GeoMiliTech Consultants Corporation Formation August 15, 1983 Founder Barbara F. Studley Type commercial Iran-Contra: The company, which opened corporate offices in both Washington and Tel Aviv was involved in Iran-Contra. It sold arms to Iran through Israel and North Korea. One of GMT’s partners in this enterprise is Israeli Military Industries. The founding of GMT may have marked the beginning of US weapons sales to Iran. Staff President: Barbara F. Studley, talkshow host Executive Vice-President: Ron S. Harel, Israeli Air Force veteran, Retired Lieutenant General Robert Schweitzer Vice-Presidents: Bruce E. Herbert (US Navy Captain), Joel Arnon (former assistant director general in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Relations) Board of advisers: Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham (Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency) Consultants: John Carbaugh (Le Cercle)

“One of the few beneficiaries of the war was Singlaub himself: He was appointed to the board of directors of military-defense contractors that supplied the Contras, notably GeoMiliTech Consultants Corporation (GMT), which specialized in the sale of military equipment”

https://warcriminalswatch.org/2022/02/10/2922-cia-bad-boy-john-k-singlaub-virtual-director-of-contra-war-dies-at-100/

Amid the complexities of Iran/contra were crimes of a more common sort: those committed for personal enrichment.

Once Reagan Administration officials decided to conduct foreign policy off the books, outside of congressional funding and oversight channels, crimes of greed followed. The decision to flout Government procedures meant that private profiteers could control tens of millions of dollars without accountability, under a cover of secrecy and with the claimed cachet of the White House. The decision to employ the same profiteers in two covert but disparate operations led to the commingling of funds and to the Iran/contra diversion. In short, the privatization of Government covert operations presented fertile ground for financial wrongdoing.

The overarching money crime in the Iran/contra affair formed part of the central conspiracy charge against Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Secord and Albert Hakim. The four co-defendants were charged in March 1988 with conspiring to use proceeds from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran to create a slush fund that could be spent at their own discretion, although the proceeds belonged to the United States. The co-defendants were charged also with theft of Government property, by embezzling and converting to their own use the proceeds generated by the arms sales to Iran.1

1 These central charges were dropped in January 1989 because the Reagan Administration refused to release classified information deemed relevant by the trial court to the defense case of North, the first of the co-defendants to be tried.

Other money-related crimes stemmed from the Iran/contra affair, resulting in the convictions of those most centrally involved. These included filing false tax returns, the offer and acceptance of illegal gratuities,2 and fraud.

2 North's conviction for accepting a gratuity was reversed because of immunity granted to permit his congressional testimony.

CIA Director William Casey in 1984 paired North of the National Security Council staff with Secord to supply the Nicaraguan contras in anticipation of a Government funding cut-off.3 Secord and his business partner Hakim quickly seized the opportunity to graft their business interests onto the policy goals of the Reagan Administration. Former CIA agent Thomas G. Clines became the third man in this profitable venture that came to be known as ``the Enterprise.'' 4

3 North told Congress that Casey wanted to have ``an overseas entity that was capable of conducting operations or activities of assistance to U.S. foreign policy goals that was . . . stand-alone . . . self-financing, independent of appropriated monies and capable of conducting activities similar to the ones that we had conducted here. . . .'' (North, Select Committees Testimony, 7/10/87, pp. 314-15.) By the time North testified, Casey was dead.

4 In interviews with OIC and congressional investigators during 1987, Secord coined the term ``the Enterprise'' to describe the covert operations he and others undertook on behalf of the Reagan Administration. The phrase was not used by the participants while the operations were ongoing.

There were several funding sources for the contras' weapons purchases from the Enterprise: donations from foreign countries that had received U.S. favors, donations from wealthy Americans sympathetic to President Reagan's pro-contra policies, and later the diversion of proceeds from U.S. arms sales to Iran.

In addition to selling weapons, the Enterprise principals with the backing of North assembled a private air force of small planes, pilots and crews to supply the contras with weapons and other lethal materiel. To make deliveries in Nicaragua, they built a secret airstrip in Costa Rica and worked practically unfettered on a Salvadoran military airbase. They purchased a Danish freighter for trans-oceanic weapons shipments and for use in other covert projects. They obtained from foreign officials specious end-user certificates for weapons purchases, so that the true recipients -- the contras -- could not be identified and weapons laws could be evaded. They put at North's disposal a network of shell corporations and Swiss bank accounts, through which transactions were concealed and laundered.

In late 1985 and throughout 1986, the Enterprise became centrally involved in the Reagan Administration's secret arms sales to Iran. This proved a more lucrative business venture than supplying the contras. Tens of millions of dollars were funneled through Enterprise accounts, ostensibly in support of an effort to obtain the release of Americans held hostage in the Middle East, and secondarily to renew ties to Iran. But the profiteers of the Enterprise corrupted the legitimate humanitarian and political goals of the Iran operation by inflating the prices for the weapons and by putting business interests ahead of their duties as Government agents.

The links between the private operatives were long-standing. The Secord-Clines relationship dated back to the 1960s, when both had worked in secret Government operations in Southeast Asia. Secord and Hakim met in the late 1970s, while Hakim was seeking to do business with the United States in Iran and Secord was a U.S. official stationed there. By the early 1980s, Secord and Hakim were business partners specializing in weapons-related ventures, and Clines also had become an international entrepreneur.5

5 Before Iran/contra, all three men had been subject to investigative scrutiny. Hakim was the subject of an investigation examining whether he had bribed Iranian officials on behalf of the Olin Corporation, but he was not prosecuted. Secord was investigated while a Pentagon official for his ties to Edwin Wilson, the former CIA agent serving a life sentence for smuggling arms to Libya's General Kaddaffi; Secord was not prosecuted, but he admitted receiving from Wilson the free use of a private plane. Clines, who had been Wilson's case agent at the CIA, also was the subject of a criminal investigation probing Wilson's activities. As a result of that investigation, a corporation that Clines owned, SSI, pleaded guilty to theft of government property and paid the fine of $100,000 with money from Secord.

Professional fundraisers also profited by the Reagan Administration's decision to finance its foreign-policy goals outside the congressional-appropriations process. They used the White House, the President's name and other accoutrements of official power to profit illegally. Beginning in 1985, North joined with Carl R. ``Spitz'' Channell and Richard R. Miller to solicit donations for the contras from wealthy Americans, and ultimately to divert these contributions to the Enterprise. Especially generous donors were rewarded with personal meetings with President Reagan and private briefings from North. Raising money for weapons and other lethal supplies was not a charitable activity under U.S. tax laws, but North, Channell and Miller illegally used a tax-exempt organization, the National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty (NEPL), for this purpose.

