vault backup: 2026-10-08 21:27:00

70 - DISPATCHES/2026-10-08 Promotional Material.md

@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ The Brunswick sheet reads "RAW / Rifleman's Assault Weapon / for / Urban Warfare
 
 In another folder of the same papers, a *St. Louis Post-Dispatch* clipping of February 19, 1991 reports an affidavit by [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] stating that [[Carlos Cardoen]] told him in January 1989 that he had brokered a sale of [[PROMIS]] by [[Earl Brian]] to an Iraqi military intelligence representative, consummated in Santiago. Brian called the allegations "nonsense."[^4]
 
-On May 26, 1993 a federal grand jury in Miami indicted Cardoen, his company and Swissco over zirconium and fuze components exported to Chile for cluster bombs sold to Iraq.[^5] On January 31, 1995 [[Howard Teicher]], who had served on the National Security Council staff from 1982 to 1987, signed a declaration in the case stating that "the CIA authorized, approved and assisted Cardoen in the manufacture and sale of cluster bombs." The declaration was sealed.[^6]
+On May 26, 1993 a federal grand jury in Miami indicted Cardoen, his company and Swissco over zirconium and fuze components exported to Chile for cluster bombs sold to Iraq.[^5] On January 31, 1995 [[Howard Teicher]], who had served on the National Security Council staff from 1982 to 1987, signed a declaration in the case stating that "the CIA authorized, approved and assisted Cardoen in the manufacture and sale of cluster bombs." The declaration was sealed.[^6] Robert Parry reported that the government sealed it as a state secret while attacking Teicher's credibility, and that Teicher was kept from testifying; Consortium News reported that a federal grand jury heard testimony on a complaint over the defense's filing of an affidavit in the case.[^6][^8]
+
+On November 8, 1996 the United States served a corrective declaration that Teicher had signed on October 3. In it he wrote that lawyers for Teledyne had drafted the January text, that he had not reviewed his National Security Council files since 1987, and that his statements in paragraphs 15 through 18 were his best memory and belief rather than "categorical statements of fact." He wrote that he was "not aware of any specific evidence that the United States government or any government official or agency took steps to help Cardoen obtain any U.S.-origin components for use in cluster bombs." The corrective declaration does not address paragraph 14 of the January text, which describes the supply of Cardoen's cluster bombs to Iraq as an "extension" of United States policy.[^7][^6]
 
 [^1]: Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Promotional Material," items BD|AI|PM-01 to PM-05, https://archive.org/download/casolaro-notebooks/PromotionalMaterial.pdf.
 [^2]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Intelligence, *Nomination of Robert M. Gates to be Director of Central Intelligence*, S. Exec. Rept. 102-19, October 24, 1991, section 5, https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-filesations-10219.pdf (PDF pages 186 to 188).
@@ -38,3 +40,5 @@ On May 26, 1993 a federal grand jury in Miami indicted Cardoen, his company and
 [^4]: *St. Louis Post-Dispatch*, February 19, 1991, "Stolen Software Scattered: Affidavits Allege Sales To Iraqis And Israelis," clipping in the INSLAW folder of the Casolaro papers, https://archive.org/download/casolaro-notebooks/InslawIi_djvu.txt.
 [^5]: *United States v. Cardoen*, 898 F. Supp. 1563 (S.D. Fla. 1995), No. 93-241-CR, https://static.case.law/f-supp/898/cases/1563-01.json.
 [^6]: Declaration of Howard Teicher, January 31, 1995, *United States v. Cardoen*, No. 93-241-CR (S.D. Fla.), paragraphs 14 to 18, as transcribed at http://spikethenews.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-teicher-affidavit.html; Robert Parry, "Iraqgate: Confession and Cover-up," *Extra!*, 1995, https://scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0212/S00074.htm.
+[^7]: Corrective declaration of Howard R. Teicher, October 3, 1996, *United States v. Cardoen*, No. 93-241-CR-Highsmith (S.D. Fla.), https://archive.org/details/utf-893cr-241-de-679.
+[^8]: Consortium News, "Iraqgate Cover-Up Goes After Defense Lawyers," https://consortiumnews.com/archive/story1.html.

