DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
SECTION: BEHIND THE TREASON ALLEGATIONS
SUBSECTION: RON BROWN
Revised 8/19/99
NewsMax.com 7/16/99 Carl Limbacher "...Ron Brown's death might not have been accidental. That's the conclusion Chinagate witness Johnny Chung has recently come to after he himself experienced death threats from Chinese agents. Chung was deposed on Monday by Judicial Watch, which debuted the videotaped testimony on Fox News Channel's "Hannity and Colmes" Thursday night.... Chung's startling comments on Brown's death were made under direct questioning by Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman: KLAYMAN: The question was, when you learned of the death of Ron Brown, did you think that maybe China would send somebody to kill him, too? CHUNG: No. No. Not in my mind that week [when Brown died]. KLAYMAN: Have you since changed your view of that -- that perhaps that was a possibility? CHUNG: I sense there's a possibility he know too many things. And so, something happened to him. But I don't know what it is. What happened to me -- it changed me...."
Worldnetdaily 6/22/99 Charles Smith "...The Chinese are not alone in "conspiracy" theories. Nolanda Hill testified under oath that her lover and business partner, Ron Brown, feared for his life because of his dealings with the Chinese army. It is clear now that after the August 1994 meeting with Ding, DOD Secretary Perry ordered Brown to engage the PLA in "commercial" activities -- an order which is documented in a January 1995 letter to Brown from Perry. Perry also wrote Ding, informing him that Brown would assist the Chinese army in the "Defense Conversion" project. ..."
WorldNetDaily 7/27/99 Charles Smith "...Despite the White House spin, the truth about the "bilateral military relationship" between Clinton and China is that Ron Brown was an arms dealer and his customers were Chinese Generals. The known Chinese Generals who dealt with Brown includes the three commanding officers of the Chinese Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND), General Ding Henggao, General Shen Rougjun and General Huai Guomo. One document provided to Ron Brown by Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz just prior to meeting General Shen states "WEAPON DELIVERY, TARGET ACQUISITION AND NIGHT VISION". The Loral document is a picture filled catalog of "Mao Anniversary gift" items for the modern Chinese Army...."
DEATHS - TRAGEDY - RON BROWN PLANE CRASH
A news report was that the weather was "the worst storm in ten years" at the time of Ron Brown's plane crash - but actually visibility was 5 miles in light rain. – Drudge
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 1/11/98 "...Two ranking military officers are denying claims by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology that they agreed with findings that Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown died as a result of a plane accident. One of the officers, Air Force Maj. Thomas Parsons, for the first time spoke publicly on the matter Saturday. The forensic pathologist joined two other AFIP medical examiners in disputing government claims about Brown's death after an Air Force jet carrying him and 34 others crashed in Croatia on April 3, 1996. Last Thursday, the Justice Department and Attorney General Janet Reno announced that her department had found "no credible evidence" of wrongdoing in Brown's death. The Justice Department noted that it had not conducted its own independent probe, but had reviewed information provided by the Pentagon. Questions about Brown's death first caused headlines when the Tribune-Review reported in early December on the allegations of AFIP forensic pathologist Steve Cogswell, an Air Force lieutenant colonel. He alleged that a circular wound found on Brown's head looked like a gunshot wound and should have prompted an autopsy. In subsequent Tribune-Review reports, his claims were supported by a second AFIP medical examiner, Army Lt. Col. David Hause. ..."
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 1/11/98 "...As for Reno's statement, Hause said it's no surprise that the Justice Department found no evidence of criminal conduct in Brown's death. "There's no evidence because there has been no autopsy. An autopsy which might produce such evidence hasn't been done," he said. Cogswell declined to talk to the Post about the matter. In a written statement, he informed Fletcher, "I do not trust you to accurately and fairly represent what I say." The Post did not include Cogswell's statement in its article. Cogswell told the Tribune-Review that no one from the Pentagon or the Justice Department has interviewed him, Parsons, Hause or other key staffers about the possibility that Brown's death was mishandled. Reno's comment on the matter has sparked a firestorm of criticism from black leaders and some conservative groups. "We expected she wouldn't do a thing," civil rights activist Dick Gregory said. He said efforts in the black community would be targeted toward Congress...."
Shelley Kelly
http://mwilson.hypermart.net/views/brown/linger.html Christopher Ruddy and Hugh Sprunt Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 11/24/97 "...*The survivor. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Shelley Kelly, a stewardess, survived the crash for some four hours. Kelly and another stewardess had been seated in a jumpseat at the very rear of the 737. That area was found basically intact after the crash. According to the Air Force, she received first aid from Croatian rescuers but died on the way to a nearby hospital. Her autopsy report states that Kelly died of a broken neck..."
Niko Junic
Pittsburg Tribune-Review 11/24/97 Christopher Ruddy Hugh Sprunt ". *Navigation aids. Brown's plane was probably relying on Croatian ground beacons for navigation. In the minutes before Brown's plane crashed, five other planes landed at Dubrovnik without difficulty, and none experienced problems with the beacons. But additional questions about the beacons and the crash will remain unanswered because, as the Air Force acknowledges, airport maintenance chief Niko Junic died by gunshot just three days after the crash and before he could be interviewed by investigators. Within a day of his death, officials determined the death was a suicide. The New York Times reported the 46-year-old Junic was "despondent over a failed romance."."
Eric Henderson
Worldnetdaily.com 9/24/98 "...For instance, not one version of the "body count" lists that I have seen included the name of Eric L. Henderson. Yet, everything about his remarkable death cries out for examination. On Feb. 25, 1997, he was shot to death while riding his bicycle in Northeast Washington, D.C. Because he didn't have identification on him, he initially was listed as a John Doe. And because the area where he died was known as an open air drug market, those who lived near it assumed that the victim was just another loser in a random dope deal gone bad. A few weeks later, a suspect in the shooting was arrested. He was 15 years old, a chubby kid who stood 5 feet 5 and weighed 200 pounds. Because he was a juvenile, his trial, which ended in a conviction, was a confidential matter. Eric L. Henderson was 33 when he was killed. He was a highly regarded lawyer and investment banker, a graduate of Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Columbia University School of Law in New York.... He was a young man of extraordinary achievements, which included serving as -- are you ready for this? -- a financial adviser not only to the South African government under Nelson Mandela but also to the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown..... They remember him as a certified financial genius. He'd helped put together the debt restructuring plan that saved Parks Sausage, a black-owned company in Baltimore. He had distinguished himself as a financial adviser to the United States Agency for International Development and the notorious U.S. Commerce Department. He also had worked as an investment banking associate at Smith Barney and PaineWebber. In 1995, he started the Onyx Group, an investment banking firm in Washington. He told friends that his goal in life was to create employment opportunities for struggling young black males. .....Perhaps Henderson was killed in a random drug deal on the seedy streets of Washington. Perhaps he was leading a double life, as police investigators suggest. Or maybe, just maybe, he knew too much. It should not go unnoticed that Henderson was a financial adviser to Ron Brown, the Commerce secretary who, until his still mysterious death in a plane crash in Croatia, was under investigation and about to be indicted for some of his financial creativity. It's also worth noting that a close confidante to Brown, Nolanda Hill, has reported that Brown had confronted Clinton just before his trip -- telling him, "I won't go down alone." ..."
Samir Ferrat
5/27/98 AP Zurich The Guardian (London) pg 19 Freepers Wallaby & icwhatudo ".POLICE are investigating the possibility that insurance fraud by a Swiss resident listed among the 230 people killed in the TWA Flight 800 explosion might have been behind the disaster, Swiss television reported last night. Swiss authorities have been investigating Algerian-born Mohammmed Samir Ferrat, for 18 months, the report said. ..A Geneva lawyer, Gerald Page, alleged in an interview for the Swiss television report that Ferrat took out life insurance policies worth several million Swiss francs in the weeks before the plane crashed in July 1996, half an hour after taking off from New York…. On August 19, a month after the crash, the local medical examiner in Suffolk County - in whose jurisdiction the disaster occurred - declared that Mohammed Ferrat had been positively identified as a dead passenger from TWA Flight 800. US investigators counted him out as a suspect early.. The report showed footage of the late US commerce secretary, Ron Brown, at the Washington signing with Ferrat of a pounds 62.5 million contract between Sofin and the US construction firm Chatwick Inc, which was to build residences in the Ivory Coast. Chatwick spent pounds 2.5 million on the project before halting it, the television said.." Background from icwhatudo ".According to a CNN international report, Mohamed Samir Ferrat, an Algerian business associate of Secretary Brown, who was scheduled to accompany Brown on the Bosnian trip but withdrew at the last moment for reasons still unclear, died July 17, on the ill fated TWA Flight 800. Ferrat was initially treated by the FBI as a suspected terrorist in the TWA Flight 800 explosion because he was the sole passenger on the flight roster listed only by last name. The FBI, within hours of beginning their investigation of Ferrat, oddly withdrew, telling the New York Times that "Ferrat was not at all the kind of person to take a bomb on a plane. Nor was he a likely target of a bomb plot."
