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The Mena Airport Scandal
From a cronological summary and archive of the Washington Weekly.
Keywords: Mena Iran-Contra; Mena Terry Reed;
Mena ADFA; Mena Arkansas; Mena Drugs; Mena Trial; Mena Buddy Young; Oliver
North, George Bush, Bill Clinton, L.D. Brown, Russell Welch
Note: this page
contains links to Washington Weekly stories about the Mena scandal. A subscription is required to read these stories.
All of the links are non-functional for this reason.
The Beginning
When a C-123K military cargo plane crashed in Nicaragua on October 5,
1986 with weapons and CIA employees on board, it unraveled what became known
as the Iran-Contra scandal. The weapons were supplied by the CIA and destined
for the Nicaraguan Contras in possible violation of the Congressional Boland
amendments. Special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh spent six years determining
who in the Reagan administration was involved in the operation. Among the
prime operatives were George Bush, Oliver North, Dewey Clarridge, John Pointdexter
and Caspar Weinberger.
What few people considered at the the time, however, was that the training
of pilots and loading of weapons took place at the little town of Mena in
Arkansas. Nobody asked about the involvement of the governor of Arkansas.
Today, that governor is President of the United States, and people have
started asking what involvement, if any, Bill Clinton had in the Iran Contra
operation.
- July 25 1994 Arkansas Crime Inc. (Editorial)
- Sep 07 1994 Clinton Linked to Iran-Contra
(Editorial)
- Sep 12 1994 Clinton Used Police Against
Opponents (Editorial)
- Oct 10 1994 Clinton denies knowledge
of Iran-Contra operation in Arkansas (Editorial)
- Oct 10 1994 Excerpt from Clinton Press
Conference Oct. 7
- Oct 17 1994 Clinton's Link to Iran-Contra
Documented (Editorial)
Money Laundering and Drug Trafficking
People have come forward and alleged that Clinton profited from the operation
at Mena by laundering money through the newly created Arkansas Development
Finance Authority.
Even worse, a large number of people have testified under oath that the
airplanes returning from Central America were loaded with cocaine, which
was then dropped over Arkansas for distribution to larger U.S. cities.
- Feb 06 1995 Detailed Documentation Backs
Claims of Mena Affair
- Jun 26 1995 KGB Spy Talks about Mena
- Jul 10 1995 MENA DRUG CONSPIRACY UNRAVELS
- NEW INFORMATION CONFIRMS DRUG SMUGGLING BY U.S. GOVERNMENT
- Jul 17 1995 MENA DRUG SCANDAL UNRAVELS
- State Trooper puts Clinton in the Loop
- Arkansas National Guardsmen put Clinton in the Loop
- Jul 24 1995 MENA DRUG SCANDAL UNRAVELS
- Clinton Responds to L.D. Brown's Account
- Sep 11 1995 How to Swear to A Statement
Against the CIA in Costa Rica
- Sworn Statement of William Henry LaRoche,
Jr, alleging CIA complicity in Drug Smuggling.
- Image of Original Document
- Oct 2 1995 Interview with L.D. Brown
- Former Arkansas State Trooper L.D. Brown elaborates, for the first
time in his own words, on his flights to Central America in the service
of the CIA, on Clinton's link to the CIA, and on the treatment he has received
from the American press.
- Apr 15 1996 The Mena Drug Pipeline
- May 6 1996 Noriega Assails George Bush
On Contra Drug Dealing
- May 27 1996 The Barry Seal - Bill Clinton
Connection II
The Cover-Up
How could this go on for years without detection? Why wasn't this investigated
by Walsh, by the Arkansas State Police, by the Arkansas Attorney General,
by Congress or by the news media? There is mounting evidence of one of the
largest cover-ups in U.S. history: politicians from both sides on the aisle
have benefited from drug corruption.
- Oct 23 1994 The Mena Coverup (Editorial)
- Oct 31 1994 Anatomy of a Press Conspiracy
(Editorial)
- Dec 12 1994 Another Washington Weekly
Prediction Comes True (Editorial)
- The Mena Story
- Jan 09 1995 Investigation of the Mena
Affair (Editorial)
- Feb 06 1995 Washington Post Accused of
Grand Scale Political Cover-Up (Editorial)
- Feb 20 1995 Interview with Arkansas Judge
Jim Johnson
- Former Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Jim Johnson reveals government
efforts to block investigations of the Mena affair and investigations of
Clinton's fraudulent Whitewater loans, and explains how business interests,
news media, politicians, and courts in Arkansas manage to block the truth
from coming out.
