William Plumlee
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Posts posted by William Plumlee
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Here's 3 pages that came into my possession 5 years ago. Who's the author?
Wim
Wim; Post the "1963 'Flight Plan found in the weckage of the Cessna 172 ( the flight plan of which was tampered with and which you received from your friend in CA some years ago; as well as the FBI documents and interview with Mc Cord at the Mc Cord Ranch near Grants NM (as well as the info from the Grace Ranch and the Thunderbird INN in Vegas and Santa Barbara CA concerning "Curtin Studios) compare the typewriter with those writtings and letters and you have your answer.
1. Flight plan Grace Ranch to Mc Cord Ranch.... Col J Rawlston
2. "Yellow Flower" Training Base Arizona... Old Patton Bombing Range
3. D-18 Twin Beach and DC-3 (C-47) note D-18 was the aircraft used to bring Galandiz to the United States via KLester Murphy pilot.. (Plumlee's aircraft 1963.
http://toshplumlee.info/toshimages/gallery7.jpg
http://toshplumlee.info/toshimages/gallery4.jpg
http://toshplumlee.info/toshimages/gallery2.jpg
http://toshplumlee.info/toshimages/gallery3.jpg
toshplumlee.info/toshgallerySAFE.htm
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Frank Forine spl?? also know as "the blade")
I think you may confuse Frank Fiorini (Sturgis) with Charles "the blade" Tourine? Chauncey talks about them both.
Thanks Wim. Good catch. Yes.... Sturges (FIORINI) and "the blade" (TOURINE)... I should have been more clear.., were very close as well as Martino. Roselli met many times with TOURINE at the Rondy Plaza and later at the new Foutainblu. Tourine/ Fiorini mix up was my mistake.... better yet I'll blame it on the keyboard. ... the only mistake I have ever made was back in 37. and too, perhaps posting again.....
I will not be posting anymore. The only reason I came back was to clear up an issue of which I read and I got carried away into other directions.... if you remember I posted about Berry Seall and also the 1963 flight plan, as well as the CIA document... but as usual those issues were not addressed. You take care and the best of luck to all of you
tosh
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Curtin Studios:
CIA safe house at Morgan City, Hotel Dixie.... Leroy Davis buried east of Morgan City at Bayou Buff. Petrolum Helicopters did contract work for the CIA during the 1957 and 1960-63 Chuncey and others from Curtain studios and guns were taken there in the early spring of 63. Inter-mountain Aviation was also a player through Morgain City. Menoa was associated with this group in the early days 1959
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Oh, and by the way, Files also said that the guy who snitched on him to the FBI, that he was one of the shooters in Dealey Plaza, was Aldo Vera. Maybe that's why Chauncey went to pay Vera a visit in Peurto Rico in 1976 ???
Q: And we talked about Montoya. Let’s, we just want to get as much as you know about this guy named Serafin. What do you know about him? Like when did you meet him? What he knew about?
A: Uh, well we met him, oh we probably met him 59 or 60. Maybe. Uh, and knew him up through oh, up until he got killed. Which was in the 70's. And, we were in Puerto Rico three or four days before, that he …..
Q: You mean in 59?
A: No, no in, before he got killed.
Q: Oh I see, OK.
A: We had met him, he was from, he was from Puerto Rico. And, so he was down there and he had been making apparently they, he had been making, he had been making some statements about us. We went down to ask him if that was actually true. And uh, then, a few days later, you now, just, you know he was killed.
That's a fragment of an interview that Thom Hartmann did with Chauncey. But for some unclarified reason Thom does not want to have this interview out on the Internet. He appears very worried about that. He just won't tell me why. Strange , huh?
It fits with the MO of the time. What do you have on Chauncey and Curtin Studios? Also does your names tie into CORU and Omega-7 (Trombley) (Pegasus) (Miro Cordona.. Spell?) (Fernandez) ( Johnny Farentello) (Frank Forine spl?? also know as "the blade")
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Nobody reads or researchers things they do not want to hear. Facts have a way of getting in the way of their truth
That's true, Tosh! We're all guilty of that, including you and me.
Yesterday I got the confirmation that James Files did indeed turn up in the investigation of the Letelier case and was interrogated by the FBI, but refused to answer any questions and was let of the hook. I am told the FBI did not find him credible (even though he didn't make any statements). Where have I heard that before? Lucky Jimmy!
But even key people at the International Institute of Policy Studies want to believe that DINA and Chile were behind it all. Well, I am pretty sure that Files did not work for DINA. Neither do I believe that DINA orchestrated the coup that put Pinochet in power. A name that keeps coming up in these affairs is "good ole David Phillips" as Donald Freed calls him in his book. It seems to me that the Letelier killing was just a little repetition of the Kennedy killing. With many of the same actors!
Wim
Yes I know. I too, was grilled by the FBI on this matter (Letlier, Omega-7; Alpha-66 DRU and the M-26-7).... at the time, I told them to "stick it in their ear". Some years later, Senator John Kerry also received info on this case (staffers Dick Mc Call and John Winer) because I was asked to comment on that at the time of my testimony in 1990. I am taking a fresh look at the Files information. and inside background information which I have received from an outside source who was connected with military intell ops of the time. Also two other sets of documents have been relerased fround in the records of the old School of the Americas at Benning which sheds new light on Jimmie... althought I do not buy the whole Files matter concerning JFK, his name as Sutton is found in thes documents.... I do not have these documents. I only saw them in a controled atmosphere last week.
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No, I don't recall having or having see that document. Is there reference to the OAS? Or do I read that wrong?
What's the significance of this document in your view?
Wim
A few of those who were associated with the "rally" were also in Dallas the day of the assassination. Also some came from the Harlendale address in Oak Cliff and one lived behind the Beckely street rooming house that Oswald rented, another lived at the Elsbeth Street apartment. These people were often referenced as the "Dallas Cubans" Two later went to the "School of Americas" at Benning. (part of this info is contained in the 'blacked out " sections of the complete document as well as another classified file which has not as yet been declassified. Tracy Barns, Wild Bill, and others had contacts with them through Miami Station in the Spring of 63.
I am amazed you do not know any of this because it was all in my files which went to Joe West. I took Joe to these places, and later Jim Marrs, as well as Oliver Stone's people before his JFK movie..., Marrs referenced it as, " the "Dallas Tour": We went to all of those safe houses in Oak Cliff in the late 90's and took pictures.
Too prove one of my sour spots..., people do not read things they do not want to know because it will take them into new ground and they might have to adjust their thinking and retract various matters they have supported and written upon for years... This document has been on the toshplumlee.info website under 'Thunder OPS" for years now. (as well as other tid bits of Black Ops matters concerning JFK ... (Documented) This is not to say the Cubans were involved in the assassination..., they were not. However some had associations with F Black and M Walace (documented) which raises some very important questions in my mind about Texas politics, which leads back to fingerprints found at the crime scean. There was a Dallas and FBI Undercover intell operation ongoing at the time of the assassination. ( that secret operation was referenced by the late Jay Harrison a Texas researcher who was associated with that operation ..,the Minutemen I think it was.., days before the assassination)
I can't be of hep anymore on this... Nobody reads or researchers things they do not want to hear. Facts have a way of getting in the way of their truth
Take care and have a good one Tosh
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Tosh, we don't have to go over "Vermin" agian. He's not worth our anger.
Isn't it funny that both you and James think I should have gotten more documents from Vernon than I did?
Right now, I am merely interested to find out if Donald Freed wrote the 3 sheets above, and if so why the info on Files did not appear in his book. You suggest they were concocted by Vernon. I don't believe that, but we''ll know soon enough.....
Wim
Wim; Did you get this CIA document and the background info on J Martino Reference OPS Thunder June of 1962?
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Gentlemen, I am afraid I don't know what flight plan document is referred to.
Tosh, what makes you think I have such a document?
The documents I have are here: http://toshplumlee.info/
Wim
Our friend had it in the FOIA material of which he claimed to have sent to you around 2002 or there abouts. At the time, when I was at his place in CA, I did see those three pages or copies of those three pages and he ask me about them. I said I thought they were from or written by C Holt and were not authentic. He assured me they were. The copy of the FOIA flight plan came up as we went through some of the documents spread out on his pool table, documents of which I had loaned him. (bad mistake) the year was 2000) You came into the picture sometime later and I was told you had received the " Roselli flight Plan". I was told that Joe West had confirmed that Roselli was on board my flight and he could prove it. He accused me of holding back information. You know what happened after that. I was told Joe West had received those writings from a man in prison who knew me, but he refused to give me his name. I was told he knew how Roselli got to Dallas on a flight from Florida. Sometime later I asked for the return of those documents because I accused him of tampering with them. I was told he no longer had any of that stuff and called me a bunch of names even publicly saying I was nothing more than a drunk and a xxxx. I did not know that he had sold all that to you claiming he had the rights to my life story and all the documents of the FOIA belong to him.... a total crock of ....... This is from my POV and memory.
The toshplumlee.com list of documents was made by this person and later I think you started the website in my behalf and used his format or disk which you had obtained from him. I have never had anything to do with that website. The documents posted on that website are a very small part of the documents obtained from the FOIA's which Peter Lemkin, Jim Marrs and I numbered back in 1990 long before Vermin and you came into the picture. My dealings concerning JFK were with Joe West before he died. It means nothing to me now.
you take care Tosh
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Here's 3 pages that came into my possession 5 years ago. Who's the author?
Wim
Wim; Post the "1963 'Flight Plan found in the weckage of the Cessna 172 ( the flight plan of which was tampered with and which you received from your friend in CA some years ago; as well as the FBI documents and interview with Mc Cord at the Mc Cord Ranch near Grants NM (as well as the info from the Grace Ranch and the Thunderbird INN in Vegas and Santa Barbara CA concerning "Curtin Studios) compare the typewriter with those writtings and letters and you have your answer.
Wim [or anyone else], I'd be very interested in the documents to which Tosh refers and would appreciate them sent to me privately, if not posted publicly! Thanks.
Pete: The flight plan I referenced is the one we received from the FOIA which was in the FOIA released to Barnard Finisterwald and Gary Shaw in 1980. (a secord set 510 pages differend from the 320 pages were released in a FOIA in 1987 to CBS and copies sent to me) If you remember we (you I and Jim Marrs) numbered the first set of documents there pages , with stamped numbers, in sequence as we reviewed them in Fort Worth back in 1990, I think. We are the ones who numbered then starting with page one through #320. The flight plan dated in June of 1963 I think, had J Rawlston written on it and I challenged the truthfulnes of the FBI's release because I would have never wrote Rawlston's name on a flight plan as I told you and Marrs that day... remember?
I claimed at the time that I did not trust that document. I felt the FBI had written that info in the side margins to discredit the document because at the time THEY (FBI) were investigating statements made by me at Buna Vista's Colorado State Reformatoery back in Jan of 1964, concerning one John Mc Cord and John Martino. Curtin studios was making silencers for the military in Santa Barbarba CA I was told in the Spring of 1964, and I flew a Cessna 172 from Grace Ranch to Mc Cord Ranch in NM where the Silencers were delivered. (told to the FBI and also to the FAA..... I had never closed out the flight plan and the FAA wanted to know WHY? The aircraft belong to Thompson Flight Service a CIA front charter company (contract CIA) based at Salt Lake City tail number 93 Echo covered FAA reg as belonging to Dow and Allied Chem companies..
The Vermin also tampered with some of my files so as to get money from Wim. Holts daughter sent me copies of her fathers writtings and the typerwriter matches what Wim posted today... I said I was not going to address this ever again but new information has came to light concerning documents and files which were also sent to Dr Wechet some years ago of which the FBI Department of Justice now have. (taken from his office on a search warrant over four years ago, I think..., also Col. James Sabow files were also taken by the FBI at the same time) I'll get shot for this, I'm sure. But have fun with it anyway... I am hoping the new Administration might be interest in some of this REAL history of that time frame. See Ya... Would'nt want to be ya.... Tosh
From a previous post on this Forum years ago:
"... In November, 1963, Roselli travelled to Arizona with a male friend and two women. He was being followed by the FBI but on the way to Los Vegas they lost contact with him.
To which destination did he travel in Arizona? Licavoli's Grace Ranch?
Wim
Plumlee reply to Wim:
YES. From Caravan Inn in Phoenix to Grace Ranch after returning from Thunderbird Inn in Nevada outside of Vegas (November of 1963
( also see information concerning another earlier flight with Roselli from Burbank and Santa Barbara CA to Grace Ranch outside of Tucson AZ; as well as a Galveston Texas flight also in the spring of 1963 (reference, April 1963 flight plan of N6393 Echo flown from Thomson Flying Service of Salt Lake City, Utah. (Ralston, Rawlston, aka Roselli on board, as handwritten notations on flight plan) ( located in FBI 26 Lab file; referenced as, "Plumlee ITSA")
Roselli was in DC a few days before the assassination and flew down to Tampa two days before the assassination; reg at the Congress Inn Tampa Fla. A few days before his trip to Washington DC he was signed in at the JM WAVE gate as COL Ralwston , Miami Station (documented) (FBI Hoover changed the record at request of CIA; referenced Dade County Homicide investigation, ref; Det. Smith Miami Homo 1981)
Mc Cord Ranch of NM..., also note another FBI document in reference to the $15,000 found in a bus locker in West Palm, Florida Spring of 63.., the money was later RETURNED to Roselli (as noted by FBI documents and testimony of subject, 1963)
This money was received at the Grace Ranch for the purchase of military hardware (P-51) at Miranda Air Park north of Tucson, AZ. The aircraft could not be obtained and the money was taken from AZ by a pilot to West Palm Beach, Florida and put in a bus locker..., and eventually the money was given to Roselli by the "AGENTS" ( note: two sets of FBI documents were released by the FBI. One said nothing was found in the locker except an "old pair of binoculars", ref; FOIA, 1981 release. Another FOIA 1997 release stated,... " the money was found in the locker and turned over to the CIA (agents) by the FBI. This information was classified secret until 1997. or there about. This information was given to Congressman Tom Downing, Senator Gary Hart and Senator Berry Goldwater before the HSCA was even formed. (1976-77)
Documented by FBI and CIA (also some reference found in a Roselli 62-2116 I think is the correct number declassified 1997 or there abouts)
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Over 350 people read this preview of Dick's book and nobody has anything to say?
