on speaker, as it wouldn't suffice for the court stenographer. This is understandable. ICE's sudden lack of the internet is not. _"I'm just so irritated,"_ Betty tells me. * * * Everlee's hearing has been delayed until next Thursday. The only upside is that Everlee's lawyer has now met the DA, and they were able to have a conversation. Despite their frustration, Everlee's family – out in full force today – is quietly confident about next week. It's their only choice. It's been 41 days since Everlee was taken by ICE at LAX airport on April 10. She will remain at the Eloy Federal Contract Facility, a private prison operated by CoreCivic. It spans seven football fields and holds 1600 detainees. Betty recently relayed this story to _Webworm_ about Everlee's intake there: > Her intake group were told that they'd have to complete their intake by signing some forms, in a different block. > > Later that day, a male guard came and got them. He took them through the strip search section – which was a weird detour. There was a door that had _"Do Not Enter, Strip Search in Progress"_ as they walked by. They could see into the room, and there was a guard in the room pulling his pants up and doing up his belt. > > The other women asked why he was getting dressed in a strip search room. Their guard told them, _"Not to worry about it"._ > > They were then given forms, and they were told to sign where the guard had marked X's. The other ladies signed, but Everlee read it and told them she wasn't going to sign. She said they wanted her to sign off on handbook access – which she didn't get – and wanted her to sign a "refusal to pass info on in case of emergencies". That was another no. _Webworm_ will keep you updated with what happens next. _David._ * * * ## **The Everlee Wihongi Series So Far:** **April 20:** When You're Daughter Is Kidnapped by ICE **April 25:** The ICE Detention Centre Housing Everlee Wihongi **April 28:** Everlee Will Remain Locked Up For Another Month **May 6:** Did Winston Peters Lie About Everlee? **May 10:** Everlee Has Disappeared **May 13:** Everlee Has Been Found in Arizona

webworm.co

The Slapper Issues Legal Threats & Defends Slap

Hi, Thanks for reading my piece on Kyron Gosse, the New Zealand wealth and property coach who slapped a contractor on camera. And a huge thanks to Savannah for her openness and bravery in talking. I'm in touch with her, and she's doing okay. Jump To Comments I'm proud _Webworm_ got the story out before any mainstream press outlets, which followed up over the next few days: __New Zealand's major news outlets all followed up.__ To be clear, these outlets didn't steal _Webworm_ 's story – they all worked off the same video that had been posted online, and talked to the victim. Some of them had sharing arrangements, and re-shared each other's stories. But I do feel proud we went first _(I say "we" because Webworm has guest writers, smart colleagues behind the scenes, and a lawyer I consult with) –_ because _Webworm_ is nimble, and is willing to take risks that bigger newsrooms are sometimes hesitant to take. Basically, publishing a story like this comes with certain legal risks – so part of the reason mainstream newsrooms were slow to report this story is that they would have been waiting for their in-house legal counsel to go over everything. _Webworm_ isn't deranged – I have a lawyer I consult – but we move fast on things. We have a greater appetite for risk. And once our story was online, we'd essentially done what other newsrooms were perhaps hesitant to do, which made hitting "publish" for them less scary. I'd broken the seal. And yes – Kyron Gosse did issue legal threats. ## The Legal Threats Gosse largely ignored _Webworm_ 's specific questions, and came back with a blanket statement: > Hi David > > “Savannah is subject to a cease and desist letter for the breach of her obligations to our business, and for harassment and other statutory offenses. An injuction [SIC] application will be following given that Savannah is continuing with the prohibited conduct notwithstanding being reminded that this is illegal. You would be wise to seek legal advice before publishing any information obtained from Savannah as it may make your organization complicit in the conduct.” > > Kyron A few things to note. Firstly, in what I assume is supposed to be some kind of power move, he copied in a lawyer – Cockcroft d’Young Moorhouse's Iva Wright. Gosse also wrote the legal threat in quote marks, as if he was quoting – I assume – Iva Wright. But the threat is mostly garbage and spells "injunction" wrong – so I'm guessing it's just Gosse furiously typing. _Webworm_ received the _same_ exact response from the Wealth Mentor office (office@wealthmentor.co.nz), signed off as "Wealth Mentor". The questions _Webworm_ had posed were: > -Do you confirm that you slapped Savannah on the face? > -Why did you do this? > -Do you regret doing this? > -Have you reached out to Savannah since this incident took place, offering any kind of apology or next steps > -Have you slapped or physically connected with any other clients? ie is this common behaviour in your teachings? > -Is there anything else you would like _Webworm_ to be aware of? Without any real answers from Kyron, we have to look elsewhere. ## Kyron's Stance On The Slap While Kyron ignored _Webworm_ 's questions and fired off legal threats, behind the scenes he was explaining things to the Wealth Mentor group chat. _Webworm_ has viewed a message Gosse allegedly sent to group chat for Wealth Mentor members saying, _"There is a lot of context missing from what's being shared"_ and _"This is now a legal matter."_ He ends with, _"We'll keep doing what we do best."_ What that _is_ exactly is unclear. * * * In summary – I want to thank you for allowing me to cover stories like this for _Webworm_. To those of you who pay for it: **Thank you**. You let me get legal advice, and defend myself in court when it comes to that (and it does). _Webworm_ dies without you. This is probably a good reminder for paying subs to login at www.webworm.co and **check your card details are all up to date**. I've been losing a lot of paying members lately who don't realise they've stopped paying! To free members – thanks for reading, and sharing my stories when you can. If you are secretly rolling in money, consider becoming a paid supporter. ****Want to keep**** _****Webworm****_****going, and ad-free? Consider coming on board as a monthly or yearly subscriber.**** Support Webworm: Become a Full Member Paying members get extra tech support _(by emailing davidfarrier@protonmail.com)_ and can take part in the wonderful community in the comments section. They also get more personal stuff from me. For instance, my next story for paying members will be about the subject of a _Webworm_ story filing a criminal complaint against me with the LAPD in an attempt to shut me up (yes, as in the Los Angeles Police Department as portrayed in _The Rookie_). Thanks to you, dear reader, I will not be shutting up. Also – _you can't write this shit_. _Webworm_ continues to take me, and you, to the weirdest places. _David._ Please do take a moment to login at www.webworm.co and check that your account details are all up to date. You can change your account type, update your payment details, change your name and email address, and check all your email settings are correct!

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Megachurch Pastor Tweets Porn (Again)

Hi, If you've been reading _Webworm_ for a while, you'll be aware of Brian Houston. Born in New Zealand in 1954, he is the founder of Hillsong – the megachurch that would end up being the trendy church of choice for celebs like Justin Bieber, Chris Pratt, Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner and Bono. Jump To Comments All the giant music production and lighting you see at modern megachurches? That was mostly Brian's doing. And along with other New Zealanders like Brooke Fraser, Hillsong made "Contemporary Christian" music a multi-million dollar business. Things were going very well for Brian. He was famous in church circles and very, very rich. Then in January of 2022, he was charged by the Australian police for allegedly concealing his own father's crime – the sexual abuse of a child. It was all downhill from there, a variety of women coming forward with stories of Brian's own inappropriate sexual behaviour. As Webworm reported in March of 2022, Hillsong blamed Brian's behaviour on everything _except_ Brian: > _“Following an in-depth investigation, it was found that Pastor Brian became disoriented after a session at the Hillsong Conference, following the consumption of anti-anxiety medication beyond the prescribed dose, mixed with alcohol. This resulted in him knocking on the door of a hotel room that was not his, entering this room and spending time with the female occupant.”_ _Webworm_ has kept reporting on Hillsong – including listening in on their secret Zoom meetings – and while a disgraced Brian had to leave the church he founded, he's still supported by all the megachurch leaders that have made millions off his blueprint. You'd think he'd keep his head down a little – but every now and then, he accidentally shares his porn preferences to his half a million followers on social media. * * * The latest incident happened in the early hours of this morning X, where Brian has 544,000 followers. Elon Musk's social media platform is riddled with pornography, and it's where Brian Houston reshared a post from a porn account called "The Classic Pornostar Era 80/90/2000". It was just after 2am in California, where Brian is based – and while he usually shares things like this on X – – last night he shared 8 minutes and 23 seconds of hardcore porn, featuring two French porn stars from the 70s. I counted six different positions, and saw a lot of semen – which is what I imagine Houston _also_ saw at 2am when he accidentally hit the "share" button: As of writing, the post is still up. I am not here to shame an adult for watching pornography from the 70s. But given his former church's horrific messaging around sex, sexuality and purity – I think it's important to report on, because it's yet another reminder that these types of "Christian" leaders are absolutely full of shit on every conceivable, self-righteous level. Plus of course, this isn't the first time Houston has openly decided to share his pornographic preferences with the world. _****Thanks to all of you who pay for Webworm, and keep the journalism here ticking. Paying members always have direct access to me for Webworm tech support & questions, too: davidfarrier@protonmail.com****_ * * * ## Rewinding To February, 2024 ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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Everlee Update + THANK YOU