- May 15 1995 Interview with Terry Reed
- Reed describes how CNN concocted an interview with him.
- Jun 05 1995 The Story that was Suppressed
by the Washington Post
- Nov 13 1996 Caspar Weinberger Accused
of Participation in Drug Operation
- Dec 4 1995 U.S. Government Pressured
Costa Rica to Keep Mena Secret
- Apr 1 1996 Who Is Richard Ben-Veniste?
- Apr 8 1996 The Arkansas Cover-up
- An outline of a criminal conspiracy
- Jul 15 1996 Widespread Systemic Corruption In Washington
- Democrat On Hearing Panel Takes Mob Money
- Brother of Mike Espy Indicted For Money
Laundering
- Dole Vice Chairman Pleads Guilty To Money
Laundering
- State Department Accuses Colombian President
Of Taking Drug Mo ney
Terry Reed's Lawsuit
Terry Reed was a pilot and a subcontractor working for the CIA Iran-Contra
operation. When he discovered that drugs were shipped to the U.S., he left
the operation in disgust. He soon found himself and his family the target
of a retaliation lawsuit claiming insurance fraud. The Reed family was cleared
of the allegations in federal court in Wichita, Kansas. Shortly thereafter,
the Reed family filed a civil suit against those who had brought the wrongful
suit against them. Two employees of Bill Clinton, Buddy Young and Tommy
Baker were charged with fabrication of evidence and other civil rights violations:
- Jan 16 1995 The Federal Court Case Against
Clinton's Former Security Chief (Editorial)
- Feb 27 1995 The Most Criminal and Corrupt
Administration in History (Editorial)
- A list of alleged crimes and ethics violations.
- Sep 18 1995 Buddy Young Linked to Contra
Operation
- Clinton's former security chief, now-defendant in Reed's Mena Trial,
appears to have been more involved than previously known.
Harrassment, Intimidation, and Suppression of Evidence
After years of stalling, the lawsuit by the Reed family finally started
rolling early in 1995. Depositions were taken from a number of people and
they all told the same story under oath. They also revealed that U.S. senators
tried to block investigations into money laundering at Mena. Unfortunately,
these witnesses suffered harrassment and intimidation because of their explosive
testimony. In early 1996, the judge in the case ruled to supress all evidence
relating to Mena, CIA, and the Clintons from the trial. Reed then gave up
and dropped the trial.
Much material in the Mena case has come from the investigations of one
honest cop in Mena, Russell Welch. The harassment and intimidation he has
suffered simply for doing his job is beyond description.
- Mar 20 1995 MENA TRIAL IMPLICATES SENATORS,
CLINTON APPOINTEE
- Apr 10 1995 Update on The Expanding Probe
of The Mena Scandal
- Allegations of U.S. Senators Blocking the Mena Investigation
- Witness in Mena Trial Dead
- Trooper Says Clinton Was Told About Mena
- Mena Investigator Transferred
- Apr 24 1995 Witnesses in Mena Suit Suffer
Harassment and Intimidation
- May 15 1995 Interview with Terry Reed
- Reed's Mena lawsuit is moving closer and closer to Bill Clinton - at
the peril of those called to testify. Reed also describes how CNN concocted
an interview with him.
- Aug 28 1995 Mena Drug Scandal Unravels
- Mounting Evidence of Involvement by George Bush
- Terry Reed's Mena Trial Delayed
- Oct 2 1995 Terry Reed is Getting Ready
for Trial
- Dec 4 1995 Interview with Julius "Doc"
Delaughter
- Clinton said to L.D. Brown about the drug smuggling at Mena airport
"That's Lasater's deal." As the State Trooper who put Dan Lasater
behind bars, Doc Delaughter here tells the story of his investigation,
as well as his investigation of Tyson Inc. His findings led to harassment
of a magnitude that finally forced him to resign. Doc Delaughter appears
on the British Mena documentary banned from distribution in the U.S.
- Dec 11 1996 Countdown to Mena Trial
- Arkansas Attorney General Subpoenaed in Mena Case
- Defense Moves to Suppress Mena Evidence
- Barry Seal's "Fat Lady" Found in Florida!
