Storyboard
34 scenes, 7:27 at 150 words per minute including pauses. Narration is copied from the script; every chart value and on-screen citation is checked against a passage.
1. sc01 · 0:00 to 0:12 data-chart
A homeowner sent the bank holding her mortgage a bill of exchange for $244,663.79, drawn, she said, on a trust account run through the IRS.
Visual. One large tile: the bill's amount counts up and lands as the narration says it; the label 'Bill of exchange' sits beneath.
| Bill of exchange | $244,663.79 | 244663.79 | usd | Bryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007), lines 16-L33 |
Cite. Bryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007)
2. sc02 · 0:12 to 0:18 typography
She argued that once the bank received it, "this loan is paid off".
Visual. Quote card; the words appear as spoken, 'paid off' turns amber.
On screen. "this loan is paid off"
Cite. Plaintiff's complaint, Bryant v. Washington Mutual
3. sc03 · 0:18 to 0:26 typography
Is there really a secret Treasury account in your name that can pay off your debts?
Visual. The question types on, large and centred; 'secret Treasury account' holds in amber.
On screen. Is there really a secret Treasury account in your name?
4. sc04 · 0:26 to 0:36 typography
The story behind her bill points at real things, your birth certificate, the Treasury, the commercial code, so every step sounds like something you could check.
Visual. Three lines build one per cue as each is spoken: birth certificate, Treasury, commercial code.
On screen. Your birth certificate / The Treasury / The commercial code
5. sc05 · 0:36 to 0:47 typography
It starts with your name in capital letters. The site jonhoyle.com says "The all capitals spelling of the name creates a corporate fiction", which believers call the strawman.
Visual. Quote card; 'corporate fiction' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "The all capitals spelling of the name creates a corporate fiction"
Cite. jonhoyle.com
6. sc06 · 0:47 to 0:58 typography
Next comes your birth certificate, which the site Understand Contract Law treats as an investment: "These birth certificate bonds have a value and are being traded".
Visual. Quote card; 'being traded' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "These birth certificate bonds have a value and are being traded"
Cite. Understand Contract Law
7. sc07 · 0:58 to 1:12 typography
And the value is supposed to sit in an account you can reach: jonhoyle.com says "there is an alphanumeric account number in your Strawman name that is your private account that can be drawn from".
Visual. Quote card; 'can be drawn from' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "there is an alphanumeric account number in your Strawman name that is your private account that can be drawn from"
Cite. jonhoyle.com
8. sc08 · 1:12 to 1:25 typography
The way in is a stamp: in one YouTube how-to video, a red stamp with your Social Security number on a bill is "what's going to give you access into your treasury account".
Visual. Quote card; 'your treasury account' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "what's going to give you access into your treasury account"
Cite. YouTube how-to video
9. sc09 · 1:25 to 1:40 typography
The kit is for sale: the Treasury notes that some websites sell videos, webinars and coaching on how to do this, and that "No one has profited from the Treasury Department by using these tactics".
Visual. Quote card; 'No one has profited' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "No one has profited from the Treasury Department by using these tactics"
Cite. US Treasury, birth-certificate bonds notice
10. sc10 · 1:40 to 1:43 typography
So start with the account itself. Does it exist?
Visual. The question types on as 'Does it exist?' is spoken.
On screen. Does the account exist?
11. sc11 · 1:43 to 1:49 document-excerpt
The Treasury says these accounts "are fictitious and do not exist in the Treasury system".
Visual. The Treasury notice passage; the highlight sweeps across the sentence as it is read.
Cite. US Treasury, birth-certificate bonds notice
12. sc12 · 1:49 to 2:10 document-excerpt
A federal appeals court, the Sixth Circuit, said the same: the Treasury "does not maintain depository accounts against which an individual can draw a check, draft, or any other financial instrument". The IRS puts it more bluntly: "The notion of secret accounts assigned to each citizen is pure fantasy".
Visual. The IRS passage quoting United States v. Anderson; the highlight lands on the IRS's 'pure fantasy' line as the second sentence is spoken.
Cite. IRS, The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments (citing US v. Anderson, 6th Cir.)
13. sc13 · 2:10 to 2:14 typography
What about the birth certificate that is meant to fill it?
Visual. The question types on.
