It’s been a while since I wrote anything about the Duggar Family. For a few years, I was genuinely trying to keep up with all of the Duggar children getting married off, usually when they were, like, 17 or 18 years old. But then I lost interest. The family is disgusting and many of the original Duggar “kids” are married and popping out babies right and left and who can keep up. Also: it’s been more than four years since we learned about Josh Duggar. In 2015, we learned that Josh had molested two of his sisters and at least two other children when he was around the age of 15. Nothing happened to him at the time or afterwards. The Duggars live in Tontitown, Arkansas, and I wouldn’t say that they live on a “compound” but I’ve heard that their whole area is full of like-minded extreme Evangelicals. So… did the Duggar home get raided by Homeland Security or what?
The Duggar family is denying a report by KNWA that their home was raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents last week. A rep for the Duggar family told PEOPLE in a statement, “We were shocked to see a news report today state that our home was raided by federal law enforcement agencies. This is not true. To the best of our knowledge, it’s also not true that any member of our family is the target of any investigation of any kind.”
“Living a life in the public’s eye has taught us that it is best not to reply to every rumor and piece of ‘fake news’ that is circulated online,” the rep’s statement continued. “It would be a full-time job if we attempted to do so. However, because of tonight’s media coverage we thought it is important to address this rumor with you. Thank you for the love and support that we can always count on in you our fans and friends.”
Their denial comes after a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) spokesperson reportedly told KNWA about the Duggars’ home in Tontitown, Arkansas, which was featured on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, “[I do not dispute the information that] HSI was present there [Duggar home] pursuant to an on-going federal criminal investigation.” According to the outlet, HSI did not why its agents were at the property, and the U.S. District Attorney for Western Arkansas would not comment on the case.
Duggar son Jedidiah Duggar, who recently announced he is running for Arkansas State Representative as a conservative, said he was “unaware” about the investigation. “I don’t live there, and I am not aware of any investigation,” Jed, 20, told the outlet.
Currently, Josh is in the middle of a real estate lawsuit. In September, KARK.com reported that a three-day jury trial is set for Josh, who is “accused of fraud and is being sued for ‘quiet title’ and breaching a contract, according to court records.” The trial reportedly begins April 27, 2020.
So, I actually went searching for some kind of explanation. In Touch Weekly theorized that it’s all about Josh – apparently, Homeland Security also raided Josh’s business in Arkansas? I mean, it could be, but Josh doesn’t live at the Duggar compound. He and his poor wife have their own home, and I thought they lived miles away from the family compound? I feel like this might be about Jim-Bob and Michelle? What were THEY doing? What kind of fraudulent schemes were they working? Or maybe Homeland Security was just trying to shut down some kind of white nationalist cult.
Photos courtesy of Instagram.
That was a kind of weird denial from the kid running for office, wasn’t it?
He seemed to really be distancing himself from it with the “I don’t live there, I don’t know” kind of line. I assume they at least have their cult meetings all together for holidays or family dinners or whatever. Maybe they’re not as close as they’ve let on?
The assumption is that he still lives at the big house, but Jim Bob (the dad) bought him a house in the district he’s running in so he can challenge the democrat there. Unmarrieds aren’t allowed to move out on their own in duggarlandia.
Aha! I figured it was something at least semi-shady. And that would certainly be a ‘reasonable’ reason for them to lie, I suppose. I mean – obviously nobody wants their politicians to cheat districts and lie about it, but in terms of the Duggars as a whole this isn’t anywhere near as bad as I’d expected.
I’m actually a little surprised they don’t let the males in their fundy families live out on their own, since typically they’re pretty quick to blame women for everything anyway. But I suppose they probably can’t fathom how a young man could ever keep a home on his own what without a woman to take care of everything for him. Pillars of the community!
didn’t john david move out before marriage though?
Considering Josh’s predilections (and I have always thought he learned them from Daddy) it’s likely more to do with trafficking young women under the guise of some sort of white nationalist cult of god. That’s where my mind went when I first saw this.
This family have always always creeped me out, esp the way they controlled and infantilised (and sexualised) women and girls.