BROWN'S ASSOCIATE DIED ON TWA 800
http://www.usvetdsp.com/usvet/story23.htm According to a CNN international report, Mohamed Samir Ferrat, an Algerian business associate of Secretary Brown, who was scheduled to accompany Brown on the Bosnian trip but withdrew at the last moment for reasons still unclear, died July 17, on the ill fated TWA Flight 800. Ferrat was initially treated by the FBI as a suspected terrorist in the TWA Flight 800 explosion because he was the sole passenger on the flight roster listed only by last name. The FBI, within hours of beginning their investigation of Ferrat, oddly withdrew, telling the New York Times that "Ferrat was not at all the kind of person to take a bomb on a plane. Nor was he a likely target of a bomb plot. U.S. government investigators have yet to determine whether missile, bomb or mechanical failure brought TWA 800 down, killing all 230 passengers and crew. "Ferrat, it turned out," the New York Times said, "was a wealthy and highly respected businessman, money manager and investor with offices and residences in the Ivory Coast, France and Switzerland . . . FBI agents learned all this without questioning Ferrat's family, friends or business associates, many of whom were gathered in their grief at the family hotel in Virginia." One source, who asked not to be identified, suggested the FBI cleared Ferrat quickly because they either learned of his connection to Secretary Brown or Ferrat may have been on the payroll of U.S. intelligence, possibly the CIA. Ferrat was also involved with Chadwick International Inc., a northern Virginia company that exports modular homes. Chadwick, Inc., founded in 1991, got its start, according to its chairman Ronald M. Nocera, by Ferrat arranging meetings with real estate contacts in Algeria. Nocera said Chadwick, Inc. currently holds or is negotiating deals worth $560 million with developers from Argentina to Vietnam.Barbara Wise
AP 11/29/96 on Barbara Wise "…Police were investigating the death of a woman whose body was found today in an office at the Commerce Department. Anne Luzzatto, press secretary for Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, said the woman's body was found this morning by a Commerce Department employee, who notified security personnel in the building…."
Missy Kelly Analysis "…On Friday morning at 7:45 AM, Clinton suddenly, and unexpectedly, returns to WH from Camp David that same AM, and yet is back on links at Camp David by afternoon…." UPI 11/29/96 Helen Thomas "…President Clinton briefly interrupted his Thanksgiving holiday weekend at Camp David Friday with a quick trip to the White House to gather data he wants to study in planning his second inauguration and then returned to the mountaintop retreat….." AP 11/29/96 "…Scaring a pondful of ducks, President Clinton enjoyed an afternoon of golf with family members on Friday after returning briefly to the White House to work on the program of his second inaugural…"
11/30/96 AP - A Commerce Department employee was found dead in her fourth-floor office at the agency's downtown headquarters on Friday. The body was discovered around 7:45 a.m. by a co-worker arriving for work, police said. The woman was identified as Barbara Alice Wise, 48, of Gambrills, Md. She had worked as a secretary for 14 years at the department's International Trade Administration. Anne Luzzatto, chief spokeswoman for Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, said the unit where she worked provided analysis for various industries in studies designed to boost export sales….. A local television station, WRC, quoted unidentified police sources as saying that the office where the body was found was locked and the body was partially nude…."
WorldNetDaily 5/4/99 David Bresnahan "...Barbara Wise worked for Brown, well down the chain of command. She was a secretary and worked in an area of Commerce in which she was well aware of the dealings of Brown, Juang, and others…. Barbara Wise was found dead in her office. She was partially clad and blood was evident when she was found on the floor the day after Thanksgiving. An effort was made by Commerce officials and others to portray her as a drunk and abusive to herself. Police investigated it as a homicide until the sudden claim that her death was by natural causes..."
INVESTIGATION
In a stunning development obscured by the media's Monica-mania, the Washington based legal watchdog group Judicial Watch has revealed that the independent counsel's investigation of the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown did not, as widely believed, end with his death. In 1995 Attorney General Janet Reno had recommended an independent inquiry into Brown's public and private dealings. A three judge panel selected Florida attorney Daniel Pearson for the job. After Brown died on April 3, 1996, it was widely reported that Pearson had closed up shop and had turned all remaining questions over to the Justice Department for further review. Now it turns out those reports were apparently erroneous…..The fact that Pearson continues to investigate the Brown case leaves the door open for the same three judge panel that appointed Pearson to expand his charter, with or without the Attorney General's acquiesence. On Thursday, Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch sought to encourage the court to do just that, by filing a petition to expand Pearson's probe into the circumstances of Brown's death…."
Initially it was believed that the late Commerce Secretary died as the result of injuries sustained in an accidental plane crash while on a trade mission to Bosnia. But in recent months new evidence has surfaced that suggests foul play. Three high ranking Armed Forces pathologists have stepped forward claiming that clear indications of a possible bullet wound were ignored by the forensic team in charge of Brown's body when it arrived at Dover Air Force Base. Additionally, a veteran military photographer claims she was told by a superior that x-rays and photographs were deliberately destroyed. Judicial Watch, which now represents two of the four whistleblowers in the Brown case, hopes to persuade the court that Brown's death warrants further investigation based on their testimony, along with x-rays and photographs that show a suspicious cylindrical wound to the top of Brown's skull. On Friday, Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman explained the situation to the Washington Weekly:
"Daniel Pearson's probe has never really gone out of business. It's still active. The three judge panel ultimately controls the scope of the investigation. And the three judge panel is also the only authority which can terminate the investigation. And it has never terminated this (the Brown) investigation. In fact, it was confirmed by John O'Sullivan, who was Mr. Pearson's first assistant and who's now back in the U.S. Attorney's office in Miami, that the probe is still open and that they are looking at some things. He couldn't reveal what areas are still under investigation because he can't breach grand jury secrecy.
Judicial Watch isn't doing anything that's very radical here. All we're saying is that the court ought to direct Mr. Pearson, who is still in operation, to look into these matters because he has a live proceeding. And if the death of the target of the investigation (Brown) was not accidental, that would be the ultimate obstruction of justice. Clearly, Mr. Pearson already has the authority to look into this with or without the three judge panel telling him to."
How has the press managed to miss the fact that Independent Counsel Daniel Pearson still has jurisdiction over the Ron Brown case? Klayman offered one possible reason for the confusion:
"Some parts of the Ron Brown probe were indeed turned over to the Justice Department. But nobody ever looked into the actual case file. The file itself reveals that Pearson's investigation is still open. And before I looked at the file myself assistant U.S. attorney O'Sullivan confirmed this to me."
Asked if the court would have to respond to Judicial Watch's petition by any certain date, Klayman explained: "No, but I would suspect that since we have bi-partisan support, they would respond quickly". That bi-partisan support comes via civil rights crusader Dick Gregory and Mark Thompson, Chairman of the Political Action Committee of the NAACP, D.C. Chapter, both of whom joined with Judicial Watch in petitioning the court to expand Pearson's probe.
Klayman admitted that the controversy surrounding Ron Brown's death was a political hot potato that most in Washington would rather not deal with. But he told the Washington Weekly:
"I think we have an excellent chance that the court will move forward on this. This case is made more compelling because you have the actual Armed Forces people who blew the whistle on this coming forward. These are not folks with any kind of alleged political agenda. And one of our clients, the forensic photographer, Kathleen Janowski, was a White House volunteer. She has a certificate signed by President Clinton and Vice President Gore thanking her for her service."