Hi, Thanks to you sharing my _Webworm_ stories, emailing politicians, and making loud noises – Everlee's story has blown up, getting widespread coverage. The pressure is on: Her case is being talked about in New Zealand's parliament, and for the first time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed they are in touch with ICE. This is huge. Most importantly, Everlee Wihongi is back on the grid. We know where she is. Jump To Comments * * * ### Everlee's Location As previously reported, Everlee was originally being held in California. Then, just as she was about to meet with her lawyer, she was moved. For a time she was listed as being detained at the notorious "Camp East Montana" at Fort Bliss, Texas. Then she dropped off the map. Late on Sunday night, she was back on ICE's database – but with no guide on where she was. _"Call ICE for Details"_ was as much as we got. _Webworm_ has audio from a call Everlee made during that time: Everlee: audio as she waits at an ICE airport. 0:00 /142.071293 1× The good news is that we now have her location again: She's being held at the "Eloy Federal Contract Facility", essentially a private prison operated by CoreCivic. It spans seven football fields and holds 1600 detainees. The bad news is that Eloy is fairly horrific: > _Since its ICE contract began, the facility has faced repeated scrutiny. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security watchdog report last year found staff failed to preserve video from several use-of-force incidents, limiting investigators’ ability to review what occurred. Members of Congress and advocacy groups have also cited allegations from detainees describing harsh conditions and mistreatment._ If you want to learn more about where Everlee is imprisoned, this report is a good place to start: _"_ Medical Neglect, Strip Searches, and Abuse: Deadly and Dehumanizing Conditions in the Eloy Detention Center (June 2024-November 2025)_"._ * * * ### Thanks To You, Everlee's Story Is Being Told After _Webworm_ broke the story about Everlee disappearing, her story is being widely reported across the New Zealand media, including _1New_ s, _ThreeNews_ , _RNZ_ , _Stuff_ and the _NZ Herald_. I've also given a few TV news interviews in order to help spread the story further. Finally, I've passed the contact details for certain interested media outlets (and grassroots organisations) onto Everlee's mother Betty, so she has the opportunity to tell her story in other places. It's been amazing to see her story spread: __Betty on New Zealand's Three News, with Samantha Hayes.__ Radio New Zealand has been doing amazing work, Mihi Forbes and Lucy Xia reporting that The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has finally decided to actually _do something_ (not much, but something): > Foreign Minister Winston Peters' office said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (MFAT) consular team have been in contact with ICE officials to clarify what Everlee Wihongi has been charged with. > > This is the first time the government has confirmed any direct contact with US officials since Wihongi's detention on 10 April. As you will recall, the first thing Winston Peters did was make a blanket statement to the New Zealand media that Everlee Wihongi had lied on an immigration form. As _Webworm_ pointed out, Winston was absolutely full of shit. But the damage was done. Most of New Zealand decided Everlee Wihongi was a brown criminal who deserved what she got. Every news story posted on social media about Everlee Wihongi was riddled with Peters' disinformation. __My colleague Dylan spent half a day replying to people like this. It was, overall, futile.__ RNZ has also talked to Everlee's lawyer in a really insightful conversation. He talks about the stuff _Webworm_ reported on last month – that Everlee has two weed offenses from over a decade ago, and she got really shitty advice from her lawyer (who has since been disbarred). In all of this, Winston Peters himself still largely gives zero fucks, The Post writing: > Foreign Affairs Minster Winston Peters says New Zealand citizen Everlee Wihongi would have to be facing the death penalty in America in order for him to intervene. One can't help but wonder how this would be playing out if Everlee was a white influencer. * * * ### What Can You Do? As I said earlier, _Webworm_ readers have been amazing. **You have been sharing all my stories from** www.webworm.co**in a way I've never seen before.** That's the whole idea of _Webworm_ : I report here, and it spreads. Thanks to anyone new here who's signed up to the free or paid version of this newsletter! If you're in New Zealand, **reach out to your local MP or Winston Peters' office**. Try to stay measured. Write from the heart, but with the facts you have. The pressure is helping: Politicians are stepping up and questioning the government's pathetic response. There is a gathering planned this Saturday at 1pm outside MFAT in Auckland, New Zealand. And remember the GoFundMe for Everlee's legal defence. To be clear – Everlee's situation is still dire. There is no clear timeline to when this will be resolved. ICE are good at moving people around so they miss court dates. Sometimes they disappear. Sometimes they die. Which is why – _as her family and lawyer do the work_ – we must keep the pressure on. Again, thank you _Webworm_ family for caring about this. Everlee's aunt Jen left this comment under my last piece. It's for you, too: > "Our whanau are truly grateful for your continued attention on this. We are grateful for your platform. It’s what journalism is supposed to be about. In fact Betty was saying that you are whanau now. Meitaki Ma’ata- Cook Islands word for thank you." _David._ _****This reporting is made possible thanks to Webworm's paid members. Thank you.****_ __Everlee - back in better times.__