Am I wasting my time?
BK
Bill, Your work is always appreciated and extremely well done with lots of effort and thought behind it. Reading your reviews or posts are never a waste of time. Does Russell concentrate much on Castillo? I remember reading about him long ago in Bowert's book - but it seemed then to be 'another one of those manufactured dead-ends' related to Dallas to keep the researchers running in circles. A few of those apparently dead-ends were not as dead as they seemed in the light of new information and documents [hiding info in plain sight]. The info above you post on Castillo lends some greater credability to the story, or at least a re-examination to see if it was a real trail or a false one. Interesting the mind-control angle which more and more persons who had some involvement with Dallas or involvement with people involved with Dallas seemed to have had [some kind of hypnosis/mind-control in their past and post-assassination].
Russell is a great researcher and writer and I've pre-ordered his book. His book on Nagell still is not fully appreciated for what it contains and the research behind it. Thanks for your review(s).
Hi Peter,
Sorry for the delay in response but I missed this earlier.
No, Dick doesn't dwell on Castillo, though he did check in and say that the Luis Castillo who is related to the Bayo mission is a different Luis Castillo. Imagine that.
Nor had DR read the report I posted and said he found it "mindblowing."
Hopefully he'll log on and answer some of our questions now that others have the book.
My first question to Dick Russell is the one I posed to David Kaiser that has thus far gone unanswered:
Do you think the unresolved nature of the assassination of President Kennedy is as serious a national security issue now as it was when it happened?
BK
Hmm...I'll have to think this over, but at first and second blush, it is mindblowing and not explainable as simply a coincidence that two covert operative Cubans, connected with Intelligence have the same name - even if a somewhat common name. I also have a reliable source who says they are the same Castillo. I'll get back on this and would very much like Dick Russell to fill us in on why he thinks they are two. Perhaps his book does. I've ordered it. N.B. One document shows the one involved in the Bayo Mission to have the name Luis Angel Castillo Cabrera.
While your pondering: I'll pass a note to an old friend.... Tony remember the Phaller Boats of MIAMI?...... If your out there dig deep in your memory " PAWS and JAWS". is still around. Iron Man died a few months ago in Miami I'm sure you know this, because you still monitor things down there... your long in the tooth now days... wake up. ESELSTAG & Moredale rocks are on the shore.... Poinsietta your branches speak.. The dollar bill is torn.... which half do you have?
Cabrera = Juan Carbrello, ships Windjammer Two,. Thour== Rex; Zappie =Zapata/Bayo-- Raven, Redbird One, WAVE Station, Operation TIDE and RED TIDE; Gilmore &
Murphy; Keesy BJ; Texaco PBY info of the CIA Station, cut out "Green Mansions" Miami Station ....Illutionary warfare training Nags Head....... Come back Angle One.....T Bone Harry?.... see ya soon.
If you not up to speed on this.... then your up to nothing. MURK and ________________ TYD fill in the blank if you know and we will talk.
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Interesting email from someone trying to make a documentary on Barry Seal:
I have been battling the 14th District Court in Lake Charles, Louisiana for the better part of a week; the records division there claims that the entire Barry Seal file has been...well...sealed. The only way, according to them, to access the crime scene photographs would be to draft a proposed order and have the district judge sign off on it.
I received an email today asking about any information I had on Seal. I have a lot of information and it was given to law enforcement as well as the Senate of the United States years ago. (and too, to this Forum) The Senate classified that information as well as the maps, pilots names and their activities. (Senator John Kerry's close door testimony and staff interviews; August 1990 and May 1992)
All of that information including flight plans, dates, refueling areas and coded fly-ways were classified top secret and sealed by the Senate and the courts. Neil Matthews of the San Diego Reader wrote a story, "I Ran Drugs for Uncle Sam" in April of 1991. Within that article were details along with a map of ALL the staging areas, coded fly ways, and cartel members associated with Seal. This was BEFORE the Iran/Contra affair and the Savings and loan scandals of the early 90's. Senator Gary Hart also received detailed information and copies of the maps, flight plans, and flyways of which he turned over to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which "no action was taken". That letter from Senator Gary Hart was posted on this forum, as well as the Matthews article but received no respond or interest (2006) as well as the article of Neil Matthews. Later, the article was taken off the inter-net as it was posted my others and, it was said, concerned matters of National Security. I was latter contacted by Federal officials and told I had violated national Security matters by talking to the media concerning "ongoing investigations of interest to the United States Government". It was said "if I continued doing so I would go to Federal lock-up". I posted on this forum the next day, concerning the Seal/Plumlee information... again no interest and no support.
I only post now because the 2004-06 postings were never responded to concerning Seal and all the factual background and documented information supplied. Researchers have it all wrong about Seal and the 'Mexico CIA Thing". It seems to me if you do not support someones theories, which are void of facts, then you must be taken out as a creditable person. In this case the facts and the maps and the details spoke for themselves and they were released to the public (by Plumlee) while the activities and information was classified a top secret government operation. The names and dates and ID numbers, pilots, locations ect, had never been made public in any research or books.... and too, it WAS all classified and remains so to date.
I do hope that the new Administration will look into the death of Beery Seal, Kiki Camaranda, Col James Sabow, Scott Wheeler, Gary Webb, and others of this time frame and their associations with secret operations concerning America's War on Drugs.
It is a FACT, many of these boys go back before JFK and were associated with Military Intell and the Pentagon during the 50's 60's, 70's and 80's. I have only posted because there is new blood on the steps of the White House, and I feel in time justice for thes boys who paid the price will be served.
I leave you in Peace. Tosh
P.S. I Ran Guns for Uncle Sam ( www.phoenixarchives.com/express/1991/0591/13-06.pdf ) you might have to cut and paste these links into Google
( sengaryhart.pdf )
[PDF] hart3File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Gary Hart. 9AVIS GRAHAM S. STUB BS. SUITE A700. 370 ÍCVCNTtENTH STREE-. »OST O' riCE BOX iBS. DENVER, COlOB»00 BOSOi-C'BS. February 14, 1991 ... click on HART 3
The map and the orginal article has been PURGED from the internet and only one place is left where it can be found (copied from the orginal article) ... they ??? missed the Phoenix Journal recap copy of the article and as of today it was still on the web at the above website. The Map has been classified and is not available to the best of my knowledge: The orginal article can not be found... I find this strange in itself in view of all the other information out there that is allowed to stay on the internet... Why has Neal Matthews article been taken off?... and too... you can't get a copy anymore from the San Diego reader either......I was told the FBI ask them to hold the article and notifie them if anyone who wanted a copy...this was some years ago
GOOGLE SEARCH: (note: The Phoenix Jounal article of "I Ran Drugs..., is not listed. however cut and paste the above link into Google and it will come up... The article is hard to find for some reason...............
Web Results 1 - 10 of about 158,000 for I Ran Drugs for Uncle Sam. (0.34 seconds)
Search ResultsUncle Sam Wants Your Brain
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Interesting email from someone trying to make a documentary on Barry Seal:
I have been battling the 14th District Court in Lake Charles, Louisiana for the better part of a week; the records division there claims that the entire Barry Seal file has been...well...sealed. The only way, according to them, to access the crime scene photographs would be to draft a proposed order and have the district judge sign off on it.
I received an email today asking about any information I had on Seal. I have a lot of information and it was given to law enforcement as well as the Senate of the United States years ago. (and too, to this Forum) The Senate classified that information as well as the maps, pilots names and their activities. (Senator John Kerry's close door testimony and staff interviews; August 1990 and May 1992)
All of that information including flight plans, dates, refueling areas and coded fly-ways were classified top secret and sealed by the Senate and the courts. Neil Matthews of the San Diego Reader wrote a story, "I Ran Drugs for Uncle Sam" in April of 1991. Within that article were details along with a map of ALL the staging areas, coded fly ways, and cartel members associated with Seal. This was BEFORE the Iran/Contra affair and the Savings and loan scandals of the early 90's. Senator Gary Hart also received detailed information and copies of the maps, flight plans, and flyways of which he turned over to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which "no action was taken". That letter from Senator Gary Hart was posted on this forum, as well as the Matthews article but received no respond or interest (2006) as well as the article of Neil Matthews. Later, the article was taken off the inter-net as it was posted my others and, it was said, concerned matters of National Security. I was latter contacted by Federal officials and told I had violated national Security matters by talking to the media concerning "ongoing investigations of interest to the United States Government". It was said "if I continued doing so I would go to Federal lock-up". I posted on this forum the next day, concerning the Seal/Plumlee information... again no interest and no support.
I only post now because the 2004-06 postings were never responded to concerning Seal and all the factual background and documented information supplied. Researchers have it all wrong about Seal and the 'Mexico CIA Thing". It seems to me if you do not support someones theories, which are void of facts, then you must be taken out as a creditable person. In this case the facts and the maps and the details spoke for themselves and they were released to the public (by Plumlee) while the activities and information was classified a top secret government operation. The names and dates and ID numbers, pilots, locations ect, had never been made public in any research or books.... and too, it WAS all classified and remains so to date.
I do hope that the new Administration will look into the death of Beery Seal, Kiki Camaranda, Col James Sabow, Scott Wheeler, Gary Webb, and others of this time frame and their associations with secret operations concerning America's War on Drugs.
It is a FACT, many of these boys go back before JFK and were associated with Military Intell and the Pentagon during the 50's 60's, 70's and 80's. I have only posted because there is new blood on the steps of the White House, and I feel in time justice for thes boys who paid the price will be served.
I leave you in Peace. Tosh
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Here's 3 pages that came into my possession 5 years ago. Who's the author?
Wim
Wim; Post the "1963 'Flight Plan found in the weckage of the Cessna 172 ( the flight plan of which was tampered with and which you received from your friend in CA some years ago; as well as the FBI documents and interview with Mc Cord at the Mc Cord Ranch near Grants NM (as well as the info from the Grace Ranch and the Thunderbird INN in Vegas and Santa Barbara CA concerning "Curtin Studios) compare the typewriter with those writtings and letters and you have your answer.
Wim [or anyone else], I'd be very interested in the documents to which Tosh refers and would appreciate them sent to me privately, if not posted publicly! Thanks.
Pete: The flight plan I referenced is the one we received from the FOIA which was in the FOIA released to Barnard Finisterwald and Gary Shaw in 1980. (a secord set 510 pages differend from the 320 pages were released in a FOIA in 1987 to CBS and copies sent to me) If you remember we (you I and Jim Marrs) numbered the first set of documents there pages , with stamped numbers, in sequence as we reviewed them in Fort Worth back in 1990, I think. We are the ones who numbered then starting with page one through #320. The flight plan dated in June of 1963 I think, had J Rawlston written on it and I challenged the truthfulnes of the FBI's release because I would have never wrote Rawlston's name on a flight plan as I told you and Marrs that day... remember?
I claimed at the time that I did not trust that document. I felt the FBI had written that info in the side margins to discredit the document because at the time THEY (FBI) were investigating statements made by me at Buna Vista's Colorado State Reformatoery back in Jan of 1964, concerning one John Mc Cord and John Martino. Curtin studios was making silencers for the military in Santa Barbarba CA I was told in the Spring of 1964, and I flew a Cessna 172 from Grace Ranch to Mc Cord Ranch in NM where the Silencers were delivered. (told to the FBI and also to the FAA..... I had never closed out the flight plan and the FAA wanted to know WHY? The aircraft belong to Thompson Flight Service a CIA front charter company (contract CIA) based at Salt Lake City tail number 93 Echo covered FAA reg as belonging to Dow and Allied Chem companies..
The Vermin also tampered with some of my files so as to get money from Wim. Holts daughter sent me copies of her fathers writtings and the typerwriter matches what Wim posted today... I said I was not going to address this ever again but new information has came to light concerning documents and files which were also sent to Dr Wechet some years ago of which the FBI Department of Justice now have. (taken from his office on a search warrant over four years ago, I think..., also Col. James Sabow files were also taken by the FBI at the same time) I'll get shot for this, I'm sure. But have fun with it anyway... I am hoping the new Administration might be interest in some of this REAL history of that time frame. See Ya... Would'nt want to be ya.... Tosh
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Here's 3 pages that came into my possession 5 years ago. Who's the author?
Wim
Wim; Post the "1963 'Flight Plan found in the weckage of the Cessna 172 ( the flight plan of which was tampered with and which you received from your friend in CA some years ago; as well as the FBI documents and interview with Mc Cord at the Mc Cord Ranch near Grants NM (as well as the info from the Grace Ranch and the Thunderbird INN in Vegas and Santa Barbara CA concerning "Curtin Studios) compare the typewriter with those writtings and letters and you have your answer.
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Interesting email from someone trying to make a documentary on Barry Seal:
I have been battling the 14th District Court in Lake Charles, Louisiana for the better part of a week; the records division there claims that the entire Barry Seal file has been...well...sealed. The only way, according to them, to access the crime scene photographs would be to draft a proposed order and have the district judge sign off on it.
I received an email today asking about any information I had on Seal. I have a lot of information and it was given to law enforcement as well as the Senate of the United States years ago. (and too, to this Forum) The Senate classified that information as well as the maps, pilots names and their activities. (Senator John Kerry's close door testimony and staff interviews; August 1990 and May 1992)
All of that information including flight plans, dates, refueling areas and coded fly-ways were classified top secret and sealed by the Senate and the courts. Neil Matthews of the San Diego Reader wrote a story, "I Ran Drugs for Uncle Sam" in April of 1991. Within that article were details along with a map of ALL the staging areas, coded fly ways, and cartel members associated with Seal. This was BEFORE the Iran/Contra affair and the Savings and loan scandals of the early 90's. Senator Gary Hart also received detailed information and copies of the maps, flight plans, and flyways of which he turned over to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which "no action was taken". That letter from Senator Gary Hart was posted on this forum, as well as the Matthews article but received no respond or interest (2006) as well as the article of Neil Matthews. Later, the article was taken off the inter-net as it was posted my others and, it was said, concerned matters of National Security. I was latter contacted by Federal officials and told I had violated national Security matters by talking to the media concerning "ongoing investigations of interest to the United States Government". It was said "if I continued doing so I would go to Federal lock-up". I posted on this forum the next day, concerning the Seal/Plumlee information... again no interest and no support.
