The Vicarage

No 8 Russell Street
Plymouth, NH 03264-1415 USA
Office@ScottAdvocates.com
www.ScottAdvocates.com

19 November 2017

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL AND FAX

The Honorable Gordon MacDonald
New Hampshire Attorney General
33 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: (603) 271-3658
Fax: (603) 271-2110
E-mail: attorneygeneral@doj.nh.gov

Subj: REQUEST FOR RECUSAL AND INVESTIGATION OF PHILLIPS EXETER

ACADEMY FOR LEGACY MISHANDLING OF SEXUAL MISBEHAVIOR

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

I hope all is well. It is my honor and pleasure to represent the Reverend Robert H.
Thompson, an ordained minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and school minister
(chaplain) of Phillips Exeter Academy for over 31 years. Rev. Thompson was placed on paid
administrative leave 16 months ago, which continues to this day, under circumstances we
believe are intended to scapegoat him for, and distract from decades of institutional failure to
ferret out and discipline faculty sexual predators. Institutional leaders at the helm of the school
during this period include the husband of former Governor and now Senator Maggie Hassan,
who herself resided with her husband, the principal, for several years at the school. Mr. Hassan
was a member of faculty at Phillips Exeter for some 26-years.

It is very disturbing that, to date, investigation of the schools leadership has been relegated
to the Rockingham County Attorney (RCA), given the gross disparity in power and pocket-book
of these two institutions. Phillips Exeter has an endowment of US$1.2 Billion and has engaged,
and spent millions of US Dollars on scores of high-priced attorneys, including those of your
former firm, Nixon Peabody LLP, with an estimated monthly spend of US$500,000 for
combined outside counsel. Phillips Exeter is undoubtedly one of the most influential, powerful
and resource-laden institutions in New Hampshire.

We respectfully request that your Office assume all investigatory duties from the RCA and
proceed with a detailed de novo investigation of all sexual misconduct at Phillips Exeter,
faculty/staff on student, and student on student, to include how and why Phillips Exeter
proceeded with wanton disregard for the well-being of children entrusted to its care over
decades. No institution, however powerful, should be beyond the reach of the law.

2nd Street, House No 8 AFG: +93 (0)795 338 617

Shash Darak, PD 9 US: +1 202 436 9038
Kabul City, Afghanistan UK: +44 (0)20 8133 9014
Letter to the Hon. Gordon MacDonald
NH Attorney General
PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY
19 November 2017

We also have sound reason to believe that the schools administration has been mining
Rev. Thompsons school email archive, and digital and physical files of all sorts pertaining to
confidential pastoral (priest-penitent) communications, in complete disregard for religious
liberty and privacy. NB, at this writing, it remains to be determined whether your former firm,
Nixon Peabody LLP participated in this. We ask whether it is appropriate for a private school to
maintain its charitable and tax exempt status under such circumstances?

We wish to inform you that Rev. Thompson has been, and will always be available to
speak with investigators from your Office, and New Hampshire Law Enforcement. Rev.
Thompson has always been a model of straightforward cooperation, candor and honesty.

Finally, just as the tentacles of Phillips Exeter Academy extend deeply and pervasively
about our beloved State, so too does Nixon Peabody LLPs to Phillips Exeter. Spearheading the
defense of the school against police and law enforcement investigation is Nixon Peabody LLP
Partner David Vicinanzo, Esquire; and, the relatively new position of inside General Counsel is
occupied by Holly Barcroft, Esq. who came to that position directly from Nixon Peabody LLP.
For these reasons, we respectfully ask that you recuse yourself from any investigation of Phillips
Exeter Academy pertaining to sexual abuse, and that you seek the appointment of a special
counsel to handle this.

Thank you for your consideration. Rev. Thompson and our firm avail ourselves of this
opportunity to assure you and your Office of our highest consideration.

Kindest regards and most respectfully,

Ward E. Scott II, Esquire

Col, US Marines (Ret)
NH, USA Bar No. 7931
Email: WScott@ScottAdvocates.com
Tel: +1 202 855 2482 / +1 603 738 9028
FAX: +1 202 455 8935

Copy to:

The Revd Robert H. Thompson

Col Bill Varian, US Army (Ret), COO, Scott Advocates PLLC
Eric L. Emerich, Esquire, Senior Counsel, Scott Advocates PLLC

2nd Street, House No 8 AFG: +93 (0)795 338 617

2 Shash Darak, PD 9 US: +1 202 436 9038
Kabul City, Afghanistan UK: +44 (0)20 8133 9014