John Rees (journalist)
John Herbert Rees | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1926 publisher, private intelligence operative |
Spouse | Sheila Louise O'Connor/Rees[1] |
John Herbert Rees is a British
Biography
Rees was born in Britain.[citation needed][5] In the early 1960s, Rees worked in a business position for the London Daily Mirror, but was fired for misusing personal accounts, according to an FBI memo. Agents in the FBI office at the London U.S. Embassy also found that during 1962 Rees, who was married and had five children, was dating an FBI stenographer, who resigned.[4][6] Rees moved to the United States in 1963 for a reporting job that fell through.[4][5]
Rees became the lover of Peyton Place author Grace Metalious. Metalious, who had cirrhosis from heavy drinking, changed her will hours before her death at age 39 in 1964, and left her whole estate to Rees. There was a public furor, and Rees dropped claims to the estate, which was insolvent.[6][4]
Rees remarried. He launched at a job training program in Newark, New Jersey, in 1967; it was partly funded by the
Rees traded information with police and
In 1976, an investigation by the New York State Assembly concluded that police had used reports published by Rees in Information Digest to assemble dossiers on many activists who had committed no crimes.[5]
In 1979, Rees worked with
Rees founded the Maldon Institute, a nonprofit funded by the Scaife family.[3]
Publishing
Rees was associated with Review of the News and American Opinion, published by the John Birch Society, with which Rees was an active collaborator.[9]
Rees published Information Digest, a newsletter that touted reporting on "the operations and real capabilities of social movements and political groups". Annual subscriptions were $500. According to The Village Voice, copies circulated among intelligence officials and conservative politicians including
Rees launched and managed another newsletter, International Reports: Early Warning.
References
- ^ Staff writer (Spring 1976). "Congressional Aide Spies on Left." CounterSpy, vol. 3, no. 1. p. 18. Full issue.
- ^ Levin, Hillel (Oct. 7, 1978). "Spies as Newsmen: The Information Digest Ploy." The Nation, vol. 227, no. 11. pp. 342-348.
- ^ a b c d Dorfman, Zach (2 December 2018). "The Congressman Who Created His Own Deep State. Really". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rosenfeld, Seth (16 August 1983). "Rees, Reagan, and the Digest Smear: The Spy Who Came Down on the Freeze". The Village Voice. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ OCLC 23079735.
- ^ a b Callahan, Michael (Jan. 22, 2007). "Peyton Place's Real Victim." Vanity Fair. Archived from the original.
- ^ a b Berlet, Chip (Feb. 2, 1993). "The Hunt for Red Menace." Political Research Associates. Archived from the original.
- Boston Globe.
- ^ Staff writer (Mar. 1989). "Western Goals Foundation." Interhemispheric Resource Center/International Relations Center. Archived from the original.
- Washington Post. Archived from the original.
- ^ Lamb, Brian (Jun. 29, 1984). "International Affairs." Interview with John Rees. C-SPAN.
- OCLC 32199293.
External links
This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (June 2022) |
- John Rees at IMDb
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Liberty Lobby, Inc. v. John Rees (1988) at Google Scholar
- Liberty Lobby, Inc. v. John Rees, Sheila Louise Rees and the Information Digest (1986) at Justia
- Federal Bureau of Investigation files (Part 1, Part 2) on John Rees and National Goals, Inc. (obtained via FOIA) at Internet Archive