Something else that might auger well for a positive response by the three judge panel is it's recent history with the Vincent Foster case. In July 1997 Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr concluded that Foster's death was a simple suicide in the park despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Three months later the panel, headed by Judge David Sentelle, finally released Starr's report on the case, but only after attaching a 20 page dissenting analysis documenting the flaws in Starr's Foster investigation. The press has steadfastly refused to acknowledge this part of the report, but it is every bit as much a part of the official court sanctioned conclusion on Foster's death as anything written by Starr's team. If the same attitude prevails as Sentelle's panel weighs Klayman's petition, chances for justice for Ron Brown (along with collective media cardiac arrest) are good.
Klayman said that the AFIP four - Lt. Col. Steve Cogswell, Lt. Col. David Hause, Air Force Major Thomas Parsons and Naval Chief Petty Officer Kathleen Janowski, continue to pay the price for their honor and honesty. They have been reassigned to other duties. All materials related to the Brown case have been confiscated. The AFIP has even gone so far as to try to limit their contact with fellow pathologists by barring them from professional conferences.
The predicament of these brave soldiers was paramount in Dick Gregory's mind, when the Washington Weekly reached him on Friday:
"My whole concern right now is not Ron Brown. It's not his family. It's those beautiful people who put their careers on the line at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. That is probably one of bravest acts I have ever witnessed. They are military people. Those folks have a regimen. And you never, ever, ever see military people do anything that they haven't been told to do by their superiors.....I want them (the Brown case whistleblowers) to know that there's a group of us out here and we say: Our first priority is to watch your back. And to make sure nothing happens to you. And to make sure that if you think anything is wrong - call us. We'll be out in front of the general's house, we'll be out in front of the Pentagon, we'll take it to the White House if we have to. That's my number one concern right now."
Eleven years ago, the denouement of the Iran Contra hearings came when Sen. Daniel Inouye confronted Lt. Col. Oliver North. North had bested committee Democrats, explaining that whatever was done was done for a noble cause and that as a good soldier, it was his job to "salute smartly and go charging up the hill." In his summation, Inouye tried to turn the tables, invoking the Nuremberg trials of German officials who claimed they were merely good soldiers, "just following orders."
In the Ron Brown case we have just the opposite: four brave soldiers who broke ranks and told the truth rather than knuckling under to the "just following orders" culture. Instead of being celebrated as heroes they are left to twist in the wind.
This time it is the press and the politicians who behave like "good Germans."
Published in the Feb. 16, 1998 issue of The Washington Weekly
Copyright 1998 The Washington Weekly (
DOWNSIDE LEGACY EXCERPTS/TIMELINE:
1992
September 9, 1992
In what was essentially a branch office of the DNC in California in 1992, Nora and Gene Lum set up the Asian-Pacific Advisory Council-Vote, and at the request of the late DNC Chairman Ron Brown held a fundraiser for an ex-Member from California and padded a disappointing take from the event with "conduit contributions, with the knowledge of DNC personnel." Similarly, the Lums proffered testimony that then-Arkansas Gov. Clinton signed a letter endorsing an Asian candidate, now an Asian leader, in exchange for a $50,000 donation to the Lums' group, drawn on the account of "a foreign person then residing in the United States... Wakabayashi, John Huang and seven other Clinton supporters were honored at an APAC awards ceremony organized by Nora Lum. Melinda Yee, Maria Haley and Gil Colon were also active inAPAC.
1993
American Lawyer News Service 5/12/97 Benjamin Wittes "...Lum, a Democratic activist who ran a clothing store in Hawaii, became close to Ron Brown during his tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Lum, along with her husband, Eugene, moved to California and raised money for the Democrats during the 1992 campaign. In early 1993, Brown became commerce secretary. A few months later, Lum and W. Stuart Price founded Dynamic Energy, an oil and gas company. From the beginning, Dynamic Energy enjoyed an unusually cozy web of relations with the upper echelons of the Commerce Department that worried some ethics watchdogs. Lum gave 5 percent of the stock in the company to Michael Brown, at the time a lobbyist in the Washington office of Miami's Greenberg Traurig Hoffman Lipoff and Quentel. In addition to having an ownership interest, Michael Brown also lobbied on behalf of Dynamic Energy. Brown served briefly as the company's acting president, though he lived in Washington, far from the company's Oklahoma base. In addition to the stock gifts, the company gave him a $60,000 golf club membership, a seat on Dynamic Energy's board of directors and $160,000 in consulting fees. Michael Brown wasn't the only one with a Commerce connection to work at the little gas company, Dynamic Energy hired Commerce official Gilbert Colon, who served as the head of the Minority Business Development Agency early in the Clinton administration. And Lum also gave stock to the mother of Melinda Yee, a former aide to Ron Brown both at Commerce and in his earlier capacity as chairman of the DNC. According to the Associated Press, Dynamic Energy even paid for travel by Yee, now an aide to San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Meanwhile, Lum's daughter, Trisha Lum, went to work at the Commerce Department and accompanied Ron Brown on a trade mission to China. Nora Lum has also had extensive access to the White House, according to press reports. She has been present at exclusive Commerce trade meetings an has even attended a state dinner.... The center was also concerned about Dynamic Energy's support of Kennedy's 1994 re-election bid, although it did not name the Kennedy campaign as a respondent..... FEC records hint at just how extensive was Dynamic Energy's support for Kennedy. Lum herself gave $10,000 to the Kennedy/DSCC Victory Fund, a Kennedy fund aided by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. And all told, Dynamic Energy officials, their employees, and their families gave a total of at least $39,000 to Kennedy's campaign and the Victory Fund, according to FEC records...."
WorldNetDaily 5/11/99 Charles R Smith "...In 1993, Great Wall, along with nine other PLA-controlled companies, sold nuclear tipped M-9 missiles to Pakistan. In response, Great Wall was banned from purchasing U.S.-controlled technology such as computers. Yet, only a few months later, Great Wall was allowed to buy over $100 million of U.S. computers. Tandem Corp. CEO James Treybig attended an August 1994 presidential trade mission to Beijing with Ron Brown. A Brown trade mission document states, "Tandem and China Great Wall Industry will announce in August their joint venture." Another document found in the files of former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown states that Treybig "negotiated a $100 million dollar joint venture for Tandem Computers while in China." The PLA purchase of U.S. computer power was the perfect cap to Chinese nuclear espionage operations against America...."
March, 1993
The American Spectator 5/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...I have been investigating Chinese high-tech espionage activities in the United States since 1993, and discovered early on just how sensitive a subject this can be. As a congressional staffer working for California Democrat Tom Lantos, I requested licensing records of U.S. high-tech exports to China from the Department of Commerce. When Commerce finally delivered the several- thousand-page print-out to the Rayburn House Office building in late March 1993, I was prevented for three weeks from even looking it over, despite the fact that the information was not classified. ...They did not want the story to leak out of just how much dual- use technology U.S. companies had been allowed to sell to the Chinese military, for fear that would impede the U.S.-China high-tech pipeline. Unbeknownst to most people at the time was a plan devised by top Clinton administration appointees to lift export controls on a wide range of strategic technologies. The plan was first laid out in a 1992 National Academy of Sciences study authored by William Perry, Ashton Carter, and Mitchel Wallerstein, who all went on to top Pentagon jobs under Clinton. Calling export controls a "wasting asset," they argued that for U.S. high- tech firms to maintain a technological edge over their foreign competitors they needed to be allowed to export ever-more sophisticated equipment, so they could plow those profits into developing new technologies..... After the election, William Perry became deputy secretary of defense and went to work putting the plan into action within the bureaucracy. Ron Brown, as secretary of commerce, was tasked with selling the decontrols to corporate America and Congress as part of an administration-wide "Trade Promotion" package, aimed at creating jobs and "growing" U.S. exports. On September 30, 1993, Brown issued a landmark report, "Toward a National Export Strategy," which first made the argument--oft-repeated until the Loral-Hughes satellite scandals erupted last year--that each additional $1 billion in U.S. exports creates 20,000 jobs in the U.S..... In 1993 and 1994 the administration tried to rewrite the EAA to eliminate most controls, but Congress balked; so they simply made an end run around the law, and dismantled the controls through executive branch regulations. The administration's efforts reduced the voluminous licensing lists I had once received, and Defense Department officials now complain there are no more records of what has been shipped to the Chinese military--and thus no way to gauge the damage to U.S. national security. Like small-time hoods dreaming of the perfect crime, Clinton's "best and brightest" thought they had covered up all traces of their acts...."