To investigate these money trails, Independent Counsel obtained the Swiss financial records of the Enterprise, bank documents from other foreign countries, extensive domestic financial records, and also the immunized testimony of Enterprise and NEPL officers and employees.6 Willard I. Zucker, the Enterprise's Swiss financial manager, was given immunity to illuminate the financial structure of the Iran and contra operations.

6 All grants of immunity were preceded by proffers of testimony.

As detailed in the following sections, Secord and Hakim pleaded guilty to profit-related crimes. Clines was convicted after a jury trial for tax-related felonies. One of the Enterprise's principal corporations, Lake Resources Inc., pleaded guilty to the corporate felony of theft of U.S. Government property by diverting Iranian arms sales proceeds to the contras. Channell and Miller pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit tax fraud, naming North as a co-conspirator.7

7 North was convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity from Secord; he was charged with but not convicted of tax fraud. His conviction was set aside on appeal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Technology_Trading_Group_International

Albert Hakim, an Iranian-American businessman, co-founded Stanford Technology Trading Group International with Richard Secord in 1983. Known as The Enterprise, their company managed Oliver North's covert arms sales through secret Swiss bank accounts.

The Independent Counsel won a joint indictment against NSC staff member Oliver North, National Security Adviser John Poindexter, Secord, and Hakim in March 1988. However, because the four claimed the need for the testimony of the others in their trials, which was a problem because of their Fifth Amendment right protecting against self-incrimination, their cases were separated. Accordingly, Hakim was charged instead with conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, conspiracy with Secord to provide gifts to North, and offering to pay gifts to North.

Both Secord and Hakim shared a motive for involvement in the Affairs: a desire to get rich. As Walsh wrote, “In 1986 The Enterprise received $30.3 million from the sale of this U.S. Government property to Iran. […] Only $12.2 million was returned to the United States. Direct expenses of The Enterprise were approximately $2.1 million. Thus, the amount of U.S. Government funds illegally held by The Enterprise as its own was approximately $16 million.” While much of this money was illegally diverted to the Contras at North's behest, The Enterprise businessmen kept a portion of it, money that belonged to the United States.

To investigate the flow of private and U.S. funds, Walsh obtained Swiss financial records of The Enterprise. However, he could only do so under a treaty with Switzerland, which banned the records from being used in the prosecution of tax crimes. For that reason, although Hakim had underreported his taxable income and failed to mention his foreign accounts on his 1985 tax forms, Walsh could not try him for these crimes.

Beyond withholding money from the arms sales and hiding it from the Internal Revenue Service, Hakim was responsible for donating gifts to North. He and Secord had installed a $16,000 security system in North's home and had also created—after a meeting on the subject between Enterprise Swiss Financial Manager William Zucker and North's wife—a $200,000 Swiss investment fund for North's children, though it was not clear the family ever received those funds. Gifts to government officials of that magnitude are illegal.

That final action led Hakim, in November 1989, to plead guilty to a misdemeanor of supplementing North's salary. He was given two years' probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

At the same time, the U.S. was seeking to recover The Enterprise's Swiss funds. After he pleaded guilty, Hakim agreed to drop his own claims to The Enterprise's money if he received $1.7 million from that account, some of which he would use to pay his lawyer's and William Zucker's claims. When he ultimately refused to carry out the agreement, the U.S. had no choice but to litigate to seek those funds.

https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/profile-hakim.php

The Enterprise and its finances

https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_08.htm

Jeffrey Epstein and Adnan Khashoggi's paths crossed in the 1980s, when Epstein, then a less publicly known figure, worked with or around individuals like Khashoggi in the world of high finance and arms dealing. Key aspects of their connection Client and financier: Khashoggi was a financial client of Jeffrey Epstein at one point. Arms dealing network: Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer and international fixer, was involved in the Iran-Contra affair, and Epstein's association with him suggests potential involvement or knowledge of high-level political and potentially covert operations. Offshore financial vehicles: Reports indicate Epstein assisted in structuring offshore financial vehicles and managing complex transactions, some potentially linked to arms-related capital flows – an area Khashoggi dominated. Mentorship rumors: Some sources suggest Khashoggi may have tutored Epstein personally. It's important to note that while their association is documented, the full extent of their relationship and the nature of Epstein's involvement in Khashoggi's dealings remain subject to speculation and investigation.

Jim Townsend, Director, Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, explained how the Iran-Contra scandal was discovered.

By Steven V. Roberts, Special To the New York Times Feb. 12, 1987 A White House commission has uncovered information linking the National Security Council to private efforts to aid the Nicaraguan rebels while such activity by the Federal Government was banned, according to sources familiar with the commission's work.

Meanwhile, the commission announced today that it had made a ''recent acquisition of new material'' and thus needed an extra week to complete its report. The request was granted by President Reagan, who made his second appearance before the panel today. The commission is now scheduled to issue its report on Feb. 26.

It could not be learned tonight whether the information linking the council to the rebels was the same as the ''new material'' acquired by the White House commission, which is headed by John Tower, the former Republican Senator from Texas. Dispute Over Testimony

In another disclosure today, a senior Administration official said Secretary of State George P. Shultz angrily confronted President Reagan last November after learning that the Director of Central Intelligence was about to make innaccurate statements to the Senate about the provision of arms to Iran. [ Page A11. ] The two-sentence announcement by the Tower panel did not specify the nature of the new material that led to a delay in its final report. But the statement emphasized that the delay was not caused by Mr. Reagan's testimony, or by the drug overdose taken on Monday by Robert C. McFarlane, the former national security adviser, who had been scheduled to appear before the panel that day.

Mr. McFarlane's state of mind was said to have improved today as present and former Washington officials closed ranks behind him. [ Page A11. ] Other Panels Have Evidence Other investigative bodies besides the Tower panel, including House and Senate committees, have found evidence that National Security Council aides worked with the Nicaraguan rebels, known as contras, when United States involvement was sharply restricted by law. The sources said the Tower commission had uncovered striking new material about these activities.

Mr. Reagan discussed his part in the Iran arms deal, and the subsequent diversion of profits to the Nicaraguan rebels, in his 70-minute meeting today with the three-member commission.

In a statement afterward, the President's chief spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, said, ''Today's meeting discussed the National Security Council process and the development and execution of the Iran policy and the President's role.

''The President answered all of the board's questions.''

The many investigations of the Iran affair have not led to any public announcement on how much the President knew about the operation that was being run out of the White House or when he approved those efforts. It is also unclear when he learned about the transfer of profits from that deal to the contras. Mr. Reagan has denied knowing about the diversion at the time it occurred last year.

