Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp

VICTIMS:
Bradford Lund

March 22, 2021
Hon. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Jerrold.Nadler@mail.house.gov

Re: Letter Transmitted by Lanny J. Davis, Attorney for Bradford D. Lund

Dear Chairman Nadler:

I am Bradford D. Lund, the grandson of the late Walt Disney.

I read the letter to you from Ranking Member Jim Jordan and another member of your Committee, Rep. Matt Gaetz, concerning the potential abusive and illegal conduct of conservators, especially in the case of Britney Spears.1

My letter aligns with the requests and issues raised in that letter. But I ask that any investigation or hearing be broadened to include my case, which I allege involves similar abusive and hostile conduct towards me by the four trustees of my trust and is now pending in the probate court, also within the Los Angeles County Superior Court. I am prepared to offer testimony to your Committee about the below allegations as a case study in the abuse happening nationwide.

By way of background, I am 50 years old. For the past 11 plus years, four hostile trustees of my trust, set up by my mother (from funds derived from her father, Walt) – the First Republic Trust Company (“FRTC”), L. Andrew Gifford, Robert L. Wilson, and Douglas Strode – have, in my opinion, consistently violated their fiduciary duties owed to me, self-enriched themselves without my authority and contrary to my interests, and unjustifiably blocked my receipt of my “birthday distributions.” These distributions were due to me on my 35th, 40th, and 45th birthdays according to the terms of the trust, the Sharon D. Lund Trust (“SDL Trust”) but have been denied because of false accusations of incompetency. These trustees have allowed those same distributions to go to my twin sister, Michelle, and my now deceased sibling, Victoria Lund, but not me. These trustees control both my trust and my twin sister
Michelle’s trust. They have also unlawfully blocked me, my mother, and other family members from visiting with Michelle for all these years. Perhaps one of the reasons they continue to do so is because my sister testified, under oath in 2013, that she considers me mentally competent.

1 https://gaetz.house.gov/media/blog-posts/congressman-matt-gaetz-champions-free-britneymovement-
congress-leads-judiciary

To make matters worse, these four hostile trustees have blocked these distributions despite the written rulings after two extensive trials – one in Los Angeles in 2014 and one in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2016. Despite the fact that two courts have found me competent, these trustees are refusing to disburse my distributions to me by asserting that I do not have financial maturity to manage these funds. A L.A. Superior Court judge found me mentally competent and able to replace my trustees in my own self-settled trust and the Arizona judge, in a detailed written opinion, found me mature and competent, able to handle my financial affairs, choose my trustees and advisors, and deserving of my “freedom.” This decision was upheld unanimously in 2017 by the Arizona Court of Appeals and the trustees’ petition for review was denied by the Arizona Supreme Court.

While I believe that this is a serious nationwide issue that affects many, there are also issues specific to my case that I believe the Committee would be interested in investigating.

First, I ask the Committee, after a sufficient investigation, to refer the bank trustee of my mother’s trust, the First Republic Trust Corp, a federally chartered institution, to federal regulators for potential serious violations sufficient to withdraw their federal charter.

I also ask the three individual trustees named above be investigated for alleged corrupt acts, together with FRTC, of self-enrichment in what appears to be a pattern and practice, possibly constituting a conspiracy that could be a violation of the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

In addition, I ask for the law firm used and paid for out of my mother’s trust funds by these trustees, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (“MSK”), to be included in these investigations. We have evidence that alleges MSK actively participated in these violations of fiduciary duties and possibly in other corrupt self-enriching acts. (Note that this same law firm, MSK, was accused of such active participation with those owing a fiduciary duty to a beneficiary in a precedent-setting case in California, Wolfe vs. Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp (1999).2 It is also my understanding that MSK is presently being sued by another former client for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud in the 2019 Goldberg v. Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp case,3 and this has possibly gone criminal and is being dealt with by the United States Attorneys’ Office in a grand jury proceedings.

2 https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1065071.html
3 https://www.docketbird.com/court-documents/Goldberg-v-Mitchell-Silberberg-Knupp-LLP-etal/
COMPLAINT-against-David-B-Gordon-David-B-Gordon-Mitchell-Silberberg-Knupp-LLP-Filingfees-
400-00-receipt-number-113C-11627680-filed-by-Michael-I-Goldberg/flsd-1:2019-cv-21862-
00001

I ask the Committee, after conducting an investigation and, if appropriate, to refer these matters to appropriate criminal authorities in the U.S. Justice Department and to appropriate banking regulatory authorities, including FINRA, the FDIC, and the Comptroller General.

I and my stepmother, Sherry Lund, ask the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to start this investigation immediately, not only into the Britney Spears case but to the whole probate court system and the many cases of horrific abuse and violations being committed by the judges, the court appointed attorneys, and fiduciaries.