I only post now because the 2004-06 postings were never responded to concerning Seal and all the factual background and documented information supplied. Researchers have it all wrong about Seal and the 'Mexico CIA Thing". It seems to me if you do not support someones theories, which are void of facts, then you must be taken out as a creditable person. In this case the facts and the maps and the details spoke for themselves and they were released to the public (by Plumlee) while the activities and information was classified a top secret government operation. The names and dates and ID numbers, pilots, locations ect, had never been made public in any research or books.... and too, it WAS all classified and remains so to date.
I do hope that the new Administration will look into the death of Beery Seal, Kiki Camaranda, Col James Sabow, Scott Wheeler, Gary Webb, and others of this time frame and their associations with secret operations concerning America's War on Drugs.
It is a FACT, many of these boys go back before JFK and were associated with Military Intell and the Pentagon during the 50's 60's, 70's and 80's. I have only posted because there is new blood on the steps of the White House, and I feel in time justice for thes boys who paid the price will be served.
I leave you in Peace. Tosh
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Around the time of the Galindez incident, Maheu was brought into a thing called LPHIDDEN.
Does anyone know what that operation was all about?
James
James I tried to document most of this about Galindez and Murphy so years ago, but niobody was interested. The burned letter to Robert Morrow and references to your LPHIDDEN was another name and associated with OMC-235 and an FBI declassified page in reference to that OPS was also in the fire in Grant Colorado in 1981....
I Found this old post of which I have copies of replies.... most of the background post have been deleted it is said by me.... Chris and I talked and exchanged information on this a few years ago.
One of the places Lester and I used to hang out was the Dark Hourse Bar... I think in West Palm. For years a picture of Sergio was posted by the FBI as they were trying to find him in 64. Perhaps. there is a picture of him and Lester as they were close friends. I have ask for help on trying to put this together so as to document the chain of events which lead up to the Galindez kidnapping, but oh well some of you know that drill. Also of interest in that OPS was Steve Guthrie (spelling) and his D-18 Twin Beach aircraft. An aircraft of which the flight logs show that Guthrie, Murphy, Pearson/plumlee logged. That was the aircraft that lester flew Glandiz back into the USA from Dom rep. FWIW
Past postings follow:
Does anyone have any information on Galandez and the Domenican Republic around 1957?
(2) Steve Guthrie, Lester Murphy? (Tosh Plumlee)
Tosh,
The Murphy you refer to, is that the freelance pilot who vanished in the Dominican Republic after flying Galindez who was then supposedly kidnapped?
If so, I have a page from Murphy's notebook below which shows the entry Jesus de Galindez. Any of those other numbers ring a bell? I also have a shot of Murphy's house which I believe was under surveillance after his disappearance.
If that is the same Murphy, I will try to get some information for you.
Cheers,
James
Yes James. Thanks. Same Murphy.., same house. Lester and I used to fly together. We both flew Rosellie and others at different times. (mid to late fifties) Steve Guthrie owned the D-18 (? N6800 ?) that we used to fly. It was registered to 'Atlantic Richfield', I think and later to "Inter-Mountain Aviation'. (60's) For awhile it was based at Miami and Lantana, West Palm Beach. (1962-63) Was Murphy ever found? What happened to Galandez (Galindez)? I'll study the numbers and if I can help, I'll get back to you.... This is still real touchie stuff. Still to some degree "Classified". Anything on 'Inter-Mountain or Mid States Aviation?Thanks James This information helps a lot.
P.S to above post..
Interesting note book. To some degree I am familiar with some of the notes. IF my memory serves me right there is information and contacts for the guns and ammo which were being moved around at that time. There are a few CIA cut-outs in those notes... Do you have the note book, because if you do then you will find Rosellies code name under 'R' and "S' ROSS and Soroco ( ?) Coral Gabels Florida S/W 9th Ter. Also I think John Paisely or his look alike worked as a case officer with operatives in Dominican Republic.. This is all memory... I'll geet back to you on this after I prod along... again thanks a lot.. Tosh
"...
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Around the time of the Galindez incident, Maheu was brought into a thing called LPHIDDEN.
Does anyone know what that operation was all about?
James
James I tried to document most of this about Galindez and Murphy so years ago, but niobody was interested. The burned letter to Robert Morrow and references to your LPHIDDEN was another name and associated with OMC-235 and an FBI declassified page in reference to that OPS was also in the fire in Grant Colorado in 1981....
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Pat--an excellent JE book, btw. As I'm interested in the history of the case; could you pls explain what research backs claim (any specific documentation you can suggest) Maheu was involved with Galindez case? Thx
Hi Christy,
I know your question was directed at Pat and I don't want to step on his toes, but I seem to remember that Gerald Lester Murphy was connected to a man named Horace Schmahl who in turn was an associate of Robert Maheu.
I also seem to remember that future Watergate figure Tony Ulasewicz was the investigator for the NYPD at the time and concluded quickly that the CIA had nothing to do with it.
Interesting associations for sure especially when you throw Trujillo's goons Arturo Espaillat and Felix Bernardino into the mix.
FWIW.
James
I believe Maheu was seen with Trujillo's intelligence chief Espaillat just before the abduction, and the plane in which Galindez was transported to Florida was leased using a Maheu and Associates credit card...or something like that... If I recall, I first read about his involvement in Jim Hougan's book Spooks.
I have some FBI files on Howard Hughes. I'll check to see if there's any mention of Maheu and the Galindez incident in those files.
I brought this up some years ago about Lester and Galandez and the article in life magazine. I was asking for some help on this matter at the time but got nothjing in return. Lester was a very close friend of mind as well as Mahue and Rosellie. In FACT Lester took my flight that day. I tried to help at one time, but was also attacked on this matter as well as others. If you want details go and SEARCH for Galandez and lester murphy.
AND TOO> I never deleted my postings in spite of what some of you say.
The following is from a past posting. The burned letter posted on this forum some months and years ago is still classified and I POSTED the damn thing on this forum and got into a world of CRAP from members. If you can find it Post it again I don't care.
From past post:
"... There is a document and file which is very hard to find. I was told it was, or on file at the AARB, but I have not been able to find it. I did find a reference at CIA, Langley but it is classified. I was told. However, there were two pages which were in that file which were turned over to the Assassination Review Board in 1997, but I have been unable to find it or any reference to it.. Any help on this would be appreciated.
References and background information: I have also tried to attach the burned document which I obtained from the FBI in a FOIA request:
File locator number: CIA (class unclassified) REULE (UDN-WOO (9347) RA-BC. release date. open.
Subject; EX-CIA Contract Agent Robert D Morrow. From; CIA Contact Div. Langley VA.
(1) Subjects: Warren Bishop; Alex Rourk; Lester Murphy; Robert Marrow. Congressman Thomas Downing. Wm Pearson. aka William R Plumlee.
(2) Copy one letter addressed to: (In file)
Honorable Congressman Thomas Downing
Senate Russell Building Washington DC; dated November 10, 1975
(Note) The above mentioned letter to Congressman Downing was retrieved from a fire in Grant Colorado by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation CBI Arson detail on August 7, 1981. The document was turned over to Federal authorities (FBI) Washington DC, on August 10, 1981. The document has burned marks in the body and around its edges. However, the subject matter seems to be intact.
This burn document (in letter form) was released in an FOIA request dated 1987.
This burned letter should be compared to the to the CIA's file locator numbers mentioned above; Subject Robert Morrow; Subject William R Plumlee.
Background:
Robert Morrow was involved in a classified CIA operation to introduce and ship Cuban counterfeit monies into Cuba to destabilize that countries monetary system. The operations cover was blown in Miami and five of the group were arrested by the federal government ATF, Customs, and FBI joint operation.
Vice President Richard Nixon's Law Firm represented CIA contract operatives Robert Morrow and. two others. Two of these contract operatives would later be involved in the Watergate affair.
William Plumlee aka Buck Pearson was the pilot who flew these operatives into Cuba to drop and place the money and the subject of the burned letter to Congressman Thomas Downing, attention Robert Morrow, Senator Downing's Investigative Staff. (Morrow was on the Senate Staff when the Congressman was forming the first phases of the HSCA) The Associated Press and the News wire of Reuters covered some of the material Robert Morrow had given Congressman Downing's committee, concerning what he knew about the Kennedy assassination and his involvement as a contact person to supply three weapons and six silencers obtained from the west coast and Curtain Studios, Santa Barbara, California in the spring of 1963. These were delivered to the Thunderbird INN at Las Vegas Nevada and eventuality to Miami anti-Castro Cubans. (note I can't seem to attatch the letter to Morrow. I think some out there perhaps has a copy of that burned letter which was taken from the house fiire in Colorado. If so perhaps you could attatch it for me.)
P.S. I Just received an Email that Jim recently found an article concerning Robert Morrow which made reference to weapons. However, he could not remember where he saw it. He thought it was in the NRB? Any help would be appreciated:
"Ex-CIA Agent Claims He Bought Rifles for Kennedy Killing". (Reuter Article), title of article... Thanks Jim.
Attached thumbnail(s)
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In violation of the 1903 Treaty between Cuba and the United States, Mr. Pawley was allowed to open a business which was located in the town of Caimanera, Cuba (not on leased Naval Property/Guantanamo).
Four years later, Mr. Pawley opened an additional branch of his business at the leased wharfs/dock area located at Key (Fort) Toro.
In addition to these business locations, Mr. Pawley came to conduct one of the largest business enterprises in Haiti.
NOPE!
Not William D. Pawley. We are referring to his father, Edward Porcher Pawley, of Florence, SC.
E. P. (Edward Porcher) Pawley, father of William D. Pawley, (& four other children) was allowed to open what was considered to be the first American business enterprise in Cuba after signing of the 1903 treaty between the US & Cuba.
In moving to Cuba (and later Haiti), EP Pawley carried with him his entire family which reportedly was 5 son's.
Even though the 1903 treaty specifically prohibited American/foreign enterprise on the Cuban land, in 1904, shortly after occupation of Guantanamo Naval Base by the US Navy & US Marines, Mr. EP Pawley was, for some reason, allowed to open a business which sold furniture and other goods and services.
This business was located in the small town/village of Caimanera which was located just outside the boundary of the Guantanamo Naval Base leased areas.
In 1908, Mr. Pawley was allowed to open a branch business at the wharf area in the vicinity of Key Toro.
It is correct that Edward Porcher Pawley, my Great Grandfather, (Not William D. Pawley - who was only 7 years old at the time) was granted permission to open a business in Cuba in the year following the Treaty (1904). It was NOT in violation of the treaty though, as the treaty stated that "no commercial enterprises could exist on The Guantanamo Base"... not in Cuba, as a whole. Since this enterprise was in Caimanera, it did not fall under any sanctions of the treaty.
You Unckle was in no way involved in the assassination of JFK. I knew him and he was a very honorable man. He worked in behalf of the Cubans to overthrow Batista and later Castro. He was dedicated to the Cuban peoples early fight for domocracy. He put his money where his mouth was and he helped many who were in need. Over the years I have spoken out to those who put words and deeds in deadmen's mouths. I viewed them then, as now, total cowards. You can't fight or reason with them or their type.., they hide in the shadows and speak in raspy whispers spreading their falsehoods. They use lies and slight of hand to support their theories and bloster their egos. They manipulate truth to ad to their worth. Its best to leave them alone so as their slim does not rub off on you. Your Uncle was a good man. His record of service to his country cannot be matched. He is missed...... from an old covert soul who walked in dark places and is still alive. The Fish is Red and he knew it.
You take care.... I remember the old house near the beach and the trips to 'Sloopy Joes" and the rides to the Keys.... remember? Tosh Plumlee
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Seems that "shotgunning" became a derigeur method of suiciding military officers, if the case of Admiral Jerry Boorda is also considered. Very interesting that his former CNO was Admiral Zumwalt, methinks ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Michael_Boorda ).
But apologies for detracting from the Sabow case that has always interested me.
Tosh, did you ever fly in to El Toro?
David
You asked. "... Tosh, did you ever fly into El Toro? ...".
Yes. more than once.
The details of those flights and others were given under sworn testimony to Senator John Kerry, Senator Gary Hart, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Aug of 1990, and again in May of 1991, in reference to the Iran-Contra investigations and the secret airbase located at Santa Elena CR. Shortly thereafter, the information and testimony was "Classified Top Secret; Committee Sensitive" in the interest of "National Security".
In 1999 a request to declassified was submitted but was not granted because of National Security (compromising methods and proceedures). In 2000 a detailed FOIA request was filed to various agencies; in reference to the 1990 and 1991 testimony , but no respond as to documentation was forwarded. In 2002 a letter was received from DoD advising how to request declassification of government documents.
Thanks for the link. I found it very interesting. I forwarded it to Dr David Sabow... Col. James Sabow's brother.
Thanks for this, Tosh. I had a feeling that might be the case. Would it still be classified matter to ask you the names of the locations from which you took off on your journeys to El Toro?
David
Ilapango El Salvadora, Santa Elena and Poco Solo, Costa Rico,, Lajtas Mexico, John Hull's Ranch in Costa Rico, as well as various location in Columbia.
note: In April of 1984 an aircraft flown by a Nicaraguan pilot crashed while taking off from the airfield located at John Hull's ranch. The aircraft was overloaded by some six hundred pounds of US military hardware and supplies. (Tico Times 9-28-84)
The aircraft and weapons were quickly removed. The weapons went to the Contra's sourthern front and the aircraft remains went to the bone yard as scrap metal.
In April 1986 A CBS "West 57th Street" broadcast airs in which former contra resupply pilots identified John Hull's ranch as a major transhipment point for military supplies and cocain. John Hull denies any roll in the contra resupply network.
Again thanks, Tosh. I thought that might be the case.
Did you ever fly into or out of mainland China carrying cargo? I seem to remember there was an influential family there, Wong (so my memory says anyway) that had certain interests.
Incidentally, I tried to PM you but seems its switched off. Years ago Rod Stich put me in touch with you to discuss the curious US Treasury Notes that were circulating in the Philippines and which dated from WWII -- which the US Treasury denied were genuine. I am sure there were a lot of fakes circulating as the Philippines seems to be especially capable at producing such paperwork, but there were also (I am told) genuine debt instruments that have been disavowed...
