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10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Peter Videnieks.md
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@ -112,6 +112,12 @@ Joseph Cuellar, an Army Reserve major, met Casolaro by chance at a bar in Arling
Casolaro's notes, a Justice Department memorandum records, reflect a telephone call he made to Videnieks on June 13, 1991. Videnieks refused to talk and referred him to his lawyer, Charles Ruff. Videnieks recalled a call from a reporter whose name sounded like "Kessler," which he said could have been "Casolaro," and said he could not remember whether he had ever spoken with Casolaro.[^38]
In a February 1994 FBI interview, Joseph Cuellar said that Casolaro pressed him repeatedly to introduce him to Videnieks, that the woman Cuellar was dating at the time also telephoned him to add pressure, and that he then telephoned Videnieks and passed on Casolaro's interest. According to Cuellar, Videnieks indicated that he might meet Casolaro but was "done with that and there was no need to go into it anymore."[^39]
A work list of further steps in the same Justice Department file, which described its items as overinclusive, names Cuellar as item 16, "Joe Cuellar (source)," and Videnieks as item 17, "Peter Videnieks (possible source)," and notes that Videnieks was represented by counsel, Charles Ruff.[^40]
In floor remarks on March 20, 1991 on the supplemental appropriations bills that included Desert Shield and Desert Storm funding, Senator Robert Byrd thanked "my chief of staff, Barbara Videnieks."[^41] INSLAW's February 14, 1994 addendum to its rebuttal of the Bua report stated that Cuellar described himself to Casolaro as one of Videnieks's closest friends and told Casolaro that Videnieks had agreed to meet, and that Casolaro had gone to Martinsburg for a meeting with sources whom he described to an associate as a relative of Barbara Videnieks plus one other person from Byrd's office.[^42]
The review recorded that Videnieks denied any involvement in Casolaro's death and said he had been at a summer cottage in New York state from August 5 to August 11, 1991. His personnel records showed leave in that period, a credit card receipt showed a purchase at a bookstore in Oneonta, New York, on August 9, and his telephone records showed a call from the cottage to his brother on August 9 at 8:35 p.m. The review found no reason to question his account that he was in New York on August 10, 1991, and was unaware of evidence linking him to the death.[^35] The review also recorded that a Kentucky salvage dealer told Martinsburg police that Videnieks and Brian had played a high-stakes poker game at a Sheraton in Martinsburg around the time of Casolaro's death. The police could not corroborate the account, and the review found the witness lacked credibility.[^35]
### Trial testimony and later accounts
@ -159,4 +165,8 @@ Seymour wrote that Videnieks offered rewards for non-cooperation with the House
[^35]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, pp. 159-160. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
[^36]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 161. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
[^37]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, p. 162. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
[^38]: U.S. Department of Justice, memorandum on the BCCI and INSLAW special prosecutor contacts, undated, [1994], release p. 42 (printed p. 26), DOCID 70002067. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-Casolaro
[^38]: U.S. Department of Justice, memorandum on the BCCI and INSLAW special prosecutor contacts, undated, [1994], release p. 43 (printed p. 27), DOCID 70002067. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-Casolaro
[^39]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Metropolitan Field Office, memorandum to Steven E. Zipperstein, February 2, 1994, DOCID 70098626, release p. 107. https://archive.org/details/JohnC.DwyerNotesOnInslaw
[^40]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, undated "Casolaro Review" work list, DOCID 70098626, release pp. 44-45. https://archive.org/details/JohnC.DwyerNotesOnInslaw
[^41]: *Congressional Record*, vol. 137, Senate, March 20, 1991, p. 6823, remarks of Senator Robert C. Byrd on the supplemental appropriations bills. https://archive.org/details/sim_congressional-record-proceedings-and-debates_march-13-1991-march-21-1991_137-redacted
[^42]: Richardson, Elliot L., et al. *Addendum to INSLAW's Analysis and Rebuttal of the Bua Report*, February 14, 1994, p. 24 and n.5. https://archive.org/details/AddendumToInslawsAnalysisAndRebuttalOfTheBuaReport