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Everlee Has Disappeared

_****Like all of Webworm's public interest journalism, there is no paywall - and there are no ads. This is made possible thanks to its paying subscribers. This work is not possible without them. Thank you.****_ Hi, As I write this newsletter at 7.42pm in New York, New Zealander Everlee Wihongi has disappeared. Still in ICE custody, her family and lawyer have no fucking idea where she is. Let me explain. Yesterday, Everlee Wihongi was meant to meet with her lawyer at the ICE detainment centre _Webworm_ visited last month. Meeting with her lawyer was a key step in getting free from all of this. Then things changed. At 1.28pm, I got a message from her mother, Betty:_"They have pulled a fast one. They are transferring Evs to Arizona. It's happening now."_ ICE is known to do this – moving detainees suddenly, from place to place. As _The American Prospect_ reported last year, ICE is essentially hiding clients from their lawyers: > "ICE uses bureaucracy and location transfers to isolate their detainees from both their families and their lawyers, limiting their ability to get out of their predicaments and increasing misery and hopelessness." Then things got worse. * * * According to ICE's own Online Detainee Locator System, Everlee had been moved to ICE's notorious "Camp East Montana" at Fort Bliss, Texas. In short, this is the United States' largest and worst ICE detainment centre – somehow an insanely worse situation to where Everlee was previously locked up. It is the largest immigrant detention centre in the US – an industrial tent city of 3000 detainees. There are 2000 beds. It also has the most detainees who have died inside. According to NPR: > Out of 25 people who died in ICE detention since October, three of them were at Camp East Montana. > > ICE inspectors in February found 49 violations to detention standards at the facility, including inadequate medical care and failure from staff to "accurately document required checks to prevent significant self-harm and suicide." __Camp East Montana.__ In December last year, human rights groups sent a letter outlining other behaviour at the facility: > _"Detainee reports reveal shocking conditions of confinement at Ft. Bliss > including multiple incidents of use of force by officers against detainees that involve abusive sexual contact, several of which have required hospitalization. > > Detained immigrants further report lack of adequate food and the provision of spoiled food, leading to hunger and significant weight loss; inadequate medical care; failure to provide basic hygiene supplies, including soap; squalid conditions, including sewage entering meal areas, and lack of cleaning supplies; prolonged detention in hold rooms; lack of outdoor recreation; and unreasonable barriers to access to counsel."_ There have also been outbreaks of tuberculosis and measles. It's so bad, its existence is being reevaluated (and yet it still exists). So yes – that is where Everlee (left out to dry by New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters) was moved yesterday. * * * Then it got – _somehow_ – worse. Everlee has disappeared. As I write this, she is no longer listed on ICE's online detainee locator system. _Webworm_ has spoken to Everlee's mother Betty, who currently has no idea where her daughter is: > _"They want to mentally and emotionally break people. If it looks like you have support, they are going to move you and keep you scared and anxious."_ According to a lawyer who knows Everlee's case intimately: > _"They are probably moving her to a different facility. This is what they have been doing. It is a way to “forum shop” and make it hard for attorneys to represent them. This never happened in the past."_ This level of movement – and the disappearing – is new. Betty (who is an American citizen; Everlee has a Green Card) went on: > _"Winston Peters has washed his hands of anything to do with New Zealanders in custody. So if you are a New Zealander in custody here, you are screwed. MFAT is too busy kissing up to the US to actually do his job. > > The NZ Consulate are good people, [but] with no teeth. They can't step in unless something is so out of place that it is obvious. Everlee's situation doesn't even raise an eyebrow for them. > > And finally, ICE is an agency that has congressional backing to act against our constitution with impunity. > > And boy, do they ever."_ Finally, _Webworm_ spoke to Everlee's sister: > "I am urging Winston Peters to look into my sister Everlee’s case himself. Reach out to the family. Reach out to our lawyer. 31 days. No charge. > > We are fighting a system that is deliberately disrupting her legal access, dragging this out hoping she breaks. Everlee has always been proud of her Māori roots and loves being from New Zealand. Mr. Peters, we don’t even know where she is right now. It’s time to step in. Inquire. Advocate. She deserves that much." * * * I am deeply aware that _Webworm_ is not an ICE newsletter. It is not an Everlee Wihongi newsletter. But Everlee's situation speaks to so much that aligns with _Webworm_ 's values: A sense of justice, and the utter madness exhibited not just by the United States – but by the New Zealand government as well, who have washed their hands of this brown body that they, of course, give zero shits about. _David._ _****Like all of Webworm's public interest journalism, there is no paywall - and there are no ads. This is made possible thanks to its paying subscribers. Thank you.****_ Become a Full Member * * * ## Webworm's Everlee Series So Far: When Your Daughter is Kidnapped by ICEDavid Farrier’s Webworm talks to Betty Wihongi, whose Kiwi daughter Everlee got kidnapped by ICE at LAX after a trip to New Zealand.Webworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierThe ICE Detention Centre Housing Everlee WihongiVisiting Everlee Wihongi, the New Zealander kidnapped by ICE, at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. David Farrier’s Webworm.Webworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierEverlee Will Remain Locked Up For Another MonthEverlee Wihongi has appeared in court, only to be sent back to ICE detention until at least June 10. David Farrier of Webworm talks to her mother Betty about the news.Webworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierDid Winston Peters Lie About Everlee?New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters told the media Everlee Wihongi didn’t fill in a form declaring her past. Is he fibbing? Webworm’s David Farrier reports.Webworm with David FarrierDavid Farrier

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Did Winston Peters Lie About Everlee?

Hi, New Zealander Everlee Wihongi is still stuck in an ICE prison, after getting detained at LAX airport on April 10. She has been wearing her orange prison jumpsuit for nearly a month. Jump To Comments While her story is finally getting mainstream coverage in outlets like The Guardian_,_ New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, has washed his hands of the entire thing. Peters’ main talking point is that Everlee apparently didn’t declare her prior conviction (weed, a decade ago), telling assembled reporters: > _“When the form asks you to do things, complete the form accurately.”_ The thing is, as a Green Card holder **there was no form** **for Everlee to fill out at immigration**. It’s sort of impossible to complete the form accurately **when the form does not exist**. __New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs claims a "form" is why Everlee has been detained for nearly a month.__ _Webworm_ spoke to a US immigration attorney about this, who also indicated Peters was full of shit: > "It's not like there was a form that she could have completed inaccurately, because there is no specific form asking about recent arrests, charges or convictions. > > There is no specific form for Lawful Permanent Residents [what Everlee is]. > > There is another form that visitors must fill out, but LPRs (like Everlee) or US citizens do not have to complete it. > > So, in short, there is no requirement for a LPR to disclose a years old charge upon re-entry into the United States." I pressed the immigration attorney further, as Winston Peters was so adamant about these _"forms"_. I asked if there could be _any other_ _form_ involved, at any step in the process: > _"No idea when she last renewed her Green Card, but Green Cards generally are valid for 10 years at a time. However, when you fill out an I-90 (the form to renew or replace a Green Card), if you take a look at it, there is also nowhere on the form that you have to disclose arrests, convictions, or charges."_ She went on. > _"Everlee should hopefully be released on bond by the next time we hear about her case. [That said] bond is being denied in 95% of the cases. I have a few clients at_ Adelanto_right now as well. > > They are just doing everything possible to make people just decide to go back to their home country instead of being detained indefinitely. But for many people who are detained, this is their home. And they are not criminals, that's just the messaging they want Americans to believe to be able to sleep at night about these detention centers."_ Neither Winston Peters or Christopher Luxon have replied to _Webworm_ 's original enquiries last month. With all this in mind, I wanted to share an essay from Everlee’s aunt, Jen Hewett-Sauauga. Jen lives in New Zealand, and has been watching Everlee’s US imprisonment unfold with horror – along with the New Zealand government essentially extending Everlee the middle finger. * * * # **Good People** ** _by Jen Hewett-Sauauga_** Good people – people who put family and love at the core of their values – have raised Everlee. Her dad Gordon is a man with humility, and a quiet inner strength. He hails from the Far North of Aotearoa, New Zealand and is of Nga Puhi descent. Nga Puhi is one of the iwi or tribes of the Maori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa. Everlee’s mother Betty is from the Cook Islands, born in Aitutaki and raised in Tokoroa, a town in the North Island of New Zealand. Betty is extroverted, kind and intelligent. I am fortunate to have been embraced by the aroha (love) of the Wihongi whanau (family), being Betty’s sister. __Everlee (right) with parents Betty and Gordon, travelling to New Zealand via Fiji.__ Everlee’s maternal line through Betty is from the Cook Islands. Then there’s the American side! Everlee’s great-great-grandfather was William Thomas Hewett, who came from Oregon. Her great-grandfather was Richard Louis Bixby, who came from New York state. William Thomas Hewett (Everlee's great-great-grandfather), and Richard Louis Bixby (Everlee's great-grandfather). William Thomas Hewett was a merchant trader who sailed to the Pacific, settling on a beautiful island called Aitutaki. He met Rangiuru, and they had many children (this is where we got our European surname “Hewett” from!) One of William and Rangiuru’s children was Amelia May, Everlee’s great-grandmother. Everlee was named after her. American military personnel were stationed in Aitutaki in WW2, because of the threat of Japanese invasion in the Pacific. When the Americans left Aitutaki, they also left numerous babies behind – and my grandmother Amelia May had one of these children. She’d formed a relationship with one of the Americans stationed on the island, Richard Louis Bixby. Everlee’s grandfather, Richard Louis Bixby Hewett, was born in October 1944 after his father had left Aitutaki. Richard’s daughter was Betty, Everlee’s mother. __Everlee’s grandfather, Richard__ __Louis Bixby__ __Hewett.__ Māori whakapapa to show the connections they have; to demonstrate a belonging to a people and a place. It also helps others know what the connections are. In the Cook Islands, it is called akapapa. When you break the word down, whaka/aka is a prefix meaning ‘to make’, and papa means succession or a basalt rock foundation. Your forebears are the foundation for your descendant’s, so it was important to know your history. The English translation is genealogy, which has lost the full rich and nuanced meaning of what whakapapa means. The people of the Pacific Islands can whakapapa to each other. Our oral histories and stories connect us as the water of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa (The Pacific Ocean) connects the islands of the Pacific. * * * Everlee can whakapapa to America. She is connected to America by blood that can be traced through the Hewett’s and the Bixby’s. The history of our family in America reaches back for many generations. We have scientific evidence that backs up our family stories through DNA tests that link us to our American cousins. However, our whakapapa and our DNA mean nothing when we are contending with western race based policy that de-legitimises our sense of connection and belonging. Everlee’s granddad Richard Hewett missed out on a connection with his biological father, the man that he was named after. Sadly, he died before a DNA test done by our younger sister Louise, helped us find our Bixby family. Dad died not meeting a family who would have welcomed him with open arms. During World War II there were laws in place which prohibited interracial marriage, and interracial fraternisation. Rigid laws didn’t stop human connection though, as evidenced by the babies that were born throughout the Pacific during American occupation. Right now, Everlee’s legitimacy is called into question. Despite holding a valid Green Card, she is in ICE detention. Her belonging in America comes from her parents who were handpicked to work in America in the 1990s. She has grown up in America, worked and paid taxes there. Her belonging also comes from her blood ties from her great-great-grandfather, and her great-grandfather. Why has that legitimacy been stripped away from her? Is it because of a historical misdemeanour during her rebellious years? Is it because she has voiced her political views? or is it because the colour of her skin takes away her legitimacy? We as a whanau only have speculation and no answers – 27 days after ICE took her. **_-Jen Hewett-Sauauga_** __Jen, Everlee's auntie.__ * * * _****Just quickly, thanks to all those who have a paid Webworm subscription: You literally keep this place ticking, and allow me to cover stories like Everlee Wihongi's kidnapping by ICE.****_ _****All paying members get to take part in the comments section, and can always reach me directly at davidfarrier@protonmail.com****_ ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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Anna Wilding Thrown Into Wilderness

