22 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
22 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
category: "Iran-Contra"
|
|
tags:
|
|
- person
|
|
- contra-war
|
|
summary: David Hall was an Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted Rafael Cornejo and warned Gary Webb that publishing the Dark Alliance story could endanger Danilo Blandón's life.
|
|
---
|
|
David Hall was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in [[San Francisco]] who prosecuted [[Rafael Cornejo]] and warned [[Gary Webb]] that publishing the Dark Alliance story could endanger [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]]'s life. Hall's role in the prosecution and his subsequent warning to Webb raised questions about the government's interest in protecting Blandón as a continuing asset.[^1]
|
|
|
|
### The Cornejo Prosecution
|
|
|
|
Hall prosecuted Cornejo, a major [[Cocaine]] trafficker in the San Francisco Bay Area and a distributor for the Blandón-[[Norwin Meneses|Meneses]] network. During the grand jury proceedings, Hall questioned Blandón about whether his drug proceeds went to the [[Contras|Contra]] war, asking pointedly: "From the government?" Hall's aggressive questioning suggested awareness of the Contra connection, but the prosecution focused on Cornejo rather than the broader network. Federal judge Saundra Brown Armstrong referred Hall to the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] for investigation, though the nature of the referral was not specified.[^2]
|
|
|
|
### Warning to Webb
|
|
|
|
In October 1995, Hall called Webb unsolicited and warned that "there is a distinct possibility that real harm, possibly death, would come to Mr. Blandón" if Webb published his story. The warning came from the same prosecutor who had used Blandón as a witness, suggesting the government's concern was less about Blandón's safety than about preventing the exposure of the Contra-cocaine connection.[^3]
|
|
|
|
### Footnotes
|
|
|
|
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6.
|
|
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6, Ch. 2.
|
|
[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 25.
|