Peter Beter
{{short description|American lawyer (1921–1987)}}
{{use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Peter David Beter
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|6|21}}
| birth_place = Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1987|3|14|1921|6|21}}
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| nationality = American
}}
Peter David Beter (June 21, 1921 – March 14, 1987{{cite web |url=http://ssdmf.info/by_number/pages/060129.html |title=Social Security Death Master File info for Peter Beter #234-20-9731 |year=2014 |access-date=23 September 2014 |archive-date=August 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802232702/http://ssdmf.info/by_number/pages/060129.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|title=Deaths Elsewhere Series: deaths elsewhere|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/49953404.html?dids=49953404:49953404&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+17%2C+1987&author=&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=Deaths+Elsewhere+Series%3A+deaths+elsewhere&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201030754/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/49953404.html?dids=49953404:49953404&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+17,+1987&author=&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=Deaths+Elsewhere+Series:+deaths+elsewhere&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 1, 2013|access-date=June 17, 2011|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|date=March 17, 1987}}) was an American attorney{{cite news |author= Rudy Maxa |author-link= Rudy Maxa |date= April 15, 1979 |url= https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/129968082.html?dids=129968082:129968082&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=APR+15%2C+1979&author=BY+RUDY+MAXA&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=FRONT+PAGE+PEOPLE&pqatl=google |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120715222848/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/129968082.html?dids=129968082:129968082&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=APR+15,+1979&author=BY+RUDY+MAXA&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=FRONT+PAGE+PEOPLE&pqatl=google |url-status= dead |archive-date= July 15, 2012 |title= Front Page People |newspaper= The Washington Post }} and financier.{{cite news|url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=87257699|url-access=subscription|title=Raleigh Register|date=1972-11-10|location=Beckley, West Virginia|access-date=2010-06-08}} He ran for governor of West Virginia in 1968 in the Republican Party primarySecretary of State of West Virginia. [https://sos.wv.gov/elections/Documents/HistElecDocs/1968/1968%20Primary%20Election%20-%20Official%20Returns%20of%20the%20Republican%20Party.pdf 1968 Primary Election – Official Returns of the Republican Party]. Retrieved on 4 Jan. 2023. (although he was formerly a Democrat), but lost in the primaries to Arch A. Moore, Jr.FBI Archives, retrieved on July 2007, [https://web.archive.org/web/20141205045718/http://www.fbiarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=40663229_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=0¤tPage=0 Sunday Gazette-Mail].{{dead link|date=May 2015}} Politically, he was a staunch admirer of ex-Alabama governor George Wallace; Beter also drafted Wallace as the American Party candidate in 1973, but numerous Republicans opposed such efforts.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UtAHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tTUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5088,1888270&dq=peter-beter Rome-News Tribune]. March 11, 1973 Nonetheless, he later became a member of his Draft-Wallace committee.FBI Archives, retrieved on July 2007,[https://web.archive.org/web/20141205045843/http://www.fbiarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=82361254_clean&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=1¤tPage=0 The Journal-News]
Biography
Beter was a native of Huntington, West Virginia, son of Lebanese immigrants who became grocers after coming to the United States in 1899. He graduated from West Virginia University and later got his Doctor of Juris degree in law from the law school of George Washington University.[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=40088529 Charleston Gazette, Thursday, February 20, 1975– Charleston, West Virginia.] Retrieved on June,2010 (requires subscription for access)[http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=144141757 Beckley Post Herald, Wednesday, April 17, 1968, Beckley, West Virginia.] Retrieved June 2010. (requires subscription for access) Beter practiced law in Washington, D.C. from 1951 to 1961. He was the general counsel for the American Gold Association (now called the Gold Prospectors Association of America) from 1958 to 1961.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m9IgAQAAMAAJ&q=%22American+Gold+Association%22%2B%22peter+beter%22 | title=The Dixon Line | date=June 3, 1973 | publisher=D. Gayer }}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGPx9WTsmAsC&dq=%22American+Gold+Association%22%2B%22peter+beter%22&pg=PA120 | title=International Economic Policy: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on International Trade of ... , 93-2 on H.R. 774 ... , H.R. 13838 ... , H.R. 13840 ... , April 22 ... May 2, 1974 | date=June 3, 1974 }} In 1961, he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as general counsel for the Export–Import Bank of the United States, in which he served until 1967.{{cite journal|title=How they voted|quote=President John F. Kennedy appointed Peter Beter to be counsel to the US Export-Import Bank |journal=The Charleston Gazette|date=March 7, 1978|url= http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0014/6786217/46690788.html}}
{{cite book
| title = The Occult Connection II: The Hidden Race
| last = Hudnall
| first = Ken
| year = 2004
| publisher = Omega Press
| isbn = 0-9754923-7-3
| pages = 265
}}
Beter also co-founded a mining exploration company in Zaire, and represented international financial interests in Europe, South America, and the Middle East.Forbes Business Magazine, [https://www.forbes.com/consent/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromMktGuideIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedMktGuideId=1019686 Profile of Lilly O Beter], Retrieved on May 2007 {{Dead link|date=June 2010}}
In 1973, he published a book: Conspiracy Against the Dollar: The Spirit of the New Imperialism, which alleged that world events were controlled by three secret factions: the Rockefeller family, the "Bolshevik–Zionist axis", and the Kremlin. His intent was to warn everyone against the plans of the "Rockefeller Cartel", which he thought risked having the United States meet the same fate as France in World War II.{{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Rebecca |title=Controversial New Religions |title-link=Controversial New Religions |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-515682-9 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |edition=1st |location=New York |language=en |chapter=Reconstructing Reality: Conspiracy Theories about Jonestown |editor-last2=Petersen |editor-first2=Jesper Aagaard |page=66}}
In 1974, Beter publicly stated that most of the gold in Fort Knox had been sold to European interests, at prices vastly below market rates. According to him, international speculators had dishonestly obtained the gold.{{cite journal|title=Security at Fort Knox Depository |journal=The Post-Standard|date=December 25, 1980|quote=in 1974, Peter Beter, a former attorney for the Export-Import Bank, contended that Army trucks in the dead of night had carted off all of Fort Knox's gold.