On screen. What about the birth certificate?
14. sc14 · 2:14 to 2:23 typography
The Treasury's answer: "There is no monetary value to a birth certificate", and a birth certificate cannot be used to buy anything.
Visual. Quote card; 'no monetary value' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "There is no monetary value to a birth certificate"
Cite. US Treasury, birth-certificate bonds notice
15. sc15 · 2:23 to 2:41 document-excerpt
In Gravatt v. United States, a man told the Court of Federal Claims that his birth certificate was a contract with the United States, and the court called that frivolous: birth certificates, it said, do not "recognize or impose contractual rights, obligations, or duties".
Visual. The Gravatt opinion passage; the highlight sweeps the line about birth certificates and contractual rights as it is read.
Cite. Gravatt v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2011)
16. sc16 · 2:41 to 2:56 typography
He also claimed to be owed money from a trust fund held in the Treasury, and the court wrote that it "strains all logic and reason to believe that the trust fund alleged by plaintiff actually exists".
Visual. Quote card; 'strains all logic and reason' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "strains all logic and reason to believe that the trust fund alleged by plaintiff actually exists"
Cite. Gravatt v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2011)
17. sc17 · 2:56 to 3:15 typography
And the strawman itself? A history of these movements in Canada says it "has no basis in law in either the US or Canada", and in Australia the Supreme Court of Queensland found that the idea "does not find any reflection in any provision of our law".
Visual. Two quote lines appear as spoken, the Canadian history first, the Queensland court second, each with its own citation.
On screen. "has no basis in law in either the US or Canada" / "does not find any reflection in any provision of our law"
Cite. Netolitzky, history of OPCA in CanadaSupreme Court of Queensland, via Hobbs, Young and McIntyre
18. sc18 · 3:15 to 3:17 typography
That leaves the stamped bill.
Visual. One large title.
On screen. The stamped bill
19. sc19 · 3:17 to 3:29 document-excerpt
The Treasury says "All these Bills of Exchange drawn on the U.S. Treasury are worthless", and that drawing such drafts on it "is fraudulent and a violation of federal law".
Visual. The Treasury notice; the highlight sweeps 'All these Bills of Exchange drawn on the U.S. Treasury are worthless' as it is read.
Cite. US Treasury, bogus sight drafts notice
20. sc20 · 3:29 to 3:48 typography
In Canada, a family whose wood lots were financed by Farm Credit Canada said they had paid with bonds drawn on secret accounts run by the US Treasury; the New Brunswick Court of Appeal found the strategy frivolous and illogical, and said the family knew this.
Visual. Lines build as spoken: the lender, the bonds, the court's finding; 'frivolous and illogical' in amber.
On screen. Farm Credit Canada / Bonds on secret Treasury accounts / Frivolous and illogical
Cite. New Brunswick Court of Appeal, via Netolitzky and Warman
21. sc21 · 3:48 to 4:10 document-excerpt
As for the homeowner, the bank told her the bill was an unacceptable form of payment, and went on to foreclose on her home. When she sued, the federal judge found that she "did not tender payment, but rather a worthless piece of paper", while accepting that her belief in the process seemed genuine.
Visual. The Bryant opinion; the highlight sweeps 'did not tender payment, but rather a worthless piece of paper' as the judge's words are spoken.
Cite. Bryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007)
22. sc22 · 4:10 to 4:37 typography
The man whose redemption advice she had followed, Barton Buhtz, had just been convicted in Oregon, with several co-defendants, of fraud charges for passing bills of exchange. Sending one can be a crime by itself: in United States v. Heath, the Sixth Circuit upheld a conviction for presenting a fictitious financial instrument, a "Registered Bill of Exchange" sent to the IRS with no actual account behind it.
Visual. Two lines build one per sentence: the promoter's conviction, then the Heath conviction upheld.
On screen. Barton Buhtz: convicted of fraud / United States v. Heath: conviction upheld
Cite. Bryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007)IRS, The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments (US v. Heath, 6th Cir.)
23. sc23 · 4:37 to 4:49 typography
How often an ordinary user ends up charged, none of these sources counts; what they record are the convictions of a promoter and of people who passed the bills.
Visual. One title line, muted colour, no emphasis.