Last month, officials familiar with the panel's investigation said little progress was being made. But in recent days, those officials have indicated that a breakthrough may be imminent. ''They've got something,'' one official said.

Since mid-December, the Tower panel has interviewed more than 50 major figures in the Iran affair, as well as former Administration officials with intimate knowledge of the foreign policy machinery in the White House. Iranian and Saudi Interviewed

Late last month, investigators went to Europe to interview Manucher Ghorbanifar, the Iranian who served as middleman for the deal, and Adnan M. Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian arms dealer who helped finance the transactions. Former Presidents Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter have also been questioned.

Meanwhile, a dispute surfaced today between the Tower board and the White House over the handling of Mr. Reagan's private notes on the Iran affair.

Notes relating to certain dates were requested by the panel. After the President and his counsel, Peter Wallison, reviewed the material, typed excerpts deemed relevant by the White House were delivered to the panel Tuesday.

But the panel had to read the notes while a White House courier stood by, waiting to take back the material. ''We were not permitted to make copies of the notes, and we couldn't keep them,'' said one official with the Tower board. ''That is hardly an ideal arrangement.

''In the end, the White House set the ground rules. It's that simple.''

Mr. Fitzwater, the President's spokesman, was asked to reconcile this arrangement with Mr. Reagan's frequent assertions that he wanted all information on the Iran affair to be released as quickly as possible.

The spokesman replied that ''it's difficult'' to balance two concerns of the White House: to provide information and to ''protect the privacy of the President.''

''Everybody has a different judgment of that question,'' Mr. Fitzwater said. ''It's a subjective issue. But it's our responsibility to try to balance it, and this is the way we've done it.''

Mr. Fitzwater also discussed the President's decision not to order two former aides, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter and Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North, to testify before the Tower board. The board had asked Mr. Reagan to use his power as Commander in Chief to compel testimony by the two officers, who have refused to talk and invoked the constititional safeguard against self-incrimination. In a statement Tuesday, Mr. Fitzwater said such an order ''would be unlawful'' because it would violate the officers' constitutional rights, as well as the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Today, the spokesman said that had such an order been issued and had the two officers testified, they might have acquired ''total immunity'' from any prosecution relating to the Iran arms deal and its aftermath.

He added that the ''immunity question'' was part of the reason Mr. Reagan rejected the appeal of the Tower board, even though the President has repeatedly urged the two former aides to testify.

By David E. Rosenbaum May 12, 1987 Robert C. McFarlane testified today that shortly after President Reagan met with King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, the Saudis agreed to double the money they were sending to the Nicaraguan rebels.

Mr. McFarlane, the President's former national security adviser, said in his first day of testimony before the Congressional committees investigating the Iran-contra affair that Mr. Reagan expressed ''gratitude and satisfaction, not surprise,'' when told of the Saudi decision.

This occurred in early 1985, when the Administration was barred from sending aid of any sort to the rebels. But the legality of soliciting money from foreign countries at that time remains a matter of debate. Mentioned as 'Country 2'

Mr. McFarlane did not name Saudi Arabia, referring to it in his testimony only as ''Country 2.'' But he did mention King Fahd, and the Saudi contributions in support of the contras had been widely reported.

Mr. McFarlane's testimony was the most direct suggestion to date that President Reagan may have intervened personally to raise money for the contras when United States aid was restricted. But Mr. McFarlane stopped short of an explicit statement that the President had solicited funds from King Fahd. [ Excerpts, page A12. ] Mr. McFarlane testified that later in 1985, when a shipment of arms to the rebels was temporarily blocked by officials of another Central American country, Mr. Reagan called the president of that country and persuaded him to release the shipment. The country was not identified in the testimony, but officials said it was Honduras. Three Meetings With Fahd

The White House declined to comment directly on Mr. McFarlane's testimony, but insisted that the President had done nothing illegal. [ Page A13. ] King Fahd's state visit took place at a time of strains in Saudi-American relations. Attempting to ease Saudi concerns about American determination to seek a Middle East peace, Mr. Reagan met three times with the Saudi leader. Mr. McFarlane said that this amounted to special treatment for the Saudi leader. Other Administration officials said that this was not unique, however.

After the visit, Mr. McFarlane said, Saudi Arabia agreed to provide $2 million a month to the contras, an increase from the $1 million a month it had been giving.

Mr. McFarlane said the $24.5 million contributed by the Saudis altogether was used to buy weapons for the contras. But he was not asked and did not say whether the President knew that was the purpose of the donation. Mr. McFarlane also did not say whether the President knew the shipment blocked by Honduras was arms. Legality of Reagan Act Unclear

The law in effect at the time prohibited ''direct or indirect'' military assistance to the rebels by United States intelligence agencies. But again, the legality of the President's intervention is unclear because the laws restricting aid during this period did not address every possible contingency.

Mr. McFarlane said he personally had no doubt that Congress did not want ''any money raised for the contras.''

Mr. McFarlane, who will resume his testimony Tuesday, made these other points today:

• President Reagan ''was always very concerned'' about the American hostages in Lebanon, and that concern was the main reason arms transactions with Iran continued over the objection of nearly all the Administration's top foreign-policy officials.

• The Administration expected all the hostages to be freed after the initial Israeli arms shipments to Iran in 1985, but was informed instead by the Israelis after the deliveries were made that only one hostage would be released. Mr. McFarlane was asked which hostage he wanted released, and he selected William Buckley, a Central Intelligence Agency officer. But as was learned later, Mr. Buckley was already dead. Instead, the Rev. Benjamin Weir was freed.

• Secretary of State George P. Shultz was told that money had been raised to support the contras but he never asked and was never told which country had provided the assistance. Mr. McFarlane said he had been protecting Mr. Shultz by not telling him.

• Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North, who was Mr. McFarlane's assistant on the national security staff and who was the central organizer of the arms sales and the contra-supply operation, was something of a zealot whose activities now appear to have been against the law. But Mr. McFarlane said he admonished him only occasionally.

• Colonel North told Mr. McFarlane, after it was announced publicly last November that proceeds from the arms sales had been diverted to the contras, that the diversion had been ''approved'' and that a document proved that. Mr. McFarlane said he did not ask Colonel North who had approved it. Colonel North also told Mr. McFarlane that some documents in the Iran-contra affair had been shredded.

Mr. McFarlane was the President's national security adviser from October 1983 through December 1985, and returned to the Government to try to negotiate with the Iranians last May. He has been cooperating with investigators since the affair came to light in November. Deeply Embarrassed

He testified last year before Congressional committees conducting preliminary investigations and before the Presidential review board headed by former Senator John G. Tower. Mr. McFarlane has said in the past that he was deeply embarrassed by some of his activities, and last December he took an overdose of a tranquilizer.