As an example of how much power these probate courts have, the former judge in my case, L.A. Superior Court Judge David J. Cowan, extended the probate court’s reach even further than the specific trust involved in my case when he tied up a completely separate trust, created with my own assets when I was 21 years old, preventing me from accessing the funds in that trust as well. Judge Cowan has allegedly violated my due process rights, leading me to file a federal civil rights action against him last year, which is now on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. This Judge, before he stepped down to transfer the case to another judge, also personally attacked my attorney, seeking to have her replaced, and has personally attacked my stepmother, who has been my loving and trusted advisor, trustee, and advocate for over 23 years.

This judge is now the subject of a petition to the California Judicial Performance Commission for removal as a sitting judge due to multiple instances of allegedly prejudicial statements and conduct towards me, my attorney, and my stepmother. We also personally know of other cases in the L.A. Superior Probate Court where Judge Cowan and other judges have been accused of severely damaging families by violating the laws and their rights. The question must be asked whether or not these judges, who are allegedly violating peoples’ due process rights, are upholding their oaths of office and upholding the Constitution.

In the words of my stepmother, Sherry Lund, quoting from prior court filings, what I have suffered is part of a larger pattern of probate court and conservatorship abuse across the country:

“There is a pattern and practice of abuse in the probate courts across the country…There is an urgent need for an investigation and prosecution of those who are involved and violating the laws and the rights of those who come to this court for protection…What is going on is criminal activity under the guise of ‘protection’. Families are being destroyed, competent people are being put in hospitals, drugged and their estates robbed by ‘officers of the court’.”

I look forward to hearing from you in the near future about the initiation of these investigations and commit to you my full cooperation and make my attorneys, Lanny Davis and Sandra Slaton, available to you to assist you and your staffs.

This corruption must be investigated and stopped.

Sincerely,

Bradford D. Lund

Transmitted on Mr. Lund’s Behalf by:

Lanny j davis attorney for bradford d lund
Lanny J. Davis, Attorney for Bradford D. Lund
LDavis@dggpllc.com

CC: Rep. Jim Jordan, Ranking Member via Chief of Staff
(Kevin.Eichinger@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Madeline Dean, Vice Chair via Chief of Staff (Koh.Chiba@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Matt Gaetz via Chief of Staff (Jillian.Lanewyant@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren via Chief of Staff (Stacey.Leavandosky@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Sheila.Jackson.Lee@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Steve Cohen (Steve.Cohen@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Henry C “Hank” Johnson via Chief of Staff (Charles.Gayle@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Theodore E. Deutch via Chief of Staff (Joshua.Rogin@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Karen Bass via Chief of Staff (Darryn.Harris@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (Congressman.Jeffries@mail.house.gov)
Rep. David N. Cicilline (David.Cicilline@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Eric Swalwell (Swalwell@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Ted Lieu via Chief of Staff (Marc.Cevasco@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Jamie Raskin (Jamie.Raskin@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Pramila.Jayapal@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Val Butler Demings via Chief of Staff (Wendy.Anderson@mail.house.gov)
Rep. J. Luis Correa via Chief of Staff (Laurie.Saroff@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon via Chief of Staff (Roddy.Flynn@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Sylvia R. Garcia (Sylvia.Garcia@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Joe Neguse (CongressmanJoeNeguse@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Lucy McBath via Chief of Staff (Rebecca.Walldorff@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Greg Stanton via Chief of Staff (Seth.Scott@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Veronica Escobar (Veronica.Escobar@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Mondaire Jones via Chief of Staff (Zach.Fisch@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Deborah Ross via Chief of Staff (Matt.Lee2@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Cori Bush via Chief of Staff (Abbas.Alawieh@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Steve Chabot (Steve.Chabot@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Louie Gohmert (Louie.Gohmert@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Ken Buck via Chief of Staff (Garrett.Ventry@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Mike Johnson via Chief of Staff (Hayden.Haynes@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Andy Biggs via Chief of Staff (Kate.LaBorde@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Tom McClintock via Chief of Staff (Chris.Tudor@mail.house.gov)
Rep. W. Gregory Steube via Chief of Staff (Alex.Blair@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Tom Tiffany via Chief of Staff (Jason.Bauknecht@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Darrell Issa via Chief of Staff (Veronica.Wong@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Thomas Massie via Chief of Staff (Matt.Gurtler@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Chip Roy (Chip.Roy@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Dan Bishop via Chief of Staff (James.Hampson@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Michelle Fischbach via Chief of Staff (David.Fitzsimmons@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Victoria Spartz via Chief of Staff (Lucy.Powers@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald via Chief of Staff (Ryan.Mccormack@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Cliff Bentz via Chief of Staff (Nick.Strader@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Burgess Owens via Chief of Staff (Keelie.Broom@mail.house.gov)