70 - DISPATCHES/2026-10-08 The Jet Center.md

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+---
+title: "The Jet Center"
+date: 2026-10-08
+status: published
+summary: "Epstein's staff tracked arrivals at St. Thomas's private-aviation terminal: a 2012 landing under a tail number no aircraft held, and a 2014 Black Diamond Learjet whose owners were said to be bidding for the terminal."
+entities:
+  - "[[St. Thomas Jet Center]]"
+  - "[[Alliance Aviation]]"
+  - "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]"
+  - "[[Larry Visoski]]"
+  - "[[Lesley Groff]]"
+  - "[[Todd Meister]]"
+  - "[[Richard Kahn]]"
+  - "[[Stephen Deckoff]]"
+  - "[[Black Diamond Capital Management]]"
+  - "[[Signature Flight Support]]"
+tags:
+  - Epstein
+  - StThomas
+  - Aviation
+---
+# The Jet Center
+
+St. Thomas Jet Center is the fixed-base operator for private aircraft at [[Cyril E. King Airport]] on [[St. Thomas]], and runs the lower-cost operator [[Alliance Aviation]] at the same field. [[Michael Hancock]] and [[Susan Hancock]] bought it from the Boehlke family in 2002.[^1]
+
+On October 1, 2012 a message to [[Todd Meister]] read: "We will land at 12:15PM in St. Thomas FBO: Alliance Aviation. Tail # N3FD." Meister forwarded the message to [[Jeffrey Epstein]] and to [[Lesley Groff]], who wrote to Epstein, copying the pilot [[Larry Visoski]], that Meister would be "going to the island tomorrow with his Venezuelan friend and that Larry is to pick them up in the helicopter upon arrival."[^2] The Justice Department's Epstein Library returns 29 documents for "N3FD."[^3] The FAA's records list two earlier aircraft under the mark, a Wittman W-8 cancelled in 1994 and an Extra 300 exported to Germany in 2005; no aircraft was registered as N3FD in October 2012, and the mark has been held in reserve since July 2022.[^4]
+
+On May 16, 2014 Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]] asked Visoski to "poke around tonight about Black Diamond Trading," a company he had heard was trying to buy the Jet Center. At 5:40 PM Visoski sent Kahn "LearJet 60," "N114BD" and "Is Blackdiamond," and wrote that "They arrived this evening at 7 PM in the Learjet, can you ask if you want me to introduce myself?" Kahn asked Epstein whether Larry should "meet the aircraft and poke around with them tonight." The reply from the account "jeffrey E." reads "yes why not?"[^5] The Epstein Library also holds a photograph of the business card of [[Stephen Deckoff]], founder of [[Black Diamond Capital Management]], numbered next to a screenshot of an aviation application showing a St. Thomas to Newark route at 5:40 PM.[^6] The FAA lists the Learjet 60, serial 166, as registered to Black Diamond Aviation Group LLC from 2004.[^7]
+
+In November 2018 [[Signature Flight Support]] agreed to buy St. Thomas Jet Center with Alliance Aviation, taking 49 percent at signing and the rest within 14 months.[^1] On April 19, 2024 the FAA registered an EC135 helicopter, N615BD, to Stephen H. Deckoff as an individual in St. Thomas.[^8]
+
+[^1]: Curt Epstein, "Signature Acquires Virgin Islands Bases," *Aviation International News*, November 1, 2018, https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-11-01/signature-acquires-virgin-islands-bases; Lori Abbotts, "St. Thomas Jet Center forms joint venture with Signature Flight Support," *Virgin Islands Daily News*, November 5, 2018.
+[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00644307 and EFTA00403869 (Meister, "Fwd: Flight," October 1, 2012) and EFTA00403872 (Groff to Epstein, "Todd Meister," October 1, 2012), DataSet 9, https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00403872.pdf.
+[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, search for "N3FD," 29 results, https://www.justice.gov/epstein.
+[^4]: Federal Aviation Administration, Releasable Aircraft Database, DEREG.txt and RESERVED.txt entries for 3FD, and N-Number Inquiry Results for N3FD, retrieved October 8, 2026, https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=3FD.
+[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02383246 and EFTA02583238, DataSet 11, May 16, 2014, https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02583238.pdf.
+[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01204007 and EFTA01204006, DataSet 9, undated.
+[^7]: Federal Aviation Administration, Releasable Aircraft Database, DEREG.txt entry for N112BD (Learjet 60, serial 166) and registry listing for N114BD, certificate December 9, 2004, Black Diamond Aviation Group LLC, https://registry.faa.gov/database/ReleasableAircraft.zip.
+[^8]: Federal Aviation Administration, N-Number Inquiry Results for N615BD, retrieved October 8, 2026, https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=615BD.

