October 17, 2019

By @MsAmyMacPherson

With so many dirty tricks at play in this federal election, voters are bewildered and confused about what is true, what is false, and how to find their way through this modern campaign dystopia to cast a ballot with any confidence. Anyone could become overwhelmed if they sifted through the material for fact checking, because parties have been dishonest, candidates have amplified a constant onslaught of disinformation, and the corporate media has availed itself to advancing partisan interests instead of journalizing these events without bias. The Canadian public is fed-up and pushed to the brink of distrust due to these dubious behaviours and their complaints have fallen of deaf ears, because the press corps is also downplaying these concerns with a cut-and-paste response that ‘it’s not state-level interference‘.

But Free The Press Canada couldn’t accept these blind-faith excuses and embarked on an investigation to illuminate the power structures behind the corrosive forces that are undermining the electorate’s belief in our democratic institutions. This is a global problem for Western democracies and Canada would be naive to think it was insulated from the rise of autocratic populism, or the many dangerous tactics it uses to taint elections, that are frequently connected to foreign interference.

This research began with a theory that it was possible for bad actors to sabotage Canadian voters. What we didn’t expect to find was that an infamous Republican operative, already indicted in the United States, has his fingerprints all over the current debauchery in Canada. We’re now at a point that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has to wear a bullet-proof vest to give campaign speeches and this is not indicative of the Canada we’ve ever known. The public is becoming distressed that our collective identity morphed into a violent alter ego, but Free The Press Canada will show how this perception was manufactured by the same populist kingpin that helped install Donald Trump in the White House.

The Buffalo Chronicle

Much ado has been made about the Buffalo Chronicle and its barrage of inflammatory articles that have directly impacted this Canadian election. Buffalo is located in Western New York and the website is run by a fellow named Matthew Ricchiazzi. The Canadian media has attempted to warn voters that it’s a source of fake news and to stop sharing Ricchiazzi’s propaganda on social media, because every time he releases a new hit-piece it spreads through Facebook and Twitter like wildfire ( original / archive ).

His work has been described as partially true, mostly false, and usually predicated on the mainstream news by lifting snippets that were already published by reputable journalists. He stands accused of contorting facts with a wild partisan imagination, that’s regularly aimed at destroying the Liberal Party of Canada. But Ricchiazzi has also been minimized by Canadian political operatives as ‘just one guy‘ to whom our libel laws wouldn’t apply as an outspoken American reporter ( original / archive ).

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Source: Twitter ( original / archive )

Even the chief political correspondent for Global News diminished the Buffalo Chronicle as something that wasn’t real, adding sentiments like there was ‘nothing to see here‘ as another one of those big ole nothingburgers.

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Source: Twitter ( original / archive )

Others with significant political agendas retort that it doesn’t matter if the content is only 10 percent true, because the Buffalo Chronicle serves their purpose to torpedo the current government. It appears that hatred for the Liberals by vengeant Conservative actors is a good enough reason to throw Canada’s legal and ethical standards out with the proverbial bathwater.

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Source: Twitter ( original / archive )

At this rate the majority of Canadians would believe that the Buffalo Chronicle wasn’t a big deal, or a threat to the electoral process. The journalists who attack Ricchiazzi’s credibility also make the mistake of diminishing his character as little more than a failed municipal wannabe, with some kind of axe to grind that no one’s been able to identify ( original / archive ).

The most capable coverage to date has come from Adrienne Arsenault at CBC News, in a segment that scoured Western New York for Matthew Ricchiazzi to question him about the Buffalo Chronicle in person. Unfortunately the entire program wasn’t included in the website article and it ended without an interview due to Ricchiazzi’s unreasonable demands to portray him. Instead the piece was filled with comments from a Buffalo lawyer, Alan Bedenko, who claimed he wasn’t aware of Ricchiazzi’s motivation to produce the controversial content despite knowing him. At the very least, Arsenault was able to confirm that the business address for the Buffalo Chronicle doesn’t exist ( original only, as CBC prevents its site from being archived).

Matthew Ricchiazzi is consistently described as a one-man operation with the odd beef against Canada. Journalists on both sides of the border failed their due diligence and framed him as a lone wolf that no one should waste their time on, dispatching the advice that ignoring him is the best course of action (save and except CBC News).

They were, however, wrong… deeply wrong. All the checks and balances that Canadians believed would protect them have abdicated that responsibility, one after the other. Elections Canada doesn’t have the same investigative powers as the RCMP and the federal police can only be activated by complaints after a crime has been committed. They’re not in the business of resolving the administration of elections before anyone has voted and they shouldn’t police journalists as a regular function. The government attempted to establish an election integrity panel, but even that is staffed by five bureaucrats who arguably present a challenging conflict of interest. Notwithstanding everyone’s good intentions, it’s just not possible for five people to police the entire internet and country for evidence foreign interference ( original only).

This is where the network breaks down, because every branch of the democratic system relies on the media to inform its institutions. In a previous investigation, Free The Press Canada reported several failures of the domestic press and blatant signs of partisan meddling that arose from the blackface scandal in Time magazine ( original / archive ). So if the Canadian media is fraught with ethical breaches that are void of due diligence, how can it be the body to educate Canada’s legal and bureaucratic audience?

Who Is Matt Ricchiazzi, Really?

Depending who you speak with or what day of the week you inquire, Matthew Ricchiazzi is a man of many faces, even unto himself. During election cycles whether Canadian or American, he’s the ‘publisher’ of the Buffalo Chronicle. When the scrutiny is less intense he becomes a journalist at the same outfit, but his LinkedIn profile neglects to mention either of these endeavours.

Ricchiazzi is a graduate of Cornell University; the same establishment that produced Anna Kambhumpaty and the audaciously misrepresented exposé about the Canadian prime minister in Time magazine ( original / archive ). Mr. Ricchiazzi appears to have earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and on one occasion he claims to hold a degree in architecture. But his LinkedIn account disputes the second assertion and corrects this casual misrepresentation to a Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning. Although the two disciplines are semi-related, a planner isn’t qualified to be an architect and an architect couldn’t double as a planner ( original / archive ). There doesn’t seem to be a good reason for embellishing Ricchiazzi’s skill set, because he is thoroughly qualified in his field(s) without the need to lie about the ilk of his education.

