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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0314.072 1996-1998 , '4 Congressional Record~'m'~~~ ALLEGATIONS OF CIA PROVIDING DRUGS TO AMERICAN CITIES (House of Representatives -September 2 1996) RECEIVED ' n~-~------------- rr y [Page: H11579] t~te.____._....~0.1.3-9.7-__.-- Gounty Council Fc The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Cali omia [Ms. Waters] is recognized for 5 minutes. Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, as you know, I have been involved in trying to move the investigations that finally have been agreed to in order to get to the root of the facts and allegations that have been unveiled in the San Jose Mercury News under the heading'Dazk Alliance,' written by investigative reporter Gary Webb. It has been an interesting journey over the past two weeks. Over the past 2 weeks, not only have we begun to ask questions about these revelations; we aze bombazded with requests to send more information to individuals all around this Nation. I held a community meeting down in South-Central Los Angeles and reached out to about 75 community leaders. About 250 showed up. During the Congressional Black Caucus weekend here in Washington, I had a workshop. Over 3,000 people showed up at the workshop. This morning, I was up in Baltimore for the Human Rights Commission that was meeting there. Seven hundred people were there. This afternoon the Howard students rallied down neaz the Reflecting Pool. They had a good turnout. The major press has now gotten involved. Just this evening Tom Brokaw on NBC did quite an extensive piece. Included in that piece was John Kerry and information about his investigation. I have continued to reach out. People aze calling me with all kinds of information. I began to look in the azchieves, just to see what is there, and discovered some very interesting things. I decided to look in the diary that is in the azchives of Oliver North. I discovered that there was a notebook entry, for example, on a conversation with Robert Owen, who was his liaison with the Contras, dated August 9, 1985. The discussion covers a plane being used by Mario Calero, brother of the head of the FDN Adolpho Calero, based in New Orleans, to ferry supplies to the Contras in Honduras. This is what the notation said: 'Honduran DC-6 which is being used for runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into the United States.' These are his diary notations that aze in the archives. There are many more. It seems as it we aze going to spend many, many hours on this. Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield? Ms. WATERS. I yield to the gentleman from California. Mr. ROHRABACHER. If the gentlewoman would yield for a question, was the gentlewoman cleaz that Oliver North was noting that to move against it? Ms. WATERS. When I checked with the DEA, who he was supposed to give the information to, nobody has a Comm. Na 312 .,:fa. Dta 3 / 1. 72-- File 2--File No _ Ref. Tot fee s Ret. Date JUN 3 record. Mr. ROHRABACHER. It was a secret operation. He wouldn't be telling any one. Do any of the allegations being made, and obviously there are some very bad chazacters involved with drug dealing on various sides of various issues, but did any of these drug shipments go through Mena Airport at a time when President Clinton was Governor of Arkansas? Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, we are going to find out exactly where they went. What is interesting about one of the introductions to the John Kerry committee report was, everybody knew that there were drug runs. Several agencies of the Federal Government had distinct knowledge that drugs were being flown into the United Stales, and the proceeds were being used to fund the Contras. My point is this: Whether the CIA or the DEA or the Justice Department or anybody knew and did nothing, turned their heads, allowed it to go on, or directly participated in it, they are guilty of undermining the citizens of this country. They aze guilty of creating the devastation of many of the communities in this country. We are going to proceed with these investigations. I am going to spend considerable time looking in the archives, going through Oliver North's diaries, looking at information that surfaced in newspapers during the period of time this was going on. We are going to get to the bottom of this. I am pleased about the involvement now of many of our churches, schools that aze coming on line, universities that are getting interested, community groups that aze calling from all over. People are calling from the so-called right and the left. We have citizens who say, 'Ms. Waters, I do not agree with you on a lot of things, but I agree with you on this. We want you to stick with it, to stay with it. We aze outraged at the idea that our government could have known, could have been involved with this, could have been a part of a plot.' Mr. Speaker, this is just the beginning. I will be with you often as we unveil this information about CIA, DEA, involvement in drug trafficking in America. The Wall Street Journal May 9, 1997 Letters to the Editor Mena, Drugs and the Train Deaths Case Micah Morrison's April 15 article, "Big.News From Arkansas." reported ex-prosecutor Dan Harmon was indicted for running his office as a criminal enterprise. Just as newsworthy is the absence of any reference in the indictments to what I believe, based on my investigation, to be Mr. Harmon's involvement in the murders of Kevin Ives and Don Henry, the nationally known train deaths case. Under the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations law, Mr. Harmon could be charged with crimes committed up to 10 years ago, but his indictment only goes back to August 1991. Just two months before that, in June 1991, then-U.S. Attorney Chuck Banks cleared Mr. Harmon of drug-corruption allegations strikingly similar to the ones he now faces. The obvious question arises: Is current U.S. Attorney Paula Casey protecting Mr. Banks? It's hazd to ignore that the August 1991 starting date of Mr. Harmon's indictment shields Mr. Banks from the appeazance of impropriety and excludes evidence related to the train deaths. In 1990, as head of a drug task force in the area, I gathered a significant amount of evidence against Mr. Harmon, as well as evidence connecting drngs and public officials to the train deaths. I was stunned when Mr. Banks cleared Mr. Hazmon and all other public officials in 1991. I believe that, in this regazd, the yeazs of covering up the train deaths case continues. Mr. Morrison has eloquently unraveled the complex story surrounding the train deaths, but in one case he left the wrong impression. He wrote, "Ms. Duffey left the state when Mr. Harmon filed chazges against her, later found to be baseless." I'm not so