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

title	date	status	summary	entities	tags
The Transmittal	2026-10-08	published	The 1985 opinion said to have cleared a contra arms shipment rests on one 1992 newspaper account; the Iran-Contra record holds only a cover note from Studley's lawyer, who later shared firms with Barcella.	E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr. Frank Koszorus Jr. Barbara Studley GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp. John Singlaub Paul L. Perito Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc House October Surprise Task Force Hungary	IranContra OctoberSurprise GeoMiliTech FARA

The Transmittal

In March 1992 the House task force on the October Surprise hired E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr. as its chief counsel; its report of January 1993 found "no credible evidence" of an October Surprise deal.¹ On May 29, 1992 the Hartford Courant reported that in the summer of 1985, while an assistant United States attorney, Barcella had given a legal opinion clearing a private $5 million shipment of Soviet-bloc arms to the Nicaraguan contras, arranged by John Singlaub and Barbara Studley of GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp. The Courant quoted Studley's 1991 deposition: asked who in the Justice Department approved the shipment, she answered, "Larry Barcella signed it." Barcella told the paper that "somebody in the government came to me," that he checked with the State Department's Office of Munitions Control and the Justice Department's internal security office, and that he "orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me." The United States attorney, Joseph diGenova, first said, "Larry would never have done that," and a week later said, "Larry was sought out by a lot of people in intelligence."²

The congressional Iran-Contra record holds one letter from Studley's lawyer. On April 28, 1987 Frank Koszorus Jr., on the letterhead of Finley, Kumble in Washington, wrote to the House committee's assistant counsel Kenneth Ballen: "During your telephone conference with Paul L. Perito this afternoon, you requested a copy of the memorandum from Barbara F. Studley's file regarding Oliver North. Please find enclosed a copy of that memorandum." The letter says nothing of a shipment or an opinion.³ In 1992 Koszorus told the Courant he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."²

The Courant reported that Barcella had gone into private practice in June 1986 "initially at the same firm where Koszorus, Studley's lawyer, worked," without naming it.² Thirty-one partners of Finley, Kumble's Washington office formed Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc in January 1988. Koszorus was described as a partner there in April 1989, and Barcella was described as a partner there when he left in July 1991, the month a Paul Perito, a name partner, moved to Paul Hastings.⁴⁵ Whether that Paul Perito is the Paul L. Perito of the 1987 letter is not established in the records found.

On March 1, 1993 Paul, Hastings registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act for the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary, at $8,334 a month, with Koszorus signing as attorney. The firm's supplemental statement, sworn by Koszorus, lists Barcella as having become a partner on July 18, 1994.⁶

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1. Joint Report of the Task Force to Investigate Certain Allegations Concerning the Holding of American Hostages by Iran in 1980, H. Rept. 102-1102, January 3, 1993. ↩︎

2. Lyn Bixby, "Head of Iran Hostage Probe Linked to Arms Deal," Hartford Courant, May 29, 1992, https://www.courant.com/1992/05/29/head-of-iran-hostage-probe-linked-to-arms-deal/. ↩︎

3. Letter from Frank Koszorus Jr., Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, to Kenneth Ballen, April 28, 1987, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12, p. 1040, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0234. ↩︎

4. In re Washington, Perito & Dubuc, 154 B.R. 853 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 1993), https://static.case.law/br/154/cases/0853-01.json; Sharon Walsh and Saundra Torry, "Washington, Perito Law Firm Losing Additional Attorneys," The Washington Post, July 20, 1991. ↩︎

5. Fraternity-Testvériség, April 1989 (Koszorus a partner of Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc); Chicago Tribune, July 23, 1991 (Barcella "partner at Washington, Perito & Dubuc"). ↩︎

6. U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act, registration 4772, Exhibits A and B, March 1, 1993, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Exhibit-AB-19930301-D1Y3N102.pdf, and Supplemental Statement for the six months ending September 30, 1994, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Supplemental-Statement-19940930-DHFIFJ02.pdf. ↩︎