May, 1993
World Net Daily 9/22/98 Charles Smith "It is said, "dead men tell no tales." If that were true, then America would have never known of the real story behind the Clinton administration. Two dead men are calling from their graves for the last few years of their lives to be told. The ghosts of Vince Foster and Ron Brown hover over Bill Clinton. Vince Foster and Ron Brown were both involved in the Clinton/China encryption scandal. One known event took place in May 1993 when Vince Foster, Webster Hubbell and Bernard Nussbaum paid the National Security Administration (NSA) a visit. These three fine gentlemen, with close connections to Hillary Clinton and the Arkansas Rose Office Law Firm, were tasked by President Clinton to help develop policy for U.S. communications technology."
October 23, 1993
Washington Times 5/18/99 Bill Gertz "...The United States had imposed sanctions against China in 1993 for selling M-11 missile components but lifted them the next year at the urging of Mr. Brown and C. Michael Armstrong, chairman of Los Angeles-based satellite maker Hughes Electronics. Mr. Armstrong had written a terse letter to President Clinton on Oct. 29, 1993, first highlighting how he had done what the president requested by supporting his economic and trade policies and calls for looser export controls. "I am respectfully requesting your involvement to resolve the China sanctions," Mr. Armstrong wrote, noting that he had spoken to a Chinese official who informed him Beijing was "positive" about the idea. But when then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher told the Chinese that the United States needed to see "some sign of movement" by China on curbing weapons proliferation, a National Security Council memorandum reported, "The Chinese were not forthcoming." The memo said Mr. Armstrong and Hughes Electronics "lobbied aggressively" to be allowed to sell satellites to China. In 1995, the president named Mr. Armstrong to the influential Export Council, where he worked hard against trade controls designed to protect national security. The council produced a lengthy paper arguing against imposing sanctions on foreign trading partners that engaged in illicit weapons sales. Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman of Loral Space & Communications Ltd., also lobbied hard to ease restrictions on satellite sales to China. Mr. Schwartz denied that his large donations to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were meant to influence Mr. Clinton's policies on satellite exports...."
November, 1993
Nora Lum and her business partner, Oklahoma oil executive Stuart Price, formed Dynamic Energy Resources, an Oklahoma corporation that has been accused of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to Brown's son to gain favor with the commerce secretary. Of particular importance were transactions in which Lum gave Brown's son, Michael, 5 percent of the corporation's stock and appointed him an officer and director of the firm. Michael Brown received distributions of cash based on the stock holdings, was given a lucrative lobbying contract, and received a $60,000 membership in an exclusive Virginia country club. Melinda Yee's mother, Helen Yee, was also given stock and named to the company board of directors by Lum.
Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown Led a trade mission to South Africa. At least five people who attended the trade mission were later found to be on a list of 139 Democratic party contributors kept on file at the Commerce Dept.
Clinton loosened export policies allowing US satellites to be launched in China while economic sanctions were in place on Beijing.
Clinton decided to permit the sale of a $8 million supercomputer to China and lifted bans on components for China's nuclear power plants.
Ira Sockowitz appointed as Commerce's special general counsel, working under Ginger Lew a confidant of John Huang. Though he had no international trade experience, he was put in charge of "vetting" companies that wanted to go on international trade missions.
Softwar 7/26/99 "...Former Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown led several trade trips to China and Russia which included major computer deals. In addition, a letter obtained from the files of Ron Brown detail his first efforts to export US super computers under the Clinton administration. The letter from NSA Director Adm. McConnell in dated November 1993 gave Brown the NSA okay to begin exports only days before President Clinton met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin...."
1994
Summarized from a report by Charles Smith (Softwar): Webb Hubbell, Ron Brown and Vince Foster were all assigned to encryption tasks involving chip technology. Janet Reno was personally tasked to encryption export policy. Ira Sockowitz, a former DNC fundraiser walked out of the Commerce Dept. with over 2,000 pages of secret material on encryption and satellites. According to the GAO, Clinton personally authorized the transfer of military strength encryption technology to China with a Presidential Waiver. There was a GAO report on the 1994 "Hua Mei" transfer of an advanced telecommunications, secure, fiber- optic system sold to a Chinese Army front company included advanced encryption software. One document returned under a FOIA request from the Commerce Dept. for the "Hua Mei" request, outlines the details of how China and the Clinton administration used an obscure license technique, called GLX, to avoid verifying the end user was the Chinese military. In the case of Hua Mei, the Chinese Army bought technology by using front companies. The Commerce Department under Ron Brown did very little, if anything, to stop them. In fact, according to the Commerce Dept., of the 734 licenses applied for advanced telecommunications export to China in 1994 under the "GLX" category only five were denied!
WorldNetDaily Charles Smith 8/4/98 ".In 1994, Silicon Graphics, along with Tandem and several other major computer companies, hired Tony Podesta to lobby for them. Tony Podesta is the brother of John Podesta, Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary for Bill Clinton. In 1994, John Podesta was also in charge of Clinton computer technology export policies such as high speed systems and encryption. In 1994, Tandem, Silicon Graphics and even Cray Super-Computers were all suddenly authorized to travel with Ron Brown to Russia, India, China and other points on the globe. In 1995, during John Podesta's employ at the White House, a lobbyist from Tony Podesta's company attended a secret meeting at the White House on super-computer exports. The group of computer companies then represented by Podesta have already admitted in writing they attended "classified" briefings held by the Clinton administration. Today, John Podesta is rumored to be seeking the job of Erskine Bowles as Chief of Staff. In 1997 the GAO wrote a report on what Silicon Graphics exported. "Silicon Graphics sold four computers to Chelyabinsk-70 in the fall of 1996 for $650,000," states the 1997 GAO report on super-computer exports. Chelyabinsk-70 is well known as a major Russian nuclear weapons lab.."
Chicago Tribune Linda Chavez 1/7/99 ".The problem increased dramatically when President Clinton ordered responsibility over monitoring technology transfers shifted from the State and Defense departments to the Commerce Department under former Secretary Ron Brown, who was far more interested in improving the trade imbalance with China than in maintaining national security. Brown, who died in a plane crash on a U.S. trade mission to Bosnia in 1996, was the head of the Democratic Party and its chief fundraiser before he became commerce secretary, and was widely criticized for improperly using trade missions to increase Democratic Party campaign contributions. In 1994, the Clinton administration eased export-license restrictions on high-tech transfers, making it difficult if not impossible to trace who was buying what and for what purpose..."
WorldNet Daily 8/3/99 Charles Smith "... Indonesians are struggling to pay American power producers for electricity that is not needed, and which they cannot afford. According to newly released documents from the U.S. Commerce Department, 26 U.S.-sponsored electric power projects are on the block because the Indonesian state power company, PLN, is bankrupt. The crown jewel of electricity projects in Indonesia is the huge Mission Energy/GE PAITON coal-fired electric plant in East Java. In 1994, Mission Energy, part of the California Edison power consortium, put great faith in the Clinton administration and Ron Brown to reach Indonesian dictator Suharto. Mission CEO John Bryson even wrote Brown, thanking him for the overwhelming efforts from 1994 through 1995 to get the Indonesians to buy their Paiton bid. Paiton was billed as the first "private" electric plant in Indonesia. However, "private" ownership in Indonesia means owned and operated by the Suharto "First Family." The Indonesian company that owns, operates and fuels the Paiton plant under a 30 year, no cut contract is PT Batu Hitam Perkasa, owned by Suharto's daughter, Titek Prabowo and her brother-in-law, Hashim Djojohadikusumo. According to the Commerce Department, ".75%" of the Paiton project was reserved for Suharto's daughter Prabowo. Prabowo's cut amounted to an instant $15 million. Her kickback, along with a cut for "brother-in-law" Hashim and various other Suharto relatives was provided up front, in cash, in the form of a $50 million loan. The $50 million loan was to be paid back by the profits (dividends) returned from the $2.6 billion Paiton project. Since there are no profits, there is no pay back. According to the 1994 Commerce Department documents, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was "skittish" about providing a $50 million bribe to the Suharto family from the U.S. taxpayers. The reluctance to participate in an illegal pay-off, led GE and Mission Energy to seek Clinton help. .....Obviously asking questions would not be good for any project with a built-in $50 million kickback for the local dictator. In 1999, the entire $2.6 billion dollar project is on the brink of failure. The corrupt deals with the former dictator of Indonesia are collapsing faster than the Indonesian economy. The good citizens of Indonesia have learned of the "First Family" take-over of their national resources and they do not approve...."