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Source: LinkedIn ( original only)

It seems as though Matthew Ricchiazzi is also struggling with his identity, because on some occasions he’s a proud Italian American and on others he claims affiliation with the Cayuga Nation, the Seneca Nation, and the Mohawk Nation further north in Canada.

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Source: WNY Media & Wayback Machine (archive only)

Ricchiazzi claims to have been employed by the Seneca Nation and involved with the tribe’s gaming business, but when an incident occurred at that casino involving a Republican senator, Seneca officials denied knowing Ricchiazzi. It was described as a dizzying affair because Ricchiazzi worked on the senator’s campaign to get him elected and he is a registered Republican, but when this opportunity presented itself Ricchiazzi attempted to extort the senator according to the local news.

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Source: LinkedIn (original only)

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Source: The Buffalo Record (original / archive)

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Source: The Buffalo Record (original / archive)

At first Ricchiazzi fabricated an allegation that Senator Grisanti uttered a racial epithet against the Seneca Nation, but he followed up in personal messages with the same senator by encouraging him to sue the Seneca casino for perpetrating an assault on the Republican and his family (original / archive). The details about this sordid affair are messy, but one fact that shines through is that Ricchiazzi was playing both sides against each other for his personal financial benefit.

This brash young man had attempted to secure payment of $20,000 USD per month, to defend the senator against his own allegations that weren’t supported by Seneca tribal officials. He defended the alleged extortion by explaining the fee was the going rate for his expertise in public relations and reputation management. (original / archive). In any event, no criminal charges were laid because this incident resulted in bad press for both the casino and the government, with neither party wishing to escalate the mysterious confrontation that placed Ricchiazzi at the centre of this chaos (1. original / archive, 2. original / archive, 3. video).

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Source: The Buffalo Record (original / archive)

Ricchiazzi’s exploitative approach toward the Seneca Nation didn’t stop after the casino altercation. He also claimed to be employed by the tribe’s construction division and took credit for slashing their operating budget while installing a new chief executive.

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Source: LinkedIn (original only)

Meanwhile this illusive grifter published in the Buffalo Chronicle to register his disapproval with the Seneca Nation for investing in a grand construction project involving the casino property. He attributes this viewpoint to an anonymous ‘local developer’ who happens to own commercial property nearby (original / archive). As Free The Press Canada continues to reveal these details, the source speaking through Ricchiazzi should become apparent. But this story constitutes the first mention of a billionaire from Manhattan, as this investigation begins to migrate toward President Trump’s domain and due north toward Canada. At this juncture, Ricchiazzi shows his hand by taking his complaint to Twitter and lobbying the Mayor of Niagara Falls, NY against his former purported Indigenous employer (original / archive).

Regarding politics and identity, Matthew Ricchiazzi wasn’t raised on an Indigenous reserve. He grew up in Buffalo, NY and he emphasizes that urban history without mentioning a word about his ethnic heritage during a long-shot bid for the mayor’s office (original / archive). He was disqualified from running due to issues with his residency and the failure to vote over an extended period. Ricchiazzi was noted as switching his political affiliation from Democrat to Republican at the time Barack Obama was running for president (original / archive).

Buzzfeed News is another source that took issue with Ricchiazzi’s inconsistent behaviour, but it also downplayed his rants in the Buffalo Chronicle as a localized anti-gay matter between a disgruntled municipal agitator and a Republican senator. ( original / archive) . Ricchiazzi produced an excessively homophobic mailer as a threat to Grisanti because the latter changed his stance at the last minute and voted in favour of gay marriage. The young operative saw this as a clarion call to save the Republican Party from itself ( original / archive ). This dust-up produced enough controversy to catch the attention of senior writers at Politico as well ( original / archive ).

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Source: Queerty ( original / archive )

Despite this outward appearance of breaking ranks with Senator Grisanti over the gay marriage issue, Matthew Ricchiazzi continued to support the Republican and subsequently came out as a bi-sexual. It’s hard to imagine what would cause Ricchiazzi to attack LGBTQ2 equality if he requires this acceptance to reconcile his own identity (original / archive).

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Source: The Buffalo Record (original / archive)

Ricchiazzi’s Leap To Canada

By June 2018, Matthew Ricchiazzi began to take aim at Canada. He joined forces with the Tea Party faction within the GOP, encouraging President Trump to block ratification of the USMCA trade deal. Ricchiazzi argued that Mexicans are corrupt and therefore they don’t deserve access to the American market. He theorizes that Canada has been financially successful and therefore Americans deserve a piece of our domestic banking industry. He further divines that withholding the trade deal from Canada until we bow to these banking provisions will result in flipping key border states to support the Republican Party. Ricchiazzi asserts that forcing Canada into full integration with the U.S. financial industry will secure Republican control of the senate for at least the next decade ( original / archive ).

Then in January 2019, Ricchiazzi resumed pressure on the Canadian government. This time he falsified information regarding Senator Chuck Schumer, pretending to have access to the Democrat Senate Minority Leader, as a Tea Party operative that uses the Buffalo Chronicle to advance alt-right causes. He didn’t see the irony in claiming to represent Indigenous voices with a faction that harbours significant racism and has historically opposed the rights of Indigenous peoples. But off he went, trying to sell propaganda that the Democrats were planning to block ratification of the USMCA if it didn’t include language to identify Indigenous trade as protected and separate from the negotiations with Canada ( original / archive ).

Ricchiazzi then tweeted this false flag warning to Prime Minster Justin Trudeau, Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, First Nations in British Columbia, and a handful of mainstream media outlets ( original / archive ). Of note, he did not think to include the AFN or Indigenous Affairs ministers, indicating he doesn’t know the difference between treaties and unceded territorial claims. Furthermore, National Chief Perry Bellegarde was consulted on the USMCA and he approved of this trade deal as the most inclusive agreement for Indigenous peoples in First Nations’ history. Bellegarde penned his own statement in Macleans magazine that incidentally refutes Ricchiazzi’s Tea Party declaration, before the Buffalo Chronicle plotted to exploit Indigenous tribes across all of North America. If Ricchiazzi truly cared about their interests, he would have sought their input before attempting to (mis)represent them ( original / archive ).

