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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Allen Dulles.md
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
created: 2026-05-15
updated: 2026-10-09
updated: 2026-10-14
title: Allen Dulles
aliases:
- Allen Welsh Dulles
@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ relations:
with: "[[Warren Commission]]"
start: 1963-11-29
end: 1964-09-24
fn: 12
fn: 17
---
Allen Welsh Dulles (April 7, 1893 - January 29, 1969) served as [[Director of Central Intelligence]] from February 26, 1953, to November 29, 1961 - the longest tenure of any DCI, the first civilian DCI, and the only brother of a sitting Secretary of State to hold the position. Dulles built the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] into the instrument of Cold War covert action that executed [[Operation AJAX]] in [[Iran]] (1953), [[Operation PBSUCCESS]] in [[Guatemala]] (1954), and the [[Bay of Pigs]] invasion of [[Cuba]] (1961). The Bay of Pigs disaster cost him his position - President [[John F. Kennedy]] forced his resignation, along with [[Richard Bissell]] and [[Charles P. Cabell|C.P. Cabell]] - and his subsequent appointment by President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] to the [[Warren Commission]] investigating Kennedy's assassination placed him in the remarkable position of overseeing the investigation of the event that had ended both his patron's life and his own career.[^1]
@ -70,13 +70,19 @@ Operation PBSUCCESS (June 1954): The CIA's overthrow of Guatemalan President [[J
On August 26, 1960 Dulles cabled the Leopoldville station that the station officer was to be given "wider authority," including "even more aggressive action if it can remain covert," and wrote that "we realize that targets of opportunity may present themselves to you."[^8] The cable authorized up to $100,000 "to carry out any crash programs on which you do not have the opportunity to consult HQS," and assured the station officer that the message had been "seen and approved at competent level" in the State Department.[^8] The Church Committee documented the cable as one of a sequence that began with Tweedy's cable of August 18, 1960 and Bissell's of August 19.[^8]
### Correspondence with Senator McCarthy, 1953
In July 1953 [[Joseph McCarthy]], as chairman of the [[Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations]], wrote to Dulles about [[William P. Bundy]], an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency, whom McCarthy linked to a $400 contribution to the defense of [[Alger Hiss]].[^9] McCarthy's letter of July 27, 1953 said the contribution "raises the gravest question as to his holding a sensitive post in an intelligence agency."[^10] The CIA reply of July 22, 1953, signed by [[Alba W. Doan]] as director, gave the agency's account of Bundy's disclosure on his March 1951 application and of the field investigation and loyalty determinations that followed. It deferred comment on the reasons Bundy gave for the contribution until a review was complete.[^9] A newspaper article by [[Allen Drury]] dated August 4, 1953 reported that Dulles had refused to tell McCarthy Bundy's explanation.[^11] McCarthy replied on August 3 that Bundy's contributions to Hiss predated his CIA employment and that Congress was entitled to information about improper conduct by the agency's top officers.[^12]
On October 22, 1953 Dulles wrote to McCarthy that a check of the agency's reproduction facilities had found that "no classified CIA material is printed in the main GPO plant." The letter answered press reports that CIA classified material had been printed at the [[Government Printing Office]]. It said the agency's legislative counsel had informed the subcommittee's staff of these facts on August 12, 1953, and it asked that the letter be placed in the record.[^13]
### MKULTRA: The Sandoz Panic and the Olson Death
Dulles approved MKULTRA on April 13, 1953, ten days after Richard Helms proposed a program for the "covert use of biological and chemical materials," with an initial $300,000 exempt from normal financial controls and payable blindly on the signatures of Gottlieb and TSS chief [[Willis Gibbons]]. Acting in a climate of Cold War urgency, that same month Dulles approved a $240,000 payment after an intelligence report claimed [[Sandoz]] wanted to sell 10 kilograms of [[LSD]] on the open market; CIA officers flew to Switzerland with a black bag of cash only to learn Sandoz had produced barely 40 grams in fifteen years, the entire panic stemming from a military attaché who confused milligrams with kilograms. When [[Frank Olson]] died in November 1953 after Gottlieb dosed him with LSD at [[Deep Creek Lodge]], Dulles ordered Inspector General [[Lyman Kirkpatrick]] to investigate; the resulting reprimands were softened through six drafts and placed in no personnel file.[^9]
Dulles approved MKULTRA on April 13, 1953, ten days after Richard Helms proposed a program for the "covert use of biological and chemical materials," with an initial $300,000 exempt from normal financial controls and payable blindly on the signatures of Gottlieb and TSS chief [[Willis Gibbons]]. Acting in a climate of Cold War urgency, that same month Dulles approved a $240,000 payment after an intelligence report claimed [[Sandoz]] wanted to sell 10 kilograms of [[LSD]] on the open market; CIA officers flew to Switzerland with a black bag of cash only to learn Sandoz had produced barely 40 grams in fifteen years, the entire panic stemming from a military attaché who confused milligrams with kilograms. When [[Frank Olson]] died in November 1953 after Gottlieb dosed him with LSD at [[Deep Creek Lodge]], Dulles ordered Inspector General [[Lyman Kirkpatrick]] to investigate; the resulting reprimands were softened through six drafts and placed in no personnel file.[^14]
### Rockefeller's Special Group and the Human Ecology Front
Under Eisenhower, Dulles reported all CIA covert operations, including MKULTRA, the coups, and assassination planning, to the NSC "[[Special Group]]" chaired by [[Nelson Rockefeller]], the structure formalized by NSC 5412/2 in December 1955 that gave the president plausible deniability; in a 1955 "Family Jewels" briefing Dulles described the full range of covert programs to Rockefeller's board. When MKULTRA needed a research hospital, Dulles sought Rockefeller's approval for a scheme to channel CIA money through private foundations to win matching federal grants for a wing at [[Georgetown University Hospital]]. The program's primary funding front, the [[Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology]], was organized at Dulles's initiative through [[Harold Wolff]], the Cornell neurologist who had treated Dulles's brain-damaged son; Dulles attended one of its first board meetings. His relationship with [[D. Ewen Cameron]] predated the funding: in November 1945, still with the OSS, Dulles had sent Cameron to Nuremberg to assess whether [[Rudolf Hess]] was fit to stand trial.[^10]
Under Eisenhower, Dulles reported all CIA covert operations, including MKULTRA, the coups, and assassination planning, to the NSC "[[Special Group]]" chaired by [[Nelson Rockefeller]], the structure formalized by NSC 5412/2 in December 1955 that gave the president plausible deniability; in a 1955 "Family Jewels" briefing Dulles described the full range of covert programs to Rockefeller's board. When MKULTRA needed a research hospital, Dulles sought Rockefeller's approval for a scheme to channel CIA money through private foundations to win matching federal grants for a wing at [[Georgetown University Hospital]]. The program's primary funding front, the [[Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology]], was organized at Dulles's initiative through [[Harold Wolff]], the Cornell neurologist who had treated Dulles's brain-damaged son; Dulles attended one of its first board meetings. His relationship with [[D. Ewen Cameron]] predated the funding: in November 1945, still with the OSS, Dulles had sent Cameron to Nuremberg to assess whether [[Rudolf Hess]] was fit to stand trial.[^15]
### Bay of Pigs and Forced Resignation
@ -84,25 +90,25 @@ The Bay of Pigs invasion of April 17-19, 1961 was the catastrophic failure that
Kennedy publicly accepted responsibility but was privately furious. He reportedly told aide [[Ted Sorensen]] that he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds" - a remark almost certainly apocryphal in its precise wording but consistent with his documented anger. The Taylor Commission's findings and the classified Kirkpatrick IG report both pointed to fundamental CIA failures in planning, execution, and judgment.
Dulles submitted his resignation in September 1961; it was formally accepted November 29, 1961. He was replaced by [[John McCone]]. The CIA's own history states that a "humiliated President Kennedy did not wait for either report before cleaning house at CIA" and that he accepted resignations from Dulles and from Deputy Director for Plans Richard Bissell, who stayed at their posts until their successors were selected a few months later.[^11] Bissell and Cabell were also forced out. CIA veterans viewed their dismissal as Kennedy scapegoating the agency for a failure the [[White House]] had co-created by canceling the air strikes.[^1]
Dulles submitted his resignation in September 1961; it was formally accepted November 29, 1961. He was replaced by [[John McCone]]. The CIA's own history states that a "humiliated President Kennedy did not wait for either report before cleaning house at CIA" and that he accepted resignations from Dulles and from Deputy Director for Plans Richard Bissell, who stayed at their posts until their successors were selected a few months later.[^16] Bissell and Cabell were also forced out. CIA veterans viewed their dismissal as Kennedy scapegoating the agency for a failure the [[White House]] had co-created by canceling the air strikes.[^1]
### The Warren Commission
On November 29, 1963 - exactly two years after Dulles's forced resignation - President Lyndon Johnson appointed the Warren Commission to investigate Kennedy's assassination. Among the seven commissioners Johnson named was Allen Dulles despite Kennedy’s firing of Dulles.[^12]
On November 29, 1963 - exactly two years after Dulles's forced resignation - President Lyndon Johnson appointed the Warren Commission to investigate Kennedy's assassination. Among the seven commissioners Johnson named was Allen Dulles despite Kennedy’s firing of Dulles.[^17]
The investigation was examining whether CIA-connected parties (specifically the anti-Castro exile networks and organized crime figures that Dulles had directly overseen) had any role in the assassination. He was now in a position to shape what evidence the Commission sought, what witnesses it called, and what conclusions it reached regarding the CIA programs he had run.
Dulles was reportedly among the most active commissioners in shaping the investigation's scope. He briefed commissioners on CIA history and procedures. Book V of the Church Committee's final report states that, with the exception of Dulles, it is unlikely anyone on the Warren Commission knew of the CIA's assassination efforts, and that Dulles knew of the plots with underworld figures that had taken place during his tenure as Director of Central Intelligence.[^13] The Church Committee's 1975 interim report states that Dulles "did not inform the other members about the plots that had occurred during his term as DCI,"[^14] and also states that "it is not entirely certain that Dulles was ever made aware of the true nature of the underworld operation."[^15] The [[ZR/RIFLE]] assassination plotting program was, in the same period, not disclosed to the Commission at the agency level by [[Richard Helms]] as Deputy Director for Plans. Helms testified that Dulles "was sitting right there" in the Commission's deliberations and "knew about this," and that he did not know what Dulles had said to the Commission about the plots.[^16] The CIA's failure to disclose the assassination plots to the Warren Commission was documented by the Church Committee in 1975; Dulles's role as both a commissioner and the former DCI who had authorized the programs is the structural conflict of interest the Commission's composition created.
Dulles was reportedly among the most active commissioners in shaping the investigation's scope. He briefed commissioners on CIA history and procedures. Book V of the Church Committee's final report states that, with the exception of Dulles, it is unlikely anyone on the Warren Commission knew of the CIA's assassination efforts, and that Dulles knew of the plots with underworld figures that had taken place during his tenure as Director of Central Intelligence.[^18] The Church Committee's 1975 interim report states that Dulles "did not inform the other members about the plots that had occurred during his term as DCI,"[^19] and also states that "it is not entirely certain that Dulles was ever made aware of the true nature of the underworld operation."[^20] The [[ZR/RIFLE]] assassination plotting program was, in the same period, not disclosed to the Commission at the agency level by [[Richard Helms]] as Deputy Director for Plans. Helms testified that Dulles "was sitting right there" in the Commission's deliberations and "knew about this," and that he did not know what Dulles had said to the Commission about the plots.[^21] The CIA's failure to disclose the assassination plots to the Warren Commission was documented by the Church Committee in 1975; Dulles's role as both a commissioner and the former DCI who had authorized the programs is the structural conflict of interest the Commission's composition created.
Angleton testified that Dulles consulted him before agreeing to President Johnson's request that he serve, that the two were in frequent contact, and that they informally discussed the progress of the investigation and what further work the CIA could do.[^17] At the January 22, 1964 executive session, the Commission took up a report that [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] had been a paid FBI informant. Dulles asked whether the purpose of such a hire could have been to penetrate the [[Fair Play for Cuba Committee]]. He said that practically any American could obtain a passport good for anywhere, and that the Passport Bureau had no record of Oswald's defection. Near the end of the meeting, Dulles said: "I think this record ought to be destroyed."[^18] FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]]'s files held an index card on Dulles that cross-referenced a November 29, 1963 memorandum.[^19]
Angleton testified that Dulles consulted him before agreeing to President Johnson's request that he serve, that the two were in frequent contact, and that they informally discussed the progress of the investigation and what further work the CIA could do.[^22] At the January 22, 1964 executive session, the Commission took up a report that [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] had been a paid FBI informant. Dulles asked whether the purpose of such a hire could have been to penetrate the [[Fair Play for Cuba Committee]]. He said that practically any American could obtain a passport good for anywhere, and that the Passport Bureau had no record of Oswald's defection. Near the end of the meeting, Dulles said: "I think this record ought to be destroyed."[^23] FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]]'s files held an index card on Dulles that cross-referenced a November 29, 1963 memorandum.[^24]
The [[HSCA|House Select Committee on Assassinations]] (1979) found that the Warren Commission's failure to investigate adequately the possibility of a conspiracy was "attributable in part to the failure of the Commission to receive all the relevant information that was in the possession of other agencies and departments of the Government," and that the CIA "was deficient in its collection and sharing of information both prior to and subsequent to the assassination."[^20] The report does not name Dulles in those findings. It states that the committee did not ignore the possibility that certain CIA officials who knew that close scrutiny of United States-Cuban relations could have exposed the CIA-Mafia plots might have tried to keep the CIA's or the Warren Commission's inquiry from the question of Cuban complicity, and that it determined that only Deputy Director Helms was in a position to have both the knowledge and the power to accomplish such a cover-up and was satisfied, on the basis of its investigation, that it was "highly unlikely he in fact did so."[^21] It found that the details of the AMLASH plot and the CIA-Mafia plots should have been provided to the Warren Commission.[^22]
The [[HSCA|House Select Committee on Assassinations]] (1979) found that the Warren Commission's failure to investigate adequately the possibility of a conspiracy was "attributable in part to the failure of the Commission to receive all the relevant information that was in the possession of other agencies and departments of the Government," and that the CIA "was deficient in its collection and sharing of information both prior to and subsequent to the assassination."[^25] The report does not name Dulles in those findings. It states that the committee did not ignore the possibility that certain CIA officials who knew that close scrutiny of United States-Cuban relations could have exposed the CIA-Mafia plots might have tried to keep the CIA's or the Warren Commission's inquiry from the question of Cuban complicity, and that it determined that only Deputy Director Helms was in a position to have both the knowledge and the power to accomplish such a cover-up and was satisfied, on the basis of its investigation, that it was "highly unlikely he in fact did so."[^26] It found that the details of the AMLASH plot and the CIA-Mafia plots should have been provided to the Warren Commission.[^27]
### Death and Legacy
Dulles spent his post-CIA years writing, lecturing, and defending the covert action programs he had built. His book *The Craft of Intelligence* (1963) was the first major public account of CIA operations by a former director. He died in Washington on January 29, 1969, of influenza complicated by pneumonia, eighteen months before the full extent of MKULTRA and the assassination plots became public.
The 2022 report of the United Nations Eminent Person summarized the argument of Greg Poulgrain's 2020 book, *JFK vs. Allen Dulles: Battleground Indonesia*, which posits that Dulles formed a motive to remove [[Dag Hammarskjöld]] following a policy conflict over the United Nations' intended intervention in the dispute over the sovereignty of West New Guinea.[^23] The report recorded Poulgrain's proposition that the Operation Celeste documents, which refer to a plan to kill Hammarskjöld by causing his plane to crash, mention Dulles by name, stating: "UNO is becoming troublesome and it is felt that Hammarskjöld should be removed. Allen Dulles agrees and has promised full cooperation from his people."[^23] Poulgrain compared this with the Church Committee's account of Dulles expressing a "wish [to] give every possible support" to a plan to kill Lumumba.[^23] The report stated that it was not necessary at that stage to assess the probative value of Poulgrain's information, and that it underscored the importance of "proving or disproving the veracity of the Operation Celeste hypothesis and Dulles's alleged involvement (as relied on by Poulgrain)."[^24]
The 2022 report of the United Nations Eminent Person summarized the argument of Greg Poulgrain's 2020 book, *JFK vs. Allen Dulles: Battleground Indonesia*, which posits that Dulles formed a motive to remove [[Dag Hammarskjöld]] following a policy conflict over the United Nations' intended intervention in the dispute over the sovereignty of West New Guinea.[^28] The report recorded Poulgrain's proposition that the Operation Celeste documents, which refer to a plan to kill Hammarskjöld by causing his plane to crash, mention Dulles by name, stating: "UNO is becoming troublesome and it is felt that Hammarskjöld should be removed. Allen Dulles agrees and has promised full cooperation from his people."[^28] Poulgrain compared this with the Church Committee's account of Dulles expressing a "wish [to] give every possible support" to a plan to kill Lumumba.[^28] The report stated that it was not necessary at that stage to assess the probative value of Poulgrain's information, and that it underscored the importance of "proving or disproving the veracity of the Operation Celeste hypothesis and Dulles's alleged involvement (as relied on by Poulgrain)."[^29]
### Footnotes
@ -114,19 +120,24 @@ The 2022 report of the United Nations Eminent Person summarized the argument of
[^6]: Hugh Wilford, The Mighty Wurlitzer (Harvard University Press, 2008), pp. 230-231.
[^7]: Kornbluh, Peter, ed. *Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIA Report on the Invasion of Cuba.* New Press, 1998. Church Committee. "Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders." Senate Report No. 94-465, 1975. Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy.* Random House, 1991. Chapter 4.
[^8]: United States Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders*, Senate Report No. 94-465, 1975, section on the Congo, quoting the CIA cables of August 18, August 19 and August 26, 1960. https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94465.pdf
[^9]: John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*. Times Books, 1979, Chapter 4; "Project MKULTRA, the CIA's Program of Research in Behavioral Modification," Joint Senate Hearing, August 3, 1977.
[^10]: Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennett, *Thy Will Be Done: The Conquest of the Amazon*. HarperCollins, 1995, Ch. 18; John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*. Times Books, 1979, Chapter 9.
[^11]: Warner, Michael, "The CIA's Internal Probe of the Bay of Pigs Affair: Lessons Unlearned," *Studies in Intelligence*, Winter 1998-1999. https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/Internal-Probe-Bay-Pigs.pdf
[^12]: Executive Order 11130, "Appointing a Commission To Report Upon the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy," November 29, 1963. The American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-11130-appointing-commission-report-upon-the-assassination-president-john-f
[^13]: U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, *The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies*, Book V, Final Report, April 23, 1976, pp. 67-68. https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94755_V.pdf
[^14]: U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders: An Interim Report*, Senate Report No. 94-465, 1975, p. 269, note 1. https://archive.org/details/allegedassassina00unit
[^15]: *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders*, p. 267. https://archive.org/details/allegedassassina00unit
[^16]: Book V, p. 70 (Helms testimony of July 18, 1975). https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94755_V.pdf
[^17]: Book V, p. 69 (note 134, Angleton testimony of February 6, 1976, pp. 31-34). https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94755_V.pdf
[^18]: Warren Commission, executive session transcript, January 22, 1964, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. https://aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcexec/pdf/WcEx0122.pdf
[^19]: U.S. Assassination Records Review Board, memorandum by Ronald G. Haron, "Assassination Records Among the Files of J. Edgar Hoover (FBI-36)," January 8, 1998. https://documents3.theblackvault.com/documents/jfkfiles/NARA-Oct2017/ARRB/RHARON/HARON/FBIMEM.002.pdf
[^20]: House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* H. Rept. 95-1828, 95th Cong., 2d sess. (1979), summary Findings I.D.4 and I.D.5(b) (p. 4). https://archive.org/details/reportofselectco1979unit
[^21]: House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* H. Rept. 95-1828, p. 128. https://archive.org/details/reportofselectco1979unit
[^22]: House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* H. Rept. 95-1828, pp. 112-116. https://archive.org/details/reportofselectco1979unit
[^23]: A/76/892, report of the Eminent Person, August 25, 2022, paragraphs 241 to 244. https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=A%2F76%2F892&l=en&t=pdf
[^24]: A/76/892, paragraph 246. https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=A%2F76%2F892&l=en&t=pdf
[^9]: Letter from Alba W. Doan, Director, Central Intelligence Agency, to Joseph R. McCarthy, July 22, 1953, CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP80M01009A000100080014-6. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp80m01009a000100080014-6
[^10]: Letter from Joseph R. McCarthy, Chairman, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to Allen W. Dulles, July 27, 1953, CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP80M01009A000100080022-7. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp80m01009a000100080022-7
[^11]: Allen Drury, "McCarthy Warns CIA Head Fight on Bundy Isn't Over," newspaper article, August 4, 1953, CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP74-00297R000401370024-4. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp74-00297r000401370024-4
[^12]: Letter from Joseph R. McCarthy to Allen W. Dulles, August 3, 1953, CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP80M01009A000100080020-9. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp80m01009a000100080020-9
[^13]: Letter from Allen W. Dulles to Joseph R. McCarthy, October 22, 1953, CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP86B00269R000100130103-2. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp86b00269r000100130103-2
[^14]: John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*. Times Books, 1979, Chapter 4; "Project MKULTRA, the CIA's Program of Research in Behavioral Modification," Joint Senate Hearing, August 3, 1977.
