Back in May Sarah Posner reported that, at the height of the Lisa Miller saga, her attorneys at Liberty Counsel were teaching Liberty University law students that anyone in Miller’s situation had an obligation to ignore the law and engage in “civil disobedience” in order to uphold God’s law.
So when Miller subsequently kidnapped her daughter and fled the country, it seemed rather suspicious, to say the least, especially since Miller was reportedly living in a vacation home owned by the father of a Liberty Law School employee … but Mat Staver and Liberty Counsel continue to insist that they had no involvement and have no idea where she is:
The lawyer for Miller’s ex-partner, Janet Jenkins, told the FBI she got a call in June 2010 from someone — she won’t say who — who told her that Lisa Miller and the girl had stayed in a beach house in coastal San Juan del Sur, about 68 miles south of Managua.
The house is owned by Philip Zodhiates, the father of Liberty University law school administrative assistant Victoria Hyden, according to the FBI. Jenkins’ attorney, Sarah Star, told the FBI that the caller told her Zodhiates had asked his daughter to put out a request for supplies for Lisa Miller.
Located in Lynchburg, Va., Liberty University was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. An affiliate of the university, conservative Christian law firm Liberty Counsel, formerly represented Miller in her court case in Vermont over custody of the girl.
Law school dean Mathew Staver — who leads Liberty Counsel — has said Zodhiates isn’t affiliated with either.
“From our perspective, she just dropped off the face of the Earth. We haven’t heard from her or from anyone who said they’ve heard from her,” Staver said of Lisa Miller.
The AP reports that Miller has become a Mennonite and is being sheltered and protected by Mennonite missionaries Nicaragua who see it as their duty to help “Lisa not only free herself from the so called civil marriage and lesbian lifestyle, but especially to protect her nine year old daughter from being abducted and handed over to an active lesbian and a whole-hearted activist.”