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Source: Twitter (original / archive)

But Matthew Ricchiazzi is an unrelenting individual and the next development will help to define his disposition as well as agenda. In June 2019, he followed up with a divisive entry about the Mohawk Nation in Ohsweken, Ontario. The Six Nations of the Grand River are part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (people of the longhouse, Iroquois, Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Tuscarora) and they have a Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC, band council) that liaises with the hereditary chiefs of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (HCCC), to govern this Indigenous reserve. This arrangement blends the past way through birthright (tribal) with the new way through democracy (colonial), but due to the elected council’s power to manage band finances, this relationship is sometimes delicate to manage. To both parties’ credit, they are in the habit of consulting and negotiating through tribal sticking points.

The Buffalo Chronicle sought to inflame that relationship by exacerbating the tension and asserting the elected council is a criminal entity. It accuses the elected leadership and administrative managers of defrauding the people out of 90 percent of the territory they’re owed. It says that compensation is worth billions of dollars and mismanagement has resulted in no reliable supply of clean drinking water (original / archive).

Ricchiazzi goes on to inform readers the government is supposed to compensate both the hereditary chiefs and the elected council for development projects like the Niagara Region hydro corridor. This infrastructure project is in the process of being upgraded to deliver more power from Niagara Falls to Toronto. But the Buffalo Chronicle mixes part truth with an incredible fabrication, that the band council agreed to pay $13 million in exchange for a 25 percent stake in the transmission line, meaning the people were fleeced by their negotiator. Ricchiazzi makes a point of noting that Matt Jamieson was in charge of the deal and claims he didn’t have the authority to decide on behalf of the Haudenosaunee. The article mentions his father, Ron Jamieson, who was a Bank of Montreal executive that created Aboriginal banking. The Buffalo Chronicle then deduces the son is in a conflict of interest to represent the Mohawk Nation, in its explanation of this fraud allegation (original / archive).

Free The Press Canada warns readers these details are central to foreign interference in the current federal election. This is not reported for semantic reasons and we are trying to be respectful of Indigenous peoples as we navigate these important details. The information provided in this section is key to resolving the purpose of dubious foreign actors.

Continuing, the Buffalo Chronicle combines this complaint with the report of a protest initiated by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council to terminate the Six Nations Elected Council permanently, due to the reassertion of hereditary rights over an elected democracy. Ricchiazzi characterizes the standoff as the next Standing Rock and floats that protesters will continue to flood the reserve all summer long, in an election year (referring to the federal government). The entire portrayal is predicated on that hydro issue (original / archive).

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Source: Twitter (original / archive)

A Google reverse image search located the original photo that was used by Ricchiazzi to tell his story. The TorStar chain covered that protest, but it was actually about the Indigenous Rights Framework and the hereditary chiefs’ demand that elected council reject the proposed legislation (original / archive).

The truth of the matter is that both sides met to negotiate on the fourth day of protest and there was evidence of misinformation among the hereditary chiefs because the elected council had already rejected the government’s proposed framework. They were on the same side of this issue.

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Source: Hamilton Spectator (original / archive)

When that situation didn’t produce the next Standing Rock, Ricchiazzi followed up with another article the next month. This time the Buffalo Chronicle claimed a court injunction sought by Hydro One had sparked unrest at the same reserve. It also offered more defined allegations of fraud against the band’s economic development manager, Matt Jamieson, by adding illegal cannabis to the mix (original / archive).

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Source: Buffalo Chronicle (original / archive)

The claims portrayed by Ricchiazzi on behalf of the hereditary chiefs were even more fantastical in the second example. He wrongfully asserts, based on the misinterpretation of his purported Cayuga heritage, that American Indians and their companies can’t be sued or prosecuted for crimes by the colonial government, because they are sovereign kings of their own nations. He portrays tribes on the Canadian side of the border as lacking this diplomatic immunity that is inherent, in his mind, to all Indigenous peoples in North America.

The next bit of propaganda requires more untangling, as Ricchiazzi characterizes the injunction sought by Hydro One as a criminal pursuit against the Iroquois people and attempt to steal their land, by the power company and Ontario government. He encourages the hereditary chiefs to commence roadway blockades and frames the elected band council as Indian agents of the federal government (original / archive).

In a leap of curious logic, Ricchiazzi maintains the purpose of this energy project is to benefit the private businesses of Matt Jamieson’s family members, as if increasing the provincial power load and modernizing that infrastructure would be done to help a single family prosper.

Free The Press Canada reiterates these details are key to revealing the American interests and Trump operative behind foreign interference in the federal election. This situation is not confined to the Haudenosaunee, the Province of Ontario, the Niagara Region, or Greater Toronto Area, but the reasons and ways this group was manipulated are integral to understanding the unprecedented severity of hostile action undertaken against Canada.

This publication goes on to raise the issue of eminent domain and supports hereditary chiefs in reclaiming land from Niagara Falls, to Haldimand, to Port Dover, that control all access and economic activity for the interior Great Lakes region (original / archive).

Ricchiazzi then forwarded this political play to the attention of Warren Kinsella, Andrew Coyne, Christie Blatchford, and Robert Fife from the Canadian media establishment.

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Source: Twitter (original / archive)

It bears mention that some of these reporters were implicated by Free The Press Canada in a previous investigation regarding the Time magazine exposé against Justin Trudeau (original / archive).

Free The Press Canada was able to conduct another reverse image search and found the photo of Matt Jamieson used by Ricchiazzi originated from a gala where he received an award for running one the most successful Indigenous businesses in the country. The economic model used by Six Nations reinvests all the profits in these Iroquois communities, paying for several social and infrastructure projects (original / archive).

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Source: Hamilton Spectator (original / archive)

Regarding the injunction pursued by Hydro One, the truth can be found in a CBC News article. The company sought permission to resume work on the energy corridor that was blocked by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council. Although that much resembles what the Buffalo Chronicle reported, the rest of the story differs tremendously (original / archive).