David
Only one time into China (near where they were building the big damn, biggest in the world at the time)
I heard a story that was said to have came from a pilot lost in Laos and who had flown into Diem Bin Phou in the fifties. (?) His name was "Earthquake Mc Goon" ( note: His remains were found a few years ago and brought back home recently.) His story was that a large sum of US money was found in the jungles, which had been taken by the Japaneese during WW11. American troops found the hidden loot in caves and scattered through out the jungle. Most of the loot was never turned over to the authorites. Sometime after the war some of the US troops who had discovered the money went back to retrieve the loot, but I am not sure what happened after thiat point. Its a lost treasure story of WWII of which there are many. This was told to me by third parties and one of the persons claimed to have been there when the money was found in 1944. He is 89 years old today and still tells the story of how and when they found the "loot" as he calls it.
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Seems that "shotgunning" became a derigeur method of suiciding military officers, if the case of Admiral Jerry Boorda is also considered. Very interesting that his former CNO was Admiral Zumwalt, methinks ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Michael_Boorda ).
But apologies for detracting from the Sabow case that has always interested me.
Tosh, did you ever fly in to El Toro?
David
You asked. "... Tosh, did you ever fly into El Toro? ...".
Yes. more than once.
The details of those flights and others were given under sworn testimony to Senator John Kerry, Senator Gary Hart, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Aug of 1990, and again in May of 1991, in reference to the Iran-Contra investigations and the secret airbase located at Santa Elena CR. Shortly thereafter, the information and testimony was "Classified Top Secret; Committee Sensitive" in the interest of "National Security".
In 1999 a request to declassified was submitted but was not granted because of National Security (compromising methods and proceedures). In 2000 a detailed FOIA request was filed to various agencies; in reference to the 1990 and 1991 testimony , but no respond as to documentation was forwarded. In 2002 a letter was received from DoD advising how to request declassification of government documents.
Thanks for the link. I found it very interesting. I forwarded it to Dr David Sabow... Col. James Sabow's brother.
Thanks for this, Tosh. I had a feeling that might be the case. Would it still be classified matter to ask you the names of the locations from which you took off on your journeys to El Toro?
David
Ilapango El Salvadora, Santa Elena and Poco Solo, Costa Rico,, Lajtas Mexico, John Hull's Ranch in Costa Rico, as well as various location in Columbia.
note: In April of 1984 an aircraft flown by a Nicaraguan pilot crashed while taking off from the airfield located at John Hull's ranch. The aircraft was overloaded by some six hundred pounds of US military hardware and supplies. (Tico Times 9-28-84)
The aircraft and weapons were quickly removed. The weapons went to the Contra's sourthern front and the aircraft remains went to the bone yard as scrap metal.
In April 1986 A CBS "West 57th Street" broadcast airs in which former contra resupply pilots identified John Hull's ranch as a major transhipment point for military supplies and cocain. John Hull denies any roll in the contra resupply network.
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CounterPunch
may 1-15, 2008
vol. 15, no. 9
The Story of a 15 Year Pentagon Cover-Up
The Murder of Colonel Sabow
By JamesG.Abourezk
On January 22, 1991, the wife of Marine Corps Col. James Sabow found him shot dead in the backyard of their base housing unit at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, California. Naval Investigators sent to the death scene immediately pronounced his death a suicide and just as quickly notified Dr. David Sabow, the Colonel’s brother, of their conclusion.
Any nonprofessional taking a first look at the scene could easily come to that same conclusion. Col. Sabow’s body, in pajamas and bathrobe, was found lying on his right side, with a lawn chair perched on top of his body. The shotgun that caused his death was lying under his body. But these were not amateur investigators. The Navy had sent professional crime scene investigators to inquire into the death of Col. Sabow, but what these professionals overlooked – whether deliberately or through incompetence – was evidence that Col. Sabow had been bludgeoned, after which a shotgun was placed in his mouth by the killers, who pulled the shotgun’s trigger, then arranged the body to make it look like a suicide. Dr. Sabow conducted his own investigation and found from the autopsy records evidence of a massive skull fracture over his right ear, clearly showing that his brother had been clubbed over the head, following which the scene was arranged to make it look like a suicide. Dr. Sabow shared much of the critical autopsy findings with competent university medical experts who came to the same conclusion.
This more accurate evidence, as well as additional findings, and the conclu- sions that followed, all came together fif- teen years later, in 2005, when Dr. David Sabow, the colonel’s brother, ultimately hired a forensic scientist to re-examine the crime scene and the evidence. What
spurred Dr. Sabow’s hiring of Bryan Burnett, the independent forensic scien- tist, was the issuance of a newly written report by Dr. Jon Nordby, who had been hired by the Pentagon under a mandate from Congress to re-investigate the kill- ing.
Nordby’s investigation changed noth- ing from the government’s point of view, only confirming the earlier Pentagon conclusion that, in the face of all evi- dence to the contrary, Col. Sabow’s death was suicide. However, using modern scientific methods to re-enact what had actually happened, Burnett concluded that, without question, Col. Sabow, in- deed, had been murdered. Burnett also concluded from the crime scene evidence that at least three people were involved in the murder. These are conclusions the Pentagon has been desperately trying to avoid ever since Col. Sabow’s death.
Colonel James Sabow was a veteran Marine Corps pilot who had survived over 200 combat missions during the Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star for valor. The colonel’s brother, Dr. David Sabow, is a neurologist who has practiced medicine in Rapid City, South Dakota, for the last 25 years. As the Pentagon has learned the hard way, he is also someone who is not easily deterred.
In his third year in college in 1961, Dr. Sabow was injured in a water skiing ac- cident which rendered him a total quadriplegic. Since then, with a partial recov- ery of some of his motor functions, he is now able to move around in a motorized wheel chair, which he has learned to navigate with seemingly great ease.
Since that day in January 1991, when the Naval investigators called to tell him his brother committed suicide, Dr. Sabow
has spent many of his waking moments gathering evidence to prove something he knew instinctively – that his brother would not have killed himself, and that someone other than his brother had fired the shotgun. His determination to prove that it was murder and not suicide has cost him his life savings, most of his earnings, and, as a final blow, he is now being forced to sell his home nestled in the Black Hills of western South Dakota to pay for the accumulated debts he has incurred over the years. The burden that the case has laid over him and his family is one that is difficult to describe.
Dr. Sabow has lived in nearly per- petual outrage, not only because of the murder itself but also because of the 15- year Pentagon cover-up. Military officials have surpassed themselves in their efforts to deny the charges that Col. Sabow was murdered -- denials which have only in- creased Dr. Sabow’s resolve to prove oth- erwise.
The Murder
The forensic scientist who proved Dr. Sabow’s theory of outright murder – Bryan Burnett – studied in minute detail all the evidence gathered at the scene by investigators in the immediate aftermath of Col. Sabow’s death, including results of the initial crime scene investigation, the photos taken by the crime scene in- vestigators, Col. Sabow’s clothing, the shotgun used in the killing, as well as the pathology report by the Orange County, California, medical examiner.
Burnett’s conclusions were definite: without question Col. Sabow was the victim of a murder, and not of a suicide. Burnett based his report on irrefutable evidence, beginning with firing tests of the shotgun, which clearly showed that it leaked gunshot residue when it was fired. According to the scenario by the Naval Investigative Service and the Pentagon, Col. Sabow was seated in a patio chair in his backyard. The scene scripted by these two organizations was that Col. Sabow placed the butt of the double-barreled shotgun on the ground next to his right foot with the breech against his right leg. Then, while holding the barrel in his mouth with his left hand, he supposedly reached down to discharge the weapon with his right hand. Because all the tests performed on the gun have proven that it leaked gunshot residue from the breech and the trigger housing, if suicide was the means of his death, then his right hand would contain evidence of gunshot resi- due. According to their own tests, which were performed for the government by the Riverside County, California, foren- sic laboratory, there was no evidence of gunshot residue on Colonel Sabow’s right hand. Moreover, in this same situation, gunshot residue would have covered that portion of the pajama leg or that part of the bathrobe that would have been in contact with the breech of the shotgun. All tests prove that there was either no gunshot residue whatsoever, or a mini- mal amount in these areas.
Significantly, none of the residue was found on Col. Sabow’s right hand: the hand which would have pulled the trigger had he committed suicide. Because of
the position of the bathrobe, which had been carefully tucked around his legs by the killers, the residue would have shown on the bathrobe but not on the pajamas, which the killers covered by the tucking in the bathrobe. There was a small amount of residue on the pajamas, but it was in areas under the bathrobe. Neither the pajamas nor the bathrobe showed levels of gunshot residue, which would confirm that the breech of the shotgun in contact was in contact with the right leg, which it would have been if it were really suicide. Clearly, the shotgun was fired when the breech was away from the body. Further evidence of murder accumulates when Burnett pointed out that a suicide victim does not jump from a sitting position to a fully extended body position. Instead, such a victim would merely slump in the chair after death. What would make such a jump impossible is the immediate destruction of the brain stem from the shotgun blast when all the muscles would become flaccid.
Further, blood spatter that was found on the grass near the body as well as on Col. Sabow’s left wrist indicates that the expiration of blood was occurring prior to the shotgun blast. The colonel was bleeding on the grass before the shotgun was fired.
Burnett also found that the bruising of the back of Col. Sabow’s head shows the impression of the end of the club used to strike him. He found that the bruising of the right ear and around the eyes is typical of a basilar skull fracture. Col. Sabow had undergone seizures after being clubbed, again, prior to the shotgun blast, as indicated by the lip and tongue injuries detected on his body. Skull X-rays taken at the autopsy were reviewed both by independent neurosurgery and neuro- radiology experts, all of whom concluded that Col. Sabow had been struck on the head by a blunt instrument, resulting in a massive depressed fracture. The X-rays from the autopsy report showed that his skull was partially caved in as a result of what was described as “blunt force trauma.”
In layman’s terms, he had been clubbed before he was made the target of the shotgun blast.
Burnett’s analysis is that, after being rendered unconscious by the blow, Colonel Sabow fell on his right side, after which the shotgun was placed in his mouth, fired, and then shoved under his body to simulate suicide. His bath- robe was then carefully but inexplicably tucked around his legs.
The post-mortem examination disclosed another fact – that there was a large amount of blood in Col. Sabow’s right lung; solid evidence that he was still alive before the shotgun was discharged in his mouth by the killers. Had it been suicide, he would have died instantaneously, and there would have been no inhaling of blood into his lung following death.
According to Burnett’s report, the blood spatter both on the grass and on the body is evidence of homicide. He points out that bleeding was occurring prior to the shotgun blast, explained by basilar skull fractures that occurred as a result of the blow to the head. Both ex- pirated and aspirated blood is evident, which would not occur if the death were by shotgun without the prior blunt force injury. Bloody blowback shows up on the palm of the left hand (which would not occur if he had committed suicide). And the body position makes no sense if it were suicide. There was no blood on the exterior of the shotgun
The bathrobe tucks provide evidence of post-mortem manipulation of the body, that is, the killer or killers arranged his body, the shotgun, and straightened out his bathrobe in their effort to stage the scene. All the assembled evidence offers overwhelming verification of homicide, and there is no evidence that supports suicide.
Even more evidence of murder over- looked by the government was the complete absence of fingerprints on the shotgun used in his death, as well as the absence of bloody blowback. The absence of blowback indicates that the shotgun either had not been exposed to blowback, or it had been cleaned before being placed under the Colonel’s body. It is obvious that a suicide would be unable to wipe a weapon clean. Interestingly, the FBI, when it was asked, has gone on re- cord as saying that rarely are fingerprints found on firearms, which in fact is true in most cases. But what the FBI has omitted in its opinion is that its “rule of thumb” applies generally to pistols and revolvers, but not necessarily to shotguns and rifles, which are much more susceptible to retaining fingerprints. Moreover, the FBI has no explanation for the absence of bloody blowback on the shotgun.
The Motive
There is no definite evidence with re- spect to who the murderer or murderers are. There is only suspicion, and given the government’s frenzied efforts to cover up the killing, ultimately finding the guilty party or parties will not be easy.
David Sabow believes that his brother, Col. Sabow, was part of a Marine Corps operation flying weapons to South America as part of the arms-for-drugs operation in the Reagan era, designed to supply the Contras subsidized by the U.S.A. He is also convinced that, not long before his murder, his brother learned of the senior Marine Corps officers who were involved in bringing illegal drugs back into the country.
C-123 cargo planes were geared up so they could fly weapons south to Colombia and to bring back illegal drugs on the return trip to the United States. Once converted, the C-123s were flown to El Toro Marine Air Station, where a senior officer would authorize the planes to be re-fueled at night, and then sent to the Southern Mexico weapons dump to transfer on to Columbia. On the return trip from Columbia, the C-123s brought cocaine back to El Toro, always at night, where the drugs were unloaded.
Tosh Plumlee, one of the civilian pilots running guns for the U.S. government in the 1980s, has told this writer that he made a number of operationally approved trips to Latin America, trips that were described as “sanctioned drug interdiction operations.” These trips were approved by military intelligence personnel attached to the Pentagon, with CIA logistical support. They were made in
total secrecy to the extent that other government agencies were not aware of the existence of these flights, or of the operation. The pilots were given a specific coded transponder number to squawk so their aircraft would not be challenged by U.S. Customs aircraft when patrolling the U.S. border.
When, in the 1980s, the 82nd and 101st Airborne were sent to Costa Rica for maneuvers, a great deal of weapons were sent with them. However, some of the weapons did not return to the United States and were later taken off the books by the military, marked as either lost or destroyed and reported to the Government Accounting Office as such. Plumlee and other pilots have testified to Congress that they were working for a secret U.S. military intelligence operation that clandestinely sent them from the United States to bring back the so-called damaged and disappeared weapons for
retrofitting and repair.
When the weapons were repaired and tested at China Lake and Twentynine Palms, in California, they were staged and once again flown back from El Toro Marine Air Base to Latin America, via Mexico, to be supplied to the Contras, the American-financed rebel group seek- ing to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.
