SARAH MCCLENDON'S WASHINGTON REPORT
10/20/92
IN THIS ISSUE
1. Are there really two different groups seeking the presidency?
2. Democrats in Congress joined Reagan-Bush in deal to
keep U.S. hostages until President Carter left office.
3. Reporter's death to be investigated on television.
4. Who were the Arms of the Octopus Squeezing the World?
5. Reagan-Bush Escape Public Blame for the Illegal War in Central America. Lawrence Walsh covers up
6. Henry Hyde Meets Henry Hyde.
The people of the U.S. may be the losers in the presidential campaign. At times it seems that the same money pot may be funding both political parties. Else, why does not the Democratic party come out with some of the scandals they know about George Bush's administration? Both sides appear to have been co-opted by the same blackmailers inside and outside government. The fact that the same people may be in control of both parties is a thought for the people to look into further in the years ahead. Change is what people seem to want in the majority. But will there be change? In some respects health, education and welfare policies there may be, but otherwise it may be more of the same.
More people will vote this time than ever before in U.S. history; the debates were too rigidly controlled; they were boring: they produced little new information; they cost a lot in time, effort, money, speculation but they were not worth it in the long run.
BELIEVABLE REPORTS ARE CTRCLING LIKE A NOOSE AROUND THE NECK OF GEORGE BUSH that he went to Paris in October of 1980 to make sure Iranians kept 52 American hostages 71 more days so that President Carter could not get credit for their deliverance. What the American people did not know before was that leading Democrats in Congress aided Bush by going along with him to Paris.
According to the pilot, Gunther Russbacher, now in prison in Missouri, those on the plane with Bush were Senator Robert Byrd, D, W. Va, former majority leader of the Senate and chairman of the Appropriations committee (Byrd denies that he went on this trip); Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D, IL, chairman of the House Ways and Means committee and an outstanding pusher of the North American Free Trade Agreement for President Bush. Rostenkowski is an employee of the CIA.
Other surprises among the group were Senators John Heinz, R. PA, and John Tower, R., TX, both of whom were killed in separate plane crashes in recent months! Richard Allen, advisor to President Reagan on foreign affairs, Robert MacFarlane, diplomatic runner in the negotiations with the Iranians from the start. He and Allen were present at a first meeting arranged by Senator Tower between the Reagan-Bush campaign committee and the Iranians. Also on the plane and playing an important part in those first negotiations were William Casey, chairman of the campaign committeel Bob Gates, CIA official and Bush pal, now the director of the CIA and another close Bush friend and 30-Year veteran of the CIA, Donald Gregg. Little known but extremely important as a messenger, money bearer and plotter was Dr. Earl Brian, who once bought UPI. There was one woman, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Bush associate, who also is a member of the CIA.
A half dozen or so other employes of the CIA were there for messenger, guard duty or for general observations. The pilot of the plane was Gunther Russbacher, high-born Austrian, whose father was long associated with international plots in Europe and clearly connected with the CIA. He was a member of Naval Intelligence who had high responsibilities in the CIA as well as being an ace pilot, linguist and with a photographic mind.
After the group landed, they disassembled into small groups for committee work of various kinds in different hotels. Bush went to a hotel to meet with the top-level Iranian officials. He got off the elevator, was seen by a group of people including the Israeli Intelligence officer, Arie Ben-Menashi. Bush then went into a room, then into an inner conference room. He only stayed in Paris a few hours, Gen. Maxwell Taylor called Russbacher from a European base. Bush was flown back to the U.S. in a different kind of plane, an SR-71, the Black Bird. The voyage was made in one hour and 45 minutes and the plane landed at McGuire Air Force base, New Jersey, rather than Andrews Air Force base in Washington, where too many people were watching the base.
The deal struck was that Iran was to buy spare parts and weapons from the U.S. which Iran desperately needed f for its war with Iraq. There was to be a third party to all this – Israel, which was to handle the actual weapons exchange. The U.S. hostages were released the minute after President Reagan was sworn into office.
From then on there were alibis erected among Secret Service, country clubs, golf courses, even Barbara Bush, to prove that Bush never left Washington. But on the trip back, there were cameras on the specially equipped SR-71 and pictures of Bush were filed away in secret military archives along with other computcr data showing that Bush was on board.
The pictures are now in the hands of persons who plan to release them before the Nov. 3 election. They prove something about integrity, credibility and character which Mr. Bush accuses Bill Clinton of lacking.
"UNSOLVED MYSTERIES," the television show with more than 33 million viewers, has started work on a, 30-minute show based on the life of reporter Danny Casolaro of Virginia, whose body was found in a bloody tub of water in his hotel room in West Virginia.
Casolaro had been working for a year on the case of the computer system owned by the Bill Hamiltons of Washington (the Inslaw company) and believed he had all the information he needed. He had been getting information from one main source with whom he sought to make one more contact in West Virginia. He had been there only from Thursday to Saturday when he was found dead.
He talked frequently after getting material with a source on a telephone at Leesburg, Va. This line was disconnected shortly after his death
In his book was found a wadded piece of paper with these names on it:
John Nichols who worked for Wackenhut on the Cabezon Indian reservation of California where the Promis software owned by Inslaw was put together; Fred Alvarez, once director of the project at the reservation.