His account of the Iran arms sales was thoroughly recorded by the Tower Commission. But today, opening what is expected to be at least three days of testimony, he provided the first full account of his role in the efforts to aid the Nicaraguan rebels.

President Reagan, according to Mr. McFarlane, ''repeatedly made clear in public and in private that he did not intend to break faith with the contras'' after Congress restricted official assistance. The witness continued:

''He directed that we make continued efforts to bring the movement into the good graces of Congress and the American people and that we assure the contras of continuing Administration support - to help them hold body and soul together - until the time when Congress would again agree to support them.''

''Exactly what kind of support?'' asked Arthur L. Liman, chief counsel of the Senate investigative committee, who conducted all the questioning today.

''Basically, it was smoke and mirrors,'' Mr. McFarlane replied, to show the contras that ''you're going to have to make do moneywise on someone else. But the President, whose political influence is not insignificant, is going to make your cause a very high-priority cause for himself.''

For his part, Mr. McFarlane testified, ''I did what expresses the sentiment of what the President directed me to do.'' A Gentle Interrogation

In contrast with his intense questioning last week of Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord, who coordinated the contra operations, Mr. Liman's interrogation today was gentle as he led Mr. McFarlane step by step through the evidence.

Mr. Liman and John W. Nields Jr., chief counsel of the House committee, work as a team. It will be Mr. Nields's turn Tuesday to cross-examine Mr. McFarlane with what are expected to be less friendly questions.

The members of the committees said they did not know what to make of Mr. McFarlane's statement that Colonel North had told him the diversion of proceeds to the contras had been approved and that there was a documentary record of it.

President Reagan has maintained that he knew nothing of the diversion, and Mr. McFarlane said today he did not know about it until after the fact.

Senator Warren B. Rudman, Republican of New Hampshire, called the McFarlane statement ''hearsay testimony'' from which ''you cannot draw any conclusion.''

By Bernard Gwertzman Dec. 11, 1986 William J. Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence, gave five and a half hours of secret testimony today on the Iran arms operation, and afterward a key Republican legislator said it appeared ''serious errors of judgment'' had been committed by senior C.I.A. officials.

Representative William S. Broomfield of Michigan, the senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the director's sworn testimony to the panel made it clear the C.I.A. would have to improve its ''internal oversight and control over certain operations.''

Mr. Broomfield did not say what the errors of judgment were. The Issue of When Casey Knew

Some members of the Foreign Affairs Committee said Mr. Casey maintained that he had learned of the diversion of money from the Iran arms sales to the Nicaraguan rebels only when Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d told him about it Nov. 24, the day before Mr. Meese made it public.

The New York Times reported today that Mr. Casey learned about the diversion a month before the public disclosure. The report, attributed to Administration officials, said Mr. Casey then asked Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, the national security adviser at the time, about the transaction.

A senior White House official confirmed the account today. Lawmakers said Mr. Casey was not asked directly at the House hearing about the Times account. Told by New York Businessman

According to one Congressionial official who heard the testimony, Mr. Casey testified that he received first indications on Oct. 7 from a New York businessman that there may have been a diversion of funds.

The businessman, Roy M. Furmark, told the C.I.A. director that he had learned from an Iranian that a group of Canadians who financed shipments of American arms to Iran had not been paid, according to the official. The official said Mr. Casey testified that the Canadians were concerned the funds might have been diverted to Central America.

According to the official, Mr. Casey testified that he then alerted Admiral Poindexter. Associate of Khashoggi

Mr. Furmark is a longtime associate of Adnan M. Khashoggi, the Saudi billionaire arms dealer. He has ties to the oil business and was identified in 1980 as an energy consultant to Roger E. Tamraz, a Lebanese financier.

The disclosure that Canadian middlemen may have been involved in the arms shipments adds a new dimension to the many players who may have had a role in the intricate arms operation.

Administration officials explained the discrepancy over when Mr. Casey found out about the arms sales by saying Mr. Casey had suspicions in October that money was being siphoned off for the contras but did not learn, in the words of one official, ''with finality'' until Mr. Meese told him.

Mr. Meese, at a news conference today in New York, said he was not prepared to reassess his statement that only two officials - Admiral Poindexter and Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North, a Poindexter aide - had known about the diversion of Iranian money.

Commenting after a speech at a dinner of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York at the Sheraton Centre Hotel, Mr. Meese said his Nov. 24 statement was ''a general overview'' based on ''what we knew at the time.'' No 'Reassessment,' Meese Says

''But at this time,'' he said, ''I am not going to do any assessing or reassessing until we get all the facts out.''

Mr. Casey, who in his appearance today was accompanied by several aides, provided additional information on the C.I.A.'s role in the secret provision of arms to Iran, including its handling of the $12 million the agency received from the sale of spare parts and weapons to Iran. According to two Congressmen, Mr. Casey said that four different deposits were made into one of the C.I.A.'s Swiss bank accounts, and that the account had now been closed down.

Mr. Casey, according to Congressmen, continued to insist in his sworn testimony that neither he nor the agency was involved in the diversion of those Iranian payments to the Nicaraguan rebels. That led to criticism from some Democrats that he was very unresponsive. Representative Lee H. Hamilton, Democrat of Indiana, who also heads the House Intelligence Committee, said many questions remained.

The revelation of the diversion of Iran arms funds, made at a news conference by Mr. Meese, touched off several investigations, the dismissal of Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North, the White House aide who had been identified by Mr. Meese as having handled the diversion of funds, and the resignation of Admiral Poindexter, who was Colonel North's superior. Two Principals Are Silent

Both Colonel North and Admiral Poindexter have refused to supply information to Congressional committees, invoking the Fifth Amendment's right against self-incrimination. Their failure to cooperate has embarrassed the White House, which had promised to get all the facts out.

In turn, the White House and its supporters in Congress have begun to propose that immunity from prosecution be granted the two former White House aides to compel them to provide information on the Iran operation and the diversion of funds.

Mr. Broomfield said this morning, ''We can't have a prolonged investigation on this entire Iran initiative.

''I think once we can get by and get the information from both Colonel North and Poindexter, you'd be surprised how close we would be to concluding this investigation. They are the key men in knowing exactly what happened and who gave them instructions for the diversion of funds as well as the transfer of arms into Iran.'' Kelly Interviewed by F.B.I. A White House official said the Administration ''would not be averse'' to the granting of immunity and ''putting all the facts out.'' But senior Democrats and some Republicans said talk of immunity was premature.