The lawsuit was filed as a measure of last resort because the Six Nations Elected Council and Hydro One were asking the hereditary chiefs to return to the negotiating table. The original deal proposed a 45 percent stake in the Niagara transmission lines for affected Indigenous reserves (unlike the 25 percent stake reported by the Buffalo Chronicle), but the Haudenosaunee Confederacy wanted an extra payment and ownership in the line for hereditary leaders that would not be shared with the residents of the Six Nations. It was deemed a bad faith request and Hydro One, with Six Nations of the Grand River, were more than willing to mediate an agreement that didn’t resemble a kickback for an exclusionary group of blood relatives.

The elected band council took the position that it wasn’t proper for the hereditary chiefs to pursue a land claims argument through Hydro One, when it’s the federal government’s domain in an ongoing process to resolve the treaty – not a private company’s business to overstep. They also felt it wasn’t right for Hydro One to be tasked with resolving disputes about the superiority of hereditary leadership versus elected Indigenous governments. Despite that deep contention, Six Nations of the Grand River reiterated their intention to resolve these leadership challenges with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Iroquois people internally.

Six Nations added that the decision to enter an agreement with Hydro One was determined through an open, transparent, and democratic process that engaged in consultation with the community. During the injunction proceeding, hereditary chiefs also conceded they’re willing to negotiate and only objected to Hydro One’s ‘colonist and patriarchal’ character (original / archive).

In summary of this dispute, the elected council circulated a newsletter that itemized what it accomplished during its mandate. It achieved the elimination of hydro delivery fees for every First Nation resident living on reserve. It brought forward a proposal in conjunction with Hydro One and the Government of Ontario that would compensate Six Nations with no less than $46 million dollars for participating in the energy corridor. It also acquired equity ownership as a shareholder in Hydro One, worth up to $750 million over 25 years (PDF only, opens in browser and not an automatic download).

The newsletter also demonstrates what the economic development branch, led by Matt Jamieson, helped contribute to the community. There are several improvements such as a water treatment plant, water main expansion, a fire and ambulance building, two new fire trucks, a convention centre, a 95-unit housing development, a stake in wind and solar installations, recreational facilities, as well as 80 public works projects in a single year that generated numerous high paying jobs. This Six Nations’ newsletter refuted false allegations published by Ricchiazzi, especially as they pertain to clean water.

Free The Press Canada noticed that Matthew Ricchiazzi claimed to work for Six Nations of the Grand River but was unable to confirm that employment with the elected band council. It’s noteworthy that his LinkedIn profile placed him as third in command, with the identical job duties that belong to Matt Jamieson – the very person the Buffalo Chronicle is attempting to undermine as illegitimate (original only).

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Source: LinkedIn (original only)

Later in the same month and during the federal pre-writ period, the Buffalo Chronicle assailed Mark Hill to interfere with his ability to run for the Six Nations elected band council. He was attacked due to his uncle’s position as an executive of a successful Indigenous tobacco company. Ricchiazzi exerted pressure for the Iroquois to stop complying with federal taxation and withhold those proceeds from the colonial government by refusing to acknowledge its authority over health and fiscal regulations. He was pushing for the Mohawk reserve to come in direct conflict with the law in an attempt to overthrow it and the government itself. He attempted to saddle Mark Hill’s family with the duty to establish Indigenous sovereignty against the whole of government, because he felt the Hills could produce enough money through their cigarette sales to replace the transfers from Indigenous Affairs that constitute the operating budget for the reserve. It goes without saying that Ricchiazzi fails to grasp those transfers come from an Indigenous trust that metes out their own savings (original / archive).

Ultimately the Buffalo Chronicle proposed if the largest tribal group in Canada relinquished its own assets (held in trust by the government) that they could each become self-sustaining countries that are instead funded by the Hill family and cigarette sales. Ricchiazzi suggested that every bit of that prosperity was owed to the hereditary chiefs because these Indigenous businesses operate on ‘their’ land. In this regard, the Buffalo Chronicle painted the Haudenosaunee Confederacy as a type of Indigenous mafia that was owed by all of its people if they didn’t ascend to royal leadership through a particular family bloodline (original / archive).

The same report then follows that not only are Indigenous businesses defrauding the Confederacy by failing to forward all profits to hereditary leaders, but they’re somehow stealing 300 megawatts of electricity from the tribal elders as well. Ricchiazzi obsesses about these 300 megawatts in multiple entries without explaining the logic and torques that argument to reflect poorly on Justin Trudeau and the Liberal plan for reconciliation, at the behest of Conservative Premier Doug Ford.

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Source: Buffalo Chronicle (original / archive)

In a final curious leap, Matthew Ricchiazzi closes the piece by suggesting the Hill family is responsible for hiring “lobbyists and political operatives” to take down the federal government, because they have enough money from the profit of cigarette sales to assert the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on its behalf – albeit against the interests of Indigenous families that ascribe to elected tribal leadership that is required to be transparent and accountable to the community. The Buffalo Chronicle ends by encouraging the hereditary chiefs to assert eminent domain over Indigenous businesses on its land and evict them altogether. In other words, obey the royal leadership or leave and assimilate with the Caucasian population.

Free The Press Canada is not attributing this threat of cultural violence to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. It recognizes challenging issues between the hereditary and elected leadership, but appreciates their intention to coexist and co-manage this Six Nations reserve. We are tasked with outlining the agenda and methods of American Tea Party operatives to depict how and why they’ve focused on inflaming this particular relationship. The aforementioned suggestions belong to these Americans, who do not view the Iroquois people as equals and we regret the need to voice these hurtful tactics.

To understand the Buffalo Chronicle’s purpose with these disputes requires going back in time two years prior. In 2017 Matthew Ricchiazzi attempted a hostile takeover of the Maid of the Mist tour boat line by asserting his own claim to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and eminent domain over the Great Lakes and Niagara River via the State of New York. In a nutshell, Ricchiazzi put forward the legal argument that all the waterways between the United States and Canada are owned and controlled by Aboriginal title.

He is not a lawyer and this argument had never been made in either country, but he sought to assemble a team of “Indian ivy-league lawyers” to pursue his claim, with the end goal of acquiring the Maid of the Mist business tax free. Ricchiazzi cites the Treaty of Canandaigua as providing ownership of those waters and he believes a Trump-era Republican Supreme Court will grant his wishes. From there he intends to assert those powers over Canada (original / archive).