[^15]: Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennett, *Thy Will Be Done: The Conquest of the Amazon*. HarperCollins, 1995, Ch. 18; John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*. Times Books, 1979, Chapter 9.
[^16]: Warner, Michael, "The CIA's Internal Probe of the Bay of Pigs Affair: Lessons Unlearned," *Studies in Intelligence*, Winter 1998-1999. https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/Internal-Probe-Bay-Pigs.pdf
[^17]: Executive Order 11130, "Appointing a Commission To Report Upon the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy," November 29, 1963. The American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-11130-appointing-commission-report-upon-the-assassination-president-john-f
[^18]: U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, *The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies*, Book V, Final Report, April 23, 1976, pp. 67-68. https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94755_V.pdf
[^19]: U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders: An Interim Report*, Senate Report No. 94-465, 1975, p. 269, note 1. https://archive.org/details/allegedassassina00unit
[^20]: *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders*, p. 267. https://archive.org/details/allegedassassina00unit
[^21]: Book V, p. 70 (Helms testimony of July 18, 1975). https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94755_V.pdf
[^22]: Book V, p. 69 (note 134, Angleton testimony of February 6, 1976, pp. 31-34). https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94755_V.pdf
[^23]: Warren Commission, executive session transcript, January 22, 1964, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. https://aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcexec/pdf/WcEx0122.pdf
[^24]: U.S. Assassination Records Review Board, memorandum by Ronald G. Haron, "Assassination Records Among the Files of J. Edgar Hoover (FBI-36)," January 8, 1998. https://documents3.theblackvault.com/documents/jfkfiles/NARA-Oct2017/ARRB/RHARON/HARON/FBIMEM.002.pdf
[^25]: House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* H. Rept. 95-1828, 95th Cong., 2d sess. (1979), summary Findings I.D.4 and I.D.5(b) (p. 4). https://archive.org/details/reportofselectco1979unit
[^26]: House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* H. Rept. 95-1828, p. 128. https://archive.org/details/reportofselectco1979unit
[^27]: House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* H. Rept. 95-1828, pp. 112-116. https://archive.org/details/reportofselectco1979unit
[^28]: A/76/892, report of the Eminent Person, August 25, 2022, paragraphs 241 to 244. https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=A%2F76%2F892&l=en&t=pdf
[^29]: A/76/892, paragraph 246. https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=A%2F76%2F892&l=en&t=pdf

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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Cornelius Blackshear.md
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@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ White had been deposed shortly before Blackshear and had testified that Stanton
What the recantation left standing: Blackshear continued to maintain that White told him the IRS pressured White to move to convert the UPI case, and he disagreed with White about a conversation concerning the assignment of Harry Jones to Washington. In a sworn statement to House investigators on January 25, 1991, he said his earlier information was hearsay, largely from Pasciuto, and said of the choice between his account and White's: "it would become a credibility question." The House committee headed that part of its report "Judge Blackshear's statement to committee lacks credibility."[^2] Pasciuto claimed that Blackshear had admitted giving false testimony in the recantation to avoid hurting people; Blackshear denied it.[^3]
Bason accepted Blackshear's original testimony as true and found the recantation an honest mistake; in January 1991 he filed a complaint with the Judicial Council of the Second Circuit stating that Blackshear recanted "not because of an honest mistake but because he made a conscious choice to testify falsely."[^5] DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, in a report of March 31, 1989, credited the recantation. The Bua report wrote that "[t]his series of contradictory statements can only be described as troubling," that "[a]t best, it reveals a rather malleable witness," and that "there simply is not sufficient evidence to prove (by any standard) that Blackshear lied when he recanted his deposition testimony."[^3]
The Associated Press reported in May 1988 that Pasciuto's attorney, Gary Simpson, quoted Blackshear in a March 17 letter to the Justice Department as saying, "I felt less people would be hurt if I just bailed out," and "I thought that by changing my story I would hurt less people."[^6] Bason accepted Blackshear's original testimony as true and found the recantation an honest mistake; in January 1991 he filed a complaint with the Judicial Council of the Second Circuit stating that Blackshear recanted "not because of an honest mistake but because he made a conscious choice to testify falsely."[^5] DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, in a report of March 31, 1989, credited the recantation. The Bua report wrote that "[t]his series of contradictory statements can only be described as troubling," that "[a]t best, it reveals a rather malleable witness," and that "there simply is not sufficient evidence to prove (by any standard) that Blackshear lied when he recanted his deposition testimony."[^3]
Bankruptcy Judge Bason, in his findings, chose to believe Blackshear's original testimony and found his recantation to be the result of an "honest mistake." However, several years later, in January 1991, Bason filed a complaint against Blackshear with the Judicial Council of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, stating that he now believed Blackshear recanted not due to an honest mistake but because he made a conscious choice to testify falsely. The OPR, however, credited Blackshear's recantation, noting that he had no apparent motive to lie about the matter. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) found Blackshear's recantation implausible, noting that he had stated on four occasions prior to his recantation that White told him about pressure from Stanton to convert the Inslaw case. The PSI also found no evidence to support Blackshear's explanation that he had confused Inslaw with the UPI case. The Special Counsel's investigation concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Blackshear lied when he recanted his deposition testimony. The report acknowledged the confusion arising from Blackshear's various statements but attributed it to poor memory rather than intentional misstatements. The Special Counsel found no reason why Blackshear, a sitting bankruptcy judge, would commit perjury and jeopardize his career.[^1]
@ -30,3 +30,4 @@ Bankruptcy Judge Bason, in his findings, chose to believe Blackshear's original
[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993, pp. 192-194, 195-196, 209, 215-223. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993, pp. 229-230. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
[^5]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary. *The INSLAW Affair.* H. Rept. 102-857, 102d Cong., 2d sess., September 10, 1992, Part V.D, p. 78 (Bason's complaint of January 2, 1991).
[^6]: Associated Press, "U.S. Probing Possible Perjury in Inslaw Case," *Los Angeles Times*, May 6, 1988, Part IV, pp. 9, 12. https://www.newspapers.com/image/404305287/

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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Dewey Clarridge.md
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@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ title: Dewey Clarridge
aliases:
- Dewey Clarridge
- Duane Clarridge
- Duane R. Clarridge
- Duane R. "Dewey" Clarridge
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-14
category: "Intelligence & Government"
tags:
- Person
@ -12,25 +14,210 @@ tags:
- UnitedStates
- Contra
- 1980s
- IranContra
- EclipseGroup
- DarkAllianceInvestigation
summary: "Chief of the CIA Latin American Division from 1981 to 1984 who oversaw the creation of the Contra project, recruited Contra leaders including Eden Pastora, and was later indicted for perjury during the Iran-Contra investigation."
summary: "Chief of the CIA Latin American Division from 1981 to 1984, who directed the Contra support program and was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush before he could be tried for perjury."
born: 1932-04-16
died: 2016-04-09
location: "Nashua, New Hampshire"
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[Central Intelligence Agency]]"
role: "chief, Latin American Division"
start: 1981
end: 1984
fn: 1
- type: head_of
with: "[[Central Intelligence Agency]]"
role: "chief, European Division"
start: 1985
end: 1986
fn: 1
- type: head_of
with: "[[Counterterrorism Center]]"
role: "chief"
start: 1986
fn: 41
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Iran-Contra Affair]]"
role: "CIA officer who arranged support for the November 1985 HAWK shipment; indicted in 1991, pardoned 1992"
start: 1985
end: 1992
fn: 20
- type: partner_of
with: "[[Oliver North]]"
role: "NSC staff counterpart on Contra support and the November 1985 HAWK shipment"
start: 1984
end: 1986
fn: 20
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Lawrence Walsh]]"
reverse: true
start: 1991
end: 1992
fn: 36
- type: head_of
with: "[[Eclipse Group]]"
role: "ran the private intelligence network"
start: 2009
fn: 43
- type: contractor_to
with: "[[U.S. Department of Defense]]"
role: "Eclipse network in Afghanistan and Pakistan, contract arranged through Michael Furlong"
start: 2009
fn: 43
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Central Intelligence Agency]]"
role: "career officer; stations in Istanbul (1968 to 1971) and Rome (1979 to 1981)"
start: 1955
end: 1987
fn: 41
- type: reported_to
with: "[[William J. Casey]]"
role: "Latin American Division chief under the Director of Central Intelligence"
start: 1981
end: 1986
fn: 17
---
Duane "Dewey" Clarridge was the chief of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s Latin American Division from 1981 to 1984 and oversaw the creation of the Contra project.[^1] He recruited many of the Contra leaders, including [[Eden Pastora]] in 1981.[^1]
### Contra Project Leadership
Duane R. "Dewey" Clarridge was a career officer of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] who served as chief of the [[Latin American Division]] from 1981 to 1984, as chief of the [[European Division]], and as head of the [[Counterterrorism Center]].[^1] As chief of the Latin American Division he directed the agency's support for the [[Contras]], the [[Nicaragua|Nicaraguan]] rebel force, and in November 1985 he helped [[Oliver North]] obtain the clearances for a shipment of HAWK missiles to [[Iran]].[^2] He was indicted in 1991 on seven counts of perjury and false statements connected to the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] and was pardoned by President [[George H.W. Bush]] before trial.[^3]
Clarridge headed the CIA effort to organize, fund, and direct the [[Contras]] from the project's inception. Under his leadership, the agency assembled the scattered anti-[[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] factions into a unified fighting force, created the [[FDN]], and established the Costa Rican-based Southern Front under Eden Pastora.[^2]
### Latin American Division and the Contras
When asked by a British television crew in late 1996 about [[Ivan Gomez|Iván Gómez]], the pseudonymous CIA agent in [[Costa Rica]] whom [[Carlos Cabezas]] identified as supervising Contra drug money, Clarridge said he had never heard of him. The 1998 CIA Inspector General's report confirmed that Gómez was indeed assigned to Costa Rica in 1982, largely corroborating Cabezas's account.[^2]
Clarridge headed the CIA effort to organize, fund, and direct the Contras. [[Gary Webb]] wrote that under Clarridge the agency assembled the scattered anti-[[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] factions into a unified force, created the [[FDN]], and established the Costa Rican-based Southern Front under [[Eden Pastora]], whom Clarridge recruited in 1981 to command it.[^4]
### Iran-Contra Indictment
[[Alan Fiers]], the CIA officer who ran the Central American Task Force, testified that in early November 1984 Clarridge told him to cooperate with North, a directive Fiers said took him beyond the limits of the [[Boland Amendment|Boland]] restriction on aid.[^5] According to the [[Office of the Independent Counsel|Independent Counsel]], [[Vincent Cannistraro]] testified as a defense witness that in June 1984 a meeting in the office of CIA director [[William J. Casey]], attended by Clarridge, [[Joseph Fernandez]] and the contra leader [[Adolfo Calero]], produced an assurance to Calero that the government would find a way to continue support after the Boland Amendment took effect.[^6]
Clarridge was indicted in 1991 on seven counts of perjury and providing false information to Congress during the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] investigation. He was pardoned before trial by former CIA director [[George H.W. Bush]].[^1]
In late 1996 Clarridge told a British television crew that he had never heard of [[Ivan Gomez|Iván Gómez]], the pseudonymous CIA agent in [[Costa Rica]] whom [[Carlos Cabezas]] identified as supervising Contra drug money.[^7] The 1998 CIA Inspector General's report stated that CIA records show a CIA independent contractor used the alias "Ivan Gomez" in Costa Rica in the 1980s, that the contractor's physical description differs significantly from the one Cabezas gave, that CIA records place the contractor in the United States during April and May 1982 when Cabezas placed the meeting, and that the contractor denied meeting Cabezas. The report added that a Nicaraguan newspaper had published a photograph of an individual named "Ivan Gomez" captioned as a CIA employee on August 8, 1984.[^8]
Clarridge wrote in his memoir that at a National Security Planning Group meeting in the summer of 1983 the participants considered ways to destroy the MiG-21 aircraft the Sandinistas were expected to receive, including an AC-130 gunship strike and mines dropped into the Rio Escondido, and that President [[Ronald Reagan]] afterward took him aside and asked, "Dewey, can't you get those vandals of yours to do this job?" He answered, "I'm sorry, Mr. President, I don't think my vandals are quite up to the job."[^9]
### Harbor mining, 1984
Clarridge wrote that the idea of mining Nicaraguan ports came to him at the end of January 1984: "Sea mines were the solution. We should mine the harbors of Nicaragua, Corinto and the oil facility at Puerto Sandino in particular." He wrote that the devices were called firecracker mines "because they made a lot of noise but would not do much damage," and that the FDN was to notify [[Lloyd's of London]] after each insertion of mines.[^10] The agency leased an offshore oil-support ship, called the Mother Ship, which carried three Hughes 500 helicopters and two Q-boats below deck. Clarridge wrote: "On February 7, we mined the oil facility at Puerto Sandino." Two Q-boats released four mines and fired on the oil storage tanks, with helicopters standing by.[^10]
On April 7, 1984, the [[Associated Press]] reported, citing congressional sources, that CIA personnel directly supervised the mining of Nicaraguan harbors from a ship 12 miles off the coast, with the mines laid by Latin American commandos operating from speedboats.[^11] A [[Wall Street Journal]] report of the period described units operating from a CIA-controlled ship, composed of Salvadorans and other Latin Americans, and said the anti-Sandinista insurgents claimed credit for the mining; it placed mines in the harbors of [[Corinto]] and Puerto Sandino and at [[El Bluff]].[^12] Clarridge wrote that on the evening of April 5 Senator [[Barry Goldwater]], who had been shown a Senate Intelligence Committee staff memo stating that CIA contract employees, not Nicaraguan contras, were involved in the mining, read the classified memo into the [[Congressional Record]].[^13]
### The Argentine arrangement
Clarridge wrote that CIA intelligence showed the Legion, by then the FDN, was being trained, advised and equipped by a small group of Argentines from the Argentine Military Intelligence Directorate, whose presence in [[Honduras]] was facilitated by Col. Gustavo Alvarez, commander of the Honduran uniformed police and a graduate of the Argentine Army's Command and General Staff School. He described his own first step as cementing a relationship with the Argentines, a trip he made with the chief of the Central American Task Force, Jerry Svat, and two other officers. He wrote that the Argentines brought a psychologist and anthropologist to study the Miskito Indians, and that he suspected the Argentine interest in Honduras was related to the Sandinista haven given to Argentine Montoneros.[^14] [[Nicholas Schou]]'s 2016 interview with Clarridge for [[Newsweek]] reported that the idea of a Contra force assembled and trained by [[Argentina]]'s military government came to Clarridge almost immediately after he became chief of the Latin American Division, and that Clarridge counted the Contras' growth into the largest rebel army in the hemisphere as his proudest accomplishment.[^15] Clarridge also wrote of a visit by Brig. Gen. Mario Davico, director of Argentine Military Intelligence, and of his own question, "why would the chief of Argentine Military Intelligence be sitting in my office when the Argentine invasion went down?"[^16]
### The Tayacan manual, 1984
Clarridge wrote that the division contracted John Kirkpatrick, an ex-Army officer who had served in Vietnam, to prepare a course on how the contras should treat the civilian population and to train Nicaraguan instructors, and that the course was converted into a Spanish-language manual, with authorship attributed to Tayacan, a legendary Central American Indian warrior.[^17] He wrote that a copy of the original, unrevised manual was leaked to the Associated Press in mid-October 1984 and that he suspected the FDN director Edgar Chamorro, who denied it.[^17] In his account, he told CIA director William J. Casey, with [[Clair George]] present, "If you give me the reprimand, Congress will back off," while Casey was attempting to limit the effect of what he called the "Murder Manual" on Reagan's re-election campaign and Clarridge was concerned about morale in the Latin America Division.[^17] On November 9, 1984, President Reagan wrote to Casey that he had reviewed the report of the CIA investigation of the publication and distribution of the Tayacan manual and approved its findings and recommendations, and directed that within the agency one individual be accountable for each covert action and that field personnel operate under the supervision of the station chief.[^18]
### Iran-Contra and the November 1985 HAWK shipment
In the summer of 1985 the Reagan administration approved an [[Israel|Israeli]] plan to ship weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages held in [[Lebanon]]. Israel shipped 504 U.S.-made TOW missiles to Iran in August and September 1985, and the hostage [[Benjamin Weir]] was released.[^19]
In November 1985 Israel planned to fly 80 HAWK missiles on an El Al 747 into a European country, transfer them to other aircraft, and fly them into Iran. North enlisted retired Air Force major general [[Richard Secord]] to obtain the landing clearances and brought Clarridge into the mission to get a senior CIA field officer in that country to assist Secord.[^20]
Late on November 21, 1985, Clarridge sent flash cables to the field officer and his deputy. After the first flight was denied landing rights and forced to abort, the [[El Al]] aircraft was turned back, and Clarridge pursued a CIA proprietary airline for the flight, and he cabled CIA officers in an Asian country asking for help with overflight clearances. The cables identified the mission as a National Security Council initiative. Secord was known in the traffic by the code name "Copp."[^21]
The [[Tower Commission]] recorded that Clarridge told its members he first became involved on the evening of November 21, 1985, when North called him for help obtaining an overflight clearance for an El Al 747. Clarridge also told a U.S. official trying to obtain flight clearance to contact a man named "Copp," whom Clarridge had been told was an alias for Secord.[^22]
On November 23, 1985, the field officer sent a cable reporting that the cargo Secord had described was HAWK missiles. Four people in the field officer's office recalled it, and the Independent Counsel found that the cable had been sent, although it was never located in the record. Clarridge and Clair George, then deputy director for operations, testified that they did not recall receiving it. Clarridge's secretary had kept carbon copies of the weekend's cables in an unofficial file, which she sent to him after the affair became public in November 1986.[^23]
Cannistraro testified that on November 19, 1985, North summoned him and Clarridge to a restaurant in [[McLean, Virginia|McLean]], Virginia, and said he needed Clarridge's help to fly military equipment to Iran from a European country. Cannistraro testified that Clarridge said he already knew of the shipment. The Independent Counsel wrote that Cannistraro's testimony established that Clarridge knew of the arms shipment by November 19, two days before he testified that he first learned of the operation.[^24]
On November 23, 1985, at North's request, [[Charles Allen]] of the CIA showed Clarridge a packet of intelligence reports on Iranian arms negotiations, the A-K reports, and left them with him for about half an hour. Clarridge said that he recalled nothing in them about weapons. The Independent Counsel found that the reports referred repeatedly to HAWK, TOW, Phoenix, Harpoon and Sidewinder missiles and that none referred to oil-drilling equipment, the cover story North gave for the cargo.[^25]
One flight was completed. It reached Iran on November 25, 1985, carrying 18 HAWK missiles, which the Iranians rejected as the wrong type of missile. No hostages were released. Walsh's report states that Clarridge's action in the operation caused CIA officials to insist, after that weekend, that the President sign a covert-action Finding retroactively authorizing a CIA role.[^26]