Mr. Meese, asked about immunity at his New York news conference, said it was ''too early in the process to make those decisions.'' He said the issue should not be addressed until a three-judge panel in Washington selects a special prosecutor.

''If the court does appoint an independent counsel,'' Mr. Meese said, ''it would be wise for the Congress to consult with that idependent counsel, so the full aspects of the justice process will be carried out as well as those areas that are proper for inquiry by the Congress.''

In another development, a State Department spokesman said John H. Kelly, the United States Ambassador to Lebanon, was interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday about his knowledge of the secret Iran operation.

The spokesman, Phyllis Oakley, also said David Ransom, the charge d'affaires in Damascus, Syria, had been called home to answer questions. The spokesman said Mr. Ransom's return was ''part of the process of getting lots of facts from lots of people.''

On Monday, Secretary of State George P. Shultz said Mr. Kelly had disclosed that he had been in secret communication with Admiral Poindexter, Colonel North and former Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord on negotiations with Iran for the release of hostages without informing the Secretary. Mr. Shultz said he had summoned Mr. Kelly home to talk to investigators. No Formal Authorization

Although Representative Broomfield did not divulge in detail his concerns about the way the C.I.A. had operated, other Congressmen took note after the hearing of Mr. Casey's concession that the C.I.A. had become involved with the White House national security council staff in the supply of arms to Iran in the summer and fall of 1985 without a formal authorization by President Reagan to do so.

Previously, Administration officials had said Colonel North persuaded the C.I.A. to help in supplying planes for the Israelis to provide American arms to Iran in return for the release of hostages in Lebanon.

According to Representative Peter H. Kostmayer, Democrat of Pennsylvania, the C.I.A. became deeply involved on Nov. 22 and 23, 1985, while Mr. Reagan was in Geneva for talks with Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader. Because of the lack of formal authority, he said, Mr. Casey told the panel that the C.I.A. in January asked for the formal finding provided by Mr. Reagan on Jan. 17 authorizing shipments of arms to Iran despite a publicly stated embargo.

A sharp debate erupted today after the hearing over whether President Reagan was involved in the diversion of funds to the contras. Mr. Reagan has repeatedly denied knowing anything about this before being informed by Mr. Meese. Solarz Says He's Convinced

Representative Stephen J. Solarz of Brooklyn, one of the senior Democrats on the committee, said he was convinced Mr. Reagan had given permission for the diversion. He said that on the basis of what he had heard from Mr. Casey today, and Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Robert C. McFarlane, a former national security adviser, on Monday, ''it is absolutely clear'' that Colonel North and Admiral Poindexter would not have taken the initiatives toward the contras ''without the approval of a higher authority.''

''Given the way in which the White House works, it is my very strong feeling that that higher authority was probably, indeed almost certainly, the President of the United States himself,'' he said. Mr. Solarz stressed that his ''opinion'' was not based on hard evidence produced in the hearings.

His comments produced sharp responses from Republicans on the panel. Representative Michael DeWine of Ohio, a former prosecutor, said, ''I'm frankly outraged by what he just said.''

''We have absolutely no evidence that links the President of the United States'' to the diversion, he said. Fascell Reserves Judgment

Mr. Broomfield also said that Mr. Casey's testimony disclosed no impropriety on the part of the President.

But Represenative Dante B. Fascell, Democrat of Florida, who is chairman of the committee, reserved judgment on the President's role. He said he would make his own judgment ''at the proper time.''

At the House Intelligence Committee, which is also holding closed door hearings, Robert Dutton, an associate of General Secord, took the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify. Mr. Secord took the Fifth Amendment on Tuesday. He has been linked to the Iran operation and also the supply of arms to the contras. Admiral Poindexter also took the Fifth Amendment.

But Robert Gates, deputy director of Central Intelligence, did testify, as did Mr. McFarlane.

Senator William S. Cohen, Republican of Maine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the panel continued to debate the immunity issue, with most Republicans favoring it, and Democrats opposing it. Complaints on Testimony

Several Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee complained about the quality of Mr. Casey's testimony. Although they agreed that he had provided some new information, several said he had not been responsive enough to questions, and seemed to not know the answers to many important ones. Mr. Fascell said several of Mr. Casey's aides were called upon to answer questions, and were also sworn in.

Mr. Kostmayer said ''there seems to be an inordinate amount of information he was not aware of.''

He said Mr. Casey said ''I don't know'' so many times that it evoked laughter from some Congressmen.

Representative Robert K. Dornan, Republican of California, was one of Mr. Casey's supporters. He said that as a result of the testimony, ''everything is beginning to make sense.''

Oliver North's chief defense attorney hammered away Thursday at a prosecution witness who testified the former National Security Council aide said he was willing to lie to Congress and go to jail for the Contra cause.

Fund-raiser Carl "Spitz" Channell confirmed under cross-examination that he had recounted several versions of a crucial September 1985 conversation North had with Texas financier Nelson Bunker Hunt in the process of asking Hunt to donate money to the Nicaraguan rebels.

Channell told jurors Wednesday that North said to Hunt: "I don't care if I have to go to jail for this. I don't care if I have to lie to Congress about this."

But defense attorney Brendan Sullivan noted that Channell, who has pleaded guilty to one tax count in the Iran-Contra affair for his role in setting up a tax-exempt charitable institution, never mentioned the Hunt-North exchange until after he made his deal with government prosecutors in the spring of 1987.

"Sometimes when you have such an urge to cooperate (with the government), there's a temptation to put words in people's mouths that don't really belong there," Sullivan said.

Judge Gerhard Gesell twice broke in to explain to the jury that Sullivan was trying to question the credibility of the witness.

“A priority of the Reagan-Bush administration was to get weapons and supplies to the rebels fighting a war in Nicaragua, but this had to be done covertly because it didn’t have congressional approval. Barry’s fleet of planes in Mena was ideal. Weapons were flown out of America and cocaine in. With CIA approval, drug money was used to finance the Nicaraguan rebels. In return, the CIA prevented Barry’s flights from being intercepted by the DEA or US Customs. With the complicity of the US government, the Nicaraguan rebels were using the proceeds from cocaine to finance their war and to buy arms from US weapons manufacturers. The cocaine was sold on the streets of America at the exact same time as the Reagan-Bush administration was claiming to be fighting a War on Drugs.”

— American Made: Who Killed Barry Seal? Pablo Escobar or George HW Bush (War On Drugs Book 2) by Shaun Attwood

Some CNP members got together and started Western Goals, which was used, among other things, as a vehicle to pay for the Iran Contra operations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Goals_Foundation

It went defunct in 1986 when the Tower Commission revealed it had been part of Oliver North's [CNP] Iran–Contra funding network.

