The Shady Side Of Tim Ballard

On July 4, 2023, a less-hyped indie film, "Sound of Freedom," made its big screen debut. Its plot is simple, yet captivating: A homeland security agent leaves his government job for a much more risky task of rescuing child trafficking victims. "Sound of Freedom" is based on the story of Tim Ballard, the founder of Operation Underground Railroad. OUR conducts rescue missions in real life. Created on a budget of $14 million, the flick became a box office hit, outshining big-budget movies like "Fast X" and "Elemental." 

While the masses loved it on the big screen, "Sound of Freedom" attracted heavy criticism from several news outlets. To the film's lead actor Jim Caviezel, however, he was chronicling the narrative of one man's courage. "I get to play an absolute real bona fide hero in Tim Ballard," he remarked in an interview with Fox News. "He did everything that you read about in the gospels." Caviezel likened the role to his controversial portrayal of Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ."

Although his idolization of Ballard is justified by the praise the latter's work has received over the years, beyond the accolades lie reports of unethical practices, questionable associations, and inconsistencies in some of OUR's stories. This is the shady side of Tim Ballard.

The New York Post initially reported the possibility of an Operation Underground Railroad investigation in March 2017. According to the news outlet, there were grievances raised about the Tim Ballard-led entity's alleged deceitful acquisition and misuse of donor funding. The Utah-based non-profit reportedly claimed to use its finances to combat local issues. It was backed by state Attorney General Sean Reyes, who hailed OUR's activities on TEDx the previous year.

In October 2020, it was reported that OUR was under probe. While details of the investigation weren't publicly revealed, Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings told Fox 13 News, "We've received complaints and are in the process of reviewing those complaints." At the time of reporting, Reyes, who served on OUR's board of advisers and was part of a Colombia operation in October 2014, declined to comment on the investigation.

Fox 13 News further relayed that Rawlings had posted a series of cryptic posts via his personal Instagram account to alert the public. "Please beware of any individual, entity or organization who solicits your money and may be claiming credit for work to protect children that is actually done by our task force and/or other law-enforcement organizations in Utah and around the world," he wrote in part. In May 2023, the investigation came to a close.

At the center of Operation Underground Railroad's beginnings lies the touching story of a dog tag necklace. Just as it's depicted in "Sound of Freedom" with a little twist, Tim Ballard received the necklace from a little boy during a rescue operation prior to founding OUR. Inscribed on the pendant were the words "Man of God" and a bible verse from the book of 1 Timothy: 6:11. To Ballard, it marked the beginning of his purpose, as he shared on OUR's blog and recounted in an interview with CBN News. 

The Salt Lake City Tribune, however, highlighted inconsistencies in Ballard's story, based on an investigation by journalist Lynn Kenneth Parker. According to court records obtained by the publication, the interception of pedophile Earl Buchanan (who had held the boy in Ballard's story) happened at a routine border search, and wasn't based on a tip-off. Most shocking was the probability that the sentimental moment between Ballard and the boy may have been a figment of his imagination. While Ballard's account suggested that an interview happened, during which he was handed the dog tag necklace, court records showed that the government could not "produce what doesn't exist " per request.

In response, Ballard told the publication, "I can't control all the details that end up making it into court documents. But I can tell you that me and another ICE special agent ... absolutely did interview the little boy, at least two separate times — taking him to McDonald's and then Denny's."

Tim Ballard stepped down from his role as Chief Executive Officer of The Nazarene Fund in July 2023.The move coincided with news of Ballard's departure from Operation Underground Railroad. Just like OUR, the Glenn Beck-supported Nazarene Fund was allegedly guilty of feeding the public half-truths. According to Vice, President Joe Biden's administration said, "The Nazarene fund was problematic in a lot of ways" during the rescue of the Afghan girls' national soccer team after the country was invaded by the Taliban.

The Nazarene Fund supposedly embellished its role in the mission. In an interview with Beck, DeliverFund founder Nic McKinley revealed that the Nazarene Fund came onboard after the operation was underway to assist with air travel. "There's a really important piece here that's really a feather in the cap of The Nazarene Fund," he said. "And that is the fact that The Nazarene Fund was smart enough to have credit with Kam Air." The organization, he added, was also influential in getting clearance from the Taliban through former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The bone of contention was Beck's implication of active involvement in tweets that left out key figures in the operation: the USAID, DeliverFund, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, and the governments of Georgia and Portugal, where the team was granted asylum. Subsequently, there were questions about financial accountability — including a lack of transparency on the use of $35.5 million collected for the rescue of Christian fugitives — since The Nazarene Fund was fully compensated by the DeliverFund.