The Buffalo Chronicle published 11 stories about the Mohawk Nation in Ohsweken, Ontario from March 2017 to July 2019 (original / archive). All claimed to represent the view of the Haudenosaunee Hereditary Chiefs to sow division with the band council and everyone living on the Grand River reserve. No sources for this propaganda were ever named.

Matthew Ricchiazzi is an Italian American who is engaging in self-indigenization for the purpose of reaping power from treaty agreements through a process of exploitation. Although Free The Press Canada respects Indigenous peoples discovering their identity and reclamation of rights, Ricchiazzi’s business partner has spent decades fighting to end Indigenous rights with immense racism toward the Iroquois people. That partnership can’t be reconciled with Ricchiazzi’s purported goals and discovery of his powerful backers will make this hypocrisy clear.

Enter Frank Parlato & Roger Stone

Matthew Ricchiazzi’s main partner is Frank Parlato Jr., a New York developer who made his fortune the same way Donald Trump’s father did. He gentrified properties in Buffalo and exploited government-backed mortgages through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Parlato Sr. was audited due to a 23 percent foreclosure rate on the properties flipped and sold by him and his son, Frank Parlato Jr. In 1998 the family was accused of taking advantage of poor people, then collecting the payout from government for their bad debts (original / archive). This is the same behaviour that led to the more recent American meltdown of the financial market that the country is still recovering from.

This also accounts for Parlato Jr.’s disdain for Democrat Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo, and Bill de Blasio who is the Democrat Mayor of New York City and a former candidate in the race to select a leader to run for the Office of President. Back in 1998, the two were involved in the case against the Parlato family regarding abuse of the HUD program. Cuomo was the Secretary of HUD and de Blasio was his executive assistant. They addressed Parlato Jr. specifically in an OpEd that’s still published in The Buffalo News. They explained Parlato was welcome to appeal the ruling against his real estate venture, but that Cuomo was committed to reducing fraud in the housing development program (original / archive).

By 2008 Frank Parlato (Jr.) was the owner of One Niagara, the welcome centre across the U.S. border as soon as drivers exit the Rainbow Bridge. He obtained the property through a foreclosure due to a foreign investor who didn’t complete an ambitious project and instead left a trail of exorbitant back taxes. It was in a shambles when Parlato took possession and he built it with his own money into the landmark is today. Now the building boasts the only panoramic view of the Niagara Peninsula from the American side.

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Source: Niagara Falls, NY directory (original only)

But this building would give rise to Parlato’s extreme and longstanding abhorrence of the Seneca Nation. He initiated political and community campaigns against his Indigenous neighbour, that owned and ran the tax free casino that Matthew Ricchiazzi attempted to undermine, as mentioned earlier ( original / archive)

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Source: The Buffalo News ( original / archive )

Parlato was also competing with State Parks for the lucrative parking market at the Niagara Falls border. He was locked in a bitter battle with the Senecas and the government, and he attempted to have both of his immediate neighbours evicted ( original / archive ).

From that endeavour Parlato moved on to publish two tabloid papers in the Niagara Falls area, ArtVoice and The Niagara Reporter. In this way he could control the narrative and lambaste any of his detractors in the government, or real estate and tourism businesses. Free The Press Canada was not able to ascertain when he became a partner to Ricchiazzi, but in 2014 his tabloid was syndicated in the Buffalo Chronicle and both men wrote for each other’s papers (despite the fact that neither of them are journalists). There are two pages of Parlato entries still hosted at the former’s website (page 1 original / archive , page 2 original / archive ).

Of interest, one of Frank Parlato’s beefs is that New Yorkers don’t receive cheap hydro from the Niagara Falls generating operation and this may account for the insidious campaign unleashed against the Iroquois peoples in Ontario ( original / archive ).

Perhaps the most interesting story to come from Frank Parlato is his own perspective about the One Niagara development project, and his eventual success in obtaining the Maid of the Mist boat tour on the Canadian side for $300 million. Also mentioned is Parlato’s criminal indictment by a grand jury, but no details are provided about that part of his legacy ( original / archive ).

With only a little bit of digging, Free The Press Canada was able to locate the 19-count indictment against Parlato from November 2015. The charges were laid in the Western District of New York and included conspiracy to defraud the government, money laundering, wire fraud, as well as obstructing the Internal Revenue Service. This was the culmination of a 4-year investigation undertaken by the FBI ( original / archive ).

By May 2018, a few of the charges were dropped but new ones were added, still focusing on the money laundering, wire fraud, and obstruction allegations. Parlato and his female partner stand accused of moving large sums of money through 50 different bank accounts, more than 15 shell companies, and a “dizzying array” of limited liability corporations, in addition to multiple attorney trust accounts to perpetrate the scheme ( original / archive ).

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Source: Niagara Gazette ( original / archive )

Free The Press Canada will resume examination of those charges, but first the rest of this colourful personality must be explained for readers and investigators to make sense of them. Updates regarding Parlato’s relationship with Matthew Ricchiazzi and Roger Stone are also required.

Regarding Roger Stone

The infamous Roger Stone, now indicted through the Mueller Trump-Russia investigation, is an extremely close friend and partner to Frank Parlato. He’s at least as close to Parlato as he is to Donald Trump and he writes for the former’s ArtVoice publication (that also partnered with Ricchiazzi’s Buffalo Chronicle).

In fact, this is where Roger Stone mounted his public defence against the Mueller investigation and where he took to taunting the media, in addition to some of the highest ranking members of the American intelligence community. From February 2018 to the end of December 2018, Stone was a prolific writer and managed to publish 26 entries before the gag order came down from Justice Amy Berman Jackson (page 1 archive , page 2 archive , page 3 archive ).

This is the same period of time when Matthew Ricchiazzi began his fake news attacks on Canada in the Buffalo Chronicle sister venue.

Stone was no shrinking violet and he touched on personalities such as Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump, James Comey, Richard Blumenthal, a Russian FBI informant, Richard Nixon, Adam Schiff, Julian Assange, John O. Brennan, Jeff Sessions, the Clinton family, Barack Obama, and a handful of mainstream journalists.

In the meantime Frank Parlato was campaigning on behalf of his friend, Roger Stone, on both his own website for the ArtVoice publication and Stone’s personal website, The StoneZone.