January 7, 1994
Ron Brown wrote a briefing document for Bernard Schwartz titled "Background Information." The document states among other things "Last August (1993), the U.S. imposed sanctions on China for an M-11 missile-related transfer to Pakistan. On January 7, 1994 it was decided that although communications satellites licensed by the State Department are covered by the sanctions law, export licenses for communications satellites licensed by the Department of Commerce may be approved. Two such export licenses for communications satellites were recently approved by the Department of Commerce."
March, 1994
WorldNetDaily Charles Smith 8/4/98 ".Another scandal revealed by the new documents from the files of Ron Brown shows that Roger Tamraz was inside the Clinton administration as early as 1994 -- two years before he met Bill Clinton in the White House. Tamraz, a Lebanese oil financier, was then wanted by Interpol for embezzling nearly $80 million dollars from a middle eastern bank. Tamraz would later give over $300,000 to the DNC via his links to the Clinton administration. In 1994 Tamraz was authorized by Bill Clinton to travel with Ron Brown on the Presidential Business development mission to Russia. Newly declassified documents show that administration officials arranged a series of meetings between Tamraz and Russian energy officials from the GAZPROM bureau. The document, a unclassified March 1994 telegram to U.S. Commerce representatives in Russia, orders them to arrange meetings between Tamraz and the Russian First Deputy Minister of Fuels and Energy..Another Brown document for the Russian trip, dated February 1994, lists Tamraz along with CEO's from Tenneco, Texaco, ARCO, Enron, Conoco, AT&T, Motorola, and Silicon Graphics. ."
May, 1994
WorldNetDaily 6/1/99 Charles Smith The JL-2 explains why the Chinese were so interested in American space contractor, Hughes, upgrading PLA rockets with "nose-cone" or "shroud" technology. The Cox report details Chinese Lt. Gen. Shen Rougjun and his penetration of Hughes through his son, Shen Jun. In May 1994, Shen, was second in command at COSTIND -- the Chinese Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. Shen served underneath the PLA spy-master, Gen. Ding Henggao. In 1994, COSTIND Gen. Shen attended several business meetings with Hughes. During a 1994 visit, Shen's son, Shen Jun, attended a business lunch with his father and Frank Taormina of Hughes. Taormina later assisted Shen Jun in obtaining a job at Hughes. The Cox report details "son" Shen played a significant role in the interaction between his PLA general-father and the highest of Hughes executives, including CEO Michael Armstrong. In 1994, Hughes executives were scrambling to avoid a major expense. Hughes helped PLA engineers after the failure of a PLA Long March rocket carrying a Hughes-built satellite. Hughes, anxious not to see a hike in their satellite insurance rates, eagerly pinned the failure on the PLA nose-cone "shroud" design and not on their satellite. The help included Hughes proprietary software for nose-cone design and analysis derived from years of ballistic missile tests in America. Although, Shen Jun was hired at Hughes in August of 1994, according to the Cox report, "a division of Space Systems/Loral was also considering hiring Shen for a position that would have allowed him access to classified information." In August 1994, Lt. Gen. Shen also met and consummated a series of satellite deals with Bernard Schwartz, the CEO of Loral. The Beijing meeting was arranged by President Clinton and included Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. The technology obtained from Loral is also detailed by the Cox report, including rocket guidance and encrypted satellite telemetry systems...."
August 1994
The U.S. endorsement of the plan to build a joint U.S.-Chinese power plant in northern China was announced by Commerce Secretary Ron Brown at a trade mission in Beijing. The project was later shelved.
Insight 12/26/98 Timothy Maier ".The United States has helped to build the Chinese military space telecommunications network, a system that is so sophisticated that it can be used without interception. In 1994 President Clinton boasted that building a mobile cellular-phone network with American technology for the Chinese people was good economic policy. That was White House spin, say critics, and it has come undone. According to recently released Commerce Department records, the White House knew for some time that this state-of-the-art system was to be hand-delivered to the People's Liberation Army, which had become partners in a massive telecommunication business enterprise with China Telecom, a government- controlled company. . . . Clinton initially painted it as a humanitarian deal. A cellular-phone system for China not only could save lives in emergency situations, improving communications during floods or other natural disasters, it would be an economic boon for U.S. corporations that want a piece of this billion-dollar venture. Not surprisingly, a host of U.S. companies led by Loral Space & Communications jumped on board. Beijing then tapped the U.S. bond market to finance the deal, never telling individual investors that their retirement savings would be used to fund the project. After all, under current law such disclosure is not required. . . . . The PLA was involved in the deal through China Telecom, says Eric Harwit, associate professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii, who is working on a book about the Chinese telecommunications industry. "The PLA had frequencies they didn't need for military purposes, so they decided to use it for commercial purposes and do the joint venture." . . . "
Insight 12/26/98 Timothy Maier "."They knew," insists Charles Smith, president of the Richmond, Va.-based Softwar Corp., a computer consultant who relentlessly has filed Freedom of Information Act requests to learn government plans for controlling and exporting computer encryption. "They knew they were directly dealing with the Chinese army," he says. . . . . Smith points to 1994. That year, while Clinton gave assurance that the project was for "civilians," his commerce secretary, Ron Brown, secretly met with Chinese Gen. Shen Rong-Jun to discuss building the mobile-phone network, according to recently released Commerce records. . . . . Rong-Jun, who is deputy chief of the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense, or COSTIND, is in charge of the PLA's satellite program. In addition to serving military purposes, the PLA stood to make a handsome profit by venturing into the satellite pay-per-view broadcast system, as well as profits generating from millions of phone calls . . . . So was something else involved in all of this satellite networking? Edward Timperlake, a U.S. national- security expert, says this system greatly could enhance command-and-control communications for the PLA and create "an unbreakable system" that not even the National Security Agency could tap…."
Insight 12/26/98 Timothy Maier ". William Triplett, former general counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says these satellites have special antennas that "might be used to spy on Asian military forces as well as handle PLA encrypted tele- communications." The prime targets, Triplett says, would be India, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. "This system is so big, it could be used for the People's Armed Police to suppress pro-democracy movements in the countryside," warns Triplett. . . . . Rong-Jun asked Hughes to place his son in charge of the project. "He put his son in there to make sure Americans didn't put a trap door in" that would allow the United States to monitor Chinese communications, says Triplett, who along with Timperlake recently authored the New York Times best-seller The Year of the Rat. . . . . However, when New York Times reporter Jeff Gerth revealed that Loral may have violated the law by faxing to Beijing a classified analysis of what caused a 1996 Chinese rocket explosion, the State Department blocked participation by Rong-Jun's son in the project. Following Insight's series of stories that raised questions concerning the security clearance of engineer Wah Lim, whose assistant faxed the sensitive 1996 rocket-explosion report, California Republican Rep. Chris Cox launched a congressional probe. Both Loral and Hughes have claimed they did nothing illegal in helping Beijing. Lim also maintains he is innocent.."
While on the China trade mission, Secretary Brown praised Loral. Shortly after, Loral secured a $250 million deal, beating out Motorola Corp., which had no one traveling with Secretary Brown.
