Stranger Than Fiction: Video Call with Tim Ballard
Our conversation sheds light on global child trafficking tactics and church corruption he's fighting to expose
Greetings from a snow-capped mountain in Big Bear, where we’ve been holed up with friends at their log cabin for two days, away from it all, watching alien documentaries and Christmas classics. I’ll have a post compiling the latest on UAPs coming soon, along with a couple others on currently trending topics. Shrewd readers, perhaps you can guess the direction I’m taking. Expect an erratic mashup through the rest of the week, starting with Tim Ballard.
Tim, like most featured here, tends to draw opposing reactions in public opinion. Some of my readers see him as a fearless hero in the fight against child trafficking; others distrust him entirely, influenced by claims about his personal and professional conduct that emerged under the intense scrutiny following the success of the biographical film released about him in 2023, Sound of Freedom.
I recently caught up with the former Homeland Security agent to talk about his latest project, a documentary titled Hidden War. His second film follows a multi-continent operation aimed at rescuing children and dismantling an international sex-trafficking network, revealing the violent, warlike nature of these traffickers. Once again, his goal is to shed light on how global trafficking rings operate across the world.
I first met Tim on a hot day in July in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention during a chaotic lunch break. We set up an interview on a concrete planter with little preparation and shaky Wi-Fi. Dennis Quaid interrupted us. He passed by, did a double take, turned back to shake Ballard’s hand, and thanked him for what he does.
It’s been over a year since I’ve heard from him. We reconnected this time over Zoom at 7:30 a.m. I entered the conversation with little sense of his latest developments, only aware that a new film was being actively suppressed amid its single-day release on November 14, particularly in Utah. You’ll see why in the video.
As for legal matters, he expands on those as well. He explained how his split from the Church increased the volatility as part of what he describes as a calculated smear campaign by higher-ups. In 2023, the Church publicly characterized some of his behavior as morally unacceptable. Ballard says he was then excommunicated by insiders attempting to obstruct his political prospects.
“Ballard explained that unlike Sound of Freedom, which dramatized his earlier missions, Hidden War features entirely real footage captured during operations spanning Ukraine, Holland, Mexico, and Ecuador. The film follows his team as they uncover a pedophile ring formed by Dutch fugitives attempting to build what Ballard described as a “child sex hotel” in South America. “It’s all real, verified, and we show every step,” he said, emphasizing that the documentary captures both the danger and scope of the international trafficking crisis.
The mission began in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion displaced thousands of children. Ballard and his team initially entered the country to locate six orphans connected to his wife’s adoption foundation, but the operation quickly grew. Working with Ukrainian authorities, they helped evacuate roughly 3,000 children from war zones and uncovered evidence of traffickers exploiting the chaos to recruit victims. “We were building the ship as we sailed it,” Ballard said, describing the frantic rescue efforts amid bombings and devastated orphanages.
The investigation ultimately led his team to a transnational pedophile network operating through a website called FreeSpeech.com. Ballard detailed how the group, originating in the Netherlands, had previously lobbied to legalize sex with minors and later fled to Latin America to rebuild its operations. Working alongside law enforcement in Mexico and Ecuador, Ballard’s organization coordinated a series of raids that resulted in multiple arrests and the closure of the alleged child exploitation compound.”
Our 50-minute conversation (raw and unedited) stretches from anti-trafficking operations to the emotional toll the past few years have taken on him and his wife, along with a few topics he said he could not discuss yet. He says the Church is monitoring his every move and appearance. He’s cautious about what he airs. When we get to the topic of remote viewing, which aids many of his rescue efforts, you’ll see immediately how intrigued I am. I’ve been reading a lot about it, trying to understand how it works — and when it’s helpful. Good news is this interview connected me to the woman he praises, who might accompany Tim and others in a planned sit-down interview in my office come January.
Stay tuned — details to come!
In Our Interview:
The covert mission Ballard says he led through Syria and Israel, coordinated with US and Israeli contacts after ISIS attacks on Christian villages
His story of being excommunicated from the LDS Church — and why he believes “deep-church” operatives orchestrated it
The fallout from Sound of Freedom and his claim that a $10 million campaign was launched to stop his Senate run and trafficking-reform bill
New details on the lawsuits, accusers, and “lawfare” tactics he says were weaponized to destroy him and his wife
Allegations of a secret LDS surveillance unit made up of former FBI agents monitoring dissidents (he says “hi” to his handlers!)
His defense of using a “remote viewer” — a psychic trained under the CIA’s declassified Operation Stargate — to help locate missing children
Clues on where his tale intersects with many of the stories and characters covered here
Discussion on spiritual warfare, false memories, human potential, and the uneasy intersection of faith, politics, and the supernatural