### Testimony and the case against Clarridge
Clarridge testified before the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]] on December 2, 1986, before the [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]] on December 11, 1986, and before the Tower Commission on December 18, 1986. He gave a deposition to the Select Committees on August 4, 1987. He testified that he did not get "a fix on" the cargo until January 1986, when Allen debriefed the Iranian go-between in the affair.[^27] The 1987 congressional report lists him in its index of witnesses.[^28]
Clarridge described the use of the CIA proprietary as a straight commercial deal, a phrase that became the basis of one of the counts against him. Asked whether North had ever told him the cargo was military equipment, he answered, "No, and I can't say that he knew. I can't say for sure that he knew."[^29]
[[Robert Oakley]], then director of the State Department's counter-terrorism unit, was asked by North to authorize involving the embassy in the European country. Oakley then telephoned Clarridge to say the State Department knew of the operation and that Clarridge should seek help from the foreign minister there. Oakley told investigators he had no doubt that Clarridge knew the cargo was weapons.[^30]
[[Edward Juchniewicz]], the acting deputy director for operations, whom Clarridge said had approved use of the proprietary, told investigators that Clarridge "never told anyone a full story." Juchniewicz said Clarridge would dance around a question and would not tell Congress anything unless specifically asked.[^31]
At the 1992 trial of Clair George, Senator [[Thomas Eagleton]], who had questioned Clarridge extensively, was asked whether he assumed everyone testifying for the CIA would lie to Congress. He answered: "I didn't trust Dewey Clarridge. We knew he was lying."[^32]
The husband of a CIA employee who worked for Clarridge recalled that at a December 1986 CIA Christmas party Clarridge wore an "Ollie North is an American Hero" T-shirt. The employee recalled that Clarridge said he had "slipped something by Congress." She was not certain the remark was made at the party, but said he had made it a day or two after his congressional testimony.[^33]
On December 16, 1987, CIA director [[William H. Webster]] wrote to Clarridge formally reprimanding him. Webster told him he was "culpable in respect to his testimony before Congress" and for failing to keep his senior officials informed about the use of the proprietary airline. Clarridge retired from the CIA in 1987.[^34]
The Independent Counsel, [[Lawrence Walsh]], also examined Clarridge's role in soliciting funds for the contras from a third country during a spring 1984 trip. Walsh wrote that CIA cables about the trip contradicted Clarridge's testimony that he had not solicited such funds, but the Independent Counsel declined to bring false statement or perjury charges on that point, for reasons set out in a classified appendix.[^35]
### Indictment and pardon
On November 26, 1991, a federal grand jury indicted Clarridge on seven counts of perjury and false statements. Counts One through Three charged perjury before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on December 2, 1986. Count Four charged perjury before the House committee on December 11, 1986. Count Five charged false statements to the Tower Commission on December 18, 1986. Count Six charged perjury before the Select Iran/contra Committees, and Count Seven charged false statements in a deposition before committee staff.[^36]
[[Harold H. Greene]], the district judge, ruled on December 10, 1992 that several of the counts were multiplicitous and ordered the Independent Counsel to choose between them. The trial had been set for March 15, 1993.[^37]
On December 24, 1992, President George H.W. Bush, who had earlier directed the CIA, pardoned six Iran-Contra defendants including Clarridge. Walsh's report says the pardon precluded a trial that "would have been the final Iran/contra prosecution."[^38] The Independent Counsel's summary of prosecutions lists Clarridge among the "pre-trial pardons."[^3]
In 1990 the Independent Counsel's inquiry named three subjects, Clarridge, [[Elliott Abrams]] and [[Donald Gregg]].[^39]
### Drug trafficking allegations, 1988
In April 1988 two staff members of the [[House Judiciary Committee]]'s Subcommittee on Crime interviewed Clarridge about allegations of Contra involvement in drug trafficking and about a [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] operation in June 1984 that photographed Nicaraguan officials loading cocaine onto a plane piloted by [[Barry Seal]]. A CIA Office of Congressional Affairs memorandum of May 3, 1988 records that "the hidden cameras were installed by the Agency on the plane in Miami." It also records that Clarridge recalled being asked by the DEA to install a hidden camera, that one of the men photographed was [[Federico Vaughan]], an aide to the Nicaraguan interior minister, and that Clarridge was present at a briefing arranged by the DEA in North's office. The memorandum says Clarridge recalled that [[Paula Hawkins]] used the photographs in her re-election campaign, and that he said the allegations of Contra drug smuggling arose after he left the Latin American Division.[^40]
### Later career and memoir
Walsh's report describes Clarridge as having left the European Division to become chief of the Counterterrorism Center. His former secretary still held his file of the November 1985 cables when the affair became public in November 1986.[^23]
His memoir, [[A Spy for All Seasons]] ([[Scribner]], 1997, written with Digby Diehl), was described by [[Publishers Weekly]] as covering a 33-year CIA career that began in 1955 and ended in forced retirement.[^41] In it Clarridge wrote that he was posted to [[Istanbul]] as chief in July 1968, with a tour there from 1968 to 1971, and that in late 1977 a group of senior officers decided he would be assigned to [[Rome]] as chief in the summer of 1979, after a year as deputy chief of European Division/South and Italian-language training; the Rome chapter covers 1979 to 1981.[^42] He wrote that he proposed the Counterterrorist Center, drawing personnel from the Directorates of Operations, Intelligence and Science and Technology, and then became its head.[^42] [[The New York Times]] reported in 2011 that he used the pseudonyms Dewey Marone and Dax Preston LeBaron, that his memoir described efforts to engineer pro-American governments in Italy in the late 1970s, and that Richard N. Gardner, the former American ambassador to Rome, called him "shallow and devious."[^43]
### Eclipse Group
In March 2010 [[Dexter Filkins]] and [[Mark Mazzetti]] reported in The New York Times that [[Michael Furlong]], a Defense Department official, had set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan under the cover of an information-gathering program, and that the contractors gathered intelligence on the whereabouts of suspected militants and insurgent camps for possible lethal action. A photograph caption with the report names Clarridge among the people connected to the network.[^44]
In October 2010 Mazzetti reported that a Pentagon investigation, carried out by [[Michael Decker]], an intelligence adviser to Defense Secretary [[Robert Gates]], concluded that Furlong had set up an "unauthorized" intelligence network and "deliberately misled" senior generals. The network operated under a $22 million contract run by [[Lockheed Martin]], and one of its companies used American, Afghan and Pakistani agents overseen by Clarridge. The results of the inquiry were classified. Furlong said that nobody from the Defense Department interviewed him and called the inquiry "kangaroo court justice"; the Air Force inspector general was conducting a separate investigation into whether he broke laws or committed contract fraud.[^45]
In January 2011 Mazzetti reported that Clarridge ran the [[Eclipse Group]] from his home near San Diego, with agents code-named Willi and Waco, and had continued after the Pentagon ended his contract in May 2010. Clarridge declined to be interviewed but issued a statement likening the operation to the [[Office of Strategic Services]]. The report said that the security firm Clarridge was affiliated with, the American International Security Corporation, won a Pentagon contract ultimately worth about $6 million, which American officials said was arranged by Furlong, then the subject of a criminal investigation by the Pentagon's inspector general. It said Clarridge had been subcontracted in December 2008 by a security consulting firm working for the Times to assist in the release of the kidnapped reporter David Rohde, that his dispatches went to Oliver North and to the author Brad Thor, and that associates said he planned to have agents collect DNA samples from the Afghan president [[Hamid Karzai]]. Charles Allen, who worked with Clarridge at the CIA, was quoted as saying "We don't need privateers."[^43]
The Associated Press reported in September 2011 that Furlong and his boss Mark Johnson resigned in July 2011 after the Air Force inspector general told them they would face official censure, and quoted Furlong's August 12 resignation letter: "After 17 months of DOD investigations and an FBI investigation, it was determined that no criminal laws were broken." The AP reported that the CIA had alleged in late 2009 that the contractors were running an illegal covert spying network managed by Clarridge, that Furlong and Clarridge maintained to investigators that they were operating a legal network of paid informants, and that inquiries by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service continued.[^46]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"
[^1]: Lawrence Walsh, Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "United States v. Duane R. Clarridge," introduction. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^2]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Clarridge's Role" section on his Latin American Division posts, 1981 to 1984, and his role in the November 1985 shipment. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^3]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, Summary of Prosecutions, "Pre-trial Pardons" (Clarridge entry). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/summpros.htm
[^4]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion* (Seven Stories Press, 1998), ch. 5, "God, Fatherland and Freedom."
[^5]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 15, "William J. Casey," account of Alan Fiers's testimony on Clarridge's 1984 directive. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_15.htm
[^6]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 15, "William J. Casey," testimony of Vincent Cannistraro on the June 1984 meeting in Casey's office. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_15.htm
[^7]: Webb, *Dark Alliance*, ch. 5, account of Carlos Cabezas and the British television interview with Clarridge (1996). Sole source for the interview statement as written here.
[^8]: CIA Office of Inspector General, Report of Investigation Concerning Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, Volume I, January 29, 1998, findings on Cabezas and "Ivan Gomez." https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine/findings2.html
[^9]: Duane R. Clarridge with Digby Diehl, *A Spy for All Seasons: My Life in the CIA* (Scribner, 1997), pp. 243-245. https://archive.org/details/spyforallseasons00clar
[^10]: Clarridge, *A Spy for All Seasons*, pp. 264, 270-272. https://archive.org/details/spyforallseasons00clar
[^11]: James Rowley, Associated Press, April 7, 1984 (CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570109-5). https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00552r000303570109-5
[^12]: "U.S. Role in Mining Nicaraguan Harbors Reportedly Is Larger Than First Thought," Wall Street Journal, 1984 (CIA reading room copy, document CIA-RDP86B00420R000501180013-3). https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp86b00420r000501180013-3
[^13]: Clarridge, *A Spy for All Seasons*, p. 276. https://archive.org/details/spyforallseasons00clar
[^14]: Clarridge, *A Spy for All Seasons*, pp. 201-203, 208-209. https://archive.org/details/spyforallseasons00clar
[^15]: Nicholas Schou, "The 'October Surprise' Was Real, Legendary Spymaster Hints in Final Interview," *Newsweek*, April 24, 2016 (updated June 7, 2016). https://www.newsweek.com/duane-dewey-clarridge-october-surprise-spies-cia-451611
[^16]: Clarridge, *A Spy for All Seasons*, pp. 221-222. https://archive.org/details/spyforallseasons00clar
[^17]: Clarridge, *A Spy for All Seasons*, pp. 244, 291-294. https://archive.org/details/spyforallseasons00clar
[^18]: President Ronald Reagan, memorandum for William J. Casey, "Tayacan Psychological Warfare Manual," November 9, 1984, with National Security Council transmittal of November 10, 1984 (CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP90B01370R001601970016-1). https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90b01370r001601970016-1
[^19]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Clarridge's Role in the November 1985 HAWK Shipment," opening section. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^20]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, HAWK shipment section, citing North's testimony of July 7, 1987 and Grand Jury testimony of February 1, 1991. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^21]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, HAWK shipment section, DIRECTOR cables of November 22 and 23, 1985 (notes 16 to 26). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^22]: *The Tower Commission Report* (Bantam/Times Books, 1987), Clarridge section, citing his testimony of December 18, 1986. https://archive.org/details/towercommission00unit
[^23]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "The 'Missing' Cable" section, including the note on the privacy-channel file kept by Clarridge's secretary. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^24]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Discussions With North" section, Cannistraro testimony and the Independent Counsel's conclusion. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^25]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "The A-K Reports" section. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^26]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 1, "Overview," note 119 (HAWK shipment and the CIA role). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
[^27]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Count One" discussion, quoting Clarridge, SSCI testimony, December 2, 1986, p. 20. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^28]: *Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, with Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views* (1987), index of witnesses, "Clarridge, Dewey R." https://archive.org/details/reportofcongress8701unit
[^29]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Count Two" and "Count Three" discussions, quoting Clarridge, SSCI testimony, December 2, 1986, pp. 14 and 73. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^30]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Discussions With North" section, Oakley's account of his call to Clarridge. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^31]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Admission Evidence" section, quoting Juchniewicz, FBI 302, March 20, 1991, p. 14. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^32]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Admission Evidence" section, quoting Eagleton, testimony at the trial of Clair George, November 5, 1992, p. 2317. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^33]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Admission Evidence" section, account of the December 1986 Christmas party. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^34]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, Count discussion and reprimand, quoting Webster's letter to Clarridge of December 16, 1987 and the memorandum for the record of the meeting. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^35]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, "Soliciting Third-Country Support for the Contras" section. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^36]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, opening section and "Counts" discussion (indictment of November 26, 1991). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^37]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, note 1 (ruling of December 10, 1992 by Judge Harold H. Greene) and note 9 (trial date of March 15, 1993). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^38]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 18, introduction to the "Counts" discussion (trial precluded by the December 24, 1992 pardon of six Iran/contra defendants; the trial "would have been the final Iran/contra prosecution"). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
[^39]: Walsh, Final Report, vol. I, ch. 24, "The Investigation of State Department Officials: Shultz, Hill and Platt," account of the 1990 review naming Abrams, Clarridge and Gregg as subjects. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_24.htm
[^40]: CIA Office of Congressional Affairs, memorandum for the record, "Interview of Dewey Clarridge by House Judiciary Committee Staff," OCA 88-1404, May 3, 1988 (CIA Reading Room 0001289872). https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-0001289872
[^41]: Publishers Weekly, review and book description of *A Spy for All Seasons: My Life in the CIA* (Scribner). https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780684800684
[^42]: Clarridge, *A Spy for All Seasons*, pp. 108-110, 168-172, 324-326. https://archive.org/details/spyforallseasons00clar
[^43]: Mark Mazzetti, "Former spy with agenda operates private CIA," *The New York Times*, January 23, 2011 (reprinted by NBC News). https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna41218490
[^44]: Dexter Filkins and Mark Mazzetti, "Contractors tied to effort to track, kill militants," *The New York Times*, March 14, 2010 (reprinted by NBC News). https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna35867435
[^45]: Mark Mazzetti, "Inquiry Finds U.S. Official Set Up Spy Ring in Asia," *The New York Times*, October 28, 2010 (reprinted by RAWA News). https://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/10/28/inquiry-finds-u-s-official-set-up-spy-ring-in-asia.phtml
[^46]: Kimberly Dozier, "Air Force employee resigns over alleged spy ring," Associated Press, September 27, 2011 (reprinted by NBC News). https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna44683587

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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Elliott Abrams.md
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@ -2,20 +2,233 @@
category: "Intelligence & Government"
tags:
- IranContra
- person
- u.s.-government
- contra-war
summary: Elliott Abrams was the Assistant Secretary of State who oversaw Central American policy and pressured NHAO officials to hire Oliver North's associates for Contra supply operations.
- Contras
- ElSalvador
- Venezuela
- Person
- USGovernment
- ContraWar
summary: "Elliott Abrams was the Assistant Secretary of State who chaired the Restricted Interagency Group on Central America, pleaded guilty in 1991 to withholding information from Congress, and was pardoned by President Bush in 1992."
aliases:
- Elliot Abrams
- Eliot Abrams
born: 1948-01-24
location: "New York City, New York"
created: 2026-05-13
updated: 2026-10-14
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[State Department]]"
start: 1981-01
end: 1989-01
role: "Assistant Secretary for international organization affairs, then human rights, then inter-American affairs"
fn: 2
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Iran-Contra Affair]]"
start: 1985-07
end: 1991-10
role: "Chairman of the Restricted Interagency Group; pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress"
fn: 2
- type: reported_to
with: "[[George P. Shultz]]"
start: 1985-07
end: 1989-01
role: "Assistant Secretary reporting to the Secretary of State"
fn: 2
- type: partner_of
with: "[[Oliver North]]"
start: 1985-07
end: 1986-11
role: "Principal members of the Restricted Interagency Group on Contra resupply"
fn: 2
- type: partner_of
with: "[[Alan Fiers]]"
start: 1985-07
end: 1986-11
role: "Principal members of the Restricted Interagency Group"
fn: 2
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Lawrence Walsh]]"
reverse: true
start: 1991-10-07
fn: 34
- type: employed_by
with: "[[National Security Council]]"
start: 2001-06
end: 2009-01
role: "Senior director for democracy, human rights and international organizations; senior director for Near East and North African affairs; deputy national security adviser for global democracy strategy"
fn: 39
- type: head_of
with: "[[Ethics and Public Policy Center]]"
start: 1996
end: 2001
fn: 39
- type: member_of
with: "[[U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom]]"
start: 1999
end: 2001
role: "Member, chairman in 2001; reappointed 2012"
fn: 39
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Council on Foreign Relations]]"
role: "Senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies"
fn: 39
- type: employed_by
with: "[[State Department]]"
start: 2019-01-25
end: 2021-01
role: "Special Representative for Venezuela"
fn: 44
- type: employed_by
with: "[[State Department]]"
start: 2020-08
end: 2021-01
role: "Special Representative for Iran"
fn: 46
- type: relative_of
with: "[[Midge Decter]]"
role: "Mother-in-law"
start: 1980
fn: 48
- type: relative_of
with: "[[Norman Podhoretz]]"
role: "Stepfather-in-law"
start: 1980
fn: 48
- type: spouse_of
with: "[[Rachel Abrams]]"
start: 1980
end: 2013-06-07
fn: 48
---
Elliott Abrams was the Assistant Secretary of State who oversaw Central American policy and pressured [[NHAO]] officials to hire [[Oliver North]]'s associates for Contra supply operations. Abrams served as the political point man for the Reagan administration's [[Contras|Contra]] funding strategy.[^1]
Elliott Abrams (born January 24, 1948, New York City) was an Assistant Secretary of State in the Reagan administration who chaired the [[Restricted Interagency Group]] on Central America and served as the administration's chief advocate on Capitol Hill for aid to the [[Contras]].[^1] With [[Oliver North]] he persuaded the director of the [[NHAO]] to add North's courier to the office staff. He pleaded guilty in 1991 to withholding information from Congress and was pardoned by [[George H.W. Bush]] in December 1992.
