Wiretapping and Conspiracy Charges Against Humane Society of U.S. Urged

ALPHARETTA, Ga., Oct. 6 GA-United-Egg-suit


ALPHARETTA, Ga., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Humane Society of the United
States (HSUS) engaged in activities that are believed to warrant California
and Maryland wiretapping and conspiracy charges, according to documents being
filed today by a national cooperative of egg farmers.


United Egg Producers (UEP) filed requests today with the attorneys general
in California and Maryland and the District Attorneys in Sacramento County, CA
and Montgomery, MD alleging that a HSUS employee impersonated an egg industry
ally and illegally tape-recorded phone calls and that HSUS conspired with a
California political campaign committee led by a former employee of HSUS.


The HSUS employee at the heart of the scheme is Frank Loftus, director of
the so-called "Investigations Unit" of HSUS.  In an affidavit filed in a
separate legal proceeding, Loftus admitted under oath that he masqueraded as
someone else and made three phone calls to UEP offices on August 28, 2008. The
affidavit contained detailed transcripts of each of the calls, apparently
prepared from a surreptitious tape recording of the calls. UEP's phone records
indicate that the calls were placed from a Maryland phone number, and Loftus'
affidavit was sworn in Gaithersburg, Maryland.


Loftus did not tell the UEP staffer that the calls were being tape
recorded, even though it is against the law in Maryland to tape record phone
conversations unless all parties to the call are aware of it. It also is
against the law in California to disclose the contents of a tape-recorded
phone call without the permission of all parties involved in the call. The
Maryland law was well publicized several years ago when Linda Tripp
acknowledged taping phone calls with Monica Lewinsky. Illegal wiretapping is a
felony in Maryland and carries a potential prison sentence of five years. The
violation of the California law carries a potential jail sentence up to one
year and $5,000 fine.


Humane California, a California political campaign committee led by a
former HSUS employee, Jennifer Fearing used the transcripts of those calls in
an affidavit filed with California's Fair Political Practices Commission on
September 3, 2008. That group has placed a Proposition on the Nov. 4
California ballot which effectively bans most modern methods of egg production
in the state.  By using illegally-obtained materials, that campaign is
conspiring and colluding with HSUS in violation of California law, says the
UEP complaint.



SOURCE  United Egg Producers