Hi, _Webworm_ can report that Anna Wilding has officially lost her endorsement from California's Progressive Democratic Club, leaving her exiled in a kind of political wasteland. Jump To Comments 80% of members voted to rescind their endorsement. Considering 60% is the threshold, 80% is a firm _"bye bye"._ The vote happened over Zoom just after 4pm on Sunday, May 3.__ ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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Everlee Will Remain Locked Up For Another Month

Hi, _Webworm_ is busy – I think I'll take a breather next week _(if it ever lets up)_. I wanted to write, as Everlee Wihongi – the New Zealander kidnapped by ICE – has had her first court appearance in front of a judge just now. Jump To Comments I just spoke to her mother Betty about how it went. **The audio is available for you here:** Betty talking to David Farrier, April 28, 2026. 0:00 /533.754785 1× **The TL;DR:** * Because her family has been scrambling to find a lawyer who is affordable and knows what they're doing, Everlee went in front of a judge with no representation today. The judge sounded "grumpy", and Everlee got sent back to prison. Everlee's next court appearance is June 10. Chances are, she will be imprisoned until _at least_ that date. __Everlee's home until, probably, June 10 (photo credit: Webworm)__ * As previously reported on Webworm, when Everlee was pulled aside by ICE at LAX airport nearly three weeks ago, they told her it had something to do with too many green cards. This was bullshit: _It's all to do with a prior conviction over marijuana use 10 years ago (which had been dealt with)._ * June 10 means Everlee would have spent about nine weeks incarcerated. * * * I have transcribed key pieces from my conversation with Betty below. **Thank you for following this story, and caring.** Sure – it's a niche example of a New Zealander in ICE custody, but it speaks to so many things: ICE's power to detain, the United States' inherent racism, and the strength of an individual caught in an increasingly unhinged, deranged regime that has Pete Hegseth (the "Secretary of War" wtf) proudly letting Kid Rock lecture soldiers about the Strait of Hormuz _(I am not joking)._ ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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No, The Trump Assassination Attempt Was Not A False Flag

Hi, A few updates before we get onto the Trump assassination attempt. Firstly, the US political career of Anna Wilding may soon be over. _Webworm_ can report that the Progressive Democratic Club appears to be entirely sick of Anna Wilding's bullshit, and will be holding a vote next Sunday on whether to revoke their endorsement of New Zealand’s biggest bullshitter. Meanwhile, I will be heading to court on May 6 because Anna Wilding’s husband James Sved is angry I am covering any of this. Jump To Comments Secondly, Everlee Wihongi is still in an ICE prison in the Mojave desert. _Webworm_ has reached out to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters (you can see my letter here). I have yet to hear anything back. This isn’t entirely surprising, as both men are typically found tightly suckled to the buttocks of the USA, never daring to speak up about anything. For example, when appearing at the United Nations last year, Winston Peters and the NZ Government refused to recognise Palestine as its own state (when 157 of 193 other countries did). _Webworm_ **has** heard back from a spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who said: > “MFAT continues to provide consular assistance to the family of a New Zealander detained in Los Angeles. The type of support available in these situations includes ensuring that New Zealanders have access to legal representation, advising family, and engaging with detention facilities where that is needed.” However, according to family members _Webworm_ has spoken to, they have not been offered any of those things by MFAT, including _“access to legal representation”._ * * * I’d like to thank _Webworm_ reader Benjamin, who edited a portion of my original interview with Everlee’s mother Betty into a 3 minute social media clip. While I loathe social media _(and had to put up with approximately 500 people going**“bUt wHy wAs sHe iN aMerIcA?~~!!”**)_ it is good to spread awareness of what is happening. Most people were shocked. And today, thanks to the excellent journalist Mihingarangi Forbes, Everlee’s story is leading RNZ news. __The RNZ website today.__ One last observation: Despite the reel getting nearly a quarter of a million views on Instagram (70% of whom were non-followers of mine) and more on TikTok, _Webworm_ got zero new subscribers. It just goes to show you that people are very happy to watch a clip, but it’s _very rare_ they look any further than said clip. __The clip with Betty reached 235,593 people so far.__ * * * Okay, onto the Trump assassination attempt. There was a lot to take in on Saturday, including Erika Kirk balling her eyes out, Stephen Miller groping his pregnant wife (while RFK Jr abandoned his), and about 100 “reporters” posting frenzied clips to social media as if they were in a war zone. __Erica Kirk crying, Stephen Miller groping, and Cheryl Hines being abandoned.__ Then began the frenzied discussion on whether this was a real assassination attempt or not. This has been bugging me, as headlines in major outlets keep giving credence to the idea the whole thing _could be fake_. Take Stuff.co.nz's headline for example: __The headline on Stuff.co.nz.__ I'm going to turn this over to my colleague Dylan Reeve, who authored a book on conspiracy theories, and is one of the most sane people I know. _****Just quickly, thanks to all those who have a paid Webworm subscription: You literally keep this place ticking, and allow me to cover stories like Everlee Wihongi's kidnapping by ICE.****_ _****All paying members get to take part in the comments section, and can always reach me directly at davidfarrier@protonmail.com****_ ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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End of the (Political) Road for Anna Wilding?