### NHAO Pressure
### Assistant Secretary, 1981 to 1989
When NHAO director Robert Duemling opposed hiring a $6,000-per-month "facilitator" for Contra supply operations, Abrams lobbied Duemling's superior. After one meeting, Abrams told Duemling: "Well, he works for me." The facilitator position was created to channel funds through North's network while maintaining the appearance of humanitarian aid. Abrams's intervention demonstrated how the State Department facilitated the covert supply chain that kept the Contra war alive after Congress cut off military aid.[^2]
Abrams joined the Reagan administration in January 1981 as assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs and later became assistant secretary for human rights.[^2] On April 19, 1985 [[George P. Shultz]] offered him the post of assistant secretary for inter-American affairs, and a note by [[Charles Hill]] recorded Shultz's promise to "manage the emergence of E[lliott] A[brams] as King of L[atin] A[merica]."[^3] Abrams assumed the post in July 1985 and became responsible for Central America. The [[Boland Amendment]] had cut off aid to the Contras in October 1984, and Abrams became the administration's chief advocate on Capitol Hill for aid to the rebels.[^2]
Abrams's notes of a September 4, 1985 meeting with Shultz record the instruction to "monitor Ollie," meaning North.[^4] Abrams later testified that his "working assumption" was that the Boland Amendment applied to the NSC staff.[^5] He chaired the Restricted Interagency Group, the interagency body that coordinated policy on the region, with [[Alan Fiers]] of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s Central American Task Force and North as its principal members.[^6]
### Guatemala, 1983
As assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs, Abrams said in January 1983 that the administration was "quite encouraged" by the initial steps of Guatemala's President [[Efrain Rios Montt]], who had come to power in March 1982. He said that under Ríos Montt "There are many fewer abuses than there used to be," that the army's behavior had improved, and that the resumption of military sales should be viewed as "encouragement" to the new government. Asked about accounts by Guatemalan refugees in Mexico of massacres by the army, he said: "There are certainly refugees in Mexico whose towns suffered massacres by the military, but our sense is that this kind of gross behavior by the military is very substantially reduced under Rios Montt."[^7]
### El Mozote and the 1982 certification
The [[Atlacatl Battalion]] detained the inhabitants of [[El Mozote]] in Morazán on December 10, 1981 and executed them on December 11, according to the [[United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador]]. The Commission identified more than 200 victims at El Mozote, and more than 500 identified victims across El Mozote and the other villages hit in the same operation.[^8] The massacre became public knowledge on January 27, 1982, when [[New York Times|The New York Times]] and [[Washington Post|The Washington Post]] published reports by [[Raymond Bonner]] and [[Alma Guillermoprieto]]. The Salvadoran authorities "categorically denied that a massacre had taken place."[^9]
On February 8, 1982 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony on the President's January 28, 1982 certification of military aid to El Salvador. [[Thomas O. Enders]] read a summary of an embassy report on the village. The two officers who wrote it had approached El Mozote and interviewed refugees, and they concluded that it was "certain that the guerrilla forces who established defensive positions in El Mozote did nothing to remove them from the path of battle."[^10] Enders's prepared statement said that the embassy found no evidence that government forces systematically massacred civilians, and that the number killed did not approach the 733 or 926 victims cited in press reports. The statement also said that insurgents had repeatedly fabricated or inflated mass-murder allegations.[^10]
Abrams told the committee that the affair "appears to be an incident which is at least being significantly misused, at the very best, by the guerrillas." He added: "Where the truth lies we are still attempting to find out."[^11] The Truth Commission later reported that the 1992 exhumation at El Mozote recovered 245 cartridge cases studied by ballistics analysts, 184 with headstamps identifying ammunition manufactured for the United States Government at Lake City, Missouri, and that all projectiles but one appeared to have been fired from United States-manufactured M-16 rifles.[^12]
### The NHAO and North's network
Congress appropriated $27 million in humanitarian assistance for the Contras in August 1985. On August 29, 1985 President [[Ronald Reagan]] created the Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office (NHAO) inside the [[State Department]] to administer the money, and [[Robert W. Duemling]] set up the office.[^13] [[Lawrence Walsh]] wrote that North intruded in the office in two ways: he insisted that [[Richard Gadd]], who was assisting [[Richard Secord]] and North in lethal resupply, be the contractor for NHAO flights, and, with Abrams, he persuaded Duemling to add North's Central American courier, [[Robert Owen]], to the NHAO staff.[^13] Owen, in addition to handling traveler's checks for contra leaders, picked up and delivered $16,500 in cash.[^14]
The congressional committees' 1987 report records that Owen applied to Duemling for an NHAO position in mid-September 1985 and that North recommended him as a "can do" person "who knows the scene." Duemling declined, and declined again after the three directors of the United Nicaraguan Opposition wrote asking for Owen's help. At a Restricted Interagency Group meeting on October 11, 1985, North complained about the NHAO flight impounded on October 10, saying it would not have happened had Owen been working for the NHAO. Duemling then agreed to fund a UNO contract with Owen's company, the Institute for Democracy, Education and Assistance, Inc.[^15]
[[Gary Webb]] wrote in [[Dark Alliance]] that Duemling testified in a deposition to the Iran-Contra committees that he saw no necessity for a middleman, that North had Contra leaders write letters demanding Owen's hiring and lobbied Duemling's superior at the State Department, Assistant Secretary Abrams, and that after one stormy meeting with North and Abrams, Abrams turned to Duemling and said: "Well, Bob, I suppose you probably ought to hire Owen." Webb wrote that Owen was given a $50,000 contract as a "facilitator" and that the minutes of the November 1985 meeting record Abrams and North agreeing that Owen "will be expendable if he becomes a political or diplomatic liability."[^16] A second version attributed to Webb gives the facilitator's pay as $6,000 a month and has Abrams telling Duemling, when Duemling opposed the hiring: "Well, he works for me." In that version the facilitator position was created to channel funds through North's network while maintaining the appearance of humanitarian aid.[^17]
On October 10, 1985 an NHAO aircraft flew directly from the United States to Honduras with a television crew on board. The Honduran government then rescinded its permission for NHAO planes to fly directly there from the United States. North proposed the [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango air base]] in El Salvador as a transshipment point, and the NHAO planes were routed there.[^13]
### Costa Rican airstrip and the RIG
Within days after Shultz's "monitor Ollie" instruction, Abrams, North and Fiers met in Abrams's office, and Fiers briefed Abrams on a secret airfield in Costa Rica that the contra supply network was building.[^18] After the Costa Rican announcement of the airstrip, Abrams drafted a harshly worded cable to the Costa Rican government. Walsh recorded that a cable containing his message was stopped by Shultz aide Hill.[^19]
In September 1986 North proposed that Panamanian leader [[Manuel Noriega]] pay for sabotage inside Nicaragua, at a RIG meeting in the office of Assistant Secretary of Defense [[Richard Armitage]] on September 19. Walsh wrote that the decision was ultimately made not to have North cause the $1 million to be paid to Noriega. On September 20 Abrams met [[Nicholas Platt]] and Hill, and Hill's notes recorded the Noriega offer and "Wants our go-ahead."[^20]
### Brunei solicitation
After a May 16, 1986 National Security Planning Group meeting, Abrams raised with Shultz the solicitation of third countries. Shultz instructed him not to approach a large recipient of U.S. aid or a right-wing dictatorship such as Taiwan or South Korea.[^21] Abrams suggested the Sultan of [[Brunei]], and North told him to send no papers and say nothing further until North had talked with [[John Poindexter]]. Abrams lunched with Poindexter on June 11, 1986 and they discussed Brunei as a possible donor.[^21]
In June 1986 Abrams obtained bank account information from North on a card typed by his secretary, [[Fawn Hall]]. Two account numbers were transposed, and the money went into the wrong account.[^21] Abrams solicited $10 million from the Sultan's defense minister, General Ibnu, in London on August 9, 1986, calling him under the name "Kenilworth." The Sultan ordered the transfer on August 19 from a Citibank account to [[Credit Suisse]] in Geneva, account 368430-22-1. A North notebook entry of September 15 refers to a deposit made about a week earlier and to a meeting with the Sultan the next day. On September 26 Ibnu told the U.S. ambassador that the Sultan had handled the transfer personally and that the recipient was "quite clear."[^22]
The account North had supplied was for the Enterprise's Lake Resources account at Credit Suisse, 386.430.22.1. The number Abrams passed on was 368.430.22.1, and the deposit went there. Swiss authorities reported that the money was returned to Brunei.[^23] Walsh recorded that the Brunei contribution passed through accounts "controlled by or on behalf of" [[Bruce Rappaport]], a Swiss businessman, and that Credit Suisse disclaimed him as the recipient in 1989. Questioned under an immunity agreement in October 1990, Rappaport said the account was not his and that he did not know whose account received the deposit. He also said he did not know North or Abrams.[^24]
The congressional committees' 1987 report recorded that Abrams described his late 1986 answers on third-country funding as "misleading." It also recorded his explanation that he had been promised confidentiality for Brunei and that "I did not believe I was authorized to" reveal the solicitation.[^25]
### Hasenfus and the October 1986 testimony
A C-123 aircraft carrying supplies to the contras was shot down over Nicaragua on October 5, 1986, and [[Eugene Hasenfus]] was captured. Abrams chaired a RIG meeting on the downed aircraft on October 8. The group discussed demands for access to Hasenfus, Salvadoran denials of contra support, press guidance, and [[Southern Air Transport]], which had been used for NHAO deliveries. Walsh recorded that Abrams phoned North about the incident and asked about the retrieval of the bodies of the two American crew members killed in the crash, but did not explicitly ask North whether he was connected with the aircraft.[^26]
On October 10, 1986 Abrams testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Walsh's report calls a closed session and the congressional committees' 1987 report calls an open hearing. He said that "there clearly is an elaborate supply system," and added: "It is not our supply system." He said that the administration's attitude was that the people supplying the contras were doing "a very good thing," and that "we do generally approve of what they are doing."[^27] Asked by [[John Kerry]] about foreign government assistance, Abrams said that "we have not received a dime from a foreign government, not a dime, from any foreign government."[^28] He told the committee that his "injunction from the Secretary of State is never to lie."[^28]
On October 14 Abrams told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that "that story about the Saudis to my knowledge is false," and that the claim of foreign government support was false as to 1985 and 1986.[^29] On October 15 he told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that the U.S. government did not know who organized and paid for the flight. Asked whether anyone in the government did know, he said: "I wouldn't separate myself from the Government. We don't know."[^30]
Walsh's report concluded: "Abrams was not truthful with the congressional committees."[^31] On October 14 Abrams told HPSCI that it was his understanding that [[Donald Gregg]] knew [[Felix Rodriguez]] and had introduced him to the Salvadorans in 1984 to work with the Salvadoran Air Force. He added that the Vice President was aware of Rodriguez's involvement with the Salvadoran Air Force, but that there was no knowledge that Rodriguez had moved on to activities on behalf of the contras.[^32] After his plea, Abrams told the grand jury that he was concerned that Rodriguez "talked too much about the Vice President."[^33]
### Guilty plea and pardon
On October 7, 1991 Abrams pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress. The counts concerned his October 10, 1986 Senate testimony and his October 14, 1986 testimony to HPSCI about the Brunei solicitation.[^34] Abrams admitted that it was his belief "that disclosure of Lt. Col. North's activities in the resupply of the Contras would jeopardize final enactment" of a $100 million appropriation then pending.[^34] U.S. District Chief Judge [[Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr.]] sentenced him on November 15, 1991 to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service.[^35]
Walsh's report described Abrams as the leading official of the denials, who "steadfastly denied before Congress and the public that the United States was involved in the resupply effort."[^36] On December 24, 1992 President Bush granted clemency to Abrams, [[Caspar Weinberger]], [[Robert McFarlane]], [[Clair George]], Fiers and [[Dewey Clarridge|Duane Clarridge]]. Bush described the prosecutions as the "criminalization of policy differences."[^37] [[William Barr]] later said of Abrams that he was "very unjustly treated."[^38]
### Later posts, 2001 to 2009
Abrams joined the George W. Bush administration in June 2001 as senior director of the [[National Security Council]] for democracy, human rights and international organizations. From December 2002 to February 2005 he was senior director for Near East and North African affairs. From February 2005 to January 2009 he was deputy national security adviser for global democracy strategy and supervised both the Near East and North African directorate and the democracy directorate.[^39]
Abrams had led the [[Ethics and Public Policy Center]] from 1996 until he joined the White House staff. He served on the [[U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom]] from 1999 to 2001, chairing it in 2001, and was reappointed in 2012. He was also a member of the [[U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council]].[^39] Abrams was one of the signers of the [[Project for the New American Century]] Statement of Principles of June 3, 1997, whose other signers included [[Dick Cheney]], [[Donald Rumsfeld]], [[Paul Wolfowitz]], [[I. Lewis Libby]], [[Zalmay Khalilzad]], [[Jeb Bush]], [[Midge Decter]] and [[Norman Podhoretz]].[^40] He also signed the Project's letter of January 26, 1998 to President [[Bill Clinton]], which stated that American strategy toward Iraq "should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power." Its other signers included Armitage, [[John Bolton]], Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, [[Richard Perle]], [[Robert Kagan]], [[William Kristol]], [[R. James Woolsey]] and [[Robert Zoellick]].[^41]
In April 2002 the Venezuelan government of [[Hugo Chavez|Hugo Chávez]] was briefly removed while Abrams was on the NSC staff. Democracy Now's 2020 summary stated that Abrams "was also linked to the 2002 attempted coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez."[^42] The State Department's [[Office of Inspector General]], reviewing U.S. policy toward Venezuela from November 2001 to April 2002 at the request of Senator [[Christopher Dodd]], reported in July 2002 that "the embassy's and Department's contacts were heavily weighted toward individuals and groups known to be opponents of the Chávez government," and that "The opposition's willingness to talk to Embassy Caracas in detail about their plans against President Chávez and the embassy's willingness to listen may have left doubts about the sincerity of our professed opposition to undemocratic and unconstitutional means of removing President Chávez." The report limited the identities of those met to a classified annex, and concluded that the Inspector General "finds nothing to indicate that the Department or Embassy Caracas planned, participated in, aided, or encouraged the brief ouster of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in April."[^43]
### Venezuela and Iran appointments, 2019 to 2021
Secretary of State [[Mike Pompeo]] announced on January 25, 2019 that Abrams would be the United States envoy for Venezuela, with the task of helping "restore democracy," two days after the United States recognized [[Juan Guaido]] as interim president.[^44] He served as special representative for Venezuela.[^45] On August 6, 2020 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named him special representative for Iran, replacing [[Brian Hook]], and he kept the Venezuela post.[^46]
### Commission and family
In July 2023 President [[Joe Biden]] nominated Abrams to the [[U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy]].[^47]
Abrams married Rachel Decter in 1980. She was the daughter of Midge Decter by her first marriage, and Midge Decter married Norman Podhoretz in 1956, making Rachel his stepdaughter.[^48] A Times of Israel obituary of Rachel Abrams describes Podhoretz as Abrams's father.[^49] Rachel Abrams died on June 7, 2013.[^49]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 16.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 16.
[^1]: Walsh, Lawrence E. *Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters*, vol. I, ch. 25, "United States v. Elliott Abrams." https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^2]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, opening section (appointments as assistant secretary, Central American and Contra aid). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^3]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, n. 1, quoting Hill note of April 19, 1985 (ANS 0001039). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^4]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, "Abrams' Knowledge of North's Activities," nn. 4 to 5, quoting Abrams note of September 4, 1985 (ALW 0041285). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^5]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, n. 2, quoting Abrams, Select Committees testimony, June 2, 1987, p. 8. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^6]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, opening section and "Abrams, North and the RIG." https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^7]: Christian Science Monitor, "Administration defends plans to aid Guatemalan military," January 10, 1983 (interview with Assistant Secretary Elliott Abrams). https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0110/011050.html
[^8]: Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, *From Madness to Hope: The 12-Year War in El Salvador*, S/25500 (1993), "Illustrative case: El Mozote," pp. 114 to 115. https://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html
[^9]: Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, S/25500 (1993), El Mozote, "Subsequent events," pp. 116 to 117. https://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html
[^10]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Certification Concerning Military Aid to El Salvador: Hearings*, 97th Cong., 2d sess., February 8 and March 11, 1982, testimony of Ambassador Thomas O. Enders and prepared statement. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152817_0062
[^11]: Same hearing, February 8, 1982, testimony of Assistant Secretary Elliott Abrams. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152817_0062
[^12]: Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, S/25500 (1993), El Mozote, forensic report on the November 1992 exhumation, p. 119. https://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html
[^13]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, "Abrams, North and NHAO." https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^14]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 14, description of the Enterprise couriers (Owen). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_14.htm
[^15]: U.S. Congress, *Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair* (1987), chapter on the NHAO program, discussion of Robert Owen. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152829_0391
[^16]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998, ch. 12, citing the Duemling deposition (Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition, August 30, 1987) and the Arcos deposition.
[^17]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998.
[^18]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, "Abrams' Knowledge of the Costa Rican Airstrip and the Southern Front." https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^19]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, Costa Rican airstrip section (announcement and cable). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^20]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, meetings of September 19 and 20, 1986, citing Hill notes of September 20, 1986 (ANS). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^21]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, "The Brunei Solicitation" (instructions of May 1986, June 11 lunch, account card). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^22]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, "The Brunei Solicitation" (August 9 London meeting, August 19 transfer, North notebook of September 15, Bandar cables of September 15 to 26, 1986). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^23]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 14, Brunei account and Swiss response. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_14.htm
[^24]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 14, Rappaport passages and n. 42. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_14.htm
[^25]: U.S. Congress, *Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, With Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views* (1987), section "Abrams' Brunei Testimony" and the Brunei solicitation section. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152829_0391
[^26]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, "The Hasenfus Shootdown" and RIG meeting of October 8, 1986. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^27]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony of October 10, 1986, nn. 70 to 74 (Abrams transcript, pp. 3 to 11, 48). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm U.S. Congress, *Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair* (1987), describing "an October 10 open hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee." https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152829_0391
[^28]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, Brunei section and nn. 107, 112 (Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony, October 10, 1986, pp. 49, 75 to 76). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^29]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, n. 108 (HPSCI testimony, October 14, 1986, p. 21). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^30]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, nn. 75 to 76 (House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, October 15, 1986, pp. 31 to 33). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^31]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, closing section on the October 1986 testimony. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^32]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 29, "Donald P. Gregg," text and n. 137 (Abrams, HPSCI testimony, October 14, 1986, pp. 23 to 24). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_29.htm
[^33]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 29, "Abrams and North's General Recollections of Discussions with Gregg," n. 113 (Abrams grand jury testimony, November 6, 1991, p. 45). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_29.htm
[^34]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 25, plea section and n. 3 (Government's Statement of the Factual Basis for the Guilty Plea, October 7, 1991, p. 4). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm
[^35]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, Summary of Prosecutions, entry for Elliott Abrams (sentence by U.S. District Chief Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., November 15, 1991). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/summpros.htm
[^36]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 27, "President Reagan," text and n. 66. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_27.htm
[^37]: Walsh, *Final Report*, vol. I, ch. 28, "George Bush," pardon section and n. 1. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_28.htm
[^38]: Miller Center, University of Virginia, "William P. Barr Oral History," interview of April 5, 2001, George H.W. Bush Oral History Project. https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-oral-histories/william-p-barr-oral-history
[^39]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, biography of Ambassador Elliott Abrams, hearing of November 19, 2014. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA13/20141119/102753/HHRG-113-FA13-Bio-AbramsE-20141119.pdf
[^40]: Project for the New American Century, "Statement of Principles," June 3, 1997, Wayback Machine capture of April 7, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20020407145529/http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm
[^41]: Project for the New American Century, letter to President Clinton, January 26, 1998, Wayback Machine capture. https://web.archive.org/web/2003/http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm
[^42]: Democracy Now, headline and summary of August 7, 2020, "State Department Taps Elliott Abrams as Special Representative to Iran." https://democracynow.org/2020/8/7/headlines/state_department_taps_elliott_abrams_as_special_representative_to_iran
[^43]: U.S. Department of State, Office of Inspector General, *A Review of U.S. Policy Toward Venezuela, November 2001 - April 2002*, Report No. 02-OIG-003 (July 2002), pp. 15 to 16 and Conclusion. https://www.stateoig.gov/uploads/report/report_pdf_file/13682.pdf
[^44]: Voice of America, "US Appoints New Venezuela Envoy to Help 'Restore Democracy,'" January 25, 2019. https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2019/01/mil-190125-voa05.htm
[^45]: CBS News, "Elliott Abrams, convicted of lying about Iran-Contra, named special representative for Iran," August 6, 2020 (Abrams "has been serving as the special representative for Venezuela"). https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elliott-abrams-iran-contra-named-special-representative-iran
[^46]: Democracy Now, August 7, 2020 (announcement that Abrams becomes special representative for Iran and "will also continue as special representative for Venezuela"). https://democracynow.org/2020/8/7/headlines/state_department_taps_elliott_abrams_as_special_representative_to_iran
[^47]: Democracy Now, headline of July 6, 2023, "Biden Nominates Elliott Abrams, Death Squad Backer Convicted of Lying to Congress, to Gov't Commission" (President Biden "has nominated Elliott Abrams to the bipartisan U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy"). https://democracynow.org/2023/7/6/headlines/biden_nominates_elliott_abrams_death_squad_backer_convicted_of_lying_to_congress_to_govt_commission
[^48]: Jewish Chronicle, obituary of Midge Decter (marriage to Moshe Decter in 1947, daughters Rachel and Naomi; marriage to Norman Podhoretz in 1956; Rachel Decter's marriage to Elliott Abrams in 1980). https://thejc.com/news/obituary-leading-commentator-thinker-and-writer-midge-decter-uzeijpmg
[^49]: Times of Israel, obituary of Rachel Abrams, June 10, 2013 ("Abrams died June 7 after battling stomach cancer for three years. She was 62."). https://www.timesofisrael.com/artist-and-writer-rachel-abrams-succumbs-to-cancer/

5
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/George Francis Bason, Jr..md
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@ -55,11 +55,11 @@ In a July 17, 1987 letter to Attorney General [[Edwin Meese]] transmitting one o
On February 25, 1987, INSLAW applied to the bankruptcy court for independent handling of its adversary proceeding, asking that the Department conduct the case "completely and entirely independent of any Department of Justice officials who are involved in the allegations." The petition charged that [[C. Madison Brewer]] was biased against the company.[^11] In March 1987 [[Bill Hamilton]] and [[Nancy Hamilton]] met [[Anthony Pasciuto]], deputy director of the [[Executive Office for United States Trustees]]. Pasciuto testified to the Senate subcommittee staff that he told them he had heard from the U.S. Trustee [[William White]] that the office's director, [[Thomas Stanton]], had called White repeatedly to express displeasure with his handling of the case and had pressured him to act against INSLAW. Nancy Hamilton's contemporaneous notes read "St call Wh & sd had to be convertd," while Pasciuto told the staff he did not remember using the word "convert."[^12]
[[Cornelius Blackshear]], the former U.S. Trustee for the Southern District of New York, testified in a March 25, 1987 deposition that White had told him Stanton thought the case should be converted or dismissed and wanted one of Blackshear's assistants detailed to Washington, and answered "Yes" when asked whether White had said he had received pressure from Stanton to have the case converted to Chapter 7. Within two days he signed an affidavit recanting that testimony, stating that after two telephone conversations with White he now recalled that no such discussion took place. White, Stanton and the assistant, Harold Jones, contradicted Pasciuto's account.[^13] The Senate subcommittee staff wrote that facts it obtained, including tape recordings of an American Bar Association conference session, "severely undercut the credibility of Blackshear's recantation."[^14]
[[Cornelius Blackshear]], the former U.S. Trustee for the Southern District of New York, testified in a March 25, 1987 deposition that White had told him Stanton thought the case should be converted or dismissed and wanted one of Blackshear's assistants detailed to Washington, and answered "Yes" when asked whether White had said he had received pressure from Stanton to have the case converted to Chapter 7. Within two days he signed an affidavit recanting that testimony, stating that after two telephone conversations with White he now recalled that no such discussion took place. White, Stanton and the assistant, Harold Jones, contradicted Pasciuto's account.[^13] The Senate subcommittee staff wrote that facts it obtained, including tape recordings of an American Bar Association conference session, "severely undercut the credibility of Blackshear's recantation."[^14] The Associated Press reported in May 1988 that the attorney for Pasciuto, Gary Simpson, quoted Blackshear in a March 17 letter to the Justice Department as saying, "I felt less people would be hurt if I just bailed out," and "I thought that by changing my story I would hurt less people." Ruling from the bench on June 12, 1987, Bason said, "I believe that Judge Blackshear's original testimony is accurate and his recanted testimony is inaccurate," and that "people do have a capacity to forget things when it is painful for them to remember, or maybe even inconvenient for them to remember."[^79]
At the close of the hearing in June 1987, Bason gave oral findings that Brewer had obtained a commitment from the Executive Office for United States Trustees to convert INSLAW's Chapter 11 reorganization into a Chapter 7 liquidation.[^15] The written findings of January 25, 1988 state that DOJ "unlawfully, intentionally and willfully sought to cause the conversion of INSLAW's Chapter 11 reorganization case to a Chapter 7 liquidation case without justification and by improper means."[^16] Bason found that Stanton had struck a bargain with Brewer under which Stanton would make efforts to liquidate the company, and that Brewer "sought and obtained assistance for his unlawful plan from Thomas Stanton, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees."[^17]
Deputy Attorney General [[Arnold Burns]] referred allegations of misconduct against Pasciuto to the [[Office of Professional Responsibility]] in July 1987, and on December 18, 1987 the office recommended that Pasciuto be fired. Its memorandum stated: "Mr. Pasciuto's recantation notwithstanding, Judge Bason relied on [Pasciuto's] testimony about his remarks at the breakfast meeting to support his conclusion that Mr. Stanton engaged in misconduct. We have found no evidence that this conclusion was at all correct."[^18] The Special Counsel's report states that the office recommended termination primarily because of Pasciuto's admitted decision to harm Stanton by any means possible, including providing false information to the Hamiltons.[^19] A House Judiciary Committee report states that Pasciuto recanted at trial under strong pressure from senior Department officials, and that his attorney wrote on March 17, 1988 that what Pasciuto had told the Hamiltons was true and that he had backed away at trial because Blackshear and White would not acknowledge the truth and Stanton was pressuring him over an appointment as an Assistant U.S. Trustee.[^20] The Office of Professional Responsibility reported on March 31, 1989 that Bason's independent-handling findings were "clearly erroneous" and that no evidence showed Department employees had tried to pressure White to convert the case.[^21]
Deputy Attorney General [[Arnold Burns]] referred allegations of misconduct against Pasciuto to the [[Office of Professional Responsibility]] in July 1987, and on December 18, 1987 the office recommended that Pasciuto be fired. Its memorandum stated: "Mr. Pasciuto's recantation notwithstanding, Judge Bason relied on [Pasciuto's] testimony about his remarks at the breakfast meeting to support his conclusion that Mr. Stanton engaged in misconduct. We have found no evidence that this conclusion was at all correct."[^18] The Special Counsel's report states that the office recommended termination primarily because of Pasciuto's admitted decision to harm Stanton by any means possible, including providing false information to the Hamiltons.[^19] The Associated Press reported that Pasciuto, "on the verge of tears in Bason's courtroom," testified that he had made up the story because he was angry with Stanton about delaying his promotion.[^79] A House Judiciary Committee report states that Pasciuto recanted at trial under strong pressure from senior Department officials, and that his attorney wrote on March 17, 1988 that what Pasciuto had told the Hamiltons was true and that he had backed away at trial because Blackshear and White would not acknowledge the truth and Stanton was pressuring him over an appointment as an Assistant U.S. Trustee.[^20] The Office of Professional Responsibility reported on March 31, 1989 that Bason's independent-handling findings were "clearly erroneous" and that no evidence showed Department employees had tried to pressure White to convert the case.[^21]
### The Adversary Proceeding (September 1987)
@ -207,3 +207,4 @@ A September 27, 1994 report of the Department of Justice reviewing Bua's report
[^76]: Bua report, p. 13 (executive summary conclusion); p. 188 (§ VIII.F).
