David Straight, Scammer

[MoDogMom]

Wondering if anyone has heard of David Straight. His website is davidstraightlive.com. My neighbors have spent a boatload of money traveling the country to attend his seminars, where he teaches that filing and paying the federal income tax is voluntary, that if you file the "right" forms you are no longer subject to real estate tax, that you don't need a drivers' license, and other ridiculous and dangerous nonsense. Nothing I have said or shown them, including multiple court cases, has swayed their conviction that this man has the "answer" to saving our country. (Note: They are also convinced that Q-anon and the "white hats" are on the verge of arresting everyone in Washington and the country will soon be ours again. Probably tomorrow. Or the next day. But I digress.)

This David Straight person has, so far, convinced them to renounce their US citizenship (did you know that "citizen" means "slave"?) in favor of being an American National, give up their drivers' licenses, and - the latest - have their marriage annulled - because the government makes most of its money off married people. (Wait, what?) He also has them convinced that having their name in all caps on their SS card means they are legally dead, that the government has an account in their name containing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and, if they must go to court, the gold fringe around the flag means that it is a military tribunal and their constitutional rights have been suspended. Last but not least, if they file the "right" form, the bank will record their mortgage as Paid In Full.

The money they have spent on this scam is already running into the thousands of dollars. Just wondering if anyone has experience with this flim-flam artist, and what would be the best way to bring him to the attention of the authorities.

[Burnaby49]

Can't say I've heard of him but there is little in that laundry list of sovereign beliefs that hasn't been thoroughly discussed and refuted here on Quatloos.

There's probably no point in "bring him to the attention of the authorities" since nothing he's promoting is actually illegal. If they follow his mortgage advice they'll probably lose their home. But from the bank's perspective it's just a standard mortgage default, a civil matter. Surrendering their drivers licenses and cancelling vehicle insurance is just an administrative step as long as they stop driving. If they do this but continue driving they'll probably get charged and lose their car but that's on them, not Straight. I doubt they've actually legally renounced their citizenship. It's a complicated process and I believe you have to be outside of the country to do it since, once renounced, you no longer have any right to reside in America. They probably just made some idiotic declaration of no legal effect whatever. I doubt they've actually legally annulled their marriage either.

However the advice itself, while destructive to the people who follow it, is well within Straights first amendment rights to teach. As far as the cost of all this goes he can charge whatever he wants, it is your neighbors choice whether or not to pay it. All you can do is stand back and avoid the train wreck.

[MoDogMom]

Thanks for the info. I believe you're right about his teaching not being illegal. While it is very, very bad advice, it probably doesn't meet the definition of conspiracy. Since there is no fiduciary relationship - explicit or implicit - I guess he can't even be held accountable for ignoring a duty to do his best by his clients. Pretty sad really. It's hard to say who will get the house first - the county for unpaid real estate tax, or the IRS for unpaid income tax. Worst case, they'll be in jail for tax evasion. The saddest thing of all is that these are wonderful people, and really smart, just no sense. I guess I should have seen it coming. They spent the past 20 years in various MLM scams, and believe to this day that MLM will work if you get the "right people" at the top. (Where have we heard that before?) Anyway, thanks again.

[morrand]

Funny how the world works, sometimes. By coincidence, my morning news feed had an article about the "QAnon [Meme] Queen," Deborah Sullivan, mentioning in passing that, "Under one Telegram post, some of Sullivan’s followers had other suggestions for her to contact, including the sovereign citizen grifter David Straight, far-right podcaster and COVID conspiracy theorist Stew Peters and QAnon lawyer Lin Wood." Quite a company.

That article linked to a VICE News piece on Straight from September 2021, describing his specialty as "exposing the corruption they [gurus] see within a particular agency of government, Child Protective Services (CPS)." Also mentioned is the ongoing diffusion of sov-cit ideas into the QAnon and anti-vaccine movements. That and much else that's discussed will be familiar to regular Quatloos! readers, although the article does introduce a couple of other players I hadn't heard of before. It looks like a good discussion of his background and his pitch.

There's also this tactic mentioned: "Another one of Straight’s methods involves trademarking a child’s name and selling it on merchandise ... . When a name becomes of value to a business, Straight argues, lawyers and judges are unable to mention it in filings because 'states may not interfere with commerce,' Colburn explained." This explains why trademarks are never mentioned in court filings, you see. Or maybe he just has a side hustle printing custom T-shirts.

[MoDogMom]

A little critical thinking would put David Straight, and most of his ilk, out of business. Unfortunately, critical thinking takes time and effort - two things the average person has in short supply and is unwilling to spend, particularly when it would cause them to doubt the veracity of such an attractive lie as, "You'll never have to pay taxes again." Sad, sad, sad...

[AnOwlCalledSage]

Sounds like his scamming has been even too much for the scammers!

Feud erupts in sovereign citizen movement over fake $200K license plate scheme

A branch of the "sovereign citizen movement" known as the Republic of Texas is enraged with David Straight, a so-called "guru" of the movement who charges exorbitant fees for people to allegedly become immune from the laws of the United States, and have kicked him out of their fake republic.

[The Observer]

A similar article from the Daily Beast.

It will be interesting to see how the arrest of his wife in Fort Worth will be explained by Straight when he is unable to use the methods he is selling to free her and keep her out of court. Resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer and having a weapon in a prohibited place are some pretty serious charges. She may be very sorry that she swallowed the Kool-ade that Straight was selling to the marks.