On screen. How often ordinary users are charged: not counted
Cite. Bryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007)IRS, The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments
24. sc24 · 4:49 to 5:03 typography
So the answer to the first question is no: the Treasury says the account does not exist, and the courts in this evidence that looked at these bills treated them as worthless.
Visual. One large title; 'No' lands on the spoken 'no'.
On screen. First answer: no
Cite. US Treasury, bogus sight drafts noticeBryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007)
25. sc25 · 5:03 to 5:14 transition
With the account gone, the promoters fall back on the idea underneath it: that ever since the country left gold, no debt can truly be paid at all.
Visual. Split-field wipe from the account question to the gold question.
26. sc26 · 5:14 to 5:34 typography
The site Educated in Law states it in one line: "As a result of HJR 192, the people can no longer pay their debts." A video called Take Back Your Strawman Birth Certificate Bonds says the change "eliminated our ability to pay our debts allowing only for their discharge".
Visual. Two quote lines, one per sentence, each with its own citation; 'pay their debts' and 'discharge' turn amber.
On screen. "As a result of HJR 192, the people can no longer pay their debts." / "eliminated our ability to pay our debts allowing only for their discharge"
Cite. Educated in LawTake Back Your Strawman Birth Certificate Bonds, YouTube
27. sc27 · 5:34 to 5:37 typography
So what does that resolution actually say?
Visual. The question types on.
On screen. What does that resolution actually say?
28. sc28 · 5:37 to 5:59 document-excerpt
The judge in that mortgage case read it, and it is a real law from 1933, headed "To assure uniform value to the coins and currencies of the United States". It made contract clauses demanding payment in gold against public policy, and it declared US currency "legal tender for all debts".
Visual. The Bryant passage on House Joint Resolution 192; the highlight sweeps the heading as it is read.
Cite. H.J. Res. 192 (1933), quoted in Bryant v. Washington Mutual
29. sc29 · 5:59 to 6:12 typography
A 1939 ruling the homeowner also cited, Guaranty Trust Co. v. Henwood, explained what Congress wanted: a debt in dollars is measured by the "actual number of dollars promised, dollar for dollar".
Visual. Quote card; 'dollar for dollar' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "actual number of dollars promised, dollar for dollar"
Cite. Guaranty Trust Co. v. Henwood (1939), quoted in Bryant
30. sc30 · 6:12 to 6:24 typography
Nothing in it mentions secret trust accounts or bills of exchange, the judge wrote; it addresses "nothing more than the U.S. monetary shift away from the gold standard".
Visual. Quote card; 'away from the gold standard' turns amber as spoken.
On screen. "nothing more than the U.S. monetary shift away from the gold standard"
Cite. Bryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007)
31. sc31 · 6:24 to 6:44 document-excerpt
The notes in your wallet count too: as one federal appeals court put it, "Congress has declared federal reserve notes legal tender". In a tax case, the Ninth Circuit rejected as "frivolous" the argument that Federal Reserve Notes "are not valid currency, cannot be taxed, and are merely" debts.
Visual. The IRS passage on legal tender; the highlight sweeps 'Congress has declared federal reserve notes legal tender' as it is read.
Cite. IRS, The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments (US v. Rifen; US v. Condo)
32. sc32 · 6:44 to 6:54 typography
So the answer to the second question is no: leaving gold changed what backs a dollar, not whether a dollar pays a debt.
Visual. One large title; 'No' lands on the spoken 'no'.
On screen. Second answer: no
Cite. Bryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007)IRS, The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments
33. sc33 · 6:54 to 7:07 typography
Both answers meet in the same place: the Treasury says the scheme's story starts with 1933, and the 1933 law says the opposite of what that story needs.
Visual. One large title; '1933' in amber.
On screen. Both answers meet in 1933
Cite. US Treasury, bogus sight drafts noticeBryant v. Washington Mutual (W.D. Va. 2007)
34. sc34 · 7:07 to 7:27 typography
So if a way to pay needs you to believe the Treasury is hiding your money, expect your lender to treat it as no payment at all. And before you stamp anything, ask whoever is selling the method for one court that accepted it.
Visual. Two lines build one per sentence: the lender's response, then the question to ask the seller.
On screen. No payment at all / Ask for one court that accepted it