[^77]: Bua report, p. 131.
[^78]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Report on the Review of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua's Report on the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (Sept. 27, 1994), Part VII, pp. 185-186 (quoting *In re INSLAW*, 83 B.R. at 156, on Hamilton's testimony), printed in the same volume as the Bua report. https://archive.org/stream/InslawPROMISBuaReport/Inslaw%3APROMIS%20Bua%20Report_djvu.txt
[^79]: Associated Press, "U.S. Probing Possible Perjury in Inslaw Case," *Los Angeles Times*, May 6, 1988, Part IV, pp. 9, 12. https://www.newspapers.com/image/404305287/

7
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Ivan Gomez.md
View file

@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ aliases:
- Ivan Gomez
- Iván Gómez
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-14
category: "Intelligence & Government"
tags:
- Person
@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ summary: "Pseudonym of a Venezuelan CIA contract agent who handled logistics on
In April or May 1982, [[Horacio Pereira]] and [[Troilo Sanchez|Troilo Sánchez]] introduced Carlos Cabezas to Gómez at a San José hotel. Gómez told Cabezas he was with the CIA - the agency's "man in Costa Rica" - and was there to "ensure that the profits from the cocaine went to the Contras and not into someone's pocket." Cabezas saw Gómez only once more, in late summer 1982, when he was met at the San José airport by Pereira and the CIA agent, but Gómez did not speak during the second meeting.[^2]
### CIA Confirmation
### Clarridge and the Inspector General
Former CIA official [[Dewey Clarridge]], who headed the Contra project from 1981 to 1984, told a British television crew in late 1996 he had never heard of Iván Gómez. The 1998 CIA Inspector General's report, however, confirmed that an agent using the name "Iván Gómez" was assigned to Costa Rica in 1982 as the CIA's liaison to the Costa Rican Contra armies.[^2]
Former CIA official [[Dewey Clarridge]], who headed the Contra project from 1981 to 1984, told a British television crew in late 1996 he had never heard of Iván Gómez. Webb wrote that an agent using the name "Iván Gómez" was assigned to Costa Rica in 1982 as the CIA's liaison to the Costa Rican Contra armies.[^2] The 1998 CIA Inspector General's report stated that CIA records show a CIA independent contractor used the alias "Ivan Gomez" in Costa Rica in the 1980s, that the contractor's physical description differs significantly from the one Cabezas gave, that CIA records place the contractor in the United States during April and May 1982 when Cabezas placed the meeting, and that the contractor denied meeting Cabezas.[^3]
Gómez, a former Venezuelan military officer, admitted during CIA-administered polygraph tests in 1987 that he had been involved in laundering funds for drug dealers in March or April 1982, but claimed the drug dealers were relatives. The CIA Inspector General dismissed Cabezas's story as an invention, suggesting the timing didn't match, but the report failed to explain how a San Francisco cocaine dealer could accurately identify the alias of an undercover CIA agent stationed in Costa Rica, describe his role precisely, and pinpoint to within 30 days the period when the agent admitted laundering drug money.[^2]
@ -38,3 +38,4 @@ Gómez married the former girlfriend of Meneses lieutenant [[Marcos Aguado]] and
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom"
[^3]: CIA Office of Inspector General, Report of Investigation Concerning Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, Volume I, January 29, 1998, findings on Carlos Cabezas and "Ivan Gomez." https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine/findings2.html

11
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Karl Baarslag.md
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@ -11,13 +11,20 @@ tags:
- ChurchLeagueOfAmerica
summary: "Naval intelligence officer and professional anticommunist researcher for Joseph McCarthy and the American Legion, whose name files passed to the Wackenhut Corporation and then to the Church League of America."
created: 2026-09-21
updated: 2026-09-21
updated: 2026-10-14
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations]]"
role: "director of research"
start: 1953
fn: 2
---
Karl Baarslag served in the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]] and afterward "worked as a professional anti-communist researcher for Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], the [[American Legion]], and the [[Church League of America]]." He "closely monitored individuals and organizations for potential Communist ties, and ultimately transferred many of his research files to the like-minded [[Wackenhut Corporation]]," by gift or sale. The company had files on 2.5 million people by 1971. In 1975 it passed most of what it still held to the Church League.[^1]
Karl Baarslag served in the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]] and afterward "worked as a professional anti-communist researcher for Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], the [[American Legion]], and the [[Church League of America]]." He "closely monitored individuals and organizations for potential Communist ties, and ultimately transferred many of his research files to the like-minded [[Wackenhut Corporation]]," by gift or sale. The company had files on 2.5 million people by 1971. In 1975 it passed most of what it still held to the Church League.[^1] The subcommittee's roster for 1953 and 1954 lists "Karl H. W. Baarslag" as director of research, under chief counsel [[Roy Cohn]] and chief consultant [[G. David Schine]].[^2]
His papers form the third series of the Church League collection at the [[Tamiment Library]] of [[New York University]], and an alphabetical Baarslag name file closes the Wackenhut series. Its last folder, X to Z, includes [[Darryl Zanuck]], [[Mark Zborowski]], General [[Ralph Zwicker]], and Mayor [[Sam Yorty]] of [[Los Angeles]].[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University, finding aid to the Church League of America Collection of the Research Files of Counterattack, the Wackenhut Corporation, and Karl Baarslag, TAM 148. https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/tam_148/
[^2]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, Executive Sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, vol. 1, S. Prt. 107-84 (2003), Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations roster. https://www.senate.gov/about/resources/pdf/mccarthy-hearings-volume1.pdf

27
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Miles Copeland.md
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@ -10,13 +10,34 @@ summary: "Retired CIA officer who helped restore the Shah in 1953 and later gath
born: 1916-07-16
died: 1991-01-14
location: "Birmingham, Alabama"
relations:
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Suez Crisis]]"
role: "attendee, State Department meeting on Suez"
start: 1956-07-29
end: 1956-07-29
fn: 3
updated: 2026-10-14
---
[[Miles Copeland]] was a well-known retired [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] officer. In December 1979, he gathered a group of [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-connected officers and associates who were unhappy with the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] leadership.[^1]
[[Miles Copeland]] was a well-known retired [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] officer. In December 1979, he gathered a group of CIA-connected officers and associates who were unhappy with the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration and the CIA leadership.[^1]
[[Miles Copeland|Copeland]] had previously helped [[Kermit Roosevelt]] and the [[Iran|Iranian]] military restore the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah]] of [[Iran]] to power in 1953 after he had been overthrown by [[Mohammed Mossadegh]]. He was a friend of the late [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser]] and was known for his anti-[[Israel|Israel]] stance. [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence believed him responsible for [[United States|U.S.]] pressure on [[Israel]], [[Britain]], and [[France]] to withdraw from the [[Suez Canal]] area in 1956, and for pushing [[Israel|Israelis]] to withdraw from the [[Sinai Desert|Sinai]].[^1]
Copeland had previously helped [[Kermit Roosevelt]] and the [[Iran|Iranian]] military restore the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah]] of Iran to power in 1953 after he had been overthrown by [[Mohammed Mossadegh]]. He was a friend of the late [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser]] and was known for his anti-[[Israel|Israel]] stance. Israeli intelligence believed him responsible for [[United States|U.S.]] pressure on Israel, [[Britain]], and [[France]] to withdraw from the [[Suez Canal]] area in 1956, and for pushing Israelis to withdraw from the [[Sinai Desert|Sinai]].[^1]
[[Miles Copeland|Copeland's]] group, along with the [[Israel|Israeli]] government, sought to prevent the [[Iran|Iranians]] from being defeated in [[Khuzistan]] if [[Iraq]] attacked, and to avoid a repeat of [[Jimmy Carter|President Carter's]] blunders. A meeting between [[Miles Copeland|Copeland]] and [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence officers, including [[David Kimche]], was held in [[Washington, D.C.]].[^1]
Copeland's group, along with the Israeli government, sought to prevent the Iranians from being defeated in [[Khuzistan]] if [[Iraq]] attacked, and to avoid a repeat of President Carter's blunders. A meeting between Copeland and Israeli intelligence officers, including [[David Kimche]], was held in [[Washington, D.C.]].[^1]
### Nasser and the Suez record
In the Foreign Relations record Copeland appears in connection with Nasser at three points. An editorial note in the volume for September 1955 cites his later account, at pages 160 to 165 of *The Game of Nations*, of the circumstances in which a message of September 28, 1955 was sent to the State Department.[^2] On July 29, 1956, at the height of the Suez question, he was among the participants in a meeting with [[Allen Dulles]] and other officials.[^3] On May 21, 1967, the American embassy in the United Arab Republic reported that an Egyptian official named Aziz had told Copeland that UAR forces had been ordered to "hit Israelis with everything they have" if fighting broke out along the border.[^4]
Copeland wrote in *The Game of Nations* that he told Nasser's associate [[Hassan Touhami]] that $3,000,000 in American funds was available, that Touhami answered "We can always find some use for $3,000,000. Let's see what it looks like," and that Nasser received $2,999,990 and used it to build the [[Cairo Tower]] on Gezira island.[^5] Egyptian government documents published by Maj. Gen. Adel Shaheen state that the American government gave Nasser between $1 million and $3 million as a "personal gift," which Nasser put into the state treasury and spent on the tower.[^6] In *The Game Player* Copeland wrote that Kermit Roosevelt and Nasser held a series of meetings in March 1952, four months before the coup against King Farouk, which Copeland did not attend and wrote up from Roosevelt's oral account.[^7]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
[^2]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955-1957, vol. XIV, Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1955, Document 318, editorial note on the message of September 28, 1955. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v14/d318
[^3]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955-1957, vol. XVI, Suez Crisis, Document 23, July 29, 1956, listing the participants. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v16/d23
[^4]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1967, Document 28, telegram from the Embassy in the United Arab Republic, May 21, 1967, including the editorial note on Aziz and Copeland. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d28
[^5]: Copeland, Miles. *The Game of Nations: The Amorality of Power Politics.* London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969, pp. 148-150.
[^6]: Shariff, Omar. "Cairo Tower: Symbol of Egyptian pride, and Cold War politics." Gulf News, updated October 27, 2021. https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/cairo-tower-symbol-of-egyptian-pride--and-cold-war-politics-1.83250980
[^7]: Copeland, Miles. *The Game Player: Confessions of the CIA's Original Political Operative.* London: Aurum Press, 1989, pp. 153-155.

