Lynn Packer examines the relationship between the LDS Church and Operation Underground Railroad
An apostle of the Mormon Church could get drawn into a Utah criminal investigation conducted by Davis County attorney Troy Rawlings. Russell Ballard, president of the LDS Church’s Quorum of the 12 Apostles, has both spiritual and alleged financial ties to the Utah nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad. The criminal probe is likely centered on Tim Ballard, the charity’s fame-obsessed founder. Russell Ballard shares with Tim Ballard—they are not related—a belief in the so-called covenant. The covenant is a religious hypothesis that’s embedded in the DNA of the organization established to rescue child sex slaves from kidnappers and pedophiles.