****This newsletter wasn't sent out as an email, it just exists on the**** _****Webworm****_****site. I do this so your inbox doesn't get too clogged when it comes to "update" pieces.**** Hi, _Webworm_ can report that Progressive Democratic Club appears to be sick of Anna Wilding's bullshit. Early next month, they will be taking a vote to revoke their endorsement of Wilding. They sent the email out over the weekend: ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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The ICE Detention Centre Housing Everlee Wihongi

Hi, Yesterday I drove to the Adelanto ICE Processing Centre with my friend Rob Holysz, who I make _Flightless Bird_ with. I wanted to see where the US government was keeping New Zealander Everlee Wihongi. Jump To Comments As explained by her mother Betty last week, Everlee had arrived back at LAX after a trip to New Zealand. She's been living in the US since age six, but had happily travelled back and forth to New Zealand when need be. She's been on a green card for the last 30 years – but this time, the green card was no good. She was detained by ICE at LAX, before being kidnapped and shipped away to the Adelanto Ice Processing Center. There was talk of an issue with a previous stolen green card, and Everlee being caught with weed (a case already dealt with by the courts). But we all know she's there because she's brown. Everlee has been locked up for two weeks now. She still hasn't officially been told why she's there, or when she may get out. She'd quite like to get back to her family in Wisconsin, and to go back to her work as a welder. Instead she's trapped, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, wondering how this will end. So far, the New Zealand government has taken zero interest in helping. And the US government – well, they're the ones who kidnapped her. The ICE complex is a two hour dive from central LA, situated in the Mojave Desert. It feels like the wasteland you see at the end of David Fincher's _Seven_ , when Brad Pitt is screaming, _"What's in the box?"_ There is a small town nearby, Adelanto. Its motto is _"The City with Unlimited Possibilities."_ One of the last things you drive by before reaching the facility is a weed dispensary. The irony isn't lost on Everlee. I wasn't allowed inside, but Rob went in to visit with Everlee for about an hour. He passed on well wishes from her family, and the goodwill from places like here. From all those that know what's going on is absolutely batshit. He was the first "outside" friendly face she'd seen since being kidnapped. She was as upbeat as she could be – what her personality tends to be – but it's hard in there. The hardest part is having no idea how long she's going to be there. It could be weeks, it could be months. Her cellmate has been there for a year. These are some photos I took outside, which I hope demonstrate how _bleak_ this all is. For Everlee, and for all the other people dumped there. They're living in a kind of purgatory; their American dream in shatters. _David._ Everlee's family has a GoFundMe for legal costs as they try to get her out. If you want to reach me about this story, I am: davidfarrier@protonmail.com __The outside of the East Wing, where the women are held.____Three flags: California, the USA, and the GEO private prison group.____A car park you can't park in.____A short drive from the ICE facility there are two giant cannabis dispensaries. This is one of them.____The ICE facility is in the middle of nowhere; it's a wasteland of power pylons and dust.__

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When Your Daughter is Kidnapped by ICE

_****Webworm's public interest journalism is kept entirely free (and with zero ads) thanks to paying subscribers. If you pay for this work - thank you. If you have any questions about how Webworm works, please visit the****_ FAQ_****. If you have a story tip, I am always: davidfarrier@protonmail.com.****_ Hi, As a New Zealander living in the United States under Donald Trump, it’s always a little blurry about exactly _how_ worried you should be about being snatched up by ICE. I've written about this a lot _. Webworm_ has reported from ICE detention centres in Los Angeles and Portland, and been teargassed by masked goons in Minneapolis an hour after ICE executed Alex Pretti. And then things feel like they _settle_. That they are _calming down_. No-one cares about little ol' New Zealand. _Maybe it's safe._ **Then ICE snatches a New Zealander with a valid green card from LAX, and you realise _everything is still utterly fucked._** Jump To Comments I spent my morning talking to Betty Wihongi, whose daughter has been kidnapped by ICE. Betty is a New Zealander who’s been living in the United States since the mid-90s. Her husband - a train driver - was poached by Wisconsin Central when it bought New Zealand Rail in 1993. The couple moved to Wisconsin and set up a new life. And they’ve been living that life quite happily, raising their kids in the American midwest. Over the last few decades they’ve happily travelled to and from Aotearoa, New Zealand – keeping up with friends and family. There have never been any issues – until ten days ago, when ICE snatched her daughter Everlee, 36, when they came back through LAX. __Everlee is on the far left in the black t-shirt. Her mum Betty is fourth from the right, in the white top.__ Since then, Betty and her family have been trying to figure out how to get Everlee out. Today, I’ve edited my conversation with Betty down to about 30 minutes, as she explains in detail about what happened when her family went through customs on their return from New Zealand, and how ICE treated them in the process. A Conversation with Betty, about ICE kidnapping her daughter. 0:00 /1558.671088 1× She talks about the pressure her daughter was put through to sign papers, and how Everlee is now detained with 46 other people in a room at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center – with no idea when she'll be free. She talks about the logistics of keeping in touch, getting Everlee money, the uncertainty of the future, and the way her daughter has taken to caring for older, injured people she’s detained with. > "There's an old, I think she's in her 70s, Vietnamese lady in there that can't walk properly. She must have fallen when she first came in, and she has a wheelchair that she kind of uses as a walker. Everlee and old people - they get on really well - so she's kind of looking after her." We get into the possible reasons Everlee was detained: A stolen green card and a change of address meaning Everlee had to apply for multiple green cards _(apparently a crime now?)_ – and an old charge of possession of marijuana _(gasp!)_ that had already been dealt with. There are a million reasons running through her family's heads. Online, Everlee has been outspoken about the Palestinian genocide. Somehow, in all of this, her mum Betty still has a sense of humour. > _“If I get upset, she'll get upset. So I just have to not be upset."_ I hope you listen to the conversation. There is a GoFundMe which I have contributed to – and depending on what's appropriate, I may make the three hour drive to the detention centre later this week. Everlee is yet to have a visitor. _David._ ****You can share this story:**** webworm.co/betty ## **_Webworm_ 's Top Stories:** ## The Anatomy of a Church MeltdownBethlehem Baptist in Tauranga has seen the resignation of senior pastors Craig Vernall and Michaela Vernall & youth pastor Michael Brown. David Farrier’s Webworm investigates.Webworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierWebworm Is Being Taken To Court (Again)James Sved is taking David Farrier of Webworm to court in California, after Farrier wrote about him and his partner Anna Wilding who is running for congress.Webworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierFixing Brains With Magic MushroomsDavid Farrier’s Webworm visits the Raison Lab at the University of Wisconsin to talk to Dr Charles Raison, a psychiatrist who’s interested in psilocybin and how it can help fight depressionWebworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierTalking To My Hero: R. L. StineDavid Farrier talks to R. L. Stine, the legendary author behind the Goosebumps series.Webworm with David FarrierDavid Farrier

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The Anatomy of a Church Meltdown