The aircraft used by this group were designated as “cutouts” and certified as belonging to the U.S. Forest Service’s air- craft fleet, but they were controlled by U.S. military intelligence, and contracted by civilian operators for whom Plumlee and other pilots worked. These pilots used secret air bases in Costa Rica, as well as on the notorious John Hall Ranch, as unloading and staging areas for the illegal weapons. They also used hidden runways in Costa Rica and El Salvador, controlled by the drug cartel, which then allowed them to bring into the United States drugs on the return trips.
These flyways and airstrips were secretly recorded by undercover flight crews and reported to various government interdiction agencies in the United States. In 1986, an early operation known by the code name, “Penetrate,” was shut down because of the politically explosive Iran-Contra matter. In 1990, however, there was still a covert weapons operation – detailed above – that continued to fly weapons to Latin America, mostly to Bogota, Columbia, which allowed the group to bring back illegal drugs into the United States via Mexico. These flyways and staging areas in Mexico were duly noted by undercover pilots and passed on to CIA and DEA personnel. According to Plumlee, an American DEA agent from Guadalajara, Mexico, by the name of Kiki Camarena, was killed because of his knowledge concerning the “CIA-Mexico” thing, as it was widely known among the covert civilian pilots.
Plumlee states that the word being spread from military personnel at El Toro through his group was that Col. Sabow had discovered illegal flights coming into El Toro Marine Air Base at 2 or 3 a.m., obviously carrying illegal contraband, and that he intended to blow the whistle. He had also heard that Col. Sabow was going to be relieved of his duties because of his intention to report the drug ship- ments.
Plumlee is convinced that Col. Sabow was murdered to silence him.
It is highly probable that Col. Sabow
became aware of the night flights into El Toro, as his base housing was on the landing flight path.
A serious hitch in the operation came when a new loadmaster assigned to El Toro complained about the unregistered planes landing at night and demanded that they be registered, but a senior officer ordered him to shut up and to stop insisting on registration. The loadmaster complained to the inspector general, which prompted the IG to come to El Toro for an investigation.
Dr. Sabow believes the inspector general was making an effort to force the officers under suspicion to resign for the good of the Corps. But because Col. Sabow knew he was clean so far as drug shipments were concerned, instead of quietly accepting the accusations, he planned to insist that a court martial be convened in order to clear his name. He was willing to expose the operation that sent American weapons into Latin America on American cargo aircraft, and he would prove that he had no hand in bringing illegal drugs into the country on return trips.
Sally Sabow, Col. Sabow’s wife, has told her brother in law that the day before her husband was killed, a senior officer had walked into Col. Sabow’s home, and, dur- ing a conversation overheard by her, she saw the officer shaking his finger in Col. Sabow’s face, shouting, “You will never go to a court martial!”
Sally Sabow has since detailed a chronology of events on the morning of the murder. The phone rang just as she was leaving the house to go to morning Mass. Because of the time Mass was to start, she remembered the time as being 8:30 on that morning, January 22, 1991. The routine of the Sabows’ neighbor, Col. Joseph Underwood, was that when he came next door to visit the Sabows, he would call the Sabow home in advance so Col. Sabow’s dog, usually in the back yard, could be put into the garage. Underwood’s home was next door, their back yards connected by a gate placed in the five-foot privacy fence. Sally Sabow heard the phone ring just as she was leaving the house that morning, and Col. Sabow answered it. She saw him heading for the back door to take the dog into the garage. She says her natural assumption was that it was Col. Underwood calling before he was to visit.
On her return from Mass, she found her husband dead.
What was interesting about the inspector general’s actions was that the Marine Corps wanted a quiet resignation from the officers they believed were involved in drug shipments from Central America. There’s no doubt that a finding that Col. Sabow committed suicide would serve the interests of the Marine Corps as well as the Pentagon’s civilian leaders. If it were murder, it is obvious that too much information would be ex- posed about the illegal drug operations of the senior Marine Corps officers, which
would have been a huge embarrassment for the Marine Corps.
Col. Sabow, along with Col. Underwood and Marine Corps General Tom Adams, were accused of using Marine airplanes for personal reasons. California news- papers at the time were full of stories about the scandal involving misuse of Marine Corps aircraft: a scandal uncovered as a result of an anonymous phone call to the Marine Corps Fraud Hotline. General Adams was accused of using Marine Corps aircraft to fly to Florida to sign his divorce papers, then to spend time at a military resort called “Big Bear” with his girl friend. Col. Underwood was accused of using aircraft for personal use. Sabow was targeted as having transport- ed personal items in a Marine Corps air- craft to give to his son who was attending
school in the Spokane, Washington, area. The Marine Corps inspector general had relieved both Underwood and Sabow from their duties, pending the disposi- tion of the accusations against them. After Col. Sabow’s death, and because the Naval Criminal Investigative Service had pronounced it a suicide, it was widely assumed that the scandal was the cause of his “self-inflicted” mortal wound.
Not according to Col. Sabow’s widow, however. Sally Sabow filed an affidavit to counter the speculation that her husband was depressed and that his mental condition had deteriorated – allegations made in a Defense Department report released in an effort to explain his suicide. Instead of being depressed, Mrs. Sabow, who had earned a minor degree in Psychology and who had worked as a social worker in a mental ward after college, said in her sworn statement that her husband was, indeed, of sound mind and, in fact, was working on his resume in the days before his death. She also refuted a statement in the report that, according to her, Col. Sabow had left a suicide note. In her statement, she accused the Marine Corps
and the federal government of engaging in lies and a cover-up in its report in order to hide the murder of her husband. Underwood pled guilty at an “Article
15” administrative hearing to a number of the charges, among them misusing both Marine Corps aircraft as well as the misuse of his official car, of using his aides for personal chores, for demanding a kickback from another officer for a prize-winning entry to a base contest he ad- ministered, and for taking a laptop computer home for use by his family. Article
15 allows a commander – in this case General Adams – to administer the punishment for violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Underwood was fined
$4,000 and agreed to make restitution in the amount of $2,300. He also received an official letter of reprimand. He then asked that he be allowed to retire from the Marine Corps, a retirement agreed to by General Adams, which would allow him to receive about $3,700 a month in retirement pay. General Adams said at the time, “I am completely satisfied that this was a thorough investigation.” Adams himself was ultimately allowed to retire. With Col. Sabow’s “suicide” and Col. Underwood’s guilty plea, the Marine Corps was able to close the file on the scandal and to end the investigation. No further facts, therefore, were supposed to come out.
The Cover-up
Although the Naval investigators and the Orange County coroner conducted various tests that Bryan Burnett was able to use in his investigation, his conclusion was the exact opposite of theirs. He has categorically stated in his investigative report that Col. Sabow was murdered.
In 2003, Senators Pat Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, then respectively the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a joint letter to the FBI demanding that the investigation into Col. Sabow’s death be re- opened. In an amazing rebuff to the high- ranking senators, the FBI wrote back and effectively told the two senators that it had already conducted a review of the evidence surrounding Col. Sabow’s death and concluded that it was suicide.
The letter from the FBI’s assistant of the Office of Public and Congressional
Affairs, John Collingwood, emphasized that the absence of fingerprints on the weapon was not abnormal, that rarely are fingerprints found on weapons. Further, the FBI concluded that the evidence of Col. Sabow being bludgeoned was an injury from the gunshot wound and not from the bludgeon – exactly the opposite of what Bryan Burnett and other medical experts had found. The FBI dropped the case.
One of Dr. Sabow’s investigators was able to go to Camp Pendleton and get a look at the flight records for El Toro Marine Air Base. He learned from the records that on the morning of the murder, a shuttle helicopter landed at a re- mote area of El Toro’s air field somewhat close to the base housing. Witnesses said that four men dressed in civilian clothing emerged from the helicopter and crossed a vacant field toward the base housing area. Their landing spot was a far distance from the control tower but a near distance to the Sabow house.
In March of 1991, at the beginning of the investigation, both Dr. Sabow and Col. Sabow’s widow, Sally, were warned, with threats of dire sanctions, by General Adams that they should not speak to the news media.
In 2003, Dr. Sabow was able to get Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to attach an amend- ment to a military authorization bill requiring the Pentagon to re-open the in- vestigation. The Pentagon hired Dr. Jon Nordby, of Seattle, Washington, to re- investigate the killing. Nordby had been affiliated with the FBI in previous years
–a history that raised a red flag with Dr. Sabow. Because of his distrust of Nordby, he refused to turn over the shotgun to him: a rebuff that provided Nordby with an excuse to denounce Dr. Sabow. Nordby received a Ph.D. degree in 1977 from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Unsurprisingly, Nordby’s report con- firmed the military’s view that Col. Sabow committed a suicide. Nordby spent a substantial amount of time in his report attempting to ridicule Dr. Sabow. One expert who consulted for the Pentagon, Dr. Vincent DiMaio, had also concluded that Col. Sabow’s death was a suicide. Dr. Nordby referred to Dr. DiMaio’s re- port, saying that DiMaio “answered Dr. Sabow’s misleading and misdirected
questions with the evident frustration of a knowledgeable professional too busy to baby-sit fanatics – hoof beats, think horses, not zebras.”
According to his report, after Nordby took on the case for the Pentagon, he was called by Dr. Sabow, who told Nordby that he wanted to work with him. One might expect that this offer, coming from an experienced neurologist, in addition to his personal interest, might result in a positive contribution to the case. However, Nordby felt that Sabow was too emotional and that he had a predetermined outcome in mind – that his brother had been murdered. This prompted Nordby to hang up the phone during the conversation but not before he told Dr. Sabow
“what I thought and what I felt about this ignorant and biased unscientific attitude.”
(Emphasis added). Nordby also included in his report, “I was neither asked to baby sit family members in this case, nor to provide psychological therapy, no matter how desperately both interventions may be needed. These activities simply do not appear in the language of my contract.”
At another point in his report, Nordby responds to Dr. Sabow’s statement that a number of district attorneys and detectives plus one judge had all evaluated the evidence and had stated categorically that this was an obvious homicide. Nordby’s response was: “It is wise to remember that not all experts are equally expert on the same things. No one with forensic training who has examined the real evidence in this case has concluded that Col. Sabow was murdered. The physical and medical evidence points unequivocally toward suicide.”
At the request of the Pentagon, Nordby issued a supplemental report in August 2006, which did nothing more than affirm what he had said in his initial report. There was one added feature, however. On page 23 of his supplemental report, he placed in a box the following:
“The simple failure to find Osama Bin Laden in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2001 does not by itself mean that he was never there.” Similarly, “The simple failure to find GSR [gunshot residue] on Col. Sabow’s right hand in 1991 does not by itself mean that it was never there.” Neither in his report nor elsewhere does Dr. Nordby explain the difference between (a) a person capable of moving about to avoid detection and (
gunshot residue, which is incapable of moving about unless removed by outside forces, either by washing or by other means.
Applying Dr. Nordby’s logic, the simple failure to find fingerprints on the barrel of the shotgun used to kill Col. Sabow does not by itself mean that they were never there.
In his new report, Dr. Nordby also makes much of what he calls “voids” on Col. Sabow’s bathrobe – meaning clean areas on the bathrobe that are devoid of bloodstains. He attributes such voids to those areas having been covered by Col. Sabow’s arms at the time of the shotgun blast. The drawings he made of the bath- robe in his report show that Col. Sabow’s left arm certainly could have covered the left part of the bathrobe, thereby, pre- venting blood spatters from hitting that part of the bathrobe which his left arm apparently covered when the gun was fired.
However, Nordby exposes a major flaw in his own investigation by including his diagram of the position of Col. Sabow’s right arm relative to the bath- robe, which shows the right arm coming across his chest, downward, in a position that Nordby says would allow the colonel to reach the trigger mechanism of the shotgun. In this new scenario plotted by Nordby, he would have Col. Sabow holding the shotgun between his legs, rather than alongside his right leg, in order to fit the location of the “void” created by his right arm across his bathrobe. Unwittingly, Dr. Nordby’s diagram showing the location of the “void,” or the clean area of the bathrobe covered by his right arm, specifically disproves suicide, pro- viding even more evidence of a murder. The suicide scenario posited by the Naval Investigative Service and the Pentagon, and not refuted by Dr. Nordby in his initial report, was that Col. Sabow was seated, with his left hand holding the muzzle of the shotgun in his mouth, the gun placed alongside and outside of his right leg with his right hand pulling the trigger. In this scenario, the colonel’s right arm could not possibly have covered the bathrobe in the place that Nordby specifies. His arm would have been along the right side of the bathrobe, and not the front, which is where Nordby diagrams it. But to justify his suicide theory, in his supplemental report he was compelled to create a scenario where Col. Sabow held the gun between his legs, and not along- side his right leg – a shift of 180 degrees
from his assumption in his first report. Dr. Nordby seems unable to explain
away the staged murder scene, the colonel’s crushed skull, the neatened up bath- robe, or the absence of gunshot residue on his right hand.
Questions Not Answered, Case Not Closed
The murder of Col. Sabow, the flawed investigation by the military, and the cover-up together raise many more questions than there are answers. Why was this Marine hero murdered? Why did the military investigators carelessly rush to judgment on how he died? Why have the Pentagon and the FBI made such great efforts to cover up the fact that he was murdered?
More importantly, what are they hiding?
It is not an exaggeration to say that the Marine Corps has no interest in exposing their senior officers, nor is it a reach to understand why the military has no interest in exposing their part in illegal arms shipments or illegal drug running, even if the commander in chief had initially ordered the weapons shipments.
Whatever the reason for the cover-up, the result was the murder of a member of the United States Marine Corps who served his country honorably, as he had sworn to do, as well as a blot on the reputation of the United States military.
Footnote: For those who have a hard time believing that George H.W. Bush could be involved in covert operations, one must consider his experience. He was director of Central Intelligence in the 1970s, and was vice president during the Iran- Contra business in the 1980s. If you re- member, at that time, he vehemently denied having anything to do with meeting with the Iranians with respect to trading weapons for hostages. He was, as he said,
“out of the loop.”
Not long after that denial, and during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s investigation of the matter, I was contacted by a Foreign Relations Committee staff member who asked what I knew about Bush’s {to use Sr. to avoid confu- sion?] involvement. I knew nothing, but I called Beirut and talked to Bassem Abu Sharif, who was then Yasir Arafat’s top aide. Abu Sharif held me to secrecy, then told me that he was present when Bush and Arafat attended a meeting in Abu Sharif’s Beirut home that dealt with trading weapons for hostages.