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Source: ArtVoice ( archive )

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Source: The StoneZone ( archive )

Parlato, Stone, The Bronfmans & NXIVM

Frank Parlato is credited with taking down the NXIVM (nex-eee-uhm) ‘sex cult’ with the help of Roger Stone, but this narrative is missing too many pieces of the puzzle and the omitted parts are a cause for concern (original / archive).

Free The Press Canada is approaching this topic carefully, because we don’t want to promote any conspiracy-based theories. It’s unfortunate that such a lurid topic could affect the federal election, but due to the Bronfmans’ involvement and their connection to the Liberal Party of Canada, it’s not possible to avoid this discussion.

The media has greatly sensationalized this story and focused solely on the smaller group of ‘sex slaves’, but that narrative was concocted by Frank Parlato and Roger Stone and this is why it must be evaluated with sober reflection.

The reality is that NXIVM was an exclusive group for the upper echelon of society, predominantly for networking between multi-millionaires and billionaires, with the added allure of enlightenment and support for one another. It was founded by Keith Raniere (ren-ear-eee) and his business partner, Nancy Salzman. He’s reported to hold a Guinness World Record for the highest IQ, but even that information is disputed due to an alleged month-long period to complete the test with outside help. She is known as a nurse with neuro-linguistic expertise and this field is heavily related to programming/brainwashing. That’s not to say what Salzman did with her talents, but that’s the primary use for them in psychology.

In order to join NXIVM applicants were required to submit kompromat on themselves, in theory to protect the group from anyone speaking about its private matters and relationships. It’s regularly described as a pyramid scheme and each new pledge was tasked with recruiting additional members. That format likely arose from Raniere’s past experience with Amway and in the end it caused NXIVM to behave like a clearing house of compromising information on some very powerful people.

Free The Press Canada believes that was the group’s predominant goal, and even if it was a side benefit it was surely tantalizing to political operatives. According to Jeffrey Peterson, who is considered the pioneer of Hispanic internet in the United States, he was recruited to join NXIVM by the son of the former Mexican president (original / archive).

Around a year ago Peterson posted a lengthy Twitter thread that laid bare his fear of repercussions for declining the invitation to join NXIVM. He was once a Democrat and close to Hillary Clinton, as well as former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and former Chief of Staff to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Marco Lopez. Nowadays he counts on Peter Thiel as his business partner and Canada should recall that Thiel was involved in the Cambridge Analytica debacle.

But that Twitter thread was truly remarkable, as it accused Lopez of threatening his family with assassination. With no explanation how they fell out as best friends, Peterson attributed all of his misfortune to declining that NXIVM invitation. Free The Press Canada has verified the account and that it belongs to the appropriate Jeffrey Peterson. The thread is still posted and he hasn’t seen fit to delete any part of it (original / threadreader / archive).

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Source: Twitter (original / threadreader / archive)

What Peterson alleges is beyond extraordinary and more shocking is that it drove him into the arms of Frank Parlato, for support with his perceived NXIVM situation. He allowed Parlato to cover his story in one of the publications that are also used to advocate for Roger Stone (original / archive).

There doesn’t seem to be any proof that someone did Peterson harm, or that it has any relationship to the Democrats or even NXIVM for that matter. But since the internet mogul allied himself with Frank Parlato and Peter Thiel, he began campaigning for Andrew Scheer in the Canadian election without knowing him (original / archive).

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Source: Twitter (original / archive)

A small handful of people were convicted for the NXIVM sex scandal and it’s likely this gave birth to debunked conspiracies such as ‘pizzagate’.

Free The Press Canada stresses it does not wish to have to cover any aspect of the NXIVM issue in a political investigation. There is too much opportunity for the public to attribute dubious behaviours to the wrong people. But it’s important to stick with this as briefly as possible because it does have bearing on the fake news sex scandals that were initiated against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in an effort to taint the election by means of foreign interference.

Considerable attention has been paid to Clare and Sara Bronfman, as devout supporters of Keith Raniere. They paid for all his legal bills and for reputation attacks on anyone who disparaged the NXIVM group. It’s rumoured they lost their entire portion of the family fortune by giving it away to Raniere. All of mainstream media chased that story but it may have been for the wrong reasons (original / archive).

The truth of the matter is that Edgar Bronfman Sr. disapproved of NXIVM strongly and he investigated enough to believe his daughters were being defrauded of multi-millions. Clare turned against her father and succumbed to the NXIVM brainwashing, in turn causing him to be viewed as an enemy to their cause. The part of this story that often gets suppressed is that Clare hired Frank Parlato to initiate Operation #Smashmouth and that meant Edgar Bronfman Sr. was a target of that very operation.

Numerous accounts belonging to Q-anons and Yellow Vests have attempted to exploit that family name in relation to the prime minster, so it’s important to understand that Stephen Bronfman, who is a friend to Justin Trudeau and treasurer of the Liberal Party, did not grow up with Clare or Sara. They’re only cousins with different fathers and the girls were raised on a different continent.

In any event Vice News was the only media source to interview Frank Parlato and obtain information about Operation Smashmouth. A young reporter attended his vacation property in Key West and without any political experience, she was smitten with their conversation. He played a song on the keyboard and proceeded to reveal emails from NXIVM about the plot to destroy their enemies with propaganda and worse.

Parlato confessed that a hit paid $225,000 but he didn’t say who the target was or what Keith Raniere and Clare Bronfman wanted done. Another entry he explained was worth $15,000 to tarnish someone’s reputation, and $25,000 was available if he could get the person disbarred from practising law. To get another person indicted paid out $50,000 and these were merely a few entries on a long page that flashed by the Vice News camera.

Free The Press Canada reiterates that Frank Parlato admitted to a hit job worth $225,000 on video. A murder for hire doesn’t cost nearly that much on the black market and no one including law enforcement thought to investigate nearly a quarter-million dollar payment for destroying or terminating another human being(s).

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It seems to pay to have friends in high places such as Donald Trump and Roger Stone, but the media and the public have no excuse for the collective failure to see any problem with hiring a hitman. Whether that’s socially, semantically, professionally, or physically, it represents a criminal conspiracy and at the very least extortion. It’s as if the 18-count grand jury indictment against Parlato was the easy way to cover up the more serious crimes with administrative and monetary ones.