154
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Roy Cohn.md
View file

@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ summary: "Assistant United States attorney in the Rosenberg prosecution, chief c
born: 1927-02-20
location: "New York, New York"
created: 2026-10-12
updated: 2026-10-12
updated: 2026-10-14
relations:
- type: relative_of
with: "[[Albert Cohn]]"
@ -61,20 +61,20 @@ relations:
role: "chief counsel to the subcommittee; witness from May 26, 1954"
start: 1954
end: 1954
fn: 11
fn: 13
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Robert Morgenthau]]"
reverse: true
start: 1963
end: 1964
role: "United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, who indicted Cohn on perjury, conspiracy and obstruction counts; acquitted July 16, 1964"
fn: 13
fn: 15
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Robert Morgenthau]]"
reverse: true
start: 1969
role: "United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, whose office brought the conspiracy, bribery and extortion indictment"
fn: 17
fn: 19
- type: investigated
with: "[[Departmental Disciplinary Committee for the First Judicial Department]]"
reverse: true
@ -85,33 +85,33 @@ relations:
- type: partner_of
with: "[[Thomas A. Bolan]]"
role: "law partner at Saxe, Bacon & Bolan"
fn: 28
fn: 30
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Saxe, Bacon & Bolan]]"
role: "partner, later of counsel"
fn: 20
fn: 22
- type: head_of
with: "[[American Jewish League Against Communism]]"
role: "president, as stated in the program of a B'nai B'rith tribute dinner for Cohn, May 2, 1983"
end: 1983
fn: 36
fn: 38
- type: represented
with: "[[Carmine Galante]]"
start: 1970
end: 1977
role: "counsel in habeas corpus and parole revocation proceedings"
fn: 33
fn: 35
- type: represented
with: "[[Anthony Salerno]]"
start: 1986
end: 1986
role: "counsel on the brief in the Second Circuit appeal from his pretrial detention"
fn: 40
fn: 42
- type: represented
with: "[[Donald Trump]]"
start: 1973
role: "counsel to Donald Trump and Trump Management in the federal housing discrimination suit"
fn: 43
fn: 45
---
Roy Marcus Cohn (February 20, 1927 to August 2, 1986) was a New York lawyer who worked as an assistant United States attorney on the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, served as chief counsel to the Senate investigations subcommittee chaired by [[Joseph McCarthy]] from January 1953 to August 1954, and was disbarred in New York in June 1986, about six weeks before his death. Federal juries acquitted him in three prosecutions between 1964 and 1971.[^1][^2]
@ -130,71 +130,73 @@ According to the Senate introduction, McCarthy considered [[Robert Morris]], [[R
The subcommittee's staff included [[G. David Schine]] as chief consultant.[^2] On April 2, 1953 Cohn telephoned the legislative counsel of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] to say that he and Schine were leaving the next morning on a trip to examine the Voice of America and the overseas information services. Cohn asked for contact with CIA officers abroad, and the agency's memorandum records that the CIA would have cables sent to its overseas stations.[^9]
In 1954 the subcommittee's investigation of the Army became the Special Senate Investigation on Charges and Countercharges, which named Secretary of the Army [[Robert T. Stevens]], [[John G. Adams]], [[H. Struve Hensel]], McCarthy, Cohn and [[Francis P. Carr]]. McCarthy stepped aside as chairman and [[Karl Mundt]] presided.[^10] The published hearing record for May 26, 1954 (Part 41) indexes the testimony of Cohn as chief counsel of the subcommittee.[^11]
On August 11, 1953 Cohn telephoned the CIA's [[Office of Legislative Counsel]] to say that the subcommittee had received additional testimony indicating that CIA classified material had been printed at the main [[Government Printing Office]] plant. The agency's journal entry for the call records the conversation.[^10] On October 22, 1953 [[Allen Dulles]] wrote to Joseph McCarthy that a check of the agency's reproduction facilities had found no classified CIA material printed there.[^11]
On June 9, 1954 (Part 59), Army special counsel [[Joseph Welch]] told McCarthy that he had asked a young lawyer of his Boston firm to leave the case because of a past membership in the National Lawyers Guild, and that McCarthy had raised the matter in the hearing. The exchange that became the best known of the hearings was addressed to McCarthy and not to Cohn. Welch said: "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" Immediately before, Welch had turned to Cohn, who had nodded to him, and said: "I did you, I think, no personal injury, Mr. Cohn." Cohn answered: "No, sir." Welch added: "I meant to do you no personal injury, and if I did, I beg your pardon." McCarthy replied that Welch had been "baiting Mr. Cohn here for hours" and went on to quote a House Un-American Activities Committee description of the Guild as a legal bulwark of the Communist Party.[^12] The Senate censured McCarthy on December 2, 1954, and Cohn's term as chief counsel had ended on August 13, 1954, before the censure.[^2][^10]
In 1954 the subcommittee's investigation of the Army became the Special Senate Investigation on Charges and Countercharges, which named Secretary of the Army [[Robert T. Stevens]], [[John G. Adams]], [[H. Struve Hensel]], McCarthy, Cohn and [[Francis P. Carr]]. McCarthy stepped aside as chairman and [[Karl Mundt]] presided.[^12] The published hearing record for May 26, 1954 (Part 41) indexes the testimony of Cohn as chief counsel of the subcommittee.[^13]
On June 9, 1954 (Part 59), Army special counsel [[Joseph Welch]] told McCarthy that he had asked a young lawyer of his Boston firm to leave the case because of a past membership in the National Lawyers Guild, and that McCarthy had raised the matter in the hearing. The exchange that became the best known of the hearings was addressed to McCarthy and not to Cohn. Welch said: "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" Immediately before, Welch had turned to Cohn, who had nodded to him, and said: "I did you, I think, no personal injury, Mr. Cohn." Cohn answered: "No, sir." Welch added: "I meant to do you no personal injury, and if I did, I beg your pardon." McCarthy replied that Welch had been "baiting Mr. Cohn here for hours" and went on to quote a House Un-American Activities Committee description of the Guild as a legal bulwark of the Communist Party.[^14] The Senate censured McCarthy on December 2, 1954, and Cohn's term as chief counsel had ended on August 13, 1954, before the censure.[^2][^12]
### Federal prosecutions, 1964 to 1971
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York indicted Cohn and a co-defendant on September 3, 1963. The counts charged perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection with grand jury proceedings on dealings in the securities of [[United Dye and Chemical Corporation]]. Three counts charged Cohn with perjury and four with obstructing justice; a conspiracy count against both defendants was dismissed by the trial judge, Judge Dawson, before the first jury began deliberating.[^13] The first trial ended in a mistrial on April 19, 1964, when the father of a juror died during deliberations, and the district court set a retrial for June 9, 1964.[^13] Before the retrial, the Second Circuit declined to order a continuance or a change of venue, noting that Cohn had received "considerable attention in the press" since the early 1950s.[^14]
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York indicted Cohn and a co-defendant on September 3, 1963. The counts charged perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection with grand jury proceedings on dealings in the securities of [[United Dye and Chemical Corporation]]. Three counts charged Cohn with perjury and four with obstructing justice; a conspiracy count against both defendants was dismissed by the trial judge, Judge Dawson, before the first jury began deliberating.[^15] The first trial ended in a mistrial on April 19, 1964, when the father of a juror died during deliberations, and the district court set a retrial for June 9, 1964.[^15] Before the retrial, the Second Circuit declined to order a continuance or a change of venue, noting that Cohn had received "considerable attention in the press" since the early 1950s.[^16]
The retrial jury returned verdicts of not guilty on all nine counts on July 16, 1964.[^15] The same FBI file describes the underlying allegation as a bribe said to have been paid in 1959 to control an indictment in a Securities and Exchange Commission case.[^15]
The retrial jury returned verdicts of not guilty on all nine counts on July 16, 1964.[^17] The same FBI file describes the underlying allegation as a bribe said to have been paid in 1959 to control an indictment in a Securities and Exchange Commission case.[^17]
At the retrial [[Louis B. Nichols]], formerly an assistant to [[J. Edgar Hoover]] and then executive vice president of [[Schenley Industries]], testified on July 9, 1964. In a letter to Hoover the next day, preserved in the Bureau's file, Nichols wrote that when the United States Attorney asked on cross-examination whether he had contacted the Bureau at Cohn's request to halt its investigation at Schenley, he replied: "That's an unmitigated lie." Nichols wrote that Bureau agents had come to Schenley seeking cancelled checks for fees paid to Cohn; that Schenley had given its papers to the [[Internal Revenue Service]], which was then investigating Cohn; and that when he heard agents were approaching other Cohn clients he telephoned [[Cartha DeLoach]] because he feared "another 'steel pricing case'" in which the Bureau would come under criticism. He also wrote that he had been told Judge Dawson asked the United States Attorney's office to instruct the Treasury Department to stop its inquiries about Cohn until the trial was over, and he enclosed the related memoranda for the Bureau's information.[^16]
At the retrial [[Louis B. Nichols]], formerly an assistant to [[J. Edgar Hoover]] and then executive vice president of [[Schenley Industries]], testified on July 9, 1964. In a letter to Hoover the next day, preserved in the Bureau's file, Nichols wrote that when the United States Attorney asked on cross-examination whether he had contacted the Bureau at Cohn's request to halt its investigation at Schenley, he replied: "That's an unmitigated lie." Nichols wrote that Bureau agents had come to Schenley seeking cancelled checks for fees paid to Cohn; that Schenley had given its papers to the [[Internal Revenue Service]], which was then investigating Cohn; and that when he heard agents were approaching other Cohn clients he telephoned [[Cartha DeLoach]] because he feared "another 'steel pricing case'" in which the Bureau would come under criticism. He also wrote that he had been told Judge Dawson asked the United States Attorney's office to instruct the Treasury Department to stop its inquiries about Cohn until the trial was over, and he enclosed the related memoranda for the Bureau's information.[^18]
On January 17, 1969 a grand jury indicted Cohn and three others on charges of conspiracy, bribery and extortion. The charges were tied to [[Fifth Avenue Coach Lines]], the New York bus company.[^17][^18] In September 1969 Cohn petitioned the Second Circuit for a writ of mandamus directing the trial judge, [[Inzer B. Wyatt]], to postpone the trial set for September 23, 1969. He argued that advance publicity, including a [[Life (magazine)|Life]] article titled "The Hotshot One-Man Roy Cohn Lobby," made an impartial jury impossible. The court denied the petition on September 17, 1969. The government's brief on the petition was signed by [[Paul L. Perito]] and Peter L. Truebner, assistant United States attorneys.[^17] An FBI memorandum of January 1975 describes Cohn as indicted in 1969 "and subsequently acquitted," and records that before that trial he had publicly charged [[Robert Morgenthau]] with a "personal vendetta" against him.[^18] Schwarz wrote that Cohn's lawyer suffered an apparent heart attack at the close of the proof, that Cohn, who had not testified, delivered the closing argument himself over two days, speaking for seven hours without notes, and that he was acquitted.[^7]
On January 17, 1969 a grand jury indicted Cohn and three others on charges of conspiracy, bribery and extortion. The charges were tied to [[Fifth Avenue Coach Lines]], the New York bus company.[^19][^20] In September 1969 Cohn petitioned the Second Circuit for a writ of mandamus directing the trial judge, [[Inzer B. Wyatt]], to postpone the trial set for September 23, 1969. He argued that advance publicity, including a [[Life (magazine)|Life]] article titled "The Hotshot One-Man Roy Cohn Lobby," made an impartial jury impossible. The court denied the petition on September 17, 1969. The government's brief on the petition was signed by [[Paul L. Perito]] and Peter L. Truebner, assistant United States attorneys.[^19] An FBI memorandum of January 1975 describes Cohn as indicted in 1969 "and subsequently acquitted," and records that before that trial he had publicly charged [[Robert Morgenthau]] with a "personal vendetta" against him.[^20] Schwarz wrote that Cohn's lawyer suffered an apparent heart attack at the close of the proof, that Cohn, who had not testified, delivered the closing argument himself over two days, speaking for seven hours without notes, and that he was acquitted.[^7]
The third prosecution was a separate ten-count indictment charging willful violations of sections 13(a) and 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in connection with the annual reports and proxy statements of Fifth Avenue Coach Lines. Six of the ten counts were dismissed on the government's motion before trial and a conspiracy count was dismissed during the trial. The Securities and Exchange Commission's News Digest of October 22, 1971 reported that on October 15, 1971 a federal jury in New York returned verdicts of acquittal on the three remaining counts.[^19] Schwarz described it as the last federal prosecution of Cohn, after three unsuccessful attempts.[^7]
The third prosecution was a separate ten-count indictment charging willful violations of sections 13(a) and 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in connection with the annual reports and proxy statements of Fifth Avenue Coach Lines. Six of the ten counts were dismissed on the government's motion before trial and a conspiracy count was dismissed during the trial. The Securities and Exchange Commission's News Digest of October 22, 1971 reported that on October 15, 1971 a federal jury in New York returned verdicts of acquittal on the three remaining counts.[^21] Schwarz described it as the last federal prosecution of Cohn, after three unsuccessful attempts.[^7]
In a separate civil action the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an injunction against Cohn and others arising from the same company. The district court found that Cohn had violated section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in a transaction between Fifth Avenue Coach and an affiliated company, [[Gray Line Corporation]], and enjoined him. The Second Circuit decided his appeal on December 8, 1970. The appellate opinion records that as of December 12, 1966 Cohn owned 7 percent of a company named Defiance, which owned about 32 percent of a registered investment company, and that shares bought from another holder were held through a nominee attorney at [[Saxe, Bacon & Bolan]], where Cohn was "of counsel."[^20] In October 1973 the district court in the same receivership overruled Cohn's objection, as a shareholder, to an award of $489,924 in counsel fees to the receiver's lawyers.[^21]
In a separate civil action the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an injunction against Cohn and others arising from the same company. The district court found that Cohn had violated section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in a transaction between Fifth Avenue Coach and an affiliated company, [[Gray Line Corporation]], and enjoined him. The Second Circuit decided his appeal on December 8, 1970. The appellate opinion records that as of December 12, 1966 Cohn owned 7 percent of a company named Defiance, which owned about 32 percent of a registered investment company, and that shares bought from another holder were held through a nominee attorney at [[Saxe, Bacon & Bolan]], where Cohn was "of counsel."[^22] In October 1973 the district court in the same receivership overruled Cohn's objection, as a shareholder, to an award of $489,924 in counsel fees to the receiver's lawyers.[^23]
### The Hoover and FBI connection
The Bureau's file on Cohn runs from the 1962 background report through 1985. In the March 11, 1985 letter to Director Webster, Cohn wrote that since 1950 he had "a first-rate relationship with and respect for the Bureau," and described it as including "a close friendship with Mr. Hoover, speeches at Bureau gatherings, delivering the eulogy at Lou Nichols' funeral along with Deke DeLoach, representing Wally LaPrade when he was unfairly attacked, testifying for Mark Felt and Ed Miller at their trial in Washington, urging their immediate pardon and honoring them the day after our great President took that action." The occasion for the letter was a story he said a Bureau representative had planted in the New York Post.[^8] A 1971 FBI file note concerns a letter from an attorney who had written commentary on events mentioned in Cohn's book, [[A Fool for a Client]], which the note says was not in the Bureau library.[^22]
The Bureau's file on Cohn runs from the 1962 background report through 1985. In the March 11, 1985 letter to Director Webster, Cohn wrote that since 1950 he had "a first-rate relationship with and respect for the Bureau," and described it as including "a close friendship with Mr. Hoover, speeches at Bureau gatherings, delivering the eulogy at Lou Nichols' funeral along with Deke DeLoach, representing Wally LaPrade when he was unfairly attacked, testifying for Mark Felt and Ed Miller at their trial in Washington, urging their immediate pardon and honoring them the day after our great President took that action." The occasion for the letter was a story he said a Bureau representative had planted in the New York Post.[^8] A 1971 FBI file note concerns a letter from an attorney who had written commentary on events mentioned in Cohn's book, [[A Fool for a Client]], which the note says was not in the Bureau library.[^24]
In September 1969 a private correspondent wrote to Senator [[Abraham Ribicoff]] that newspapers had reported that Hoover transferred three agents from the New York office "rather summarily because they were involved in a case with Mr. Roy Cohen, who happens to be a particular favorite of Mr. Hoover's." Hoover's reply, quoted in the correspondent's later letter, stated that the transfers "resulted solely from their failure to comply with long-standing rules and regulations of this bureau and had nothing what-so-ever to do with the merits of the Roy M. Cohen case." After checking through acquaintances in law enforcement the correspondent withdrew the suggestion on March 3, 1970 and apologized to Hoover; the Bureau answered Ribicoff on March 16, 1970.[^23]
In September 1969 a private correspondent wrote to Senator [[Abraham Ribicoff]] that newspapers had reported that Hoover transferred three agents from the New York office "rather summarily because they were involved in a case with Mr. Roy Cohen, who happens to be a particular favorite of Mr. Hoover's." Hoover's reply, quoted in the correspondent's later letter, stated that the transfers "resulted solely from their failure to comply with long-standing rules and regulations of this bureau and had nothing what-so-ever to do with the merits of the Roy M. Cohen case." After checking through acquaintances in law enforcement the correspondent withdrew the suggestion on March 3, 1970 and apologized to Hoover; the Bureau answered Ribicoff on March 16, 1970.[^25]
On January 6, 1971 Cohn wrote to Jerry Finkelstein, chairman of the New York City Democratic Committee, that he would not take part in a dinner for Comptroller [[Abraham Beame]] because [[Ramsey Clark]] was toastmaster, and that Clark was identified with "his unprincipled attack on J. Edgar Hoover whose service to this nation over a lifetime has earned him unique universal respect." Finkelstein's reply of January 19, 1971 referred to the stories he had written at Cohn's request for Hoover in the New York Law Journal and other papers. The copy of Cohn's January 25, 1971 follow-up in the Bureau's file is marked "bcc: Honorable J. Edgar Hoover."[^24]
On January 6, 1971 Cohn wrote to Jerry Finkelstein, chairman of the New York City Democratic Committee, that he would not take part in a dinner for Comptroller [[Abraham Beame]] because [[Ramsey Clark]] was toastmaster, and that Clark was identified with "his unprincipled attack on J. Edgar Hoover whose service to this nation over a lifetime has earned him unique universal respect." Finkelstein's reply of January 19, 1971 referred to the stories he had written at Cohn's request for Hoover in the New York Law Journal and other papers. The copy of Cohn's January 25, 1971 follow-up in the Bureau's file is marked "bcc: Honorable J. Edgar Hoover."[^26]
[[Susan Rosenstiel]], the fourth wife of [[Lewis S. Rosenstiel]], told the author [[Anthony Summers]], in the account he published in Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover (1993), that at a party at the Plaza Hotel in 1958 she saw Hoover in women's clothing in Cohn's company, that Cohn introduced him to her as "Mary," and that she saw him in a similar state at a second party a year later. The account rests on her statements; Christopher Hitchens, reviewing the book in the London Review of Books, called it "the freelance testimony of Susan Rosenstiel."[^25]
[[Susan Rosenstiel]], the fourth wife of [[Lewis S. Rosenstiel]], told the author [[Anthony Summers]], in the account he published in Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover (1993), that at a party at the Plaza Hotel in 1958 she saw Hoover in women's clothing in Cohn's company, that Cohn introduced him to her as "Mary," and that she saw him in a similar state at a second party a year later. The account rests on her statements; Christopher Hitchens, reviewing the book in the London Review of Books, called it "the freelance testimony of Susan Rosenstiel."[^27]
### Disbarment
The [[Departmental Disciplinary Committee for the First Judicial Department]] brought four charges against Cohn in the fall of 1982. On June 23, 1986 the [[Appellate Division, First Department]] sustained all four in a per curiam opinion joined by Justices Sandler, Fein, Lynch, Rosenberger and Ellerin, and disbarred him effective immediately. His counsel were [[Michael Mukasey]] and [[Harold R. Tyler Jr.]][^3][^26]
The [[Departmental Disciplinary Committee for the First Judicial Department]] brought four charges against Cohn in the fall of 1982. On June 23, 1986 the [[Appellate Division, First Department]] sustained all four in a per curiam opinion joined by Justices Sandler, Fein, Lynch, Rosenberger and Ellerin, and disbarred him effective immediately. His counsel were [[Michael Mukasey]] and [[Harold R. Tyler Jr.]][^3][^28]
The first charge concerned the answers on Cohn's application of July 28, 1982 for admission to the District of Columbia Bar. To question 8(b), which asked whether any charges or complaints concerning his conduct as an attorney were pending, Cohn answered "No," and added: "Except usual crackpot complaint letters following media appearances, etc. Know of none pending." The court found the answer untruthful, because three complaints of a disciplinary nature were then pending against him. The court also noted that in answer to question 8(a) he had volunteered a 1960 admonition by the Grievance Committee for releasing to the press a statement that a client was about to bring a lawsuit.[^27]
The first charge concerned the answers on Cohn's application of July 28, 1982 for admission to the District of Columbia Bar. To question 8(b), which asked whether any charges or complaints concerning his conduct as an attorney were pending, Cohn answered "No," and added: "Except usual crackpot complaint letters following media appearances, etc. Know of none pending." The court found the answer untruthful, because three complaints of a disciplinary nature were then pending against him. The court also noted that in answer to question 8(a) he had volunteered a 1960 admonition by the Grievance Committee for releasing to the press a statement that a client was about to bring a lawsuit.[^29]
The second charge concerned a $100,000 loan from a client in 1966. Cohn and his partner, [[Thomas A. Bolan]], had been paid in full for the client's divorce matter, and the client's loan was documented in Cohn's handwriting as a loan. The obligation was not satisfied until 1984, after the disciplinary proceedings began. In a January 1981 deposition Cohn was asked whether the transaction could be characterized as a loan, and answered: "I would say that's an incorrect characterization." The court sustained the charge.[^28]
The second charge concerned a $100,000 loan from a client in 1966. Cohn and his partner, [[Thomas A. Bolan]], had been paid in full for the client's divorce matter, and the client's loan was documented in Cohn's handwriting as a loan. The obligation was not satisfied until 1984, after the disciplinary proceedings began. In a January 1981 deposition Cohn was asked whether the transaction could be characterized as a loan, and answered: "I would say that's an incorrect characterization." The court sustained the charge.[^30]
The third charge concerned a codicil to the will of Lewis S. Rosenstiel, the founder of the Schenley distilling company. The codicil was signed in Rosenstiel's hospital room in Miami on December 6, 1975, about six weeks before he died there on January 21, 1976, and named Cohn as an additional executor and trustee. The hearing panel had recommended exoneration on this charge, and the court rejected that recommendation. On June 24, 1976 a Florida probate judge, [[Frank B. Dowling]], revoked, annulled and set aside the codicil.[^29]
The third charge concerned a codicil to the will of Lewis S. Rosenstiel, the founder of the Schenley distilling company. The codicil was signed in Rosenstiel's hospital room in Miami on December 6, 1975, about six weeks before he died there on January 21, 1976, and named Cohn as an additional executor and trustee. The hearing panel had recommended exoneration on this charge, and the court rejected that recommendation. On June 24, 1976 a Florida probate judge, [[Frank B. Dowling]], revoked, annulled and set aside the codicil.[^31]