I asked him why Arafat wouldn’t make that public, as it was a hot news item at the time, and his response was that Arafat
“didn’t want to anger the Americans.”
James G. Abourezk is a lawyer practicing in South Dakota. He is a former United States senator and the author of two books, Advise and Dissent, and a co- author of Through Different Eyes. He can be reached at georgepatton@alyajames. net.
April 1-15, 2008
Note: The aircraft in the article, in reference to El Toro, was stated as being C-123's. when in fact they were C-130's. The refuling receipts reflect this and are contained within classified files along with the aircraft I.D. numbers as well as names of most of the flight crews and cargo kickers. The reference to C-123's came from a load master who knew about Berry Seal's 'Fat Lady" which was later shot down in Nicaragua which launched the Iran-Contra affair. One of the C-130's used in the "Interdiction program, was named "The Iron Butterfly". and was reg. at one time as a air tanker used by the Forest Service as a contract supplier. ( reference CBS 60 Minutes, "Our Planes are Missing".) This aircraft was based in Arizona south of Phoenix and later near Hemmit CA before it went to Angola on a classified mission. (documented)
Supporting references as to above article:
from article:
"... When, in the 1980s, the 82nd and 101st Airborne were sent to Costa Rica for maneuvers, a great deal of weapons were sent with them. However, some of the weapons did not return to the United States and were later taken off the books by the military, marked as either lost or destroyed and reported to the Government Accounting Office as such. Plumlee and other pilots have testified to Congress that they were working for a secret U.S. military intelligence operation that clandestinely sent them from the United States to bring back the so-called damaged and disappeared weapons for
retrofitting and repair. ...".
From a 2003 Pentagon Report: (supporting reference to above section of May 15th 08 Counter Punch article)
"... Military waste under fire: $1 trillion missing
May 18, 2003, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...18/MN251738.DTL
The Department of Defense, already infamous for spending $640 for a toilet seat...couldn't account for more than a trillion dollars in financial transactions, not to mention dozens of tanks, missiles and planes. The nonpartisan General Accounting Office has raised the volume of its perennial complaints about the financial woes at Defense, which recently failed its seventh audit in as many years. "Overhauling DOD's financial management operations represent a challenge that goes far beyond financial accounting," GAO chief David Walker told lawmakers. Recent government reports suggest the Pentagon's money management woes have reached astronomical proportions. A GAO report found Defense inventory systems so lax that the U.S. Army lost track of 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units. When military leaders were scrambling to find enough chemical and biological warfare suits to protect U.S. troops, the department was caught selling these suits as surplus on the Internet "for pennies on the dollar," a GAO official said.
"We are overhauling our financial management system," said Dov Zakheim, the Pentagon's chief financial officer. "The Pentagon has failed to address financial problems that dwarf those of Enron," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles. Gregory Kutz, director of GAO's financial management division [said] "I've been to Wal-Mart. They were able to tell me how many tubes of toothpaste were in Fairfax, Va. And DOD can't find its chem-bio suits." Opposition to defense spending is portrayed as unpatriotic. Legislators are often more concerned about winning Pentagon pork than controlling defense waste. ....". (end)
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Seems that "shotgunning" became a derigeur method of suiciding military officers, if the case of Admiral Jerry Boorda is also considered. Very interesting that his former CNO was Admiral Zumwalt, methinks ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Michael_Boorda ).
But apologies for detracting from the Sabow case that has always interested me.
Tosh, did you ever fly in to El Toro?
David
You asked. "... Tosh, did you ever fly into El Toro? ...".
Yes. more than once.
The details of those flights and others were given under sworn testimony to Senator John Kerry, Senator Gary Hart, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Aug of 1990, and again in May of 1991, in reference to the Iran-Contra investigations and the secret airbase located at Santa Elena CR. Shortly thereafter, the information and testimony was "Classified Top Secret; Committee Sensitive" in the interest of "National Security".
In 1999 a request to declassified was submitted but was not granted because of National Security (compromising methods and proceedures). In 2000 a detailed FOIA request was filed to various agencies; in reference to the 1990 and 1991 testimony , but no respond as to documentation was forwarded. In 2002 a letter was received from DoD advising how to request declassification of government documents.
Thanks for the link. I found it very interesting. I forwarded it to Dr David Sabow... Col. James Sabow's brother.
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Deleted duplicate post on 05-11-08 19:40 PDT by T. Mauro
http://www.wethepeople.la/cockburn.htm (link to complete Civ. Action # No. 88-0727)
Referenced: The book "Out of Control by Leslie Cockburn 1987" as well as CBS 60 Min. producer Ty West, 1987
".... Richard V. SECORD, Plaintiff,
v.
Leslie COCKBURN, et al., Defendants.
Civ. A. No. 88-0727-GHR.
United States District Court,
District of Columbia.
Aug. 27, 1990
Thomas C. Green, Sharp, Green & Lankford, W. Michael Kramer, Kramer &
Associates, Michael P. McDonald, Center for Individual Rights, Washington,
D.C., for plaintiff. .....
con't
[i]( My notation: The body of this Law suit is 52 pages..... last ten pages of primary interest as to the Regan/Bush/Clinton Drug War of the 80's and 90's
note: This law suit I feel is very revealing and should be used as a reference guide to established facts as to illegal activities conducted over many years in behalf of various agencies of the United States government. It shows a referenced network of illegal activities of 'special interest',and the activities of their lobbyist to circumnavigate the law for their profits at the expense of the American tax payer.
The context of this civil action establishes a patten of deceit which dates back forty plus years as to special interest activities of various administrations within the powers of the White house and its National Security apparatus of the times.
I have not copied the complete body of the work. You can find it on the Web at the link above. However I have copied the last few pages as a reference for serious researchers.
I'm sure some will say, "What does this have to do with the JFK?". My reply.. If you cross check some of the names and operations found in this civil action you will be lead back to JM/WAVE and connected players of the early sixties and beyond and too, the CIA including Bush Sr. CIA Director before becoming President.. Special note reference to "THE DRUG WAR and SECRET AIR BASES in CENTRAL AMERICA)
Selected last pages of the Body of law suit:[/i]
"......... See generally Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at pp 33-43. The
defendant makes the showing that she relied upon many sources which
independently corroborate the statement of the unidentified "observer" whom the
plaintiff characterizes as unreliable. As paragraph 37 of her affidavit
provides:
As I testified at my deposition (Leslie Cockburn Dep. at
221-25) it had also been widely reported prior to the publication of Out of
Control that the programs that Mr. Secord oversaw involved massive bribery.
For example, the Iran-Contra Connection, a book published in 1987 prior to
publication of my book and relied upon by me, reported that:
"In Iran, Hakim made a handsome living selling military
equipment from such firms as Olin Corp., Hewlett-Packard and his own Stanford
Technology Corp. Hakim's STC had a $5.5 million contract to supply the
notorious, CIA-promoted IBEX project, which Secord oversaw. Secord reportedly
helped Hakim win another, $7.5 million contract with Iran's air force for a
sophisticated telephone monitoring system to allow the Shah to keep track of
his top commanders' communications. The Shah's secret police, SAVAK, operated
the equipment. Hakim's business methods were as controversial as his products:
He arranged the latter communications deal through the air force commander,
Gen. Mohammed Khatemi, who Hakim bribed on at least one other deal and who also
received hefty payoffs for approving the IBEX contract." (Exh. 33.)
* * * * * *
"In the most notorious case, the CIA and Rockwell International
pushed on Iran a gigantic electronic spying and communication system called
IBEX....
"The IBEX project smelled for other reasons beyond its
doubtful contribution to Iran's defensive needs. Rockwell paid huge bribes to
Iran's air force commander (and the Shah's brother-in-law), Gen. Mohammed
Khatami, to win approval for the $500 million project. Other military
contractors, including Bell Helicopter, Northrop and Grunman, hired agents who
bribed Iranian officials with handsome commissions, often amounting to millions
of dollars." (Exh. 35) (footnotes omitted) (Iran-Contra Connection at 153).
* * * * * *
"Secord headed the Air Force Military Advisory Group, which in
effect represented the U.S. arms merchants before the Shah.... That job would
have given Secord a direct role (with the CIA) in the shady deal of IBEX...."
(Exh. 35) (Iran-Contra Connection at 156) (footnotes omitted).
I also read and relied upon: Los Angeles Times, February 14,
1987 ("One source who knew him said Secord helped Hakim get Air Force
contracts, including one from the Iranian government for 15 million to install
phone taps at the main Iranian Air Force base. In turn, Hakim provided
intelligence to his contacts among U.S. intelligence officers in Iran.")
(Exh. 40); P. Maas, Manhunt at 59 (Edwin "Wilson had tried to sell the
Iranians [a surveillance system], using the good offices of General Secord in
Teheran, but despite Secord's best efforts, SAVAK wasn't in the market ...")
(Exh. 41); S. Rosenfeld, San Francisco Examiner, December 9, 1986 (linking
both Hakim and Secord to the IBEX project and describing Hakim as a "bag man
for U.S. concerns seeking approval from Iranian officials on military sales")
(Exh. 42).
Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at p 37 (footnote omitted).
Furthermore, paragraph 34 specifically details the basis of the author's
assertion that General Secord did head the Air Force Military Assistance
Advisory Group in Iran in the late 70's:
As one published source stated: "According to his Pentagon
biography Secord 'acted as chief advisor to the commander in chief of the
Iranian air force and managed all U.S. Air Force programs to Iran as well as
some Army and Navy assistance programs.' " J. Marshall, P. Scott and J.
Hunter, Iran-Contra Connection at 156 (Exh. 35). The MAAG, whose Air Force
contingent was headed by Secord, according to the authors "in effect
represented the U.S. arms merchants before the Shah." Id.
"Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi himself complained that he
sometimes was unable to tell whether various weapons systems were promoted to
further U.S. policy or to generate profits for defense contractors and fees for
their representatives....
" 'You Americans pretend to be so righteous,' fumed the
ruler when U.S. Senate investigators were alleging corruption by Iranian
military commanders in connection with defense contractors.
" 'But,' he continued in the presence of a high American
official, 'it is hard for me to believe that your MAAG officers (the military
advisory group at the U.S. Embassy) haven't already been hired by American
companies and aren't under their influence.... Are they giving me real advise
or just promoting companies?' " Los Angeles Times, 2/3/80. (Exh. 36).
Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at p 34.
The plaintiff has not cited to any record facts to demonstrate that the
author either knew that the above sources were wrong or had serious doubt as to
their credibility. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit has held that "good faith reliance on previously published sources" as
to the matters at issue "precludes a finding of actual malice as a matter of
law." Liberty Lobby v. Dow Jones, 838 F.2d at 1297.
In regard to the defendant's statements concerning "official profiteering" in
Iran, the plaintiff himself has agreed to an operative definition of the phrase
"official profiteering"; in his deposition the plaintiff admitted that if
there were price differences between the cost of the weapons to the United
States and their subsequent sale to the Iranians then those differences would
constitute "official profiteering" unless actually incurred expenses justified
the cost differentials. Secord Deposition (II) (attached to Ringel Affidavit )
at 21-30.
The author's affidavit provides:
It was well-known that the Shah was paying inflated prices for
U.S. equipment at this time and I had seen several documents demonstrating
this. For example, as noted in The Iran-Contra Connection at 156,
"Erich von Marbod, [who] had worked closely with Secord to
arrange covert financing for CIA-directed Thai guerillas fighting in Laos in
the early 1970s ... championed the Carter administration's controversial
proposal to sell Iran 8 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes, a
system blasted by the General Accounting Office as too advanced for Iran's
needs and overpriced." (Exh. 35)
The AWACS planes were to have been sold to the Iranians at
$102.671 million each (in addition to a separate $510.2 million contribution
for spares, maintenance support, site surveys and training) under a 1977
contract; a year later, the United States Air Force bought more sophisticated
versions of the same plane for $78.1 million each. T. Gervasi, Arsenal of
Democracy II (1981) ("Arsenal ") at 137. (Exh. 43.) The Khomeni government
cancelled Iran's order, and the planes were never delivered. Id. at 272.
Other military equipment sold or delivered to Iran by the
United States during Mr. Secord's tenure as head of the Air Force MAAG in
Teheran (1975-8) was similarly overpriced as compared to sales to other allies
or to the United States armed services. In 1974, Iran ordered several hundred
AIM 54-A air-to-air missiles for delivery in 1976 through 1978 at a cost of
$708,000 each; the 1976 unit procurement cost to the United States Navy of the
same missiles was $363,823. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute,
World Armament and Disarmament (1978) ("World Armament " ) at 264 (Exh. 44);
Arsenal at 213. Also in 1974, Iran ordered 80 F-14A Tomcat aircraft for
delivery in 1976 and 1977 at a price of $23.750 million each; in 1978, the
unit procurement cost to the United States military was $20.624 million each.
World Armament at 265; Arsenal at 97. In 1978, Iran ordered (and later
cancelled) 160 F-16 aircraft at $14.844 million each; the cost of the same
aircraft to the United States military in 1978 was $9.482 million each.
Arsenal at 272, 283. Iran ordered (and later cancelled) August 1978 delivery
of 186 AIM-9H air intercept missiles for $75,268 each; the 1975 unit
procurement *792 cost to the United States Navy was $17,176 each. Arsenal at
211, 272.
Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at p 41.
The plaintiff has failed to come forward with any record facts to put the
defendant's showing of an absence of evidence on the element of actual malice
into dispute; a reasonable jury would be unable to find under the clear and
convincing standard that the defendant acted with knowing or reckless disregard
for the truth.
3. La Penca Bombing
In regard to the defendant's statements involving the attempted assassination
of Contra leader Eden Pastora at La Penca, see footnote 1 and accompanying
text, supra, the defendant's affidavit provides:
Mr. Secord's name is not used, nor is he referred to by
implication, in connection with La Penca. I did not intend to state that, nor
did I understand the book to accuse Mr. Secord of, playing a role in the La
Penca assassination attempt.
Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at p 18. Although the plaintiff deposed the author
for two full days, he has not been able to point to any record facts to put
into dispute her showing of an absence of evidence in the plaintiff's libel
claim to support the element of actual malice in any implication of the
plaintiff in the La Penca assassination attempt.