And everyone let Frank Parlato control this propaganda, to sell himself as the hero who blew the whistle on NXIVM for the most exclusive sub-group keeping sex slaves. His story doesn’t add up because he claimed to be hired by Clare Bronfman, then brought into the circle of trust with Keith Raniere. But according to this bulletproof serial assailant, he only spent a few months with NXIVM before deciding it was a bad apple. Free The Press Canada can’t imagine who in their right mind would offer a $225,000 hit to someone they’ve only known for a few months.

More incredible is the fact that Parlato admits he only had a change of heart after the Bronfman sisters accused him of stealing $1 million from them. He didn’t report NXIVM to the police or FBI. Instead he used his story to profit from it by leaking it through his own tabloid – the one connected to the Buffalo Chronicle and Matthew Ricchiazzi. But celebrity press took off with the story and even CBC News didn’t attempt to address the hit jobs or why Parlato never admitted who he unjustly and extra-judicially “destroyed” on behalf of his clients.

Contrary to any amount of sane logic, this menace was permitted to continue destroying reputations with his suite of tabloid publications. This man has never been stopped and no one has tried to hold him to account, so he and Ricchiazzi felt above the law when it came to interfering in the Canadian election and treating Justin Trudeau like just another hit job.

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No one has even held Frank Parlato to account for publicly shaming the sex slaves within NXIVM and turning a profit for it. That too was a reputation hit job and the precedent he’s been allowed to set endangers all rape victims in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It stands as proof of how effective the Parlato/Stone/Ricchiazzi propaganda machine has been, that feminist activists are more excited the rape survivors were outted than they are concerned for their physical health, emotional well being, and psychological recovery. Perhaps that’s proof of how effective Nancy Salzman’s lessons in neuro-linguistic programming have been as well.

Challenging all belief that we live in a civil society, in the next development Frank Parlato was excused of any wrongdoing against the Bronfman sisters (original / archive). Perhaps that’s why it matters that American judges are flipped and traded like hockey cards. Parlato was keen to publish the story about his other comrade, Steven Pigeon, also in the Buffalo Chronicle, to demonstrate his handle on the U.S. justice system and what kompromat can accomplish when it’s needed (original / archive). In the story about his exoneration for charges related to defrauding Clare Bronfman, Parlato was brazen enough to admit that his threats of publishing more about the victims was a mitigating factor. Now he’s free to use NXIVM as a bargaining chip for Roger Stone, and Canada is left to deal with the audacity of these political operatives interfering in our federal election (original / archive).

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Source: The Frank Report (original / archive)

There is much that can still be said about the NXIVM file, but to close this section Free The Press Canada will only contribute one last reflection. Parlato brags in The Frank Report about a NXIVM party that was attended by Stormy Daniels, Elliot Spitzer, Anthony Wiener, Roger Stone, and himself from a decade ago (original / archive). Spitzer was forced out of politics due to a sex scandal, Weiner was forced out of politics due to a sex scandal and jailed for 21 months, while Daniels is still litigating and Parlato is profiting from his hit piece on Michael Avenatti, with a declaration that he’ll die in prison (original / archive). Meanwhile no one is questioning Parlato’s connection with NXIVM for more than a decade and his many hit jobs.

Buffalo Lawyer Alan Bedenko

Although Alan Bedenko plays a bit part in this saga, it is an important role because he appeared on CBC News to represent Matthew Ricchiazzi and the Buffalo Chronicle.

Bendenko portrayed himself as an enemy of Ricchiazzi, backed by a blog entry he posted about Parlato’s apprentice. In it he embedded the full segment by Adrienne Arsenault, even though it’s not readily available for Canadians to find on the CBC website (original with video / archive without video).

In the short interview he did not disclose that he had been a lawyer for Erie County and known Ricchiazzi for several years in the course of municipal and state politics. He didn’t disclose that he engaged with Ricchiazzi at Parlato’s sister website ArtVoice, where the latter two regularly published along with Roger Stone (original / archive). He didn’t allude to knowing anything about Matthew Ricchiazzi’s agenda, or that his attack on the Canadian election was a concerted effort as opposed to a one-off fake news specimen.

Alan Bedenko has been involved with Matthew Ricchiazzi since at least 2012, when he participated in the uproar about the Seneca casino for a Buzzfeed article and the subsequent banter about it on Twitter (original / archive). Bedenko’s handle is @BuffaloPundit and he curiously tagged two bystanders into the conversation. One of those accounts belongs to a Russian who doesn’t follow or interact with anyone. It’s a suspicious account to say the least (original / archive). As Bedenko didn’t provide his full disclosure for the CBC News broadcast, it leaves much to the imagination why a strange Russian account was deemed important to the exchange about Ricchiazzi.

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Source: Twitter (original / archive)

Furthermore, Alan Bedenko, as a qualified lawyer, suggested that Ricchiazzi may have a relationship with the Maggadinos, Todaros, and “Butchie Bifocals”. Free The Press Canada is aware the first two are part of the Buffalo Italian Mafia and that includes the Musitano crime bosses who were murdered in Hamilton, Ontario due to the ongoing turf wars. They are all part of the same organized crime family network.

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Source: Alan Bedenko, The Public (original / archive)

The suggestion of mafia is especially unsettling, given that Frank Parlato defended a biker gang accused of making pipe bombs and in the process he cited Angelo Musitano, who was the top boss until he was murdered in Waterdown, Ontario. These hotspots are all around the area where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was required to wear a bulletproof vest to be able to give campaign speeches. This disturbing reference was made by Parlato on Ricchiazzi’s Buffalo Chronicle (original / archive).

What Did Warren Kinsella Get Himself Into?

It’s well known by Canadian pundits that Warren Kinsella vowed to get Justin Trudeau out of office. He held a grudge that he wasn’t able to run in the last federal election and hated the Trudeau Liberals ever since. Hate is strong word, but his Twitter feed supports that characterization.