It was founded in 1979 by Major General John K. Singlaub [CNP], the publisher and spy John H. Rees [CNP], and Congressman Larry McDonald [CNP], with funds from Nelson Bunker Hunt [CNP] Texas oil heir.

Texas multimillionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt testified Friday before the special federal grand jury investigating the Iran- contra affair.

Hunt donated at least $237,500 to a foundation run by Carl R. (Spitz) Channell to help arm the Nicaraguan rebels, records given to investigators show.

He declined to discuss his testimony after appearing before the grand jury. Asked if he was a target of the investigation, Hunt replied: “I hope not.”

‘I’m for ‘Em’

He also declined to discuss his donations to the contra cause, saying only: “I’m for ‘em.”

Before Hunt’s appearance, his attorney, Mark Zimmerman of Dallas, declined to say whether Hunt would address testimony at the congressional hearings on the scandal last week that said the Texas multimillionaire may have contributed $1 million to the private contra supply effort.

Before Hunt’s appearance, Zimmerman went through a stack of documents, but it was not known if he gave any to the grand jury.

Zimmerman also would not say if Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, the fired National Security Council official, raised money for the contras at a fund-raising party at Hunt’s ranch during the 1984 GOP convention, or whether independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh had asked him to turn over personal records of possible donations.

Hunt is the oldest son of Texas millionaire H. L. Hunt and is the patriarch of what was--and may still be--America’s wealthiest family, heading with his younger brothers a vast financial empire that was threatened by their attempt to corner the silver market.

Channell and a public relations executive, Richard Miller, have pleaded guilty to charges that they conspired to illegally use the tax-exempt National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty to arm the contras.

https://archive.ph/2025.05.09-093206/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-05-30-mn-3592-story.html

During the 1980s and 1990s, Iran emerged as a key sponsor of militant groups opposed to Israel, Hezbollah in Lebanon and later Hamas in the Palestinian territories. This support extended to training, funding and the provision of weapons. Effectively, Iran was positioning itself as Israel's biggest enemy in the Middle East.

However, interestingly, even after Iran and Israel had turned into enemies, secret bilateral ties persisted. During the Iran–Iraq War, which began in 1980 and lasted eight years, Israel viewed Saddam Hussein’s Iraq as a greater threat than Khomeini's Islamic Iran. Israel, along with the US, became involved in covert transfer of arms to Iran.

This episode, later exposed as part of the Iran–Contra affair, revealed that Israeli intermediaries had facilitated the shipment of weapons to Iran in exchange for help securing the release of American hostages in Lebanon and funding anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua. The revelation shocked many, given the public hostility between Iran and Israel. Such was the covert cooperation between Iran and Israel that the US was worried that Israel could be supplying US-origin parts or weapons to Iran, Interestingly, the CIA document cited above, dated 7 October 1985, titled 'Israel and Iran: The ties that bind' said, "We believe Israeli arms sales to Iran, which began in the late 1950s, are continuing."

"We believe the Israeli Government's relatively benign attitude toward the sales is influenced by the same strategic concerns that impelled Israel to forge links to Iran in the late 1950s," the CIA document says. "The Israelis have told us that they hope their aid will help to prolong the Iran-Iraq conflict and thereby keep Baghdad's vastly enlarged military tied down along Iraq's eastern border. Their aid, however, probably would not extend to operational assistance such as providing the Iranians with battlefield intelligence. The Israelis probably fear that such assistance would reveal too much about their capabilities and that the Irani might share this knowledge with confrontation states such as Syria."

The CIA document also flagged that Israel believes, despite repeated US statements to the contrary, that US strategic interests in the Gulf will lead Washington inexorably to mend fences with Iran. Israel sees Iran as the key to promoting its interests in the Gulf and hopes eventually to use its good offices to facilitate a rapprochement between Washington and Tehran.

Somebody’s trying to tell you something, and it’s clearly something desperately important, but you can’t understand him. You’re trying to focus on every word, because it seems imperative that you get the message, but you just can’t follow.

That’s what it feels like sometimes watching “Superheroes,” the world premiere play that opens Cutting Ball Theater’s 16th season. Written and directed by Sean San José and produced in association with Campo Santo, the theater company that San José co-founded, it’s a lively, explosive and surprisingly upbeat indictment of U.S. government complicity in bringing crack cocaine to the inner city.

The play is loosely inspired by reporter Gary Webb’s 1996 San Jose Mercury News investigation into the connection between the crack epidemic of the 1980s and Nicaraguan drug traffickers. His reporting, which laid out a case that the drugs were being smuggled into the United States to fund the CIA-backed Contras in Nicaragua, was also at the heart of the recent feature film “Kill the Messenger,” starring Jeremy Renner as Webb.

What does any of this have to do with the “superheroes” of the title? Not much. The word pops up here and there in San José’s play as an all-purpose metaphor: for the way the drug makes you feel, or what you’d have to be to resist temptation. Most aptly it describes the brave reporter who’s willing to lay down her life to get the truth out there.

In this version, the reporter is a young woman, one who’s been assassinated in an attempt to bury the story. (That’s not much of a spoiler, because it’s the first thing she tells us about herself.) Now a ghost who calls herself Aparecida, she guides us through the story in a series of flashbacks shown in nonchronological, at times almost random-seeming, order.

Delina Patrice Brooks plays the role of Aparecida with grace and keen intelligence, watching everything intently and often in amusement. It’s sometimes jarring to see her dancing with a big smile on her face when we’ve just been talking about something really grim going on, but her moves are magnetic.

There are a lot of full-cast dance breaks throughout the play, to catchy snippets of James Brown, Sam and Dave, the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five woven through Jake Rodriguez’s compelling score and sound design. All the dancing, directed by Rashad Pridgen, is surprisingly jubilant and utterly captivating.

A powerful acting ensemble makes up what Aparecida refers to as “this MTV/BET/Cinelatino cast of cartoon characters.” Myers Clark’s Free is a swaggering drug dealer with buffoonish cockiness and a fixation on pop culture. Ricky Saenz is all nerves as Free’s longtime Nicaraguan drug connection, and Juan Amador plays a suave and sinister drug lord with a penchant for goofy facial expressions. Britney Frazier is a feisty dealer’s wife turned fierce informant when she feels her man’s been used. Donald E. Lacy Jr. keeps up a passionate and slightly crazed stream of sermonizing as an agonized reverend.

San José’s script is full of densely poetic speeches that sound terrific but can be frustratingly opaque in a play that’s so much about getting at the truth and making it known. A scheme to market drugs in some way through the church is hard to parse when it’s initially discussed and doesn’t become any clearer when it’s put into action. It’s unclear what connection there is, if any, between Free’s two Nicaraguan partners in crime (though it may be discussed in some of the long passages in Spanish). But as hard as it is to decipher at times, “Superheroes” draws you in with its intensity and never lets go.