WorldNetDaily 3/16/99 Charles Smith "... In August 1994, Mr. Wu accompanied Ron Brown to China and Hong Kong. Mr. Wu traveled with several major donors to the DNC, including Bernard Schwartz CEO of Loral, Sanford Robertson CEO of Robertson & Stephens and Edwin Lupenberger, CEO of Entergy Corp. Wu was invited to various special events, including a post Hong Kong dinner and Democratic fund-raiser. K.S. Wu, according to his official Commerce Dept. information sheet, was a very busy man. Wu, according to the Commerce profile, was a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and did graduate work at Yale. In 1994, Wu was chairman of Pacific Century Group, a member of the Board of Directors of the Singapore Fund, the Japan Equity Fund, the China Direct Fund and the Sinung Corporation. Wu was also a board member of the Georgetown University Asian Law Program and the Enprotech Corporation. Wu traveled to China in August of 1994 with a self-described "close" friend, West Virginia Governor Gaston Caperton. In 1996, Caperton described K.S. Wu as a "close friend" and a "trusted advisor to Senator Rockefeller". Today, none dare speak of Mr. Wu. Former Governor Caperton, Democrat Senator Rockefeller both refused to comment on the late K.S. Wu. All questions to the Senator's office on K.S. Wu have been greeted by with the same answer, a short and angry "no comment".... "
WorldNetDaily 3/16/99 Charles Smith "... Lupenberger and Wu were given White House information sheets on every major member of the communist Chinese leadership. The White House bios included data on the most important Chinese communist citizens from President Jiang Zemin to the Mayor of Shanghai. The only civilian included by the White House was Li Ka-Shing, Director of CITIC. Li Ka-Shing owns the vast shipping enterprise, Hutchison Whampoa, Ltd. Li works closely with the official PRC shipping carrier, COSCO. Li and COSCO own both ends of the Panama canal. Li and COSCO tried to buy the former Navy port at Long Beach. Li financed several satellite deals between Hughes and China Hong Kong Satellite (CHINASAT), a company half owned by the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). Li Ka-Shing and the Chinese Navy nearly obtained four huge roll-on/roll-off container ships, financed by the American taxpayers.... Wu, according to the official Commerce Department information sheet, was chairman of Pacific Century Group, an investment firm working to finance electric power plants inside China with U.S. money.... Pacific Century, according to sources on Capitol Hill, is actually a front company part owned by Li Ka-Shing and Macau prostitution drug-lord Ng Lapseng. The U.S. based business run by Wu was actually then owned by Chinese billionaire Li Ka-Shing and a major organized crime boss. The Ng family dominance of far east heroin, and oriental female love slaves in California, Oregon and Washington is well known to law enforcement at both the state and Federal levels. In fact, the CEO of Pacific Century, K.S. "Wu" was related to Ng. Ng, also a major donor to the DNC, often introduced himself as "Mister Wu"…."
WorldNetDaily 3/16/99 Charles Smith "... K.S. Wu was a cousin of Ng Lapseng. Crimelord Ng actually entered the inner-Clinton circle by introducing large amounts of cash to the DNC. Proof of this can be seen in a wonderful photograph of Mr. Ng with Mr. and Mrs. Clinton at a DNC fundraising event..... The 1994 trade trip to China included a Lippo backed power project in China with an Arkansas-based company called Entergy Corp. Former DNC fund-raisers Ira Sockowitz and John Huang worked at the Commerce Department and were charged by Brown to "vet" or check out the Entergy project in China.... Lupenberger and Wu attended the trade mission to China on the personal authority of President Clinton. Lupenberger also personally donated over $80,000 to Democratic candidates prior to the flight. Wu brought investors eager to finance the operation, including money laundered from his family holdings in Macau. Commerce documents show Edwin Lupenberger, Maria Haley, then head of the Export Import Bank, K.S. Wu, and Li Ka-Shing all met Madam Wu Yi. Madam Wu was then the Minister of China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC). The investments made through Pacific Century were to back a joint Lippo/Chinese "soft coal" power plant. John Huang, Ron Brown, Edwin Lupenberger, Senator Rockefeller and K.S. Wu all helped to obtain the financing from U.S. citizens and taxpayers to build "soft" coal fired plants in the far east. Coal fired plants that cannot burn American coal. The sole source of U.S. soft coal is the state of Utah. Utah also happens to be the number one state competing with West Virginia on the coal export market. President Clinton declared most of Utah to be off-limits to coal mining without legislation, using a Presidential Executive order. With this single act, Clinton enhanced the standing of Democratic West Virginia and punished Republican dominated Utah...."
WorldNetDaily 10/13/98 Charles Smith "In 1989 China faced a military crisis. China was about to become an ex-superpower. In 1989, Major General Yang Huan, Chinese deputy commander of the second artillery (Strategic Rocket Forces), wrote a paper in the National Defense Review. Yang admitted that China had to improve rapidly the red nuclear missile force or face third-rank global status.In 1994, General Ding Henggao served as chairman of the Commission on Science, Technology and National Defense Industry (COSTIND). General Ding solved China's nuclear strategic problems. In 1994, General Ding wrote a small article titled "Reforming Defense Science, Technology and Industry" that appeared in China Military Science. Ding wrote "in a future anti-aggression war, our country will uphold the concept of active defense. It means that active defense is not just defensive, it is offensive as well. Our air-defense weapons system and even the whole weapons system should have two capabilities. It could greatly help overall quality and effectiveness if we possess one or two effective weapons that can assume the offensive." In 1994 COSTIND took the offensive -- target USA. COSTIND Vice Minister, Lt. General Shen met and consummated a series of satellite deals with Bernard Schwartz, the CEO of Loral. The technology obtained from the COSTIND/Loral deals saved China billions in missile R&D and turned the Second Corps into a deadly force of thermonuclear war…."
WorldNetDaily 10/13/98 Charles Smith "…The Loral operation led by General Shen revealed the many flaws in Chinese missile guidance and control systems. Improvements in rocket electronics design and guidance system assembly obtained directly from Loral were quickly applied to the Second Artillery's force of CSS strategic missiles. Loral engineers eagerly improved Chinese nuclear missile accuracy and reliability to near state-of-the-art..General Shen also led the successful penetration of Hughes in the purchase of ASIASAT satellites. Again, through a series of meetings with Brown and U.S. Commerce officials, Shen or his operatives in front companies secured whole satellites from Hughes. The Hughes satellites provide the Chinese army with secure communications that are invulnerable to earth combat and highly accurate all weather navigation for strike bombers and missiles..."
WorldNetDaily 10/13/98 Charles Smith "…The COSTIND penetration of Hughes was so successful that General Shen managed to get his son, Shen Jun, a job at Hughes as the lead software engineer for all Chinese satellites. According to Hughes, Shen Jun had access to "proprietary" satellite source code. Shen's access made sure that no secret back doors or special computer virus traps were included inside the Hughes spacecraft by American intelligence services such as the NSA...In September 1998, the CIA testified before the Senate National Security Committee that the Motorola technology is being modified by China to double the number of nuclear warheads on the CSS strategic missile. The Motorola transfer also allowed China to upgrade their DF-15 (DONG FENG - Maoist slogan "East Wind") missile with maneuvering warheads that can avoid American anti-missile defenses such as Patriot and Standard. Motorola transfers significantly upgraded the nuclear firepower and accuracy of Chinese weapons. Motorola technology transfers mean that Chinese warheads can now "penetrate enemy defenses." President Clinton wrote the waivers for Hughes, Loral and Motorola. President Clinton took money directly from COSTIND operations in the form of donations from the same American companies, and in some cases, donations directly from COSTIND related front companies. President Clinton paraded many of the projects as part of his golden era of economic expansion. President Clinton personally arranged for Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz to meet COSTIND Vice Minister General Shen. .
WorldNetDaily 10/19/98 Charles Smith and Joseph Farah ".Israeli defense officials have quietly confirmed that China has exported to Syria M-9 ("Dong Feng" DF-15) ballistic missiles reported to have a range of over 370 miles and capable of carrying a 1,100-pound payload, including a tactical nuclear warhead of about 10 kilotons in yield. The M-9 missile transfer is a violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and should require the Clinton administration automatically invoke U.S. economic sanctions against China. The administration has taken no such action. The Clinton administration knew of the Chinese M-11 ballistic missile sales to the Middle East while publicly denying the transfers to avoid imposing sanctions Documentation obtained from the U.S. Commerce Department, using the Freedom of Information Act, reveals that Loral Chief Executive Officer Bernard Schwartz was informed by President Clinton of the Chinese M-11 missile transfers to Pakistan in August 1994. Schwartz was given briefing materials by Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, detailing the Chinese missile sales and how to avoid U.S. sanctions by applying for satellite exports through the Commerce Department..DF-15 (M-9) warheads shot at Taiwan during the February 1996 PLA exercises displayed MARV or Maneuverable Re-entry Vehicle tactics, changing course and speed in an effort to avoid defensive missiles. MARV warheads on the M-9 pose a significant threat to Israel since they will be able to avoid interception by the Arrow anti-missile currently under joint development with the U.S. Arrow is expected to cost about $1.7 billion and 40 percent of Arrow funding is supplied by the U.S.. Last July, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, a Republican, accused the Clinton administration of allowing China to profit militarily by granting U.S. firms permission to transfer sensitive satellite technology to Beijing. Clinton's decision to allow Loral to proceed with a satellite deal with China was opposed by his own Justice Department, Defense Department and State Department..."