Hi, I’ll always be curious about what’s going on in Bethlehem. My family moved to the sleepy Tauranga suburb when I was about 10. I left when I was 18 to try and get into medical school. I failed miserably, and went to journalism school instead. I think it was for the best. It’s fair to say that Tauranga leans pretty heavily into Christianity. Three minutes down the road from Bethlehem is another suburb called Judea – and then there’s the school I attended for seven years, Bethlehem College. __(I looked back at some of the less savoury aspects of Bethlehem College__ in this series__, which led to my old school refusing to talk to me).__ There are also a lot of churches in Bethlehem – and it’s to one of those churches we turn to today: Bethlehem Baptist. And Bethlehem Baptist appears to be in the middle of some kind of meltdown. __A service at Bethlehem Baptist (source: Bethlehem Baptist).__ * * * ## **What is Bethlehem Baptist?** You garner most of what you need to know about Bethlehem Baptist by looking who they follow on Instagram – a who’s who of charismatic megachurches throughout New Zealand, Australia and the US. Hillsong is there, as is Arise – the megachurch _Webworm_ exposed a few years back. They also follow videogame meme account “Gametaster”, for some reason. Now nothing I am going to say about a megachurch or megachurch-wannabe is going to come as a great surprise. We all know that these churches exist to protect their male leaders. Anything deemed “sinful” is to be swept under the carpet as quickly as possible, almost always at the expense of a victim, or victims. What is a little more rare is to be able to look at the way these churches communicate during their more dramatic moments. What they choose to share with their congregation when the shit hits the fan. I might be alone in this, but I love looking under the hood of how these churches treat their members. Members who are tithing 10% of their yearly income to the church. Churches that are registered charities bringing in millions from their flock every year. __Bethlehem Baptist's Annual Returns.__ * * * ## **October 3, 2025: The First Email** The first email indicating something was awry at Bethlehem Baptist was sent on October 3 last year. > **From: Bethlehem Baptist Church** <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz> > **Date: Fri, Oct 3, 2025 at 4:24 PM > Subject: BBC staff news** > > Greetings to our BBC church family. > > I’m taking the opportunity to inform you of a staff change that has happened this past week. > > This week we received a resignation from our youth pastor Michael Brown. This is due to a change in his personal circumstances, which we cannot disclose. Michael’s resignation is effective immediately. The youth pastor was leaving, for reasons _“we cannot disclose”_. The email went on to praise Brown for his _“outstanding ministry among our young people”_ , and _“8 years of sacrifice in his service for the Lord.”_ It was signed,_“with faith and love”_ by Pastor Craig. * * * ## **November 26, 2025: Bye Bye Craig** The following month, Pastor Craig announced he was leaving, too. > **From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz> > Date: Wed, Nov 26, 2025 at 1:16 PM > Subject: Important announcement from our Senior Pastors - Craig and Michaela Vernall** > > Dear Bethlehem Baptist Church family, > > It’s with both a heavy and expectant heart that Michaela and I are writing to you today to tell you of our impending resignation as Senior Pastors of Bethlehem Baptist Church. Head pastor Craig Vernall explained that after 31 years of ministry, he and his wife Michaela were going to be throwing in the towel. Interestingly, while Michaela would be gone _“at the end of January 2026”_ , Craig would be staying till the end of May 2026. Sure enough, looking at the church’s website, Craig is still there_:_ * * * ## **Jan 27, 2026: Throw Me A Party, Please** A new email arrived from “The Elders” in January of this year. In case you were wondering, The Elders look like what you'd expect them to look like: The Elders confirmed that former senior pastor Michaela is out the door. The email also indicates Michaela has requested the church organise an event to _“honour and celebrate both her and Craig”_ in four months' time. > **From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz> > Date: Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 1:42 PM > Subject: Update from the Elders on Leadership Transition and Next Step** > > Farewell for Michaela: After 31 years of faithful service, this coming week will be Michaela’s last week with us. Upon Michaela’s advice, we will be organizing an event to honour and celebrate both her and Craig in late May when Craig will also be ending his service. > > [...] > > The Elders * * * ## **March 11, 2026: The (Surprise!) Inquiries Begin** This one is a doozy. > **From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz> > Date: Wed, Mar 11, 2026 at 9:28 AM > Subject: A message from the BBC Elders > Dear members of BBC and church family,** > > As you will be aware, a special meeting has been called for and will be held this Sunday, the 15th of March at 1:00 pm. > > A group of members have set a motion in place, which seeks permission from the BBC members to “consider and resolve whether to initiate an independent inquiry into the events leading to the resignation of Craig and Michaeala [SIC]”. Apparently, the _“events leading to the resignation”_ of the church's senior pastors has led to church members calling for an independent inquiry. But good news: The Elders are one step ahead. > "As Elders, we want to acknowledge the concern from the congregation at the unexpected departure of the Vernalls. We too have been concerned to ensure we understood what has led to the situation and that we learn from it where possible." The Elders then reveal a magic trick: Members needn't worry about an independent inquiry, because The Elders have already started one. > "We want you to know that we have not sat idly by. In fact, we have already initiated three independent inquiries." They haven't started just one inquiry – or two inquiries – they've started _three_ inquiries! All news to the congregation, who up till this point had no idea any of this was going on. The first inquiry was apparently carried out by “experienced church assessor” Richard Black, who recommended the church carry out two more inquiries – one relating to _“the governance processes of the Church”_ , and the second about the churches _“complaint handling processes.”_ _Webworm_ finds it curious that while these three inquiries were taking place – _seemingly concerned at least in part with the resignation of their senior pastor_ – the senior pastor was still employed as the senior pastor. As to whether church members who tithe every week will ever know what the reviews say? Don't get your hopes up. > “The Elders have taken legal advice on the extent to which the reports from each of these reviews can be shared with the congregation. That advice is that disclosure of the full content of those reports would breach obligations of privacy that we have to the individuals involved. There are also employment law obligations that we must be mindful of to the extent that the reviews involve employed staff. > > [...] > > What we would not be able to report back to you would be the specific detail of the events that led to the recommendations.” The email ends by saying that despite all these reviews coming out of the blue, they really, really don’t want to do any more reviews. > “Given that the Elders have already engaged independent reviewers, we don’t consider that a further review is necessary. This would be an unnecessary duplication of effort and involvement of those concerned.” * * * ## **April 13, 2026: Another Review** Earlier this month, another email, indicating that church members did indeed want another inquiry. _"Fuck,"_ went The Elders. > **From: Bethlehem Baptist Church <bbc@bethlehem.org.nz> > Date: Mon, Apr 13, 2026 at 11:16 AM > Subject: Special member's meeting update** > > Dear members of the BBC community > > Thank you for your patience since the Members’ Meeting on 15 March, while a suitable Terms of Reference and Panel has been assembled to undertake the Independent Inquiry requested by Members. The meeting about this new "independent inquiry" took place yesterday at 1pm. _Webworm_ has reached out to Bethlehem Baptist Church asking about the resignations, and the nature of the three _(and now four?)_ inquiries/reviews. We also asked why a senior pastor (who resigned last year) has remained in his leadership position while the reviews (into why he resigned) take place. Bethlehem Baptist has not, so far, been particularly forthcoming. _David._ ****If you are a current or former member of Bethlehem Baptist, and you can offer clarity on what is going on,****_****Webworm****_****would love to hear from you in confidence: davidfarrier@protonmail.com**** Webworm’s Megachurch coverage so farAll my writing on Megachurches so far - from Hillsong to City Impact, and everything in-between.Webworm with David FarrierDavid Farrier

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Behind Allbirds' Absurdist AI Pivot

Hi, It's been another incredibly stupid week. Looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular overdosed during a livestream (probably on meth), Donald Trump sent his cult into a spiral after posting a blasphemous image of him as Jesus, Pete Hegseth prayed directly from Pulp Fiction instead of The Bible during Pentagon worship session, and Substack doubled down on its philosophy of "the-best-way-to-counter-bad-ideas-is-to-actively-participate-in-and-profit-from-their-monetisation" by sending rapist Andrew Tate to number one on its bestsellers list: Oh, and New Zealand's worst shoe company "Allbirds" announced it's pivoting to AI. And it's to all Allbirds we turn to today, because I think it sums up how **absolutely full of shit** everything is right now. Jump To Comments * * * For a time, New Zealanders loved their Allbirds. The shoe was up there with _Lord of the Rings_ , Lorde, and _Flight of the Concords._ We wore them, and we wore them proudly. Being proud of anything is nearly impossible when you're a Kiwi: but we were fucking proud of our Allbirds. Launched from a humble Kickstarter in 2014 (back then Allbirds were "Wool Runners", 970 backers giving $119,196 in just five days), their entire _thing_ was being environmentally friendly and sustainable. We wrapped our tootsies in the merino wool marvels, and tied our laces made from recycled plastic bottles and old beans. _"Taking ec0-friendly fashion seriously but without preaching about it, Allbirds point to a brighter future for ethical brands,"_ belched Esquire back then. A few years later, the humble Kiwi brand was valued at $1.4 billion. They were worn by Ben Affleck and Barack Obama. They were not only environmentally friendly, they were _cool_. Of course the shoe was actually pretty shit, but no-one seemed to notice because the message (ethical!) and vibe (cool!) was _so fucking_ _loud_. At the heart of it all, Allbirds was never anything more than a Silicon Valley unicorn worn by Silicon Valley tech bros. The end was probably near when dickhead Ashton Kutcher started wearing them. Allbirds went public in 2021, but people's feet were tiring of them. By 2024, they got a non-compliance notice from Nasdaq "after its share prices fell below $1 for 30 consecutive days". Last month the company – once valued at $4 billion – sold all its intellectual property for a piddly $39 million. They sold to "American Exchange Group" (which also owns tragic brands like Ed Hardy) and promptly announced it was pivoting to AI. Shares soared by 582%. This is the dumbest shit and it makes me want to throw my head through the wall. I'm handing things over to my colleague Dylan Reeve (I made _Tickled_ with him, he's smart) to break it down. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