The plaintiff contends that the fact that the defendant made her statements
in regard to the La Penca bombing on the basis of an affidavit filed by Danny
Sheehan in Avirgan v. Hull is evidence of actual malice. However, the
plaintiff can point to no record facts to demonstrate that the defendant knew
that the Sheehan affidavit was false or that she had serious doubt as to its
truth.
The plaintiff points to the "paste over page 103 containing the corrections
regarding the alleged involvement of former State Department official Richard
Armitage in drug trafficking." Plaintiff's Opposition at 37. The plaintiff
is referring to the fact that after publication of Out of Control the Sheehan
affidavit in Avirgan v. Hull was amended to delete the portions upon which
Leslie Cockburn relied for certain allegations concerning Richard Armitage. At
the request of Armitage a sticker was affixed in the unshipped copies to the
two pages of the book which discussed Mr. Armitage. That sticker explained the
post-publication withdrawal of Sheehan's original affidavit. (FN9) Entrekin
Affidavit at p 16; Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at p 17.
The plaintiff's reliance on the Armitage "paste-over" as a fact to show
that the defendant knew the Sheehan affidavit was false or that she had serious
doubt as to its truth is fundamentally misplaced. The Sheehan affidavit was
amended after publication of Out of Control and does not show that at the time
of publication that the defendant knew the affidavit was false or had serious
doubt as to its truth. To argue that evidence of actual malice exists by the
mere fact that subsequent events determine the falsity of a source or statement
would be tantamount to conflating the actual malice and falsity elements of a
libel action. Accordingly, it is hornbook libel law that post-publication
events have no impact whatever on actual malice as it bears on this lawsuit
since the existence or non-existence of such malice must be determined as of
the date of publication. See, e.g., Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United
States, Inc., 466 U.S. 485, 512, 104 S.Ct. 1949, 1965, 80 L.Ed.2d 502 (1984)
(evidence must establish that defendant "realized the inaccuracy at the time of
publication"); New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. at 286, 84 S.Ct. at
729 (1964) (malice must be shown "at the time of publication"); Sharon
v. Time, Inc., 599 F.Supp. 538, 564 (S.D.N.Y.1984) ("actual malice rests on the
defendant's state of mind at the time of the publication").
The plaintiff also contends that defendant's reliance on the Sheehan
affidavit is evidence of actual malice because several investigators and
reporters expressed significant doubts in an article in the February/March 1988
issue of Mother Jones about Sheehan's credibility and the veracity of his
allegations. Again, however, this article was published three months after the
publication of Out of Control and accordingly is not relevant to the author's
state of mind at the time of publication. Moreover, even assuming that the
article existed prior to or at the time of publication of Out of Control, and
that the defendant was aware that Sheehan had his detractors, the mere fact
that divided opinion exists among reporters as to the credibility of an
individual does not reflect on the defendant's state of mind and actual malice.
The plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that Ms. Cockburn was aware that other
reporters questioned the reliability of Sheehan. (FN10)
4. Drug Trafficking
This Court repeats that in order to defeat the defendants' motion for summary
judgment the plaintiff must come forward with "evidence in the record [that]
could support a reasonable jury finding that the plaintiff has shown actual
malice by clear and convincing evidence." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477
U.S. at 255-56, 106 S.Ct. at 2514. The plaintiff is unable to meet this
burden with respect to the defendant's statements of and concerning the
plaintiff about drug trafficking in Southeast Asia and in Central America. See
footnote 2 and accompanying text, supra.
The plaintiff contends that "[t]he statements regarding plaintiff's alleged
involvement in drug trafficking in Southeast Asia are drawn from the Sheehan
affidavit and its unnamed sources." Plaintiff's Opposition at 39. (FN11)
The plaintiff states that defendant's reliance on the Sheehan affidavit is a
fact which is illustrative of actual malice. Again, however, the plaintiff
fails to point to any record facts to demonstrate how reliance on the Sheehan
affidavit is probative of defendant's state of mind and actual malice at the
time of publication of Out of Control. See Part 3, supra (this Court's
discussion of the Sheehan affidavit).
The defendant's affidavit provides that with respect to her statements in
regard to drug trafficking in Southeast Asia she relied on much more than the
Sheehan affidavit. The defendant in her affidavit provides a detailed showing
of the absence of evidence to support the element of actual malice in
plaintiff's libel suit on these statements. Her affidavit provides:
Both Vang Pao's and Air America's involvement in opium
trafficking, and the CIA's sponsorship of Vang Pao, were well documented by
accounts I had read prior to publication and which I credited. Those accounts
included A. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia (1972); former CIA
agent Victor Marchetti's The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence (1974); C.
Robbins, Air America: The Story of the CIA's Secret Airlines (1979); and R.
McGehee, Deadly Deceits: My 25 Years in the CIA (1983). These accounts established that
Vang Pao had established a heroin laboratory at Long Tieng--the town where the CIA had its
Laotian quarters (Politics of Heroin at 248-49 and n. 23, 281 and 247: "the U.S. Bureau of
Narcotics reports that Gen. Vang Pao, Commander of the CIA's Secret Army, has
been operating a heroin factory at Long Tieng, headquarters for CIA operations
in northern Laos" (Exh. 32); Air America at 138, 232, 237-38) (Exh. 31); that
the CIA turned a blind eye (or, to use the phrase of Mr. Secord's complaint as
to other matters, "acquiesced in and condoned") towards Vang Pao's narcotics
activities (Air America at 230, 237 ("[w]hile the Meo fought the war for the
CIA, the agency turned a blind eye to their generals' profitable sideline in
opium") (Exh. 33; Cult of Intelligence at 254 (Exh. 34); Politics of Heroin
at 353 (Exh. 32) ("American involvement has gone far beyond coincidental
complicity; embassies have covered up involvement by client governments, CIA
contract airlines have carried opium, and individual CIA agents have winked at
opium traffic"); and the CIA Airline, Air America, carried opium to Long Tieng
and other locations. Id. These books are well respected and credible, and I
believed (and believe today) that the accounts I have referred to are accurate.
(The pages I refer to from these books in this affidavit are attached as Exhs.
32-34.)
Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at p 31; see also Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at p 32.
In regard to the "the allegations and implications of plaintiff's
alleged participation in drug trafficking in Central America" the only fact to
which the plaintiff points is that a number of the author's sources are
convicted felons. (FN12) The plaintiff apparently is advancing the argument
that anything a convicted felon states is false and accordingly any reliance on
such statements ipso facto constitutes evidence of actual malice. This Court
cannot accept such reasoning. The use of convicted felons cannot alone
constitute a fact of actual malice. Rather, the plaintiff must specifically
establish that there were surrounding circumstances in relying upon a
particular felon as a source which would constitute evidence of a knowing or
reckless disregard of the truth (i.e., the author knew that the particular
felon had a long history of unreliability as a source). The caselaw is clear
that the plaintiff must establish that even in relying upon an otherwise
questionable source the defendant actually possessed subjective doubt. St.
Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. at 730, 88 S.Ct. at 1325; Price v. Viking Penguin,
881 F.2d at 1441; Hardin v. Santa Fe Reporter, 745 F.2d at 1325-26; Loeb v.
New Times Communications, 497 F.Supp. at 93. The plaintiff has pointed to no
record facts to put at issue whether the defendant knew that the allegations of
her sources were false or had serious doubt as to the truth of their
allegations. (FN13)
As the record facts illustrate, the defendant relied upon many
sources other than convicted felons. Her sources included a United States
Senator, Senate staff members, Oliver North's notebooks and testimony before
Congress, and other published sources. See Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at pp
25-28.
Paragraph 25 of her affidavit provides, in part:
[O]n September 24, 1986, the Costa Rican Interior Minister
(Santa Elena is in Costa Rica) announced that his government had discovered and
shut down an airfield (Santa Elena) that he stated had been used for
resupplying the Contras, for drug trafficking or for both. This announcement
was reported in the September 25, 1986 edition of the New York Times (Exh. 12),
which I saw and was subsequently discussed in the Report of the Congressional
Committees investigating the Contra Affair ("Iran-Contra Report") at 142-44
(Exh. 13.) I was also aware that Lewis Tambs, the then-U.S. Ambassador to
Costa Rica was concerned in mid-1986 about the possibility of drug traffickers
using Santa Elena. I knew, for example, that CIA station chief Thomas Castillo
had testified in May, 1987 in his Iran-Contra deposition that Ambassador Tambs
wanted to place armed guards at Santa Elena to avoid the possibility of having
drug traffickers use that site. See Exh. 14 (Castillo Cong. Deposition at 483;
later released by Congress.) Thus, there was a substantial body of
information linking the Santa Elena airstrip, built with Mr. Secord's
assistance, to drug flights. (FN14)
Paragraph 28 provides in part:
I did, of course, have substantial evidence that there were
links between Contra activities generally and drug running. I spoke
with Senate Subcommittee on Narcotics[, Terrorism and International Operations
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee] members and staff on numerous
occasions prior to publication of Out of Control. Indeed, I reported on the
subcommittee's investigation, which began in the Spring of 1986, in three CBS
broadcasts prepared and broadcast prior to publication of Out of Control. In
addition to the information discussed above, I was aware of a good deal of
information linking the Contra resupply efforts and drug trafficking. For
example:
I was aware that portions of Oliver North's notebooks,
which had been produced by North to the Iran-Contra Committee in 1987,
contained a number of references to drugs or drug-smuggling and that the Senate
Subcommittee on *796 Narcotics intended to subpoena them. These diaries, and
several memoranda that I had seen prior to publication (see, e.g., Exh. 20
(memorandum from Rob Owen to Oliver North, dated April 1, 1985, discussing
"Blackie" Chamorro at p. 3)), reflected that Oliver North--Mr. Secord's contact
with the government in connection with what Mr. Secord has called "The
Enterprise"--was warned repeatedly of drug connections on the part of Contra
leaders and arms suppliers.
As detailed in my July 1987 broadcast for West 57th, two
companies, Ocean Hunter and Frigorificos de Puntarenas, that received over
$200,000 from the State Department for "humanitarian aid" to the Contras, were
deeply involved in cocaine trafficking. My sources for this link included FBI
documents, on-camera interviews, bank records, customs documents, sworn
testimony given to the Kerry Committee, and interviews with defense lawyers,
DEA bounty hunters, and Coast Guard officials, among others. State Department
documents that I had reviewed showed that Robert Owen, who worked directly
under Oliver North in the Contra resupply operation, was overseeing the Ocean
Hunter/Frigorificos accounts while the companies were under active
investigation by the DEA, Customs and the Coast Guard.
A number of newspaper reports published prior to the
release of Out of Control, some quoted in the book, reported allegations of
drug flights being made in connection with the contra effort. (See e.g., Ex.
27.) Many of these articles reported on pending congressional or other
investigations on this subject. See, e.g., "Top 'Contras' Under Scrutiny for
Corruption," Christian Science Monitor, 4/11/86; "2 Hill Panels Probing
Alleged Links Between Contras and Drug Trafficking," Washington Post, 8/8/87;
"U.S. Probing Drug Link to CIA's Flights: Officials Suspect Drug Runners Used
CIA Contra Supply Flights," Boston Globe, 4/25/87; "Inquiry Reported Into
Contra Arms," New York Times, 4/11/86; "Cocaine, Gun Charges Probed,"
Washington Post, 4/11/86; "Four Legislative Panels Study Accusations Against
Contras," Miami Herald, 5/14/86; "Big Bay Area Cocaine Ring Tied to Contras,"
San Francisco Examiner, 3/16/86.
This Court will not quote all of these newspaper articles but quotes one as
part of the defendant's showing in the record that there is an absence of
evidence to support the element of actual malice in the plaintiff's libel claim
in regard to defendant's statements that Contra activities and the activities
of drug traffickers are intimately connected. The April 11, 1986 article in
the Christian Science Monitor provides:
[C]onservative Representative Charles Stenholm (D) of Texas, ...
voted for contra aid. Despite his vote, he is also very concerned about the
allegations of corruption in the contras.
"There is no doubt in my mind that an overwhelming majority of
the members of the House want to stop communism in Nicaragua," he says. "But
the question is: How do you do it? These allegations are troubling, and I
think they are credible. I have spoken to the President, the vice-president,
and the secretary of state about them. We were very much aware of Sandinista
involvement in drugs, which has been well documented. What we did not know is
that maybe the contras are doing it, too."
The congressman, when asked, stated that it was his
understanding that one top FDN leader closely linked to FDN chief Calero was
being investigated by the US Customs Service for charges of alleged involvement
in drug trafficking.
* * * * * *
[John] Mattes [an attorney in the U.S. Public Defenders Office]
also said that in his interviews he discovered "convincing allegations" of
contra gunrunning and drug trafficking.
"A number of very serious allegations have surfaced which
suggests that those involved in the contra movement have engaged in a wide
range of criminal activities in the US and in the region," Senator Kerry told the Monitor.
"The very serious nature of these allegations strongly suggests
the need for a detailed and complete congressional inquiry."
Moreover, the defendant has further shown that there is an absence of
evidence in the record of actual malice behind any statement by the defendant
that the plaintiff himself was aware of the connection between drugs and guns
in the contra supply effort. The defendant's affidavit provides in part:
A prime example of this acquiescence is reflected by the use in
the Contra resupply operation of Contra commander Fernando ("Blackie" or "El
Negro") Chamorro despite knowledge by Oliver North, Rob Owen and Mr. Secord
that he had ties to drug traffickers. As I reported in Out of Control at 88,
Chamorro had been identified by Rob Owen in an April 1, 1985 memorandum to
Oliver North as a problem drinker who surrounded himself with profiteers and
drug runners. (Exh. 20). In an August, 1987 pre-publication telephone
interview I asked Mr. Secord about these allegations and he confirmed that he
had "heard those allegations" and "most of them are true." My notes of
this conversation (which are annexed as Exh. 30) [footnote omitted] read:
"when asked why Blackie Chamorro was chosen as the leading
commander for the southern front in light of Rob Owens memo to North about
drinking, drug trafficking, and stealing money from the USG) 'all we were was a
trucking company. I've heard those allegations. Most of them are true. I
didn't pick them. (the commandantes) the Agency picked them."