@DU – this! Considering that these white nationalist cult members view women as either property to be bartered or evil temptresses I would not be surprised if it’s some underage girl sexual abuse issue. Would also not be surprised of some fraud or tax avoidance scheme . I cannot stand the continued efforts by some media outlets to normalize a lifestyle that consists of isolation, forced ignorance abuse of girls and the propagation of sexist, homophobic and xenophobic beliefs . People magazine is one of the worst with their ongoing softball interviews and profiles of these cult members – they do it with them and with Scientology also. Rant over. More coffee.
Yeah, it was their umpteenth article on the Duggars that made me drop them.
I think you’re probably right. Right-wing religious nuts are hiding a lot of crime. Not to mention the first instance of it, which is creating fringe “churches” in order to get out of paying taxes.
And from what I’ve noticed, at least on twitter, they’re the ones who are most concerned about the so-called leftist pedophile ring. I think the calls are coming from inside the house…
Agreed. I believe the Duggar parents have been involved in encouraging dubious power of attorney fostering/adoption arrangements. If HSI raided them, it is likely related to human trafficking.
i wonder if they’re involved in some of the stuff paul petersen was involved in with the adoptions from marshallese women!
On reddit for the past month or so there have been discussions regarding a blind item from September that stated that a large family were being investigated for tax evasion, human trafficking (in relation to forced labour) and a few other things. Then a few days ago people stated that the Duggars missed church and then pictures appeared where it appeared like their compound was being raided. Around the same time, a user appeared saying they were an inside source and that Josh was also specifically being investigated for some pretty bad things (if you guys get the vibe) and then when this raid hit the media, the user deleted their account on reddit.
These kind of religiously fanatic lunatics usually have the worst skeletons…couldbe child porn or some kind of money laundering or whatever these hypocritical corrupt fuckers pull in the name of GOD or Greed; both start with the G, the latter always prevails.
There’s a pretty active Reddit community about fundie families and I’ve seen some theories about some pretty dark adoption policies surrounding women from the Marshall Islands. Apparently there are lots of immigrant women from this country in Arkansas and there’s a process of “buying” their babies for adoption for lack of a better term. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was part of the reason.
When I worked in that area, we had to complete education modules from the hospitals about how to care for the Marshall Islanders with respect to their cultural/spiritual beliefs. Possibly related: there is a very large Jehovah Witness population in NW Arkansas too.
Side note: the Duggar house was on one of my cycling routes back then, and it is literally across the street from the dump. I drove a visiting friend by one time, and she described it as “if suburban sprawl was one house.” It’s ridiculous!
It’s across from the dump? Bet Dim Bulb thought it was a brilliant real estate investment–got it cheap.
I’ve heard the Marshall Island community around Springdale/NWA is the largest outside the islands. My oldest niece adopted a girl from a MI immigrant couple, but it was a case of her being their eighth child and not having the resources to care for more children. Arranged by the hospital where she gave birth. S is now in high school and a fierce basketball player.
Yes, it is, partly because of the Embassy there. They have a sort of “group” or “multi-family” approach to raising their children, and they don’t keep good records. One home/ household might have children from many different families, which can lead to confusion when it comes to which child actually belongs to whom in regard to medical records/family history, even billing/insurance. They also don’t trust doctors/authority figures and they don’t like to be touched, especially on the head. They are refugees to begin with, so all of this makes them even more vulnerable to predators.
Yes, and in their culture they can take back their kid anytime they want or are ready to. Many of them don’t realize they’re signing their rights away. It’s horribly sad.
None of them were 17 when they married though. All of this seems strange, I didn’t know Josh was sued and will stand trial. Interesting.
There’s blind items about charity fraud with their family too
Jill and her husband went to Central/South America for a couple of years for missionary work, and rumors from that have stuck with them ever since. I remember reading something about her begging for money from their fans to fund their “mission”, but they ended up using it to find their lifestyle and a vacation too.
I’ve heard theories this could be about some shady shit in the name of “charity” they pulled in the Caribbean during hurricane relief efforts
Briefly looking at their Instagram… the original Duggar children have multiple young children now. They still look so young themselves though. Kids having kids. They never got to really enjoy their young adulthood before taking on so much responsibility. I’ve always been grateful I waited until my late twenties to have children so that I could start my career, travel, be a little wild, and figure out my priorities first.