- Mar 25 1996 Government Attempts to Derail
Mena Trial
-
- Mar 25 1996 Text Of Order In Mena Trial
>Mar 25 1996 New Information Released In Mena Case
- Mar 25 1996 Mena: The Investigation of
Barry Seal
- Interview with Russell Welch
- Apr 1 1996 The Mena Anthrax Poisoning
Case
- Aug 12 1996 MENA SCANDAL RESURFACES
- L.D. Brown Ordered To Assasinate Terry Reed
- Reed Drops Second Lawsuit
- CIA Investigation Of Mena
- Aug 12 1996 White House Asked About Mena
- White House Spokesman Questions CIA statement
- Aug 26 1996 Behind the Mena Lawsuits
The Mena Murders
The murder of two teenage boys, Don Henry and Kevin Ives, thanks to the
persistence of their parents and the courage of a few honest Arkansas policemen,
was traced back to drug smuggling at Mena but covered up at the highest
levels of the Arkansas government.
- Nov 6 1995 British TV Exposes String
of Murders near Mena, Arkansas
- Jul 15 1996 Arkansas Political Machine
Continues Murder Cover-Up
- Desperate move to keep the lid on the Henry-Ives murders
Starr Asks Questions About Mena
Even Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr followed the thread from Whitewater
to Mena, and started asking questions about Clinton's involvement in the
Mena operation. He finally announced, however, that Mena was outside his
brief.
- Apr 10 1995 Update on The Expanding Probe
of The Mena Scandal
- Starr Asking Questions About Clinton's Links to Mena
- Apr 17 1995 Whitewater Update
- Starr investigating scam loans at ADFA
- Dec 11 1995 Starr Says He Won't Touch
Mena
- Feb 19 1996 ADFA Records Subpoenaed
Congress Investigates Mena
In the fall of 1995 several committees in the House of Representatives
began considering holding hearings on Mena and started interviewing witnesses
and asking if they would be willing to testify in public hearings. One year
later, any hearings were yet to be announced.
- Aug 14 1995 Mena Drug Scandal Unravels
- House Judiciary Committee May hold Hearings
- Mar 18 1996 Congressional Investigators
Swarming Around Mena
- May 6 1996 Dan Lasater Testifies Before
Whitewater Committee
Deja Vu?
During 1996, several developments in Bosnia showed an eerie resemblance
to events in Nicaragua a decade before.
- Apr 8 1996 Iran-Bosnia: Deja-Vu?
- Apr 8 1996 State Department Briefing
on Iran-Bosnia
- An analysis of U.S. covert operations in Bosnia
- Aug 12 1996 Drug Trafficking and Gun
Running In Bosnia
- Is The U.S. Government Involved?
The Los Angeles Connection
In the fall of 1996, events took an amazing turn. The San Jose Mercury
News reported on a drug trial in Los Angeles where informants testified
that they had sold drugs to LA street gangs in order to finance the CIA-backed
Contra war in Nicaragua in the 1980s. The story grabbed the headlines and
incited the Black community. It was soon realized that what was seen in
Los Angeles was just another tentacle of what had already been uncovered
in Mena, Arkansas. Now the CIA, the Justice Department, Congress and the
White House were all asked for explanations. Mushrooming beyond control,
the Mena scandal had finally reached the headlines of the mainstream media
a decade after the events took place.
- Aug 19 1996 Contras Sold Cocaine to L.A.
Street Dealers
- Aug 26 1996 L.A. City Council Calls For
Investigation Of Contra Drug Sales
- Aug 26 1996 Letter From CIA Director
Deutch Regarding Rumors of His Resignation
- Sep 16 1996 EXCLUSIVE: U.S. GOVERNMENT
ROLE IN BOLIVIAN COCAINE LAB
- A String Of Murders Surround Jungle Discovery
- Sep 23 1996 Barry Seal Involved In Transporting
Cocaine From Bolivia To Los Angeles
- Sep 16 1996 Letter From Senator Barbara
Boxer to CIA Director John Deutch
- Sep 16 1996 Reply from DCI John Deutch
- Sep 16 1996 Letter From Maxine Waters
To Attorney General Janet Reno
- Sep 16 1996 Letter From Senator Diane
Feinstein to Attorney General Janet Reno
- Maxine Waters' Request For Hearings To
Chairman Henry Hyde
- Sep 23 1996 Select Committee Needed To
Investigate CIA/Crack Connections
- Sep 23 1996 Why We Have Cocaine In South
Central Los Angeles
- Sep 23 1996 Cloud of Shame Hangs Over
The CIA
Last updated September 24, 1996.
For more recent stories, see the Washington
Weekly.
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