easily intimidated. In 1990, my task force uncovered too much. I was brutalized by an Arkansas media that supported Mr. Harmon, who was running for and won our district's prosecutor position. Mr. Harmon immediately subpoenaed the evidence I had against him and other public officials. But to protect witnesses, I refused to comply. Circuit Judge John Cole then issued a felony warrant for my arrest, and my family was warned from two law enforcement agencies that I was going to be killed. Discredited, defeated, and threatened, my husband and I moved our family to Texas. I didn't understand the power of the political machine back then, but after being persuaded by the FBI to assist in an investigation they opened in 1994, I Teamed of connections to the CIA, Mena, and drug-smuggling. I finally understood; to solve the train deaths case would be to expose the crimes of Mena, and no government agent who has come close to doing either has survived professionally. The Arkansas media have mostly realized their misjudgment of me, with the exception of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The most important paper in the state either ignores or ridicules the facts surrounding the profoundly disturbing train deaths case. I pray Micah Morrison and The Wall Street Journal will continue to expose the deep-rooted corruption in Arkansas. People deserve to have sources of information that will not back away from the truth. Jean K. Duffey Pasadena, Texas Copyright ©1997 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission Home From mark@idmedia.com Tue T ~ 3 07:32:58 1997 Date: Tue, 03 Jun 1997 03:~. 07 -0500 From: Mark Keesee <mark@idmedia.com> To: BZ Evans/Twain <purefire@interpac.net> Subject: Updates & Action Alert! Monday, June 2, 1997 The "train deaths" http://www.idmedia.com/ttd.htm Updates: * Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Witness recalls Harmon offer that $10,000, night in bed would free her husband - 6/31/97 * Dan Harmon's Trial Days 1-4 ACTION ALERT My task force officers and I fought the dirty political machine in Arkansas as hard we could in 1990, but it was a loosing battle. Ewen though a leaked federal memo named Dan Harmon the target of a federal drug and corruption investigation, the media supported Harmon for district prosecutor. And even though a federal grand jury was unanimously ready to indict Harmon, U.S. Attorney Chuck Banks cleared him. I was personally discredited and professionally destroyed, and Harmon inherited my task force when he became prosecutor. He set up his office as an extortion and drug ring. An FBI agent told me they "have known about Harmon for years but are not going to do anything about it." However, by 1995, Harmon's criminal behavior had become blatant and he got careless. His now ex-wife, Holly Duvall, got caught outside Harmon's jurisdiction with cocaine packages from the district's evidence locker. The local paper ran a story, and the feds were forced to make a big show. A year and a half later, Harmon was indicted on racketeering charges, an appearance that something significant was happening, but that changed by the end of the first week of Harmon's trial. I've not been in Arkansas but have talked daily with others who have watched the trail, including Linda Ives. The reports are frustrating. The government's case is based primarily on indicted witnesses who have been given leniency in exchange for their testimony - a built-in defense for Harmon. This was absolutely unnecessary. The indictment could have gone back ten years (to 1987) and included ALL the witnesses provided to the 1990 grand jury. Those witnesses included an attorney, a secretary, two of Harmon's ex-girlfriends, another ex-wife, and at least two friends. Not one of them were indicted for anything, and each had various testimony about Harmon's illegal drug activity, yet the government chose to ignore them. There is no excuse for them having a weak case against Harmon, now. If Harmon wins in the courtroom, he will win big in the media, which has already portrayed him as the victim of over-zealous feds. His hometown paper does not even attempt to appear unbiased. Their associate editor, Lynda Hollenbeck, threw her arms around Harmon in an emotional embrace on his first day in trial. Her article that day is typical: http://www.idmedia.com/courier-jury-selection.htm As far as the rest of the state's media, they wouldn't know news if it reached out and bit them - which it did Friday. As head of Arkansas's Parents of Murdered Children, Linda Ives has watched countless criminal trials. She knows ineffective prosecution when she sees it, and Friday's proceedings nearly brought her to tears. When court was dismissed, she walked outside where the media cameras were waiting to interview Harmon. She sat quietly to the side on a retaining wall while Harmon crowed about how well the trail was going for him. When the interview was completed, Harmon turned to Linda, smirked, and bade her with a drawled, "Well, hello Ms. Ives." Harmon did not expect a response, but he got one. Linda flew off the retaining wall, and yelled, 'You SOB, you should be on trial for murder and you know it.' E~+eryone was momentarily stunned, then Harmon took off without responding. Linda bolted after him - cameras and crew in-tow - insisting that he participate in the exchange he started. Harmon did not respond, and most remarkably, neither did the media. Not one question. No one asked, "What is she talking about, Mr. Harmon?" "What murder?" "Who is she?" "Why don't you respond to her?• Of course, they knew the answers, which is why they didn't ask. They also ignored Linda. This incredibly newsworthy encounter was a non-story in the Arkansas media. So, should we bombard them with e-mail. No, I think not. It would make them look like fools to report it now. We need to get other media sources to make them look like fools. If you know of a reporter or news program that would be interested in this story, please feel free to contact them. Linda or I will be happy to give interviews. We can be contacted through our website. http://www.idmedia.com/ And by all means, if you have not yet sent a fax or a-mail to the Wall Street Journal, as requested in the previous "Action Alert," please do that NOW!!! Of all the things that will be most effective, supporting Micah Morrison will be the greatest. If you missed that 'Action Alert," go to: http://www.idmedia.com/comments.htm Thank you to everyone who responds to my "Action Alerts." Sending a few sentences via a-mail may seem insignificant, but don't underestimate the power of public opinion on the media. I'm heading for Arkansas as soon as I forward this to Mark, who will be sending it on to you. I'll be attending the trial each day and will update you with any significant occurrences. Regards to all, Jean Duffey