(I understand that in his deposition Mr. Secord confirmed the
accuracy of this quotation. Secord Dep. (II) at 244.)
I had other information that supported my conclusion at the
time of publication that Mr. Secord had, in fact, acquiesced in or condoned
drug activity involving the Contras. At the time Out of Control was published
I also knew (because Mr. Secord had told me) that Mr. Secord had commissioned a
former F.B.I. agent in Miami to investigate drug charges involving another arms
dealer working with the Contras (Ronald Martin), and received a report from
this agent that such charges might well be true. Yet Mr. Secord did not pursue
these allegations. (See notes of my conversation with Mr. Secord. (Exh. 30.))
Leslie Cockburn Affidavit at pp 29, 30.
The plaintiff did not meet his burden of putting into dispute the defendant's
showing of an absence of evidence of actual malice. The plaintiff's burden was
to come forward with record facts from which a reasonable jury could find
pursuant to the clear and convincing standard that the defendant wrote Out of
Control with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth. The plaintiff was
unable to point this Court to a single fact and the defendant's showing of
absence of actual malice remains undisputed on this record. Accordingly, this
Court must also grant the defendant Leslie Cockburn's motion for summary
judgment.
It hereby is
ORDERED that the defendants' motion for summary judgment be, and the same
hereby is, GRANTED.
FN1. The specific passage in Out of Control to which the
plaintiff cites provides:
Shackley and Clines were, however, besmirched enough by their
associations with Wilson to be forced to resign from the CIA by Stansfield
Turner in 1979. They thereupon joined forces with two people whose names were
to become well known to Sheehan and, much later, to the press and public:
Richard Secord, at the time an active general officer in the U.S. Air Force,
and the Iranian-born arms dealer Albert Hakim.
According to the intelligence officer's story, this group began
shipping arms, ammunition, and explosives to the remnant of Somoza's National
Guard immediately after they escaped from Nicaragua and began to reform
themselves as the contras. Later on, the same cast of characters, employing
Quintero among others, delivered lethal supplies to contras in Costa Rica, in
part through John Hull. In fact it appeared that this group had been the main
suppliers of the contras from 1979 through 1980, and again from 1984 to 1986,
during the official cutoff of U.S. assistance.
Sheehan realized he was now getting very close to the background
to La Penca. Indeed, he was told that a close associate of Quintero's, a man
by the name of John Harper, had actually given a course in Honduras on the
construction of bombs identical to the one used at La Penca.
Out of Control at 96-97.
FN2. The plaintiff generally cites to the chapters in Out of
Control entitled "The Cocaine Connection" at pages 152-167 and "Guns for Drugs"
at pages 168-188. More specifically, the plaintiff challenges the following
passages:
Scandalous though the use of Hull's strips for drugs and arms
may seem, there was another airfield in Costa Rica reportedly being used for
drug trafficking, one that puts Oliver North and his associates in even closer
conjunction with the narcotics business. The secret airfield at Santa Elena
authorized by North and Secord, promoted by Ambassador Tambs, scouted by
Station Chief Fernandez and Robert Owens and Rafael Quintero was also,
according to several sources, a transshipment point for cocaine.
Seal told [Mickey Tolliver] that not only would the flying be
interesting, the pay would be good too. He told Tolliver to go to Miami and
call a particular number. The interesting flying, thought Tolliver, could be
"anything from Campbell's soup to dead babies, but knowing Seal, it involved
drugs." He had no idea however that he was stepping into the middle of the
secret contra supply network, and that his control agents would include,
according to Tolliver, at least one high-level operative in the
North-Secord-CIA operation: Rafael Quintero.
Out of Control at 177-78, 180. *797_ The plaintiff concedes that Out of Control does
not explicitly charge him with engaging in drug trafficking for personal profit. Rather, the
plaintiff contends that the book "clearly conveys to the average reader the
message that I would stand by and condone such activities within my
organizations." Affidavit of Richard V. Secord at p 35.
FN3. The book provides:
In 1976 Richard Secord turned up in Tehran, posted to run the
air force component of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group, the main
function of which was to advise the shah to buy lots of expensive American
weapons. Weapon sales promoted by Secord involved what one observer calls
"some of the biggest bribery in Iran."
The enormous U.S. weapons sales program to Iran was, in
addition, marked by a huge disparity between the prices paid by the Iranians
and what the U.S. military paid for identical equipment. This, as we shall
see, was not the last time the Iranians were to be subject to such official
profiteering. Secord's superior and partner in these efforts was Erich von
Marbod, who had now become the senior U.S. defense representative to Iran.
Handling bribes, or as he prefers to call it, baksheesh, was the
specialty of a man whom Secord first met in Iran and who was to become the
financial comptroller of Secord's complex business organization. Albert Hakim
was a middleman who would receive bribe money from defense contractors to be
paid to Iranian officials who were purchasing the weapons. Not all the money
would pass out of his control, however. As he later testified to the
Iran-Contra committees, Hakim was trusted by the shah's generals to invest
their ill-gotten gains in Switzerland, in accounts untraceable to the true
owners of the money.
It was in this period that the network began to set up its own
proprietaries, as private companies owned by the CIA are called. Some of these
were to become famous when the Iran-Contra scandal finally burst on America.
They included the Stanford Technology Corp. and Energy Resources. Others, such
as CSF Investments Ltd., were specifically Central American in their
orientation. This was hardly a coincidence, for in 1978 the network had made a
new and fateful connection.
Out of Control at 105.
FN4. The plaintiff was indicted on Iran-Contra charges on the
very day that he filed this libel action.
FN5. More fully, the plaintiff's opposition to the stay strongly concluded:
We conclude with the observation that absent compelling
circumstances, plaintiff Secord should not be deprived of a prompt adjudication
of his libel claim. A stay will serve only to perpetuate the libel and its
circulation at the expense of plaintiff's reputation. Libel is not a form of
protected speech, and defendants should not be provided with an indefinite
license to circulate for profit false and outrageous accusations about
plaintiff while only pretending to be hobbled in their ability to defend this
case. Ms. Cockburn and her codefendants surely understood the risks involved
in publishing ugly and unprovable allegations of criminal misconduct totally
unrelated to the Iran/Contra affair. Undoubtedly they thought that plaintiff
would be distracted by other concerns and not disposed to sue and that they
could therefore exploit plaintiff's predicament with impunity. That strategy
was ill-conceived, and it ought not to be rewarded with the imposition of an
indefinite stay which would serve only defendants' objectives.
Id. at 8-9.
FN6. Indeed, plaintiff's claim of a need for additional
discovery does not even contain a specific factual proffer of what he expects
to find. Rather, he asserts only general and conclusory statements that he
expects to find actual malice after more discovery. There has been no proffer
on who or what the plaintiff will discover to find facts which can establish
actual malice.
FN7. Andrew Cockburn's affidavit provides:
In May 1987 I began working with Leslie Cockburn, editing the
manuscript of Out of Control that she had prepared and submitted to Atlantic
Monthly Press ("AMP"). During the next several months I worked with Leslie
Cockburn editing and reorganizing the manuscript. I also helped my wife
incorporate into the manuscript new material that was becoming available on an
almost daily basis as a result of the ongoing investigation of the Iran-Contra
Committees (which were then in the process of holding hearings). All writing
suggestions that I made were read by and/or discussed with Leslie to assure
their accuracy.
Andrew Cockburn Affidavit at p 3.
The plaintiff's own deposition of defendant Andrew Cockburn
establishes that he was not involved in substantively writing Out of Control as
a "co-author":
BY MR. KRAMER:
Q. Did you redraft entire paragraphs in your own words?
MR. RINGEL: Objection to form.
THE WITNESS: What do you mean by redrafting? I recommended
that paragraphs be changed.
BY MR. KRAMER:
Q. Did you do any of the changing yourself?
A. You mean did I type them or what do you mean by doing them
myself?
Q. Did you rewrite any paragraphs of the book yourself?
A. I suggested to Leslie Cockburn that paragraphs be rewritten.
Sometimes I submitted ideas. I don't really know that I rewrote. *797_ Andrew Cockburn
Deposition at 42.
FN8. Indeed, a total failure to investigate does not establish
actual malice. See, e.g., St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. at 731, 88 S.Ct. at
1325; Tavoulareas v. Piro, 817 F.2d 762, 789-90 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 484
U.S. 870, 108 S.Ct. 200, 98 L.Ed.2d 151 (1987); Hardin v. Santa Fe Reporter,
Inc., 745 F.2d 1323, 1324 (10th Cir.1984). The plaintiff has cited this Court
to no caselaw providing that an author must clear her statements with the
subject of the book.
FN9. The "paste over" provides in part:
The discussion on these pages concerning Mr. Richard Armitage
was initially drawn from allegations filed by Daniel Sheehan and the Christic
Institute as counsel in a 1986 lawsuit. (See pp. 97, 262.) In June 1988, a
federal judge dismissed on summary judgment all of Sheehan's charges in the
1986 lawsuit. While Sheehan has appealed, Sheehan had on his own restated his
case shortly before the dismissal (and after the publication of this book) to
omit virtually all the allegations reported on these pages concerning Mr.
Armitage and all claims of evidentiary support. Mr. Armitage has consistently
and vigorously denied each and every one of Sheehan's allegations of wrongdoing
as "ludicrous" and "baseless."
FN10. The plaintiff contends that it is implausible that Ms.
Cockburn did not recall at her deposition whether she was aware that at the
time of publication of Out of Control other journalists were discovering
Sheehan's allegations without foundation. However, the plaintiff has the
affirmative duty to develop a record of actual malice in order to survive the
defendants' motion for summary judgment. For example, as part of preparing for
the Ms. Cockburn's deposition, the plaintiff could have interviewed journalists
who suspected the credibility of Sheehan to determine whether they had on prior
occasions discussed their views of Sheehan with Cockburn. Moreover, the
plaintiff could have produced accounts or articles critical of Sheehan which
were published prior to the time that Out of Control was published.
FN11. The defendant wrote in Out of Control that the "CIA Station [in Laos]
threw its weight behind one of the competing warlords, a certain Vang Pao" and
that Vang Pao engaged in opium trafficking, in part through the use of Air
America, the CIA's own proprietary airline. Out of Control at 100-102.
FN12. Much of plaintiff's discussion of actual malice, rather than pointing to
specific record facts, is simply conclusory argument. For example, the
plaintiff provides:
Again, the plaintiff expects to discovery that the defendants
purposefully distorted and exaggerated accounts of alleged drug trafficking by
persons indirectly linked to the Contra supply effort to make it appear,
falsely, that plaintiff and other members of Contra resupply were themselves
directly involved in such activity, in order to embarrass the Administration
and to influence public and Congressional opinion against further Contra aid.
Plaintiff's Opposition at 40. The plaintiff points to no record
basis to support his contention of what he expects to discover.
This Court further notes that when the author relies upon a
convicted felon as a source she points out that fact in Out of Control. See,
e.g., Out of Control at 168 (George Morales "jailed and eventually sentenced to
sixteen years in prison" for "the importation and sale of very large quantities
of cocaine"), 172 (Gary Betzner "was serving fifteen years on a drug charge
unrelated to his contra missions"), 178 (Geraldo Duran "served a brief jail
term in Costa Rica when apprehended with a 421-pound cocaine shipment bound for
the Bahamas") and 179 (Michael Tolliver "was serving a two-year drug sentence
on charges, as with Betzner and Morales, unrelated to CIA-White House-contra
affairs"). Accordingly, the defendant has provided a basis for the reader to
assess the credibility of the sources' allegations.
FN13. Ms. Cockburn's affidavit provides that she credited the
accounts that were detailed by these former convicted felons. Leslie Cockburn
Affidavit at pp 25 to 27. For example, as paragraph 26 of her affidavit
provides, the defendant had additional information and sources which in her
mind corroborated the credibility of Michael Tolliver:
[P]ilot Mickey Tolliver was interviewed on videotape for CBS
News and he said that his guns-for-drugs flights were carried out at the
request of Rafael Quintero. [Footnote omitted.] (A transcript is annexed as
Exh. 16.) Tolliver later repeated this story to Jack Blum (the chief
investigator for Senator Kerry's Subcommittee on Narcotics, Terrorism and
International Operations and Knut Royce (a Newsday correspondent) who published
Tolliver's story in Newsday in April 1987. (Exh. 17 is a computer print-out of
the article I read at the time of the publication.) After speaking to
Tolliver, we tracked the aircraft used by Tolliver to one Michael Palmer, a
known marijuana smuggler who, as an executive of a Florida firm named Vortex,
had received a State Department contract in early 1986 to ship Contra aid. (A
copy of a newspaper article dated March 22, 1987 relating to Vortex, with my
handwritten notes relating to the aircraft, is annexed as Exh. 18.) In my
mind this reinforced the credibility of allegations that linked drugs to
aspects of Contra supply. I believed Tolliver was telling the truth. A
further confirmation came from Shirley Brill, a former CIA employee and
long-time girlfriend of Thomas Clines, an individual who had worked with Mr.
Quintero and Mr. Secord. Ms. Brill alleged in March 1987 that Rafael Quintero
had business dealings with narcotics traffickers in south Florida. In a later
taped interview, Brill reiterated this statement. (A transcript of the
relevant portions of that tape are annexed as Exh. 19.)
FN14. The plaintiff does not dispute that he was involved in
the construction of the Santa Elena airstrip. Mr. Secord himself testified
before the Iran-Contra Committee in May 5-8, 1987 that he had been responsible
for the construction of the airstrip. Secord Cong. Testimony at 44, 62-64
(attached as Exhibit 9 to Leslie Cockburn Affidavit).
gunshot residue, which is incapable of moving 
Gary Hart
in JFK Assassination Debate
Posted · Edited by William Plumlee
This letter (attatchment) was in reference to events that were taking place through 1980-85, (Drug War) before Iran Contra became publicly known and befor GH started his 84 bid for President... He was st-up by the CIA_ CAG OMC Operation. The Secret Air Base at Santa Elena CR was being constructed and "The Fat Lady " Berry Seal's C-123 was stuck in the mud. A few months later, it was shot down with the loss of two crew members... hence secret Iran/Contra operations 'Supermarket and Enterprize" were exposed.