WorldNetDaily 11/23/98 Charles Smith ".The Navy's inability to explain the decision to select a Russian missile over a U.S. made system also involves national security concerns. Navy officials met with congressional representatives and assured them that Boeing and McDonnell Douglas would restrict Russian access to advanced U.S. technology. However, there are allegations that U.S technology has already been given away. The short-range Kh-31 is so dangerous that Boeing and the Navy would not risk a pilot. The problem forced Boeing/Douglas to use a radio controlled F-4 Phantom to carry the missile close enough for firings against Navy ships. Boeing and Russian engineers shared enough data to fit the Kh-31 to a U.S. built fighter in order to fire the missile safely.. Boeing/McDonnell Douglas assured congressional representatives that they take the utmost care in guarding U.S. military secrets. Yet, in 1998 Boeing paid a multi-million dollar fine to the U.S. government for an illegal transfer of advanced missile technology to Russia through their joint SEA-LAUNCH project. McDonnell Douglas is also charged with the illegal transfer of advanced aircraft manufacturing equipment to China. The technology, a giant stretch press for aircraft manufacture, was sold in 1994 to CATIC, a Chinese-state owned corporation, controlled by generals of the People's Liberation Army. The Clinton administration approved the sale to CATIC through the Commerce Department then under Ron Brown. The approval came just before Mr. Brown left on his whirlwind tour of China in August 1994. Federal investigators charged McDonnell Douglas knew the hinese company never had any intention of purchasing the equipment for civilian use because the facility constructed to house the giant machine was put at the Nanchang military aircraft plant. The equipment sent to China is currently manufacturing fighters based on the Russian Su-27 Flanker. Recent photos taken at a Russian airshow displayed a variant of the Su-27 armed with two Kh-31 missiles. China has expressed an interest in the Kh-31 to arm its own jet fighters but acknowledged the short range missile needed improvement.."
The New American 8/3/99 William Norman Grigg "…On three occasions, Schwartz was on the short list of candidates for the position of Secretary of Defense. Given the extent of Loral’s intimate business dealings with Beijing, it is likely that Senate hearings into a Schwartz nomination would have been disastrous for the Administration. But Loral is burdened with other baggage as well. In a May 30th Boston Globe column, business analyst John Ellis of the Rasky/Baerlin Group reported that in December 1989 Loral Corporation pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, filing a false statement regarding a contract with the Air Force to build radar equipment, and conversion of U.S. government property. As a result, Loral paid a $1.5 million fine and was put on a "watch list" for national security officials. However, Loral’s fortunes improved dramatically when Bill Clinton came to power in 1993. "In the early summer of 1994, Loral Chairman Bernard Schwartz made a ‘soft-money’ contribution to the Democratic National Committee in the amount of $100,000," continued Ellis. "Two months later, Schwartz jetted to China on a trade mission with the late Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown and 23 other executives." During that trade mission, Brown "publicly praised Loral’s Globalstar cellular telephone system before an audience of Chinese telecommunications officials. Shortly thereafter, Loral secured a $250 million cellular phone deal with the Ministry of Telecommunications...." It was during the same trade mission that Schwartz cut a deal with Shen Rong-jun, vice chairman of China’s Commission on Science Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). That deal involved the use of highly sensitive encryption technology, which can be used to control satellites. COSTIND "is one of China’s secondary intelligence organizations," noted a 1996 Congressional Research Service report. Its primary function is "acquiring advanced technology with military applications," and "members of CONSTIND have attempted to steal foreign, especially American, technology for military applications."…."
Softwar 7/98 ".In 1994, just prior to traveling with Brown, Mr. Schwartz had his LORAL staff prepare a shopping list for the Chinese and Ron Brown. This list, complete with very big pictures, would make LORAL's large ticket items easier to understand and digest at Ron Brown's (executive) level. However, the same list would also make anyone familiar with military equipment go bananas. On that day Ron Brown stopped being Secretary of Commerce and started his new career as an international arms dealer. The items LORAL carried to the meeting with Ron Brown resemble a JANE'S Defense catalog of high tech weapons. Some of the Loral suggested "red" ticket items up for sale included "Airborne Reconnaissance Cameras, Weapon Delivery, Target Acquisition, Missile Guidance, Shipboard Target Acquisition, Radar Warning, Missile Warning, RF Jamming, IR Jamming..." and so on. Please note - Anything that starts with "weapon", "missile" or "target acquisition" does NOT qualify as a civilian application. The result of the 1994 China trade trip? Today, China is using Loral satellites to perform all weather bombing using a "western" based navigation system in their modified Russian SU-27 FLANKER jet fighters. These navigation aids were originally sold to China under the condition they would be used on "civilian" airliners. Of course, now that the satellites are under PRC control, their civilian operation has been shifted slightly. The SU-27s are made in Russia (soon to be copied by license in China) and they are not going to complain about the navigation gear being tuned to Schwartz's satellites. Thus, the next bombs to fall in anger from a PLA warplane will come courtesy (and with great accuracy) via the USA…."
Softwar 7/98 ".Another US, high-tech, upgrade for the benefit of China's Generals and Commissars is their new secure military communication system. China is now using US built secure encoding systems to protect their military satellite and global communications. This 21st century system is a decades leap forward for the Chinese, who previously depended on former Soviet built analog scramblers to protect their highest military orders. The great leap forward for the PRC did not come at the end of years of costly R&D followed by careful deployment. Instead, the Princes in Beijing can now issue nuclear launch code orders using C4 (Command, Control, Communications, and Computers) systems that rival the best in the free west. Basically, this is because their system was built in the free west. .Additional proof of who authorized the military exports to China comes not from a SOFTWAR FOIA but from a recently published GAO report on US weapons exports to China. The GAO published a report on May 7, NSAID-98-171, which states "According to State (Department) officials, since 1990, 11 Presidential waivers have been issued removing export restrictions on 21 satellite projects. Presidential waivers were also granted to permit the export of encryption equipment controlled on the Munitions List". Thus, Bill Clinton determined it was in our national interest to arm Red China. He wrote the waivers. He authorized the sales... He took the donations. .."
September, 1994
Over the objections of State, CIA, and DOD, Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown approved an export license for very sophisticated "five axis tools" that are used for, among other things, the manufacture of aircraft components. Beijing promised that these previously embargoed tools would be used in commercial aircraft production.
Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...In September 1994, long before Clinton signed the power deal, the Commerce Department documented that Indonesian dictator Suharto had cut himself in for a bribe. According to a 1994 Commerce document, 0.75 percent ownership of a $2 billion U.S.-backed power project was given -- at no cost -- to dictator Suharto's second daughter, Siti Hediati Prabowo. Prabowo's 0.75 percent ownership is equal to a free gift of $15 million from the U.S. taxpayers. The $15 million is part of a $50 million bribe split between Prabowo and other Suharto relatives. In return, the Indonesian dictator selected companies owned by major Clinton donors to build the Paiton power plant in east Java.....The Paiton power project consisted of two 600-million watt, coal-fired plants to provide electricity for east Java. The partners in the U.S.-led consortium included Mission Energy, Mitsui & Co. Ltd. of Japan, General Electric Capital Corporation of the U.S., and P.T. Batu Hitam Perkasa, an Indonesian firm formed in 1989 to participate in the development of the country's private power industry. The leader of the U.S. project in the Paiton power plant, Mission Energy, is also a partner of Indonesia's Lippo Group, a consortium partly owned by Indonesian billionaire Mochtar Riady and the Chinese Army's CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation) bank...."
September 30, 1994
Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...According to Federal Election Commission records, Mission Energy CEO, John Bryson, donated money to Clinton's campaigns and donated money to Clinton's legal defense fund. Riady, Bryson's partner in the Paiton project, is also accused of illegally donating money to Bill Clinton's political campaigns....On Sept. 30 1994, The Commerce Department, State Department, Mission Energy and several consultants met to review the Paiton project. According to hand written notes, "ADB is still considering this, b/c of very minimal involvement of Indo ruling family in the Mission project. ... ADB's delay revolves around concern for projects in Indonesia involving the first family. .75% ownership of the Mission project by daughter of Indo pres." ..."