The fourth charge concerned an escrow order in a securities action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a corporate client in December 1971. Cohn's firm was escrow agent for $25,000 in cash and two yachts. In January 1972 $94,000 was released from the escrow on the strength of an indemnity bond that was not an equivalent bond, and the money was never recovered. The court found Cohn's account of having no direct knowledge of these events "incredible."[^30]
The fourth charge concerned an escrow order in a securities action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a corporate client in December 1971. Cohn's firm was escrow agent for $25,000 in cash and two yachts. In January 1972 $94,000 was released from the escrow on the strength of an indemnity bond that was not an equivalent bond, and the money was never recovered. The court found Cohn's account of having no direct knowledge of these events "incredible."[^32]
The court concluded that "the evidence so compelling on each of these four charges as to leave us no recourse but to order disbarment," and wrote that "for an attorney practicing for nearly 40 years in this State, such misconduct is inexcusable."[^26]
The court concluded that "the evidence so compelling on each of these four charges as to leave us no recourse but to order disbarment," and wrote that "for an attorney practicing for nearly 40 years in this State, such misconduct is inexcusable."[^28]
### Clients
In 1962 a federal jury convicted [[Carmine Galante]] in the Southern District of New York of conspiracy to violate federal narcotics laws, and he was sentenced to twenty years. Cohn appeared as his counsel in a habeas corpus proceeding in the [[United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania]] in 1970, in an appeal to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]] in 1971, and in a 1977 Second Circuit appeal from the dismissal of a habeas petition challenging the revocation of Galante's parole. Galante had been mandatorily released in 1974, and the Parole Commission proceeded on a charge that he associated with a person who had a criminal record.[^31][^32][^33] Schwarz wrote that during his summer at the firm in 1979 Galante came to the townhouse office to meet Cohn about legal problems, accompanied by bodyguards, and that the next day's New York Post carried the front-page photograph of Galante after his killing in Brooklyn.[^7]
In 1962 a federal jury convicted [[Carmine Galante]] in the Southern District of New York of conspiracy to violate federal narcotics laws, and he was sentenced to twenty years. Cohn appeared as his counsel in a habeas corpus proceeding in the [[United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania]] in 1970, in an appeal to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]] in 1971, and in a 1977 Second Circuit appeal from the dismissal of a habeas petition challenging the revocation of Galante's parole. Galante had been mandatorily released in 1974, and the Parole Commission proceeded on a charge that he associated with a person who had a criminal record.[^33][^34][^35] Schwarz wrote that during his summer at the firm in 1979 Galante came to the townhouse office to meet Cohn about legal problems, accompanied by bodyguards, and that the next day's New York Post carried the front-page photograph of Galante after his killing in Brooklyn.[^7]
On January 18, 1983 Cohn attended an Oval Office meeting with [[Ronald Reagan]], [[Rupert Murdoch]], [[Charles Wick]] and Thomas Bolan. The Reagan Library's photograph record for the meeting names the same four men and gives the event as "Meeting with Rupert Murdoch."[^34] On January 27, 1983 Cohn wrote on the letterhead of Saxe, Bacon & Bolan to [[Edwin Meese]], [[James A. Baker III]] and [[Michael Deaver]] at the White House: "I had one interest when Tom and I first brought Rupert Murdoch and Governor Reagan together - and that was that at least one major publisher in this country ... would become and remain pro-Reagan." He listed Murdoch's papers, enclosed the New York Post editorial praising a presidential speech, complained that Murdoch's Washington bureau chief had been slighted, and protested that White House staff had not returned Murdoch's calls when he offered to turn the Boston Herald over to Reagan during a visit to Boston. A deputy assistant to the President, [[Michael McManus]], answered on February 4, 1983 on behalf of the three, writing that he had called Murdoch and apologized, and of "our continued high regard for Mr. Murdoch personally."[^35]
On January 18, 1983 Cohn attended an Oval Office meeting with [[Ronald Reagan]], [[Rupert Murdoch]], [[Charles Wick]] and Thomas Bolan. The Reagan Library's photograph record for the meeting names the same four men and gives the event as "Meeting with Rupert Murdoch."[^36] On January 27, 1983 Cohn wrote on the letterhead of Saxe, Bacon & Bolan to [[Edwin Meese]], [[James A. Baker III]] and [[Michael Deaver]] at the White House: "I had one interest when Tom and I first brought Rupert Murdoch and Governor Reagan together - and that was that at least one major publisher in this country ... would become and remain pro-Reagan." He listed Murdoch's papers, enclosed the New York Post editorial praising a presidential speech, complained that Murdoch's Washington bureau chief had been slighted, and protested that White House staff had not returned Murdoch's calls when he offered to turn the Boston Herald over to Reagan during a visit to Boston. A deputy assistant to the President, [[Michael McManus]], answered on February 4, 1983 on behalf of the three, writing that he had called Murdoch and apologized, and of "our continued high regard for Mr. Murdoch personally."[^37]
On May 2, 1983 Reagan sent a message to Cohn, in care of the chairman of the B'nai B'rith Banking and Finance Lodge dinner committee at Bank Leumi Trust Company, congratulating him on the lodge's State of Israel Bonds tribute. The dinner program in the same White House file describes Cohn as the senior member of Saxe, Bacon & Bolan, an adjunct professor at New York Law School, and "president of the American Jewish League Against Communism." Its list of dinner sponsors includes Rupert Murdoch, as chairman of News America Publishing, and Donald J. Trump, as president of The Trump Organization.[^36] A Los Angeles chapter letterhead of July 1956 in the FBI's file on the American Jewish League Against Communism lists [[George Sokolsky]] as chairman and [[Alfred Kohlberg]] as honorary chairman and treasurer.[^37]
On May 2, 1983 Reagan sent a message to Cohn, in care of the chairman of the B'nai B'rith Banking and Finance Lodge dinner committee at Bank Leumi Trust Company, congratulating him on the lodge's State of Israel Bonds tribute. The dinner program in the same White House file describes Cohn as the senior member of Saxe, Bacon & Bolan, an adjunct professor at New York Law School, and "president of the American Jewish League Against Communism." Its list of dinner sponsors includes Rupert Murdoch, as chairman of News America Publishing, and Donald J. Trump, as president of The Trump Organization.[^38] A Los Angeles chapter letterhead of July 1956 in the FBI's file on the American Jewish League Against Communism lists [[George Sokolsky]] as chairman and [[Alfred Kohlberg]] as honorary chairman and treasurer.[^39]
In 1985 Cohn wrote to Webster that a Bureau representative had planted a story in the New York Post, published March 5, 1985, reporting that agents were surveilling his office to develop grounds for a wiretap on his telephone. The Bureau's New York office confirmed in an April 1985 teletype that it had conducted surveillances to ascertain the feasibility of a monitoring device to intercept the conversations of [[Anthony Salerno]], identified in the teletype as a Genovese boss, with a Teamsters contact.[^8][^38] The Bureau's reply of May 13, 1985 said that it would not "plant" a story and that it had checked with its New York office.[^39] Salerno and Vincent Cafaro were arrested on March 21, 1986 on a 29-count racketeering indictment, and the government moved for their pretrial detention as danger to the community under the Bail Reform Act of 1984. On July 3, 1986, about four weeks before Cohn died, the Second Circuit vacated the detention orders in United States v. Salerno; the court's listing of counsel gives "Anthony M. Cardinale, Boston, Mass. (Roy Cohn, New York City, on brief), for defendant-appellant Salerno." The Supreme Court reversed on May 26, 1987.[^40]
In 1985 Cohn wrote to Webster that a Bureau representative had planted a story in the New York Post, published March 5, 1985, reporting that agents were surveilling his office to develop grounds for a wiretap on his telephone. The Bureau's New York office confirmed in an April 1985 teletype that it had conducted surveillances to ascertain the feasibility of a monitoring device to intercept the conversations of [[Anthony Salerno]], identified in the teletype as a Genovese boss, with a Teamsters contact.[^8][^40] The Bureau's reply of May 13, 1985 said that it would not "plant" a story and that it had checked with its New York office.[^41] Salerno and Vincent Cafaro were arrested on March 21, 1986 on a 29-count racketeering indictment, and the government moved for their pretrial detention as danger to the community under the Bail Reform Act of 1984. On July 3, 1986, about four weeks before Cohn died, the Second Circuit vacated the detention orders in United States v. Salerno; the court's listing of counsel gives "Anthony M. Cardinale, Boston, Mass. (Roy Cohn, New York City, on brief), for defendant-appellant Salerno." The Supreme Court reversed on May 26, 1987.[^42]
[[Roger Stone]] told The Weekly Standard in 2007 that he started working with Cohn around the time he became northeast chairman of Reagan's 1980 campaign, and described a 1979 meeting at Cohn's townhouse at which Cohn introduced him to Salerno. By Stone's account Cohn said "Tony, everything's fixed. Everything can be handled," Salerno answered "Roy, the Supreme Court," and Cohn replied "Cost a few more dollars."[^41] Stone told FRONTLINE that he and Donald Trump "became very good friends"; FRONTLINE reported that Cohn arranged his first meeting with Trump in 1979. In 1980 Stone, [[Paul Manafort]] and [[Charles Black]] opened a Washington lobbying firm, [[Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly]]; Stone said that Trump was among its first clients, and Newsweek reported that the most widely told version of how Trump met Manafort has Cohn introducing them.[^42]
[[Roger Stone]] told The Weekly Standard in 2007 that he started working with Cohn around the time he became northeast chairman of Reagan's 1980 campaign, and described a 1979 meeting at Cohn's townhouse at which Cohn introduced him to Salerno. By Stone's account Cohn said "Tony, everything's fixed. Everything can be handled," Salerno answered "Roy, the Supreme Court," and Cohn replied "Cost a few more dollars."[^43] Stone told FRONTLINE that he and Donald Trump "became very good friends"; FRONTLINE reported that Cohn arranged his first meeting with Trump in 1979. In 1980 Stone, [[Paul Manafort]] and [[Charles Black]] opened a Washington lobbying firm, [[Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly]]; Stone said that Trump was among its first clients, and Newsweek reported that the most widely told version of how Trump met Manafort has Cohn introducing them.[^44]
In the federal government's 1973 housing discrimination suit against [[Fred Trump]], [[Donald Trump]] and Trump Management, Cohn acted for the defendants. The docket records an affidavit of Roy M. Cohn filed in the case and letters from him to the court and to opposing counsel in 1974. The docket shows that the defendants filed a counterclaim on December 12, 1973, that the government moved to dismiss it on January 8, 1974, and that the motions were argued before Judge [[Edward R. Neaher]] on January 25, 1974. The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse summary states that Neaher dismissed the counterclaim, which sought $100 million in damages for defamation; The Nation reported that the judge dismissed it about two months after it was filed.[^43][^44]
In the federal government's 1973 housing discrimination suit against [[Fred Trump]], [[Donald Trump]] and Trump Management, Cohn acted for the defendants. The docket records an affidavit of Roy M. Cohn filed in the case and letters from him to the court and to opposing counsel in 1974. The docket shows that the defendants filed a counterclaim on December 12, 1973, that the government moved to dismiss it on January 8, 1974, and that the motions were argued before Judge [[Edward R. Neaher]] on January 25, 1974. The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse summary states that Neaher dismissed the counterclaim, which sought $100 million in damages for defamation; The Nation reported that the judge dismissed it about two months after it was filed.[^45][^46]
### Tax disputes and the 1988 suit
In 1969 the Second Circuit affirmed a Tax Court decision that $27,247 Cohn received in 1958 was compensation for his services as co-executor of an estate rather than a gift.[^45]
In 1969 the Second Circuit affirmed a Tax Court decision that $27,247 Cohn received in 1958 was compensation for his services as co-executor of an estate rather than a gift.[^47]
In the spring of 1986 the United States filed suit to collect about $7 million in taxes, interest and penalties for tax years 1959 through 1983, on assessments made between 1972 and 1984. The government sought to foreclose tax liens under 26 U.S.C. sections 6321 and 6322 on a Manhattan townhouse that it alleged was held by a corporation as Cohn's nominee, and on fees earned by Cohn that his firm had retained or paid to third parties on his behalf. The court summarized the government's theory as resting in part on a book by Cohn, [[How to Stand Up for Your Rights and Win]], and quoted him as writing: "I decided to have no assets." A memorandum opinion of March 23, 1988 addressed motions by the firm, the townhouse corporation and several of the firm's lawyers, and noted that Cohn had been disbarred in June 1986, had apparently served an answer that he never filed with the court, and had died on August 2, 1986, with no motion to substitute his estate having been filed or granted.[^46] Schwarz wrote that in 1979 the firm owned the townhouse and the cars in which Cohn was driven, that Cohn drew a minimal salary, and that Cohn was reported to owe the Internal Revenue Service over $7,000,000.[^7]
In the spring of 1986 the United States filed suit to collect about $7 million in taxes, interest and penalties for tax years 1959 through 1983, on assessments made between 1972 and 1984. The government sought to foreclose tax liens under 26 U.S.C. sections 6321 and 6322 on a Manhattan townhouse that it alleged was held by a corporation as Cohn's nominee, and on fees earned by Cohn that his firm had retained or paid to third parties on his behalf. The court summarized the government's theory as resting in part on a book by Cohn, [[How to Stand Up for Your Rights and Win]], and quoted him as writing: "I decided to have no assets." A memorandum opinion of March 23, 1988 addressed motions by the firm, the townhouse corporation and several of the firm's lawyers, and noted that Cohn had been disbarred in June 1986, had apparently served an answer that he never filed with the court, and had died on August 2, 1986, with no motion to substitute his estate having been filed or granted.[^48] Schwarz wrote that in 1979 the firm owned the townhouse and the cars in which Cohn was driven, that Cohn drew a minimal salary, and that Cohn was reported to owe the Internal Revenue Service over $7,000,000.[^7]
### Death
Cohn died on August 2, 1986, about four months after the government filed its suit in the spring of 1986 and about six weeks after his disbarment. He was undergoing treatment at the [[National Institutes of Health]] in Bethesda, Maryland, when he died. UPI reported that he died of complications brought on by AIDS, and an NIH spokeswoman named a heart attack as the immediate cause.[^47]
Cohn died on August 2, 1986, about four months after the government filed its suit in the spring of 1986 and about six weeks after his disbarment. He was undergoing treatment at the [[National Institutes of Health]] in Bethesda, Maryland, when he died. UPI reported that he died of complications brought on by AIDS, and an NIH spokeswoman named a heart attack as the immediate cause.[^49]
### Footnotes
@ -207,41 +209,43 @@ Cohn died on August 2, 1986, about four months after the government filed its su
[^7]: Stephen G. Schwarz, "Roy M. Cohn: My Personal Experiences and Reflections on His Connections to the Forty-Fifth President of the United States," Journal of the American College of Trial Lawyers, no. 87 (Summer 2018), pp. 79 to 86 (recollection by a summer associate at Saxe, Bacon & Bolan, June to August 1979; Greenglass, the Rosenberg verdict, the 1964, Fifth Avenue Coach and 1971 trials, Galante, the townhouse and the Internal Revenue Service). https://web.archive.org/web/2022/https://www.actl.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/default-document-library/journal_87_summer_2018_cohn_article.pdf
[^8]: Roy M. Cohn to William Webster, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, letter dated March 11, 1985, received August 27, 1985, in the FBI file on Cohn ("magnificent investigative help" in the Rosenberg case; "a close friendship with Mr. Hoover"; the complaint about a planted story in the New York Post of March 5, 1985). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^9]: Central Intelligence Agency, memorandum for the Director of Central Intelligence, "Request from Mr. Roy Cohn, Counsel for the McCarthy Committee," April 2, 1953, signed by the Legislative Counsel, CIA-RDP91-00682R000300090129-1 (CIA CREST, released 2004). https://archive.org/details/CIA-RDP91-00682R000300090129-1
[^10]: U.S. Senate, "McCarthy and Army-McCarthy Hearings" (Senate Historical Office), describing the Special Senate Investigation on Charges and Countercharges, the acting chairmanship of Karl Mundt, and the December 2, 1954 censure. https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/mccarthy-and-army-mccarthy-hearings.htm
[^11]: Special Senate Investigation on Charges and Countercharges Involving Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens, John G. Adams, H. Struve Hensel and Senator Joe McCarthy, Roy M. Cohn, and Francis P. Carr, Hearings before the Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, 83d Cong., 2d Sess., S. Res. 189, Part 41 (May 26, 1954) (index: "Testimony of Cohn, Roy M., chief counsel, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations"). https://archive.org/details/specialsenateinv4146unit
[^12]: Special Senate Investigation on Charges and Countercharges, Hearings, 83d Cong., 2d Sess., S. Res. 189, Part 59 (June 9, 1954), pp. 2428 to 2429 (Welch to McCarthy: "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"; Welch to Cohn: "I did you, I think, no personal injury, Mr. Cohn."; Cohn: "No, sir."; McCarthy: "he has been baiting Mr. Cohn here for hours"). https://archive.org/details/specialsenateinv59unit
[^13]: United States v. Cohn, 230 F. Supp. 587 (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 1964) (Bonsal, J.) (first trial before Judge Dawson; mistrial April 19, 1964; conspiracy count dismissed; nine counts remaining; retrial set for June 9, 1964). https://static.case.law/f-supp/230/cases/0587-01.json ; FBI file on Roy M. Cohn, memorandum reporting the indictment returned September 3, 1963. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^14]: In re Cohn, 332 F.2d 976 (2d Cir. June 2, 1964) (petition for mandamus denied; "considerable attention in the press"). https://static.case.law/f2d/332/cases/0976-01.json
[^15]: FBI file on Roy M. Cohn, New York office teletypes and closing memorandum, July 1964 (jury verdict of acquittal on July 16, 1964 before Judge Bonsal; description of the underlying alleged payment in 1959). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^16]: Louis B. Nichols to J. Edgar Hoover, letter of July 10, 1964 forwarding his testimony of July 9, 1964 at the Cohn trial ("That's an unmitigated lie"; Internal Revenue Service investigation of Cohn; call to DeLoach; "another 'steel pricing case'"; Judge Dawson and the Treasury inquiries), in the FBI file on Cohn. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^17]: In re Cohn, 416 F.2d 440 (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 1969) (per curiam; indictment dated January 17, 1969 charging conspiracy, bribery and extortion; trial set for September 23, 1969; Life article of September 1969; "Paul L. Perito and Peter L. Truebner, Asst. U. S. Attys., on the brief"). https://static.case.law/f2d/416/cases/0440-01.json
[^18]: FBI file on Roy M. Cohn, memorandum of January 22, 1975 concerning the Barry Farber radio program of January 14, 1975 (Cohn "indicted by the Federal Grand Jury in New York (and subsequently acquitted) on charges of bribery, conspiracy, and extortion in connection with ... the city's Fifth Avenue Coach Lines"; Cohn's charge of a "personal vendetta" against Robert Morgenthau). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^19]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, News Digest, October 22, 1971, "Cohn Acquitted" (Litigation Release LR-5194: verdicts of acquittal on October 15 on three remaining counts of a ten-count indictment under Sections 13(a) and 14(a); six counts dismissed on the government's motion before trial and a conspiracy count dismissed during the trial). https://web.archive.org/web/2023id_/https://www.sec.gov/news/digest/1971/dig102271.pdf
[^20]: SEC v. Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Inc., 435 F.2d 510 (2d Cir. Dec. 8, 1970) (Adams, J.) (appeal from injunction against Victor Muscat and Roy M. Cohn; section 10(b) violation in transaction with Gray Line Corporation; Cohn's 7% holding in Defiance as of December 12, 1966; nominee attorney; "of counsel"). https://static.case.law/f2d/435/cases/0510-01.json
[^21]: SEC v. Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Inc., 364 F. Supp. 1220 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 16, 1973) (fee application of $489,924 granted in full over the objection of Roy M. Cohn as a shareholder). https://static.case.law/f-supp/364/cases/1220-01.json
[^22]: FBI file on Roy M. Cohn, note of July 1971 on a letter of June 29, 1971 from a correspondent regarding Cohn's book "A Fool For A Client," which the note says was not in the Bureau library. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^23]: Letter of March 3, 1970 from a private correspondent to Senator Abraham Ribicoff (quoting his letter of September 8, 1969 and J. Edgar Hoover's reply), and Hoover to Ribicoff, March 16, 1970, in the FBI file on Cohn; the correspondent's name is redacted in the release. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^24]: Roy M. Cohn to Jerry Finkelstein, letters of January 6 and January 25, 1971 (the latter marked "bcc: Honorable J. Edgar Hoover"), and Finkelstein to Cohn, January 19, 1971, in the FBI file on Cohn. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^25]: Christopher Hitchens, "Mary, Mary," London Review of Books, vol. 15, no. 7 (April 8, 1993), reviewing Anthony Summers, Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1993) and quoting Susan Rosenstiel's account of the 1958 and 1959 parties at the Plaza Hotel. https://www.lrb.co.uk/v15/n07/christopher-hitchens/mary-mary
[^26]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), disposition ("no recourse but to order disbarment"; "for an attorney practicing for nearly 40 years in this State, such misconduct is inexcusable"); counsel Michael B. Mukasey and Harold R. Tyler, Jr. https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json ; https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6021889/in-re-cohn/
[^27]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), Charge I (application to the District of Columbia Bar of July 28, 1982; question 8(b); answer "No" and "Except usual crackpot complaint letters following media appearances, etc. Know of none pending"; three complaints pending; question 8(a) and the May 1960 admonition). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json
[^28]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), Charge II (1966 loan from a client, $100,000, documented as a loan; settlement in 1984 of a $127,584.76 judgment; deposition of January 8, 1981, "I would say that's an incorrect characterization"; loan written by "Respondent and his partner, Thomas A. Bolan"; "Saxe Bacon & Bolan" as law firm). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json
[^29]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), Charge III (codicil executed December 6, 1975 in Rosenstiel's hospital room; hearing panel recommendation of exoneration rejected; Florida probate order of June 24, 1976, Circuit Judge Frank B. Dowling, revoking the codicil). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json
[^30]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), Charge IV (December 1971 SEC escrow order; $25,000 and two yachts; $94,000 released January 1972 on a substituted indemnity bond; "incredible"). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json
[^31]: In re Galante, 311 F. Supp. 732 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 26, 1970) (habeas petition of Carmine Galante, convicted in the Southern District of New York on June 25, 1962 of conspiracy to violate federal narcotics laws, sentenced to twenty years; counsel listing includes Roy M. Cohn). https://static.case.law/f-supp/311/cases/0732-01.json
[^32]: Application of Carmine Galante, 437 F.2d 1164 (3d Cir. Jan. 14, 1971) (habeas appeal from Lewisburg; counsel listing includes Roy M. Cohn, Saxe, Bacon & Bolan). https://static.case.law/f2d/437/cases/1164-01.json
[^33]: Galante v. Warden, Metropolitan Correctional Center, 573 F.2d 707 (2d Cir. Dec. 9, 1977) (per curiam) (mandatory release in 1974 after twelve years of a twenty-year sentence; revocation for associating with a person with a criminal record, 28 C.F.R. section 2.40(a)(10); counsel listing includes Roy M. Cohn). https://static.case.law/f2d/573/cases/0707-01.json
[^34]: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, photograph roll C12463 (01), Oval Office, January 18, 1983, "Meeting with Rupert Murdoch," personal references Rupert Murdoch, Roy Cohn, Charles Wick and Thomas Bolan. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/photo/c12463-01
[^35]: Roy M. Cohn to Edwin Meese III, James A. Baker III and Michael K. Deaver, letter of January 27, 1983 on Saxe, Bacon & Bolan letterhead, and Michael A. McManus Jr. to Cohn, February 4, 1983, White House files (reproduced at https://trumpfile.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Murdoch-Reagan-Cohn-letter.pdf ).