70 - DISPATCHES/2026-10-08 The Transmittal.md

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+---
+title: "The Transmittal"
+date: 2026-10-08
+status: published
+summary: "The 1985 opinion said to have cleared a contra arms shipment rests on one 1992 newspaper account; the Iran-Contra record holds only a cover note from Studley's lawyer, who later shared firms with Barcella."
+entities:
+  - "[[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]]"
+  - "[[Frank Koszorus Jr.]]"
+  - "[[Barbara Studley]]"
+  - "[[GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.]]"
+  - "[[John Singlaub]]"
+  - "[[Paul L. Perito]]"
+  - "[[Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc]]"
+  - "[[House October Surprise Task Force]]"
+  - "[[Hungary]]"
+tags:
+  - IranContra
+  - OctoberSurprise
+  - GeoMiliTech
+  - FARA
+---
+# The Transmittal
+
+In March 1992 the House task force on the October Surprise hired [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]] as its chief counsel; its report of January 1993 found "no credible evidence" of an October Surprise deal.[^6] On May 29, 1992 the *Hartford Courant* reported that in the summer of 1985, while an assistant United States attorney, Barcella had given a legal opinion clearing a private $5 million shipment of Soviet-bloc arms to the Nicaraguan contras, arranged by [[John Singlaub]] and [[Barbara Studley]] of [[GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.]] The Courant quoted Studley's 1991 deposition: asked who in the Justice Department approved the shipment, she answered, "Larry Barcella signed it." Barcella told the paper that "somebody in the government came to me," that he checked with the State Department's Office of Munitions Control and the Justice Department's internal security office, and that he "orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me." The United States attorney, [[Joseph diGenova]], first said, "Larry would never have done that," and a week later said, "Larry was sought out by a lot of people in intelligence."[^1]
+
+The congressional Iran-Contra record holds one letter from Studley's lawyer. On April 28, 1987 [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]], on the letterhead of Finley, Kumble in Washington, wrote to the House committee's assistant counsel [[Kenneth Ballen]]: "During your telephone conference with Paul L. Perito this afternoon, you requested a copy of the memorandum from Barbara F. Studley's file regarding Oliver North. Please find enclosed a copy of that memorandum." The letter says nothing of a shipment or an opinion.[^2] In 1992 Koszorus told the Courant he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."[^1]
+
+The Courant reported that Barcella had gone into private practice in June 1986 "initially at the same firm where Koszorus, Studley's lawyer, worked," without naming it.[^1] Thirty-one partners of Finley, Kumble's Washington office formed [[Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc]] in January 1988. Koszorus was described as a partner there in April 1989, and Barcella was described as a partner there when he left in July 1991, the month a Paul Perito, a name partner, moved to [[Paul Hastings|Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker]].[^3][^4] Whether that Paul Perito is the Paul L. Perito of the 1987 letter is not established in the records found.
+
+On March 1, 1993 Paul, Hastings registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act for the Embassy of the Republic of [[Hungary]], at $8,334 a month, with Koszorus signing as attorney. The firm's supplemental statement, sworn by Koszorus, lists Barcella as having become a partner on July 18, 1994.[^5]
+
+[^1]: Lyn Bixby, "Head of Iran Hostage Probe Linked to Arms Deal," *Hartford Courant*, May 29, 1992, https://www.courant.com/1992/05/29/head-of-iran-hostage-probe-linked-to-arms-deal/.
+[^2]: Letter from Frank Koszorus Jr., Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, to Kenneth Ballen, April 28, 1987, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12, p. 1040, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0234.
+[^3]: *In re Washington, Perito & Dubuc*, 154 B.R. 853 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 1993), https://static.case.law/br/154/cases/0853-01.json; Sharon Walsh and Saundra Torry, "Washington, Perito Law Firm Losing Additional Attorneys," *The Washington Post*, July 20, 1991.
+[^4]: *Fraternity-Testvériség*, April 1989 (Koszorus a partner of Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc); *Chicago Tribune*, July 23, 1991 (Barcella "partner at Washington, Perito & Dubuc").
+[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act, registration 4772, Exhibits A and B, March 1, 1993, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Exhibit-AB-19930301-D1Y3N102.pdf, and Supplemental Statement for the six months ending September 30, 1994, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Supplemental-Statement-19940930-DHFIFJ02.pdf.
+[^6]: Joint Report of the Task Force to Investigate Certain Allegations Concerning the Holding of American Hostages by Iran in 1980, H. Rept. 102-1102, January 3, 1993.