Around the same time that Matthew Ricchiazzi began publishing fake news about the prime minister and cabinet, Warren Kinsella embarked on seeding rumours about sexual allegations at the Hill Times in Ottawa – possibly the worst rumour mill in the country and he darn well knew it. That was purposeful.

At the beginning of February 2018 there was an uproar about his articles that professed he knew about affidavits from young people who claimed they were sexually assaulted by a high ranking politician. Kinsella went so far as to say that he spoke with that politician’s friend, and everyone in Ottawa intuited that he meant Gerry Butts and Justin Trudeau (original – subscription / archive – public).

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Source: Hill Times (original – subscription / archive – public)

Kinsella kept at it to ensure his rumour took hold. In a matter of two days, his story changed to say that the affidavit ruse had resulted in more young people claiming to have the same experience. The only problem? Not a single person came forward and this destructive rumour was unleashed to dog Trudeau like a pitbull, straight through the entire writ period currently (original – subscription / archive – public).

It’s disgusting behaviour not unlike Frank Parlato, who could manage to facilitate every Canadian’s worst nightmare – uniting the American Prince of Darkness (Roger Stone) with the Canadian Prince of Darkness (Warren Kinsella). Both are relentlessly exploiting girls and women of every age who’ve survived a sexual assault. This is conduct unbecoming of a lawyer that may need to be reported to the Law Society of Upper Canada (original – subscription / archive – public).

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Source: Hill Times (original – subscription / archive – public)

To be sure of Kinsella’s intentions, he wrote another provocative post on his own website. This one was titled, “Why did Justin Trudeau abruptly leave that school midterm?” and he permitted others to post links to the Buffalo Chronicle to boost his prospects of causing damage. Kinsella was all too eager to assist Matthew Ricchiazzi in spreading fake news about the prime minister that crossed the boundaries of libel that he couldn’t (original / archive).

Day after day Kinsella allowed more posts from Ricchiazzi’s Buffalo Chronicle to spread further on his website with each of his new blog entries whether they were of a sexual nature or not (original / archive).

When the sexual innuendo about Trudeau wasn’t working well enough, Kinsella doubled-down and made the affidavit allegation outright. He accused the prime minister of inappropriate contact with “various” young people, meaning he alleged knowing about more than one. Still no one came forward, but the assault on Trudeau’s reputation was solidified for the writ (original / archive).

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Source: The War Room (original / archive)

Kinsella was further berated for actually sharing Buffalo Chronicle posts on his Twitter account. He was finally forced to declare Ricchiazzi a fake news source and this was so contentious that CBC News included mention of Kinsella during its broadcast about the Buffalo Chronicle that hosted lawyer Alan Bedenko (original / archive).

As Warren Kinsella was rocking Ottawa with the spread of unfounded sexual rumours, Matthew Ricchiazzi upped the ante too. The Buffalo Chronicle libelled the prime minister and claimed he paid a young woman “more than $2.25 million” to keep quiet about a sexual assault from when she was a student. To be clear, this isn’t true. It’s a straight-up fabrication.

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Source: Buffalo Chronicle (original / archive)

But as Kinsella had to deny the Buffalo Chronicle as a legitimate news source, someone by the name of Frank made a death threat against him, invoking the murders of Honey and Barry Sherman near the bottom of the comments section (original / archive)

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Source: Buffalo Chronicle (original / archive)

In step with Warren Kinsella, the Buffalo Chronicle also got bolder and escalated the fake allegations to say that Justin Trudeau had an ejaculating competition in his school workplace. It may have been awkward when he threatened Andrew Scheer with a libel lawsuit, but one is truly called for on this occasion. Matthew Ricchiazzi is a paper maché gun for hire and he is invalidating the election by means of foreign interference, with guidance from the likes of Frank Parlato and Roger Stone. This is their bread and butter in America and they’ve exported it to Canada now (original / archive).

In one example Kinsella even followed the lead of Ricchiazzi, by copying his propaganda to split the Liberal Party by promoting Chrystia Freeland as the new party leader to evict Justin Trudeau. The Buffalo Chronicle said it first and Kinsella followed suit (original / archive).

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Source: Buffalo Chronicle (original / archive)

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Source: Twitter (original / archive)

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Source: Twitter (original / archive)

After all that damage was done, through a concerted effort by malevolent actors, the idea had finally sprouted legs and it was reinforced by the Conservative Party as well as the mainstream media (original / archive).

Free The Press Canada confirms these allegations are false, but to give Canadians some idea of the level of foreign interference impacting this election, the most sensational and abhorrent of fake news headlines made it from Ricchiazzi, Parlato, and Kinsella all the way to Israel, in that nation’s third largest newspaper. With regret, it is not possible to get the truth to that many people in time to correct the record. If the Jewish people understood what was being done to them however, they would not forgive the perpetrators (original / archive).

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Source: Israel National News (original / archive)

If it was possible to plumb the depths any further, there’s an indication that a Conservative riding executive had put a bounty out for trumped-up sexual allegations. Free The Press Canada wouldn’t normally rely on simple social media evidence, but it was reinforced in quadruplicate via Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The YouTube channel is traceable to a particular group of people and the video copy remains in circulation.

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Source: Facebook

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Source: Facebook

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Source: Twitter (original / archive)

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The End Game

The end game is not a simple summary in a case as convoluted as this, but all the moving parts have at least coalesced at Matthew Ricchiazzi’s alternate hit-job website, The City Politic. He always had this backup in case the Buffalo Chronicle became blocked (original / archive).

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Source: The City Politic (original / archive)

This single article manages to explain the American Tea Party gameplan for Canada. At least some, with a considerable amount of power, are preparing to challenge Canada legally regarding our relationship with First Nations as a backdoor to undermine our sovereignty over energy, water, rights of way, and banking. They believe they have the grounds to proceed under American law to inflame a Crown – Indigenous constitutional meltdown and Matthew Ricchiazzi targeted specific members of the Mohawk Nation they believe could trigger this chain reaction. There’s a reason you needed to read everything prior to be able to understand this, because even with the greatest amount of caution, it still verges on a declaration of war with Canada.

See here, in their own words: ORIGINAL / ARCHIVE

It is with tremendous regret that Free The Press Canada must inform voters the Canadian media establishment has utterly failed in grasping the most important story to happen to our country since the War of 1812.