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I’ve Seen Enough: Donald Trump is the Antichrist

Hi, This _Webworm_ was originally published on February 17, 2025 – but with Donald Trump recently sharing an AI rendering of himself as _*checks notes*_ Jesus Christ, it seems appropriate to re-publish it. # I’ve Seen Enough: Donald Trump is the Antichrist #### **It’s time to admit the Christians were right all along. The prophecies are coming to pass.** **_by Hayden Donnell_** I spent most of my early 20s whining about how God doesn’t exist. The faith I’d held was crumbling, and being replaced in my mind by a huge deposit of angst. I made whole albums bemoaning the newly empty sky; the sudden void where heaven, hope, and meaning used to be. “ _Wah wah wah_ ,” I moaned. “You only get one call but there’s no telephone.” It’s been 15 years since then, and I’m pleased to admit in light of recent events, I may have overreacted. The Bible I once nitpicked over its stances on shellfish and whether it’s okay to have kids eaten by bears if they hassle you for being bald is making a huge comeback. It may not be perfect on the issue of killing every firstborn son in Egypt but it’s hard to get mad when its ancient texts are laying out our current situation with an accuracy so eerie it would make Nostradamus shart in jealousy. I’m talking, of course, about how Donald Trump is clearly, irrefutably the Antichrist as described in the prophetic Biblical books of Daniel and Revelation. The Antichrist, for those not familiar, is the person who, according to Biblical prophecy, will set themselves up as a false messiah ahead of the second coming of Jesus. Christians have been anticipating the guy for decades. Whole industries have sprung up around scaring people into prepping for his arrival. Timothy LaHaye’s fictional _Left Behind_ series was distributed to every Evangelical home in the ‘00s as an instruction manual on what to expect in the next two to five business days. Right now we’re massacring Palestinian children in part because Evangelicals believe war in Israel is part of the full End Times extravaganza laid out in Revelation. They’ve even dissected Biblical texts into equidistant letters in an effort to find more Antichrist factoids. Despite that, Christians have somehow missed their big bad actually arriving on a golden chariot of fulfilled prophecy. Start with the most famous: Revelation 13:16-17 describes people having to take the mark of the beast upon their forehead to display allegiance to the Antichrist. The verse goes on to say people won’t be able to buy or sell goods if they’re not emblazoned with the mark of the beast. Coincidentally, Elon Musk owns an app he hopes will supplant the banking system and is currently taking control of the federal government’s payment systems. That’s not even the only fulfilled prophecy from this chapter of the Bible. Revelation 13:3 says the beast will be wounded in one of its heads, as if to death, and be healed. Many Christians have interpreted that as meaning the modern day Antichrist will be shot in the head and recover. Revelation 13:4 prophecies that after the shooting, the beast’s followers will ask “who is like unto the beast?”. They will worship his power, saying no-one will be able to make war with him. The evidence is overwhelming. Daniel 11:36-39 paints a vivid portrait of the Antichrist, saying he will be a man with a big mouth who exalts himself above all others. This leader will serve no gods beyond his own ego. He’ll promote only his admirers, dividing the kingdom between them. In other news, Donald Trump, a self-promoting billionaire who shows no sign of having a spiritual practice, has granted Elon Musk a compelling package of 100% power and 0% accountability and recently put a Fox News host in charge of the world’s most powerful military. 2 Thessalonians: 2 is also widely interpreted as being about the Antichrist. It focuses on what Christians have called the “man of lawlessness” who will subvert the church into his own cult. Another common title for the man of lawlessness is the “man of insurrection”. Yea my brethren, take heed. The signs are all here. I’m not the only one to see them. In an earlier _Webworm_ column, Josh Drummond joined some of these same dots. The prominent publication Baptist News has put pieces of the puzzle together. A recent correspondent to _The Spinoff_ ’s advice column ‘Help Me Hera’ worries Musk is the Antichrist, and the rapture is nigh. Most of these people keep their theories at an arm’s length. Drummond says he’s “ _having fun_ ”. _Baptist News_ columnist David Bumgardner _****_ says he’s “ _not a dispensationalist_ ” and doesn’t subscribe to LaHaye’s End Times theology. Lindsay Bird urges her correspondent not to worry because Musk and Trump are too pathetic and dweebish to occupy the same leagues as Satan. Had _The Spinoff_ ’s correspondent written to ‘Help Me Hayden’, I would have told them to keep worrying and engage in some heavy duty Hail Marys because they’re absolutely correct. If recent events have taught us anything, it’s that being an irredeemable moron with a repellant personality and the countenance of a salamander wearing human skin is, if anything, an asset when it comes to inflicting misery on a global scale. To the theologians I’d ask what makes more sense: that the weird monks and locust-munching prophets who wrote the Bible coincidentally predicted the Trump presidency or that God wrote it like the pottery ghost in the movie _Ghost_? __God helping the prophets to write the Bible.__ It’s obviously the latter, and we all owe the evangelicals an apology. The agnostics like me were wrong. The atheists, as they always suspected, were complete idiots. The Antichrist is here, and he’s wearing fake tan. Isn’t that good news? Revelation 14 describes what will happen next. Jesus will return to usher in the new kingdom. The beast will be thrown into the lake of fire. Meanwhile, those who wore his mark upon their forehead will “ _drink the wine of the Lord’s fury_ ”. “ _They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name_ ,” says The Holy Bible. Not ideal, but fair’s fair. Maybe hide your MAGA hat if you see the skies parting. **_-Hayden Donnell_**

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Anna Wilding's Racist Ramblings