|url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/LandingPage.aspx?type=glpnews&img=\\na0016\6791087\44303796.html}}(requires subscription for access){{efn|name=John Pinkerman|"One Rockefeller detractor, Peter Beter, even charged that the Fort Knox gold had been spirited away in the dead of night only to wind up in the European vaults of David Rockefeller. This charge was proved to be erroneous as Mary T. Brooks, director of the U.S. Mint, conducted a group of congressmen on a rare visit to the Kentucky vaults. Yes, the gold was there and intact."{{cite news|last=Pinkerman|first=John|date=1974-10-07|work=The Desert Sun|page=A3|title=The Rockefeller Story – Subjected To Abuse Because Of Riches|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19741007.2.32&srpos=3}}}}
Beter released a series of 80 audio newsletter tapes between 1975 and 1982. He was known for his claims without evidence against political leaders, some of which included allegations of conspiracy in the highest political positions; he said that:
- Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbal03.html|title=Dr. Peter David Beter - Audio Letter No. 03.|website=www.peterdavidbeter.com}}
- Several important public figures such as David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, and Jimmy Carter were actually dead, and are being impersonated by organic "robotoids".{{Cite web|url=https://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbal46.html|title=Dr. Peter David Beter - Audio Letter No. 46.|website=www.peterdavidbeter.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbal47.html|title=Dr. Peter David Beter - Audio Letter No. 47.|website=www.peterdavidbeter.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbal51.html|title=Dr. Peter David Beter - Audio Letter No. 51.|website=www.peterdavidbeter.com}}
- Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after the Hearst newspaper chain published secret Congressional testimony. This testimony revealed that America's atomic secrets were handed over to the Soviet Union – not stolen by Soviet spies, before America's first atomic bomb was finished, and that the Rockefellers were directly involved in this plot.{{Cite web|url=https://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbal11.html|title=Dr. Peter David Beter - Audio Letter No. 11.|website=www.peterdavidbeter.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbal07.html|title=Dr. Peter David Beter - Audio Letter No. 07.|website=www.peterdavidbeter.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbal09.html|title=Dr. Peter David Beter - Audio Letter No. 09.|website=www.peterdavidbeter.com}}
- The CIA was responsible for the secret death of General George Scratchley Brown because he simply knew "too much".{{Cite web|url=https://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/all/dbal42.html|title=Dr. Peter David Beter - Audio Letter No. 42.|website=www.peterdavidbeter.com}}
- The Jonestown massacre was staged to camouflage a joint U.S.–Israeli military operation to destroy a Soviet missile base in Guyana. The Jonestown incident explained the movement of U.S. military personnel into Guyana and concealed the real count of casualties from the attack on the Soviet base.
{{cite journal
| last = Moore
| first = Dr. Rebecca
| title = Reconstructing Reality: Conspiracy Theories About Jonestown
| journal = Journal of Popular Culture
| volume = 36
| issue = #2
| date = Fall 2002
| pages = 200–220
| doi = 10.1111/1540-5931.00002
| url = http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16582
| access-date = 1 July 2007
| url-access = subscription
}}
- Particle beam weapons and other advanced aerial weapons under secret development had the power to change the weather. Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union had developed such weapons.
{{cite web
| last = Towers
| first = H. B.
| title = About Air Booms Phenomenon caused by Cosmospheres firing particle beam weapons in De-focused mode
| url = http://www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/air_booms.html
| access-date = 1 July 2009
}}
In contemporary culture
Through his tapes, Beter influenced various people such as the 1980s punk band, The Wanderers.Brian Smith, The Wanderers, June 29, 2000, [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/Issues/2000-06-29/music/recordings.html Phoenix New Times] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050517092332/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/Issues/2000-06-29/music/recordings.html |date=2005-05-17 }} In the Crusaders Comic book series published by Jack Chick, Double Cross: Alberto, part two, Beter is cited as a reliable authority on why the body count changed in the wake of the Jonestown massacre.
See also
Notes
{{notes}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1979/04/15/the-curious-case-of-the-local-lawyer-whose-tapes-about-dark-conspiracies-belie-an-impeccably-establishment-past/992a657c-d8bd-4ca3-916a-4edff9aaee81/ The Curious Case of the Local Lawyer Whose Tapes About Dark Conspiracies Belie an Impeccably Establishment Past] - The Washington Post
- [http://www.peterdavidbeter.com/ Supporter web site] Audio letters, books, and other miscellaneous information
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Category:20th-century American lawyers
Category:Lawyers from Huntington, West Virginia
Category:West Virginia University alumni
Category:George Washington University Law School alumni
Category:American conspiracy theorists
Category:Place of death missing
Category:West Virginia Republicans
Category:West Virginia Democrats
Category:Writers from Huntington, West Virginia