Liberia's former Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Atty. Isaac W. Jackson, Jr has returned the gift of US$1500 given him in August 2021 by Stanton Witherspoon upon his arrival in the United States.
The former Deputy Information returned the gesture days after the pairs fell apart on live radio broadcast raining garbage at each other.
Atty Jackson told this paper that his action was predicated upon facts that Mr. Witherspoon is an indictee of the US government and given the rigidity of American jurisprudence he does not want to be seen as a beneficiary of his loot.
He has also demanded that Mr. Witherspoon provide all documentary evidence that he (Witherspoon) was the proud sponsor of his recent trip to Monrovia.
Atty Jackson explained that with Witherspoon's slogan "God can bless anyone" he was of the conviction that the Spoon Network CEO was living in accordance with the American divine laws, something he said that informed his judgment to have interacted with him and received the said gift of US$1500.
"Now, as per the widely publicized criminal indictment against Witherspoon, it's crystal clear that ... I cannot in clean conscience benefit from his tainted "generosity". Hence, I have decided to return his US$1,500. The Ria transfer slip is attached as evidence," Jackson wrote.
"At this point, I request that lovers of truth insist and prevail upon Witherspoon to produce credible evidence to authenticate his outlandish claim that he financed my most recent trip to Liberia.," Jackson continued, adding "Regrettably, there are those who are blowing smoke up at Witherspoon's backside and hanging on his every word in the name of politics. It's pathetic!"
Following his announcement that he had returned Witherspoon's money; Jackson went on to address concerns raised on Facebook by individuals who followed the debate:
"Anyway, before I rush on to concluding this short piece, I must address the twisted and wacky suggestion by some of our friends on Facebook that I needed to be grateful to Witherspoon for sharing with me some of his fraudulently obtained money. In the exchanges between Witherspoon and me, which is now public knowledge, I expressed gratitude to him for sending me US$1500 in August 2021, believing that the money was fairly and honestly earned.
However, with the full knowledge now that Mr. Witherspoon obtained the money through fraudulent means, I cannot continue to be grateful to him. Consequently, I seriously feel letdown: retention of the amount would blemish my hard-earned reputation as a man of integrity.
You see, the first moral lesson we learned from our parents is not to steal or lie. Therefore, when a child steals to support his parents, he is condemned as a disgrace to his parents. No good parents would proudly accept stolen money from their child. Likewise, no good and decent wife will applaud her husband who steals to support her. Hence, as a decent God-fearing man, I cannot be grateful to Witherspoon for sharing with me his loot. In fact, I condemn Witherspoon in the strongest possible terms for defrauding the United States Government! Pending trial, he should not have been bailed but held in detention for putting thousands of American lives at risk. Witherspoon is a big disgrace!"
"To be honest," Jackson continued, "Witherspoon epitomizes the aphorism that a rogue got dry-faced. Imagine, having been accused of committing Federal crimes, one would think that this fellow would demonstrate some remorse; regrettably, he's not doing so, rather he is routinely and shamelessly polluting the public discourse in Liberia with lies via his questionable Spoon TV Network. If great care is not taken to deprive some of these lying charlatans the oxygen of publicity, our country risks producing more worshipers of rogues and liars thereby not only debasing the quality of public discourse but perpetuating and glorifying crimes and criminals.
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The point is that the fellow moral bankruptcy has no limits. Imagine being accused by the most powerful country in the world for putting thousands of its citizens' lives at risk by selling fake credentials to unqualified individuals!
Finally, I wish to emphasize with crystal clarity that no level of filthy generosity will buy my critical stance on national issues. It is important to me to protect my integrity because the likes of Witherspoon would be happy to pull others down with him. Misery loves company, and lawless and irresponsible people like to blame others for their misadventures," Jackson concluded.