This __Webworm__ is public interest journalism, fully funded by paying subscribers - so feel free to share it: webworm.co/part10 If you want to contact me in confidence about this story, I am: ****davidfarrier@protonmail.com**** Hi, _Webworm_ is off to court this week, facing off against James Sved, the man who filed a lawsuit against me a few weeks ago – the day after I published this story about him on _Webworm_. In case you’re new to this or just catching up – Sved is the American husband of Anna Wilding, the New Zealander currently running for US Congress. Jump To Comments I’ve been covering Wilding’s various adventures since this newsletter started, beginning with a piece in 2020 called “The Pretender”, which detailed her own proclivity for suing people. With my own court case looming, now is a good time to say “thank you” for your _Webworm_ subscription. I always put a percentage of your monthly or yearly subscription aside for legal costs. Lawyers are expensive here – between $600 and $900 an hour – so without you, this newsletter could very easily fold when someone takes legal action. I will keep you up to date with how the case goes - _including what the hell it’s actually about_ - but in the meantime, it’s fair to say that things in the world of James Sved and Anna Wilding (“ _Sved-ing?_ ” “ _Wild-Sved?_ ”) continue to spin out in strange, unhinged and unpredictable directions. __Anna Wilding and James Sved photographed together in 2013.__ * * * ## Anna Wilding: _"Chinese Spies"_ Anna Wilding appears to be doubling down in her approach of attacking other candidates running for Congress in California’s 32nd Congressional District, by making increasingly racist comments. Last month I reported that the New Zealander had begun a town hall meeting by trying to one-up fellow candidate Marena Lin’s immigration status, and ended by alleging Lin was a liar: > _“We have an academic who's lying on her ballot about being a climate scientist. She's not. She's a data IT person at public health. She has a PhD in climate science, but has never actually done the job of climate science.”_ __Marena Lin, also running for Congress in California’s 32nd Congressional District.__ _Webworm_ can now report that Wilding has been focussed on Lin for a while. Back on March 5, Wilding began texting the campaign manager for another candidate, Jake Levine, with confused, trope-ridden ramblings: > “I am wary of the girl [Lin] who has just entered the race late. The data scientist [...] She secretly follows pro palestine accounts when I looked but talked ‘jewish’.” Anna Wilding then references her husband James Sved in the texts (echoing Sved’s own, yet to be verified, claims): > “As my husband was in navy [SIC] and a top secret nuclear program we were both witness to the discovery and ousting of chinese spies”. It’s worth pointing out at this point that Lin is Asian-American, her parents immigrating to the US from Taiwan. Wilding goes on, noting that Lin has all the hallmarks of your classic Chinese spy: > “The pattern of “presentation” is similair [SIC]. Harvard grad, no work history, a lot of money out of nowhere for the most expensive campaign tool etc. [...] Very wary. Not adding up [...] Only spouting data which I’ve seen other chinese candidates do.” _Webworm_ has spoken to the recipient of the texts – Jake Levine's campaign manager, Janine Gregory – and confirmed their authenticity. * * * __Anna Wilding's text messages to Jake Levine's campaign manager, Janine Gregory.__ * * * _Webworm_ reached out to Lin for comment. She replied, apologising in advance: _“Sorry for being a bit of a science/immigration history nerd!”_ : > “The accusation that I’m a spy because I’m an Asian American and have a science doctorate is not new rhetoric. It’s the same logic that has put people who look like me behind barbed wire on two continents. In 1942, the United States interned 120,000 Japanese Americans: not one was ever convicted of espionage. In 1962, India interned 3,000 Chinese Indians at a desert camp in Deoli, Rajasthan, families who had lived there for generations, children who marched in Indian Independence Day parades. > > Every one of them was accused of being a spy. Not a single charge was ever proven. > > And just two years ago, the DOJ shut down the China Initiative after it was shown to have racially profiled Chinese-American scientists and researchers, securing one conviction out of 77 cases while an FBI agent admitted in court to fabricating evidence. > > When a candidate looks at a Taiwanese-American woman with a doctorate and a data science background and sees a Chinese spy — without bothering to distinguish between Taiwan and China, between citizen and foreigner, between evidence and assumption — she’s not doing national security analysis. She’s repeating the exact thinking that has historically ended with Asian Americans in camps. > > The only thing that’s changed is the decade.” Wilding’s texts to Janine Gregory continued, each one doubling down on the last: Wilding then hints they should take some kind of legal action, urging Gregory to make sure her boss gets the message. She ends by saying James Sved, _“Found two newspaper articles about Chinese spies infiltrating California’s congressional elections.”_ Not content with texting racist, false allegations to a running-mate’s campaign manager, last week Wilding decided to email a host of other candidates, alleging Lin had been involved in an “anti semitic” flyer drop. There is zero evidence Lin was involved in any kind of flyer drop, and the creator behind the fliers (which weren’t actually antisemitic) has released a statement saying the same. When approached by _Webworm_ , Lin said: > “To be very clear, I had nothing to do with the flyers she’s accusing me of putting on cars.” __Jake Levine - the rival candidate Anna Wilding wanted to get through to: "Please pass this onto Jake."__ * * * ## James Sved As for Wilding’s husband James Sved, I assume he’s preparing to see me in court this week. Meanwhile, I’ve been slowly working my way through the list of colourful claims Sved has made about his life and career, because so far he’s refused to answer any of _Webworm_ ’s questions, or provide any kind of proof. _Webworm_ has spoken to someone involved in the Main Street Station restoration project, a project Sved indicated he had been instrumental in and won an award for (he hadn't won an award). __Main Street Station in Richmond, Virginia.__ After my contact detailed their decades-long history with the project and all the players involved, I asked them whether – in their opinion – Sved’s claims of being so vital to the project were accurate. Their reply was blunt: > “It's ridiculous. I've never heard of such a thing.” They went on to clarify that while Sved was involved in the project for a short time, he was not a key component: > “Jim Sved was hired by URS, a construction management firm. He was not the one that assembled the drawings. He is not the architect of record. He was not the chief preservationist. He picked out some paint and some furniture we had to change out because it wasn't historic.” My contact at the Main Street Station restoration project summed things up like this: > "He capitalizes on opportunities to make himself look good. It was more about Jim Sved than it was about the restoration of Main Street Station.” * * * ## What Does It All Mean? _Webworm_ has reached out to James Sved and Anna Wilding for comment. As of the time of publication, both are yet to respond to any of _Webworm_ 's questions. As is the case with a lot of _Webworm_ stories, this is all just so objectively _weird_. I never had any great interest in Sved until Wilding started name-dropping him at every opportunity. For the last six years I’ve thought Wilding’s various claims were quite out-there – then I found her husband somehow managed to _match_ her. Now he's taken legal action to try and shut me up. I can see how they work as a couple. Each day for them must be an exciting new adventure filled with nuclear secrets, Chinese spies, and devious Kiwi journalists. I think it’s fair to say that Wilding’s campaign isn’t going great. Yes, Donald Trump is president of the United States, a victory for fantasists and narcissists the world over. But Wilding is running in an incredibly liberal state. Her approach is not a particularly logical one. As for Sved taking me to court – it’s frustrating. On one hand, it’s the kind of crazy I find fascinating and intriguing. On the other hand, lawyers are expensive and it’s money I’d rather put nearly anywhere else. You could argue that none of this matters: Wilding and Sved are just two people living in a fantasy world that we can largely ignore. But people like Marena Lin can't ignore it. In her run for Congress, she has to deal with a woman going out of her way to spread racist allegations about her. She has to sit next to her in public meetings. And here I am, wiring thousands of dollars to a lawyer to make sure I don't end up with a criminal record in the US. I also think that these types of people are far more common than we assume. We brush up against them all the time, we just don't notice. Until we do. _David._ Jump To Comments ## **The Saga So Far:** Part 1: The Beginning Part 2: Wilding vs The World Part 3: Wilding v Wikipedia Part 4: The Mysterious Matt Obolensky Part 5: The End of the Saga? Part 6: 25 Years of Making Shit Up Part 7: The Kiwi Running for US Congress Part 8: "Strictly Need To Know" Part 9: Webworm Is Being Taken To Court (Again) Part 10: I Go To Court This Week If you aren't already doing so, and want to support __Webworm__ with a monthly or yearly subscription, please consider signing up. Paying subs keep __Webworm__ alive - and are a big help when we are being sued. Become a Full Member ## More From Webworm: The Hare Krishna who called me “c**t face”A few months of hate mail led me to a person I did not expectWebworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierWhy Luka Magnotta started sending me letters from prison.When the “Don’t F**k With Cats” guy decided to f**k with me.Webworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierAn open letter to Dr Dan & his lawyersLast week I received a cease and desist notice. This is not the first time this has happened.Webworm with David FarrierDavid FarrierWhy Webworm Has Left SubstackDavid Farrier explains why his investigative newsletter Webworm has Left Substack for Ghost.Webworm with David FarrierDavid Farrier

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