[^36]: Ronald Reagan to Roy Cohn, message of May 2, 1983, with the program of the B'nai B'rith Banking and Finance Lodge State of Israel Bond tribute dinner for Roy M. Cohn (describing Cohn as "president of the American Jewish League Against Communism"; sponsors including Rupert Murdoch, Chairman, News America Publishing Inc., and Donald J. Trump, President, The Trump Organization), Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, White House Office of Records Management subject file ME001. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/me001/40-654-12019891-024-009-2018.pdf
[^37]: FBI Los Angeles file 80-236, American Jewish League Against Communism, Inc., released under FOIPA No. 1010124-000 (June 22, 2005), letterhead of the Los Angeles Chapter, July 1956 (national officers Alfred Kohlberg, honorary chairman and treasurer; George Sokolsky, chairman; Rabbi Benjamin Schultz, national executive director). https://archive.org/details/AmericanJewishLeagueAgainstCommunismLosAngeles80236
[^38]: FBI, New York office teletype, April 17, 1985, in the FBI file on Cohn (Cohn's letter to FBIHQ about the New York Post article of March 5, 1985; feasibility of a monitoring device to intercept the conversations of Genovese boss Anthony Salerno with a Teamsters contact). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^39]: FBI, letter from the Director's office to Roy M. Cohn, Esq., Saxe, Bacon and Bolan, dated May 13, 1985 (no policy of discussing ongoing investigations with the press or planting stories; check with the New York office). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^40]: United States v. Salerno, 794 F.2d 64 (2d Cir. July 3, 1986) (Kearse, J.) (arrests of March 21, 1986; 29-count indictment; pretrial detention under the Bail Reform Act of 1984 vacated; counsel for defendant-appellant Salerno: "Anthony M. Cardinale, Boston, Mass. (Roy Cohn, New York City, on brief)"). https://static.case.law/f2d/794/cases/0064-01.json ; reversed, United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (May 26, 1987). https://static.case.law/us/481/cases/0739-01.json
[^41]: "A Timeline of Paul Manafort's Relationship With the Trump World," Slate (October 2017), quoting The Weekly Standard, Nov. 5, 2007 (Roger Stone on working with Roy Cohn and the 1979 meeting with Anthony Salerno). https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/a-timeline-of-paul-manaforts-relationship-with-the-trump-world.html
[^42]: "Roger Stone Indicted," PBS FRONTLINE (January 2019) (Stone's statement that he and Trump "became very good friends"; Cohn's arrangement of the 1979 meeting; Stone's co-founding of a consulting firm with Charles Black and Paul Manafort), https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/roger-stone-indicted-donald-trump-russia-investigation ; Newsweek, "How Close Are Trump and Manafort? They Go Way, Way Back" (2017) (Black, Manafort and Stone opening a Washington lobbying shop in 1980; the account that Cohn introduced Manafort to Trump), https://www.newsweek.com/how-close-are-trump-and-manafort-they-go-way-way-back-697195 ; Slate timeline (Stone on Trump as an early client).
[^43]: United States v. Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump and Trump Management, Inc., No. 73 C 1529 (E.D.N.Y.), civil docket (affidavit of Roy M. Cohn; his letters of 1974; counterclaim filed 12-12-73; government motion to dismiss counterclaim 1-8-74; motions argued before Neaher, J., 1-25-74). Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, document 82945. https://clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/doc/82945.pdf
[^44]: "United States v. Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump, and Trump Management, Inc.," case summary, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse ("He dismissed the counterclaim and allowed the Fair Housing Act suit to proceed"), https://clearinghouse.net/case/15342/ ; The Nation, "Trump Sues the Justice Department for $100 Million" (the judge "dismissed the counterclaim two months after it was filed"), https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/justice-department-trump-lawsuit/
[^45]: Cohn v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 410 F.2d 399 (2d Cir. May 22, 1969) (per curiam) (affirming Tax Court; $27,247 received in 1958 treated as compensation for services as co-executor, not a gift). https://static.case.law/f2d/410/cases/0399-01.json
[^46]: United States v. Cohn, 682 F. Supp. 209 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 23, 1988) (Haight, J.) (action under 26 U.S.C. section 7401 for about $7,000,000 in taxes, interest and penalties for tax years 1959 to 1983, assessed 1972 to 1984; foreclosure of tax liens under 26 U.S.C. sections 6321, 6322; townhouse held by a corporation as nominee; Cohn's book "How To Stand Up For Your Rights And Win," quoting "I decided to have no assets"; disbarment June 1986; death August 2, 1986). https://static.case.law/f-supp/682/cases/0209-01.json
[^47]: United Press International, "Roy Cohn dies at 59," dateline Bethesda, Md., August 4, 1986 (death on Saturday, August 2, 1986, of complications brought on by AIDS, at the National Institutes of Health; NIH spokeswoman on the immediate cause). Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/2020/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/08/04/Roy-Cohn-dies-at-59/1617523512000/
[^10]: CIA Office of Legislative Counsel, journal entry for Tuesday, August 11, 1953, CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP91-00682R000200090091-4. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp91-00682r000200090091-4
[^11]: Letter from Allen W. Dulles to Joseph R. McCarthy, October 22, 1953, CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP86B00269R000100130103-2. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp86b00269r000100130103-2
[^12]: U.S. Senate, "McCarthy and Army-McCarthy Hearings" (Senate Historical Office), describing the Special Senate Investigation on Charges and Countercharges, the acting chairmanship of Karl Mundt, and the December 2, 1954 censure. https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/mccarthy-and-army-mccarthy-hearings.htm
[^13]: Special Senate Investigation on Charges and Countercharges Involving Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens, John G. Adams, H. Struve Hensel and Senator Joe McCarthy, Roy M. Cohn, and Francis P. Carr, Hearings before the Special Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, 83d Cong., 2d Sess., S. Res. 189, Part 41 (May 26, 1954) (index: "Testimony of Cohn, Roy M., chief counsel, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations"). https://archive.org/details/specialsenateinv4146unit
[^14]: Special Senate Investigation on Charges and Countercharges, Hearings, 83d Cong., 2d Sess., S. Res. 189, Part 59 (June 9, 1954), pp. 2428 to 2429 (Welch to McCarthy: "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"; Welch to Cohn: "I did you, I think, no personal injury, Mr. Cohn."; Cohn: "No, sir."; McCarthy: "he has been baiting Mr. Cohn here for hours"). https://archive.org/details/specialsenateinv59unit
[^15]: United States v. Cohn, 230 F. Supp. 587 (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 1964) (Bonsal, J.) (first trial before Judge Dawson; mistrial April 19, 1964; conspiracy count dismissed; nine counts remaining; retrial set for June 9, 1964). https://static.case.law/f-supp/230/cases/0587-01.json ; FBI file on Roy M. Cohn, memorandum reporting the indictment returned September 3, 1963. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^16]: In re Cohn, 332 F.2d 976 (2d Cir. June 2, 1964) (petition for mandamus denied; "considerable attention in the press"). https://static.case.law/f2d/332/cases/0976-01.json
[^17]: FBI file on Roy M. Cohn, New York office teletypes and closing memorandum, July 1964 (jury verdict of acquittal on July 16, 1964 before Judge Bonsal; description of the underlying alleged payment in 1959). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^18]: Louis B. Nichols to J. Edgar Hoover, letter of July 10, 1964 forwarding his testimony of July 9, 1964 at the Cohn trial ("That's an unmitigated lie"; Internal Revenue Service investigation of Cohn; call to DeLoach; "another 'steel pricing case'"; Judge Dawson and the Treasury inquiries), in the FBI file on Cohn. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^19]: In re Cohn, 416 F.2d 440 (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 1969) (per curiam; indictment dated January 17, 1969 charging conspiracy, bribery and extortion; trial set for September 23, 1969; Life article of September 1969; "Paul L. Perito and Peter L. Truebner, Asst. U. S. Attys., on the brief"). https://static.case.law/f2d/416/cases/0440-01.json
[^20]: FBI file on Roy M. Cohn, memorandum of January 22, 1975 concerning the Barry Farber radio program of January 14, 1975 (Cohn "indicted by the Federal Grand Jury in New York (and subsequently acquitted) on charges of bribery, conspiracy, and extortion in connection with ... the city's Fifth Avenue Coach Lines"; Cohn's charge of a "personal vendetta" against Robert Morgenthau). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^21]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, News Digest, October 22, 1971, "Cohn Acquitted" (Litigation Release LR-5194: verdicts of acquittal on October 15 on three remaining counts of a ten-count indictment under Sections 13(a) and 14(a); six counts dismissed on the government's motion before trial and a conspiracy count dismissed during the trial). https://web.archive.org/web/2023id_/https://www.sec.gov/news/digest/1971/dig102271.pdf
[^22]: SEC v. Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Inc., 435 F.2d 510 (2d Cir. Dec. 8, 1970) (Adams, J.) (appeal from injunction against Victor Muscat and Roy M. Cohn; section 10(b) violation in transaction with Gray Line Corporation; Cohn's 7% holding in Defiance as of December 12, 1966; nominee attorney; "of counsel"). https://static.case.law/f2d/435/cases/0510-01.json
[^23]: SEC v. Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Inc., 364 F. Supp. 1220 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 16, 1973) (fee application of $489,924 granted in full over the objection of Roy M. Cohn as a shareholder). https://static.case.law/f-supp/364/cases/1220-01.json
[^24]: FBI file on Roy M. Cohn, note of July 1971 on a letter of June 29, 1971 from a correspondent regarding Cohn's book "A Fool For A Client," which the note says was not in the Bureau library. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^25]: Letter of March 3, 1970 from a private correspondent to Senator Abraham Ribicoff (quoting his letter of September 8, 1969 and J. Edgar Hoover's reply), and Hoover to Ribicoff, March 16, 1970, in the FBI file on Cohn; the correspondent's name is redacted in the release. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^26]: Roy M. Cohn to Jerry Finkelstein, letters of January 6 and January 25, 1971 (the latter marked "bcc: Honorable J. Edgar Hoover"), and Finkelstein to Cohn, January 19, 1971, in the FBI file on Cohn. https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^27]: Christopher Hitchens, "Mary, Mary," London Review of Books, vol. 15, no. 7 (April 8, 1993), reviewing Anthony Summers, Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1993) and quoting Susan Rosenstiel's account of the 1958 and 1959 parties at the Plaza Hotel. https://www.lrb.co.uk/v15/n07/christopher-hitchens/mary-mary
[^28]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), disposition ("no recourse but to order disbarment"; "for an attorney practicing for nearly 40 years in this State, such misconduct is inexcusable"); counsel Michael B. Mukasey and Harold R. Tyler, Jr. https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json ; https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6021889/in-re-cohn/
[^29]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), Charge I (application to the District of Columbia Bar of July 28, 1982; question 8(b); answer "No" and "Except usual crackpot complaint letters following media appearances, etc. Know of none pending"; three complaints pending; question 8(a) and the May 1960 admonition). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json
[^30]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), Charge II (1966 loan from a client, $100,000, documented as a loan; settlement in 1984 of a $127,584.76 judgment; deposition of January 8, 1981, "I would say that's an incorrect characterization"; loan written by "Respondent and his partner, Thomas A. Bolan"; "Saxe Bacon & Bolan" as law firm). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json
[^31]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), Charge III (codicil executed December 6, 1975 in Rosenstiel's hospital room; hearing panel recommendation of exoneration rejected; Florida probate order of June 24, 1976, Circuit Judge Frank B. Dowling, revoking the codicil). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json
[^32]: Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15 (1st Dep't 1986), Charge IV (December 1971 SEC escrow order; $25,000 and two yachts; $94,000 released January 1972 on a substituted indemnity bond; "incredible"). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json
[^33]: In re Galante, 311 F. Supp. 732 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 26, 1970) (habeas petition of Carmine Galante, convicted in the Southern District of New York on June 25, 1962 of conspiracy to violate federal narcotics laws, sentenced to twenty years; counsel listing includes Roy M. Cohn). https://static.case.law/f-supp/311/cases/0732-01.json
[^34]: Application of Carmine Galante, 437 F.2d 1164 (3d Cir. Jan. 14, 1971) (habeas appeal from Lewisburg; counsel listing includes Roy M. Cohn, Saxe, Bacon & Bolan). https://static.case.law/f2d/437/cases/1164-01.json
[^35]: Galante v. Warden, Metropolitan Correctional Center, 573 F.2d 707 (2d Cir. Dec. 9, 1977) (per curiam) (mandatory release in 1974 after twelve years of a twenty-year sentence; revocation for associating with a person with a criminal record, 28 C.F.R. section 2.40(a)(10); counsel listing includes Roy M. Cohn). https://static.case.law/f2d/573/cases/0707-01.json
[^36]: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, photograph roll C12463 (01), Oval Office, January 18, 1983, "Meeting with Rupert Murdoch," personal references Rupert Murdoch, Roy Cohn, Charles Wick and Thomas Bolan. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/photo/c12463-01
[^37]: Roy M. Cohn to Edwin Meese III, James A. Baker III and Michael K. Deaver, letter of January 27, 1983 on Saxe, Bacon & Bolan letterhead, and Michael A. McManus Jr. to Cohn, February 4, 1983, White House files (reproduced at https://trumpfile.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Murdoch-Reagan-Cohn-letter.pdf ).
[^38]: Ronald Reagan to Roy Cohn, message of May 2, 1983, with the program of the B'nai B'rith Banking and Finance Lodge State of Israel Bond tribute dinner for Roy M. Cohn (describing Cohn as "president of the American Jewish League Against Communism"; sponsors including Rupert Murdoch, Chairman, News America Publishing Inc., and Donald J. Trump, President, The Trump Organization), Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, White House Office of Records Management subject file ME001. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/me001/40-654-12019891-024-009-2018.pdf
[^39]: FBI Los Angeles file 80-236, American Jewish League Against Communism, Inc., released under FOIPA No. 1010124-000 (June 22, 2005), letterhead of the Los Angeles Chapter, July 1956 (national officers Alfred Kohlberg, honorary chairman and treasurer; George Sokolsky, chairman; Rabbi Benjamin Schultz, national executive director). https://archive.org/details/AmericanJewishLeagueAgainstCommunismLosAngeles80236
[^40]: FBI, New York office teletype, April 17, 1985, in the FBI file on Cohn (Cohn's letter to FBIHQ about the New York Post article of March 5, 1985; feasibility of a monitoring device to intercept the conversations of Genovese boss Anthony Salerno with a Teamsters contact). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^41]: FBI, letter from the Director's office to Roy M. Cohn, Esq., Saxe, Bacon and Bolan, dated May 13, 1985 (no policy of discussing ongoing investigations with the press or planting stories; check with the New York office). https://archive.org/details/6434449-Roy-Cohn-FBI-file-OCR
[^42]: United States v. Salerno, 794 F.2d 64 (2d Cir. July 3, 1986) (Kearse, J.) (arrests of March 21, 1986; 29-count indictment; pretrial detention under the Bail Reform Act of 1984 vacated; counsel for defendant-appellant Salerno: "Anthony M. Cardinale, Boston, Mass. (Roy Cohn, New York City, on brief)"). https://static.case.law/f2d/794/cases/0064-01.json ; reversed, United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (May 26, 1987). https://static.case.law/us/481/cases/0739-01.json
[^43]: "A Timeline of Paul Manafort's Relationship With the Trump World," Slate (October 2017), quoting The Weekly Standard, Nov. 5, 2007 (Roger Stone on working with Roy Cohn and the 1979 meeting with Anthony Salerno). https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/a-timeline-of-paul-manaforts-relationship-with-the-trump-world.html
[^44]: "Roger Stone Indicted," PBS FRONTLINE (January 2019) (Stone's statement that he and Trump "became very good friends"; Cohn's arrangement of the 1979 meeting; Stone's co-founding of a consulting firm with Charles Black and Paul Manafort), https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/roger-stone-indicted-donald-trump-russia-investigation ; Newsweek, "How Close Are Trump and Manafort? They Go Way, Way Back" (2017) (Black, Manafort and Stone opening a Washington lobbying shop in 1980; the account that Cohn introduced Manafort to Trump), https://www.newsweek.com/how-close-are-trump-and-manafort-they-go-way-way-back-697195 ; Slate timeline (Stone on Trump as an early client).
[^45]: United States v. Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump and Trump Management, Inc., No. 73 C 1529 (E.D.N.Y.), civil docket (affidavit of Roy M. Cohn; his letters of 1974; counterclaim filed 12-12-73; government motion to dismiss counterclaim 1-8-74; motions argued before Neaher, J., 1-25-74). Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, document 82945. https://clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/doc/82945.pdf
[^46]: "United States v. Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump, and Trump Management, Inc.," case summary, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse ("He dismissed the counterclaim and allowed the Fair Housing Act suit to proceed"), https://clearinghouse.net/case/15342/ ; The Nation, "Trump Sues the Justice Department for $100 Million" (the judge "dismissed the counterclaim two months after it was filed"), https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/justice-department-trump-lawsuit/
[^47]: Cohn v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 410 F.2d 399 (2d Cir. May 22, 1969) (per curiam) (affirming Tax Court; $27,247 received in 1958 treated as compensation for services as co-executor, not a gift). https://static.case.law/f2d/410/cases/0399-01.json
[^48]: United States v. Cohn, 682 F. Supp. 209 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 23, 1988) (Haight, J.) (action under 26 U.S.C. section 7401 for about $7,000,000 in taxes, interest and penalties for tax years 1959 to 1983, assessed 1972 to 1984; foreclosure of tax liens under 26 U.S.C. sections 6321, 6322; townhouse held by a corporation as nominee; Cohn's book "How To Stand Up For Your Rights And Win," quoting "I decided to have no assets"; disbarment June 1986; death August 2, 1986). https://static.case.law/f-supp/682/cases/0209-01.json
[^49]: United Press International, "Roy Cohn dies at 59," dateline Bethesda, Md., August 4, 1986 (death on Saturday, August 2, 1986, of complications brought on by AIDS, at the National Institutes of Health; NIH spokeswoman on the immediate cause). Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/2020/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/08/04/Roy-Cohn-dies-at-59/1617523512000/

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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Samuel Goudsmit.md
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@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ summary: "Samuel Goudsmit was a Dutch-American nuclear physicist who served as t
born: 1902-07-11
died: 1978-12-04
location: "The Hague, Netherlands"
updated: 2026-10-14
---
Samuel Goudsmit was a Dutch-American nuclear physicist who served as the scientific head of [[Operation Alsos]], an elite U.S. scientific intelligence effort during [[World War II]]. The mission of Operation Alsos was to investigate the German nuclear energy project and to prevent German scientific and technological knowledge from falling into Soviet hands[^1].
@ -19,5 +20,9 @@ In July 1945, after the defeat of [[Nazi Germany]], Goudsmit and his team sought
Goudsmit emphasized the critical importance of preventing the Ahnenerbe's supernatural secrets from becoming part of the [[Cold War]] arms race. He ensured that the Ahnenerbe relics were crated up and sent to U.S. Army headquarters in Frankfurt[^1].
Goudsmit wrote that when [[Boris Pash]] and a general entered the Hechingen office of [[Werner Heisenberg]], the first thing they saw was a photograph of Heisenberg and Goudsmit standing side by side, taken when Heisenberg was Goudsmit's guest, and that Pash later took six men to Urfeld, south of Munich, to take Heisenberg.[^2]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^2]: Goudsmit, Samuel A. *Alsos*. Woodbury, N.Y.: American Institute of Physics Press, 1996 (first published New York: Henry Schuman, 1947), pp. 99 and 111.