Danny believed that the conspiracies to push through government their own special desires was 'like an octopus. The arms reached out to envelop top officials of the U.S. government and nations around the world. Their purpose was to use their talents, knowledge, influence and clout to serve their own financial interests and usually it meant big-money for them, not the people.
On Casolaro's list weres George Pender, Richard Helms, former head of the CIA; Dr. John Nichols, E. Howard Hunt; Ted Shackley; CIA veteran, Thomas Cline; Ray Cline of Washington's, Center for International Strategic studies; Dr. Earl Brian of Washington, the man who bought the UPI; Michael Riconosciuto; and Robert Bruce Nichols, no kin to Dr. Nichols.
Casolaro was found with both arms hacked to enable him to blood to death, with bruises on his body and three finger nails missing, indicating Middle Eastern-style torture. He had talked with a mysterious lawyer of West Virginia, who is impossible to contact.
Barbara Videnieks, chief of staff to Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, refused to come to the telephone to answer questions about the case. She said she knew nothing about a mysterious absence of the lawyer right after the reporter died. She sent word for Sarah McClendon to quit calling that office and pestering her with questions. She is the wife of another mysterious character, Peter Videnieks, who was the contracting officer at Justice who dealt with the Hamiltons when Justice was trying to obtain the equipment and later took possession of it, telling the Hamiltons they did not want to buy or lease it. But immediately Justice started selling it around the world. When Justice would not pay the Hamilitons for their equipment, they brought suit against Justice.
Videneks is now employed in a hidden job at U.S. Customs service having to do with operational procurement with "stings" setup to trap companies. If you ask to speak to him, Justice and Customs will act as if they never heard of such a character. But he is at Customs now.
Papers on the Casolaro case have been sent to the Investigative Center at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Several persons connected are alive and well; others are dead. It is ridiculous for the Bush government to think it can keep it a secret. It will all come out eventually.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DO NOT REALIZE THEY ARE BEING DECEIVED by President George Bush and company. If ever there was a case of a man not telling the , it is the president's refusal to tell the American public that he went to Paris in 1980 to arrange weapons for Iran in exchange for keeping 52 American hostages 71 more days. The president frequently in the past said he would never trade money for hostages and he did just this for those hostages in Lebanon. Only this week did he own up to trading hostages for money.
He should tell the truth that he was the commander of Black Eagle and other campaigns in Central America which were illegal whereby we provided arms and money to rebels in Nicaragua in exchange for narcotics to sell to get more money for covert activities. The President should own up to the fact it was he, not the CIA and not the Justice department who was the main motivating force behind using $5 billion of Agriculture funds as credit guaranties for Iraq to get nuclear, chemical and biological weapons from the U.S.
The President does not tell how Iran-Contra illegal operations in Latin America was run from his vice president's office throughout the 80s. Donald Gregg, CIA 30-year man was in the Bush office directing the operation. Oliver
North reported there. So did Felix Rodriguez. Bush set up bases for the CIA to operate which are still in operation. Bush was never questioned publicly about his part in Iran-Contra. Neither was President Reagan. Both have arranged to keep their actions in Iran-Contra from the public through promises with Lawrence Walsh, independent prosecutor, and with the press. Bush only this week, arranged to not be asked questions on Iran-Contra before he would go on shows with ABC's "Good Morning America," according to Cox News Service and in a widely published article by White House correspondent Julia Malone.
The truth is not what we are getting out of the White House from Presidential Candidate George Bush and Vice Presidential Candidate Dan Quayle, both hollering about Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton not being truthful.
THERE ARE TWO HENRY HYDES, both have a part in Intelligence matters. It was my mistake to say that Henry Hyde, Republican congressman from Illinois, 68, was the board member of veterans of the Office of Strategic Services of World War II, who is still having much to do with overseeing policy at the successor agency, the Central Intelligence Agency. That Henry Hyde is a New York city lawyer, 76, whose colleagues say he worked "in the days when a lot of intellectuals in this country did".
Congressman Henry J. Hyde is furious at my mistake designating him a veteran board member of the OSS. My informants say that he was also at the meetings, wearing ribbons and being influential. But he says he never went to such a meeting. He should know if he was there. Congressman Hyde says he does not know the other Henry Hyde. (his office was informed of the confusion)
Henry J. Hyde was in the Navy in World War II. He served as senior republican on the House Intelligence committee but resigned. He claims he has no close relationship with the CIA. I am glad to make the correction.
However, my informant was at the meeting. I declined to withdraw the report I made that Congressman Hyde elicited and obtained a promise from Chairman Lee Hamilton, D., Ind. of the House Task Force on October Surprise, that the group would clear President George Bush of going to Paris to cinch a deal of weapons for Iran in exchange for retaining American hostages to be delivered to President Ronald Reagan and not to outgoing President Jimmy Carter. Hyde says he made no such a deal and I must remember that Hamilton Is a Democrat. That makes no difference. Hamilton held a press conference to clear Bush before the investigation into the deal between the Reagan-Bush candidates for presidential office and the Iranians, had even started. Hamilton then admitted he had not interrogated witnesses or talked with his special attorney hired to Investigate the matter. Hyde was questioned about other obstructionis tactics in the House as a Republican leader on behalf of Bush administrations cover-up but denies all.