Yes, for all the youngins on here…WAIT to have kids, enjoy yourself, find out who you are. I had kids way too young, take it from me, wait. Or you could listen to Peaches…..” SIS….IUD…..Stay in school, cause its the best.”
Love me some Peaches, EGOT! Just need to make sure I don’t have it on when my kids are in the car with me!
lol women don’t need things like personality or individual interests. God made them for one purpose and one purpose only! Put out for your husband, Christian ladies. Make dem babies.
This family also has the older children raise the younger siblings. Like, from the time they themselves are young. So yeah, they never really got a childhood or young adulthood and now they’re having their own babies and the cycle will continue. Bleh.
Seriously?! These poor kids.
The absolute best thing I ever did was have all my kids young. I recommend it passionately to anyone who has the opportunity to. The kind of life I am able to lead as an empty nester from age 42 (I am now 45) is wild. And my three kids never got in the way of me living all over the world and having adventures. I am so happy to have been shaped in my twenties by them more than by any asshole boyfriends or bosses, they are such lovely lovely people. Starting a new life and career with no fear of future interruption, while knowing you got the whole “biological clock sword of damocles” out of the way is wonderful. And having three extra solid family members to chat with or meet up with is gold. Obviously, again, being in a position to is key, but since the OP was addressing people with a choice, I am too! 🙂
I have family members who subscribed to the ‘have em young so you can enjoy your 40s!’ as well. All it led to was them spending their 40s and beyond looking after their grandkids because their own kids did the exact same thing. The cycle will never bloody end.
Yeah…being a grandma in my 40s isn’t appealing. And who actually has the resources and means to do that nowadays???
Law enforcement will raid and shut down puppy mills. Maybe that’s what they’re doing here. I support spaying and neutering in this instance.
^^today’s winner of the internet!
Ding ding ding we have a winner!
slow clap
Homeland Security wouldn’t be involved with puppy mills…it would be local law enforcement.
I think it’s a joke re: the mother Duggar being in a perpetual state of pregnancy and their kids having kids early
OMG. This comment is AMAZING.
Joshie is probably about to get busted again.
I would love to see this fertility cult brought down.
I watched the show briefly back when all the kids were at home and not married yet. This was also when they didn’t have 19, and they would schlep the whole family to the Today Show to announce baby # _____ (insert number here). I clearly remember the episode where they bought/built (little bit of both) the house and were attempting to decorate it. Everything was Americana-themed.
On to my point… Jim Bob was very intentional about getting his male children into the real estate game, and I get the feeling he funded a lot of their early ventures. He was a very wealthy land owner in that town. If Josh is implicated, there might be financial connections back to JB.
oh yeah JB holds the wallet for the ENTIRE family. All children-both adult and minor, and all their spouses.
This family has always been a cult. They are Quiverfull cult members and if you read up on their “movement” you’ll find that Andrea Yates (who drowned her young children in the bathtub) was off birth control and her meds and fearful that she would harm her children, because her then husband wanted to continue procreating as part of this cult. It makes me sick to see the Duggars given any media time at all.
He did that to FOUR of his sisters, only two went on television to defend him (coincidently the two that were married).
I think the other two were still minors. Still, as others have stated, I’d like to see these folks brought down. It’s heart-breaking to see these vibrant young women just turned into baby making machines.
At the time of the interview three of them were adults, one was a minor.
I almost hope this is centered around Josh again. I’d hate to hear the other younger Duggar children are exposed to even more horrible things at home.
I think Josh molested the older one who isn’t married, Jana? She’s like 30 and still lives at home raising her siblings. I think she has issues from that and probably doesn’t want to be married and have a husband who thinks he’s entitled to her body the same way Josh did. Just my theory.
The one in the picture here is who I think will break free first. She already wears pants and dyes her hair blonde, I think she’s the one rumored to have had sex in a coat closet at her wedding!
Allegedly, Jana was not one of his victims. Jinger, the one pictured above, has moved to LA with her husband.