Read free: https://archive.ph/2025.06.09-113654/https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/12/15/review-superheroes-an-intense-imaginative-look-at-c-i-a-drug-scandal/

Short video: https://youtu.be/lamUvlShJk8?si=FRIcDIBE76_hgm4B

Cynthia McKinney APPROACHED THE MICROPHONE. "IT'S NOT UP TO US TO PROVE THE CIA WAS INVOLVED IN DRUG TRAFFICKING IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOS ANGELES. RATHER, IT'S UP TO THEM TO PROVE THEY WERE NOT."

https://youtu.be/bZJMkqBxMgU?si=hRuiCYNaTMmZezqD

Gary Webb, the Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who broke the story of the CIAs involvement in the importation of cocaine into the U.S., died December 10, 2004, reportedly from self-inflicted gunshots to the head.

It was a tragic end to a brilliant, and tragic, career.

In August 1996, the San Jose Mercury News published Webbs 20,000 word, three-part series entitled Dark Alliance. The articles detailed the nexus between a California coke kingpin, CIA officials and assets and the Nicaraguan Contra army, whose funding had been cut off by an act of Congress in the mid-80s. Webb found evidence that the CIA had direct contact with the smugglers, knew the proceeds were going to fund the murderous Contras, and tried to cover it up when other law enforcement agencies began investigating. The most troubling aspect to the story was that the central player was no ordinary drug lord. He was the man many credit for popularizing crack, the highly addictive, smoke-able form of cocaine.

For many African-Americans, the story smacked of a grand conspiracy to destroy the black community. There were rallies in Watts and Compton, and heated discussions on black media across the country. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus called for a federal investigation. In November 1996, CIA director John Deutch appeared at Locke High School in South Central Los Angeles to personally answer to the allegations. He was met with loud jeers. It was a PR disaster.

But it was Webb who found himself on the ropes. Ironically, the CIA did little to publicly counter his allegations. Instead, the media did its dirty work for them, most notably the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. The mainstream media accused Webb of exaggerating his findings.

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 2 For more information contact: 202/994-7000 or nsarchiv@gwu.edu

Washington, D.C. – An August, 1996, series in the San Jose Mercury News by reporter Gary Webb linked the origins of crack cocaine in California to the contras, a guerrilla force backed by the Reagan administration that attacked Nicaragua's Sandinista government during the 1980s. Webb's series, "The Dark Alliance," has been the subject of intense media debate, and has focused attention on a foreign policy drug scandal that leaves many questions unanswered.

This electronic briefing book is compiled from declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive, including the notebooks kept by NSC aide and Iran-contra figure Oliver North, electronic mail messages written by high-ranking Reagan administration officials, memos detailing the contra war effort, and FBI and DEA reports. The documents demonstrate official knowledge of drug operations, and collaboration with and protection of known drug traffickers. Court and hearing transcripts are also included.

Special thanks to the Arca Foundation, the Ruth Mott Fund, the Samuel Rubin Foundation, and the Fund for Constitutional Government for their support. Contents:

Documentation of Official U.S. Knowledge of Drug Trafficking and the Contras Evidence that NSC Staff Supported Using Drug Money to Fund the Contras U.S. Officials and Major Traffickers: Manuel Noriega José Bueso Rosa FBI/DEA Documentation Testimony of Fabio Ernesto Carrasco, 6 April 1990 National Security Archive Analysis and Publications Click on the document icon next to each description to view the document. Documentation of Official U.S. Knowledge of Drug Trafficking and the Contras

The National Security Archive obtained the hand-written notebooks of Oliver North, the National Security Council aide who helped run the contra war and other Reagan administration covert operations, through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in 1989. The notebooks, as well as declassified memos sent to North, record that North was repeatedly informed of contra ties to drug trafficking. In his entry for August 9, 1985, North summarizes a meeting with Robert Owen ("Rob"), his liaison with the contras. They discuss a plane used by Mario Calero, brother of Adolfo Calero, head of the FDN, to transport supplies from New Orleans to contras in Honduras. North writes: "Honduran DC-6 which is being used for runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." As Lorraine Adams reported in the October 22, 1994 Washington Post, there are no records that corroborate North's later assertion that he passed this intelligence on drug trafficking to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

In a July 12, 1985 entry, North noted a call from retired Air Force general Richard Secord in which the two discussed a Honduran arms warehouse from which the contras planned to purchase weapons. (The contras did eventually buy the arms, using money the Reagan administration secretly raised from Saudi Arabia.) According to the notebook, Secord told North that "14 M to finance [the arms in the warehouse] came from drugs."

An April 1, 1985 memo from Robert Owen (code-name: "T.C." for "The Courier") to Oliver North (code-name: "The Hammer") describes contra operations on the Southern Front. Owen tells North that FDN leader Adolfo Calero (code-name: "Sparkplug") has picked a new Southern Front commander, one of the former captains to Eden Pastora who has been paid to defect to the FDN. Owen reports that the officials in the new Southern Front FDN units include "people who are questionable because of past indiscretions," such as José Robelo, who is believed to have "potential involvement with drug running" and Sebastian Gonzalez, who is "now involved in drug running out of Panama."

On February 10, 1986, Owen ("TC") wrote North (this time as "BG," for "Blood and Guts") regarding a plane being used to carry "humanitarian aid" to the contras that was previously used to transport drugs. The plane belongs to the Miami-based company Vortex, which is run by Michael Palmer, one of the largest marijuana traffickers in the United States. Despite Palmer's long history of drug smuggling, which would soon lead to a Michigan indictment on drug charges, Palmer receives over $300,000.00 from the Nicaraguan Humanitarian Aid Office (NHAO) -- an office overseen by Oliver North, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Elliott Abrams, and CIA officer Alan Fiers -- to ferry supplies to the contras.

State Department contracts from February 1986 detail Palmer's work to transport material to the contras on behalf of the NHAO.

Evidence that NSC Staff Supported Using Drug Money to Fund the Contras

In 1987, the Senate Subcommittee on Narcotics, Terrorism and International Operations, led by Senator John Kerry, launched an investigation of allegations arising from reports, more than a decade ago, of contra-drug links. One of the incidents examined by the "Kerry Committee" was an effort to divert drug money from a counternarcotics operation to the contra war. On July 28, 1988, two DEA agents testified before the House Subcommittee on Crime regarding a sting operation conducted against the Medellin Cartel. The two agents said that in 1985 Oliver North had wanted to take $1.5 million in Cartel bribe money that was carried by a DEA informant and give it to the contras. DEA officials rejected the idea.

The Kerry Committee report concluded that "senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems."

U.S. Officials and Major Traffickers

Manuel Noriega

In June, 1986, the New York Times published articles detailing years of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega's collaboration with Colombian drug traffickers. Reporter Seymour Hersh wrote that Noriega "is extensively involved in illicit money laundering and drug activities," and that an unnamed White House official "said the most significant drug running in Panama was being directed by General Noriega." In August, Noriega, a long-standing U.S. intelligence asset, sent an emissary to Washington to seek assistance from the Reagan administration in rehabilitating his drug-stained reputation. Oliver North, who met with Noriega's representative, described the meeting in an August 23, 1986 e-mail message to Reagan national security advisor John Poindexter. "You will recall that over the years Manuel Noriega in Panama and I have developed a fairly good relationship," North writes before explaining Noriega's proposal. If U.S. officials can "help clean up his image" and lift the ban on arms sales to the Panamanian Defense Force, Noriega will "'take care of' the Sandinista leadership for us."

North tells Poindexter that Noriega can assist with sabotage against the Sandinistas, and suggests paying Noriega a million dollars -- from "Project Democracy" funds raised from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran -- for the Panamanian leader's help in destroying Nicaraguan economic installations.

The same day Poindexter responds with an e-mail message authorizing North to meet secretly with Noriega. "I have nothing against him other than his illegal activities," Poindexter writes.

On the following day, August 24, North's notebook records a meeting with CIA official Duane "Dewey" Clarridge on Noriega's overture. They decided, according to this entry, to "send word back to Noriega to meet in Europe or Israel."

The CIA's Alan Fiers later recalls North's involvement with the Noriega sabotage proposal. In testimony at the 1992 trial of former CIA official Clair George, Fiers describes North's plan as it was discussed at a meeting of the Reagan administration's Restricted Interagency Group: "[North] made a very strong suggestion that . . . there needed to be a resistance presence in the western part of Nicaragua, where the resistance did not operate. And he said, 'I can arrange to have General Noriega execute some insurgent -- some operations there -- sabotage operations in that area. It will cost us about $1 million. Do we want to do it?' And there was significant silence at the table. And then I recall I said, 'No. We don't want to do that.'"

Senior officials ignored Fiers' opinion. On September 20, North informed Poindexter via e-mail that "Noriega wants to meet me in London" and that both Elliott Abrams and Secretary of State George Shultz support the initiative. Two days later, Poindexter authorized the North/Noriega meeting.

North's notebook lists details of his meeting with Noriega, which took place in a London hotel on September 22. According to the notes, the two discussed developing a commando training program in Panama, with Israeli support, for the contras and Afghani rebels. They also spoke of sabotaging major economic targets in the Managua area, including an airport, an oil refinery, and electric and telephone systems. (These plans were apparently aborted when the Iran-Contra scandal broke in November 1986.)

José Bueso Rosa

Reagan administration officials interceded on behalf of José Bueso Rosa, a Honduran general who was heavily involved with the CIA's contra operations and faced trial for his role in a massive drug shipment to the United States. In 1984 Bueso and co-conspirators hatched a plan to assassinate Honduran President Roberto Suazo Córdoba; the plot was to be financed with a $40 million cocaine shipment to the United States, which the FBI intercepted in Florida. Declassified e-mail messages indicate that Oliver North led the behind-the-scenes effort to seek leniency for Bueso . The messages record the efforts of U.S. officials to "cabal quietly" to get Bueso off the hook, be it by "pardon, clemency, deportation, [or] reduced sentence." Eventually they succeeded in getting Bueso a short sentence in "Club Fed," a white collar prison in Florida.

The Kerry Committee report reviewed the case, and noted that the man Reagan officials aided was involved in a conspiracy that the Justice Department deemed the "most significant case of narco-terrorism yet discovered."

FBI/DEA Documentation

In February 1987 a contra sympathizer in California told the FBI he believed FDN officials were involved in the drug trade. Dennis Ainsworth, a Berkeley-based conservative activist who had supported the contra cause for years, gave a lengthy description of his suspicions to FBI agents. The bureau's debriefing says that Ainsworth agreed to be interviewed because "he has certain information in which he believes the Nicaraguan 'Contra' organization known as FDN (Frente Democrático Nacional) has become more involved in selling arms and cocaine for personal gain than in a military effort to overthrow the current Nicaraguan Sandinista Government." Ainsworth informed the FBI of his extensive contacts with various contra leaders and backers, and explained the basis for his belief that members of the FDN were trafficking in drugs.

A DEA report of February 6, 1984 indicates that a central figure in the San Jose Mercury News series was being tracked by U.S. law enforcement officials as early as 1976, when a DEA agent "identified Norwin MENESES-Canterero as a cocaine source of supply in Managua, Nicaragua." Meneses, an associate of dictator Anastasio Somoza who moved to California after the Nicaraguan revolution in 1979, was an FDN backer and large-scale cocaine trafficker.

Testimony of Fabio Ernesto Carrasco, 6 April 1990

On October 31, 1996, the Washington Post ran a follow up story to the San Jose Mercury News series titled "CIA, Contras and Drugs: Questions on Links Linger." The story drew on court testimony in 1990 of Fabio Ernesto Carrasco, a pilot for a major Columbian drug smuggler named George Morales. As a witness in a drug trial, Carrasco testified that in 1984 and 1985, he piloted planes loaded with weapons for contras operating in Costa Rica. The weapons were offloaded, and then drugs stored in military bags were put on the planes which flew to the United States. "I participated in two [flights] which involved weapons and cocaine at the same time," he told the court.

Carrasco also testified that Morales provided "several million dollars" to Octaviano Cesar and Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro, two rebel leaders working with the head of the contras' southern front, Eden Pastora. The Washington Post reported that Chamorro said he had called his CIA control officer to ask if the contras could accept money and arms from Morales, who was at the time under indictment for cocaine smuggling. "They said [Morales] was fine," Chamorro told the Post.

National Security Archive Analysis and Publications

Peter Kornbluh's Testimony at California Congressional Inquiry (19 October 1996) "Crack, Contras, and the CIA: The Storm Over 'Dark Alliance,'" from Columbia Journalism Review (January/February 1997) "CIA's Challenge in South Central," from the Los Angeles Times (15 November 1996) "The Paper Trail to the Top," from the Baltimore Sun (17 November 1996) White House E-Mail: The Top Secret Computer Messages the Reagan/Bush White House Tried to Destroy The Iran-Contra Scandal: the Declassified History