And we can see her arms! I hope she pursues her photography, makes her own money, and maybe goes to school even. She’s got a lot of catching up to do on basic facts in pretty much every area of learning.
I always thought Jinger was going to be the one to break free. She looked fed up with their shit half the time. (I’m embarrassed to admit I watched it, lol)
she only wears pants because her husband allows it. that’s why jim bob doesn’t care she wears pants, because she’s under the authority of her husband now and if he’s fine with it, so is jim bob.
jana’s trying to be joanna gaines.
Valerie, I’ve been watching it the last few weeks! Sshhhh😂 nothing else on that interests me and my husband gets mad if I watch our shows without him lol. I think Jinger and her husband are kind of cute, and she definitely seems very sexual with him. She’s always giving him sex eyes and sneaking looks. Maybe they’ll both break free after living in reality in LA.
Wasn’t Jana kind of the same way? I didn’t watch any of her show, but in the pics I saw, I felt like she was always eyeing her husband in a way that her parents would definitely not approve of!
@Valerie jana isn’t married. she is famously single as she is the eldest daughter and has apparently never courted.
Nah Jinger is an empty vessel. Her husband got a nice house as part of his preaching job and she just follows him along for the ride and decides she likes whatever he likes (literally one caption on her insta said something like ‘Jeremy likes books therefore I now like books’). She’s got it pretty good compared to the rest of them so she’s not going anywhere.
I think josh and his wife live on the compound in a guest house.
Yes, that’s true. During the Ashley Madison scandal when he was sent away, his wife Anna and the kids lived on the compound and they sold their house not too long after that. The active Fundie Reddit community says Josh’s family lives in a “windowless” building on the Duggar compound. So if this raid is true, it could totally be about Josh.
I assumed it was because they flew down to the Caribbean and brought guns and badges but I think those kids don’t live on the compound anymore.
Their statement is interesting though. Wouldn’t want to end up in hell for lying.
john david was the one in the bahamas and he doesn’t live there anymore, interestingly enough one of the bates sons was also carrying guns and a badge in the bahamas too so this could take down 2 of TLC’s prized fundie families!
I am filled with rage any time I see a photo of those parents who let their daughters be molested by their brother and their only response was to lock the daughters in at night. Loathsome, disgusting people. And if it’s okay for their own daughters to get molested, I am sure they have some excuse for human trafficking.
There were some shady dealings between Josh and Anna’s house being sold to their lawyer awhile back. Some people speculated that it was to hide assets in case Anna left Josh during the whole Ashley Madison/Sister molestation scandals. For whatever reason they live on the compound now essentially in a warehouse.
Jed still lives at home unless he is “living” in a house purchased by Jimboob in the area where he is running.
If there is anything being investigated it will most likely involve ma and pa Duggar as they are all intertwined financially (with the exception perhaps of Jinger and Jeremy). Apparently the children do not and have not been paid for appearing on 19 Kids and Counting On. Somehow Jimboob convinced TLC to pay him a lump sum which he doles out to his children and their spouses as he sees fit. Derick confirmed that they were “volunteers” on the shows because it was the family ministry.
Derrick is also the asshole who ran over a cat with a sled. Yup, I hope these a-holes go down in flames.
could be the shady stuff john david duggar and others were up to in the bahamas after the hurricane – they had loaded weapons and fake badges and were stealing fuel and supplies and taking it who knows where.
could be josh again, he lives in a warehouse on their property still so that’s where investigators would find him.
could be michelle’s sister’s granddaughter who is a child yet living with josh and his family as a “mother’s helper.”
could be something with one of josh’s businesses. one registered in his name was transferred to his wife’s name in the last month.
this family needs to go down. they are abusive, awful people.
The parents and the whole Quiverful thing are terrible. I feel so sorry for the kids raised in this, especially the girls, who will likely never get to know anything else or make their own decisions.
Incidentally, the parents knew Josh was molesting his sisters. What did they do? Locked the girls in their rooms, the dirty temptresses, and the male predator had full rein and freedom. Bastards.
It encourages me a little that law enforcement is targeting this family, whatever the reason.
Thanks for covering, please keep us updated as this story develops.
Sex trafficking.