November, 1994
President Clinton travels to Indonesia with a U.S. delegation. Webb Hubbell and Bruce Lindsey were prominent members of the delegation. They meet twice with Mochtar and James Riady.
APEC Conference in Jakarta: Hosted by President Suharto, included Pauline Kanchanalak, Charlie Trie, Gene and Nora Lum (all related to Moctar Riady, Indonesian billionaire.) Per Charles Smith Softwar: ". The number one priority for Ron Brown was the sale of U.S. weapons such as F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters to Indonesia. The Commerce Department documentation states "F-16 Fighter Aircraft Program ... Sale of 11 (ex-Pakistani) aircraft completed. Indonesia may purchase the remaining 17 Pakistani aircraft". Brown convinced the Indonesian defense ministry to purchase U.S. built F-16 Fighting Falcons which were originally sold to Pakistan in 1992. The Falcon sale to Pakistan was canceled during the last days of the Bush administration because Pakistan had openly purchased nuclear weapons technology from China. The Chinese nuclear technology forced an embargo of U.S. arms sales to Pakistan, including the previously ordered F-16s.Ron Brown was directly involved in arms transfers to Asia. The documents show that big buck foreign donors with a vested interest in buying U.S. weapons were also involved. At APEC 1994 the international arms trade was business-as-usual. The tasking of U.S. Commerce officials to push a massive arms build up in Asia says volumes about the Clinton administration. Ron Brown wasn't just secretary of Commerce -- he was secretary of war."
Reform Party News 7/7/98 "Newly declassified documents from the hidden files of former Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown show that Brown was directly involved in U.S. arms exports to Asia. The documents were recently obtained from the Department of Commerce using the Freedom of Information Act. The new documents from Brown's files, labeled simply "DEFENSE TRADE ADVOCACY INDONESIA", provide a detailed picture of U.S. weapons sales to the far east during the 1994 APEC conference in Jakarta, Indonesia.."
Worldnetdaily 6/22/99 Charles Smith "...According to documents forced from the Clinton administration by a federal lawsuit, the Commerce Department directly engaged Chinese army and air force generals in an effort to upgrade PLA military air defenses. One example of "military" commerce involved is in a letter to PLA Gen. Huai Guomo, from Commerce Deputy Undersecretary Barry Carter. "In our opinion, the key to rapid involvement of U.S. industry in China is the development of a national civil/military strategy for modernization of Chinese airspace control," wrote Dr. Carter in his November 1994 letter to Gen. Huai (emphasis added). "Without a broad plan for harmonizing civil and military requirements," Carter wrote to Huai, "any equipment acquisitions and installations run the risk of resulting in incompatible systems that will not satisfy your national objectives." "We would like to help you develop your ATC plan," wrote Carter in his letter to Huai. "As a follow-up to the October Commission meetings, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator will lead a delegation of senior aviation policy experts on a visit to Beijing. ... I ask your support to ensure they have the opportunity to meet with the key Chinese players -- both military and civil -- while in China." ..."
November 1, 1994
Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...In another document dated, Nov. 1, 1994, only days before the Jakarta signing by Clinton, the Commerce Department noted, "Ambassador Barry stated that the project is facing two problems." Those two were "(i) the ADB financing may cave in and (ii) EXIM financing. Regarding ADB, technical questions have been satisfied, but ADB is skittish about involvement of Indonesia's first family (a minority shareholder is married to Pres. Suharto's daughter)." The Commerce Department documented that Indonesian dictator Suharto had cut his son-in-law into a kickback scheme. The documents show that Commerce was not only aware of Suharto's corrupt activities but quietly cooperated by seeking U.S.-backed financial aid for the project...."
November 16, 1994
Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "....In 1994, U.S. Commerce officials knew there was a crime in progress -- a crime that involved millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars being used to pay off corrupt foreign politicians. Did the Commerce Department attempt to stop this crime? No. As a matter of fact, the federal agency appears to have done its best to help the criminals succeed. On Nov. 16, 1994, Bill Clinton and the late Ron Brown traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia, for the Asia Pacific Economic Conference, at which Clinton signed deals to supply Indonesia with electric power using U.S. taxpayer loans. The deals were worth billions to U.S. corporations such as Cal Energy, Mission Energy and General Electric....."
1995
According to a 1995 Commerce Department document, the President "made clear," in private conversations he had with Brown, that "he does not believe we have done enough to streamline and liberalize." The document mapped out how Brown should lobby high-level Administration officials to ease controls on computer exports and shift items like communications satellites, engine technology and commercial data-scrambling devices. Such items were on a list of equipment that required a State Department license, and companies believed they could close more deals if authority over the exports were moved to Brown's Commerce Department..Secretary of State Warren Christopher insisted that his department retain jurisdiction. He was overruled in early 1996 by Clinton, opening the way to billions of dollars of satellite sales to Chinese companies. At about the same time, the Administration was weighing whether to lift restrictions on the export of some advanced computers. Officials asked outside consultants to study the issue, and they came back with a report that asserted the controls were pointless - New York Times Jeff Gerth 10/19/98
The Union Leader 3/16/99 Richard Lessner "...It is hardly surprising that the Clinton administration, informed in April 1996 that a Red Chinese agent had penetrated our super-secret Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory, did nothing. Consider that was going on in 1996: In the spring of that year, the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee -- the two by then were nearly indistinguishable -- were smack in the middle of a huge international fundraising effort facilitated by a cast of shady Asian businessmen, organized crime figures and agents of the People's Republic of China. Millions of dollars were being raised from these foreign sources to pay for Dick Morris' stealth media campaign that buried the hapless Bob Dole and turned Bill Clinton's re-election into a walkover. So in the middle of all this, is it any wonder that Deputy National Security Adviser Sandy Berger did nothing when investigators told him in April 1996 of the Red Chinese penetration at Los Alamos? Is it mere coincidence that Mr. Berger learned our nuclear security had been compromised the same month (on the 29th) that Al Gore was holding a gala fund-raiser at a Buddhist temple in California, at which hundreds of thousands of dollars were illegally funneled into the Clinton-Gore campaign from Asian sources with connections to Beijing? Then there is Mr. Berger himself. It now is known from White House documents obtained by congressional investigators that as deputy national security advisor it was Mr. Berger who led the fight inside the administration in 1995 to shift responsibility for export controls on satellite technology from the State to the Commerce Department. This transfer of control to the late Ron Brown's more "user friendly" Commerce -- a change opposed by the Pentagon and Secretary of State Warren Christopher -- was rewarded by millions in campaign contributions from the Loral and Hughes Aerospace corporations. And it was Mr. Berger who pressed Bill Clinton to provide Loral and Hughes with export-control waivers that allowed the companies to transfer sensitive satellite technology to the Red Chinese, this despite an on-going Justice Department and FBI investigation into their activities. So much for Sandy Berger's interest, his title notwithstanding, in national security...."
Koenig's International News 6/10/99 Charles Smith "...In 1997, Commerce export enforcement officials in Beijing could not identify Chinese Army owned companies....In 1996, American computer maker SUN Computer Corp. exported a super-computer directly to the Chinese Army. According to the Cox report, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) explained that the actual buyer of the computer was the "Yuanwang Corporation" and that Sun was aware of "this corporation's PRC military ties." According to a 1997 e-mail from Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) officer Mark Bayuk, a chart provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was used to "discover that Yuanwang Group, the importer that is alleged to have imported the Sun Computer shipped to the National Defense Technical Institute of China in Changsha, was directly under the control of COSTIND."..... While export control officials were scrambling to find some information on PLA operations - the Commerce Dept. sales division, under Ron Brown, was well informed. There was a published list of Chinese Army companies and it was provided by one of the top Generals in the PLA. In 1995, Secretary Perry informed Commerce Secretary Ron Brown that his PLA contact was "General Ding Henggao" of COSTIND. "Dear Ron," wrote Perry in his 1995 letter to Secretary Brown. "I recently received a letter from General Ding Henggao, the Minister of the Chinese Commission for Science Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). As you know, General Ding and I head the Sino-American Joint Defense Conversion Commission that was established during my visit to the PRC this past October (1994)." "General Ding's staff has prepared a list of 49 potential projects... We have provided the list to Barry Carter, who is a member of the Commission. Your Bureau of Export Administration is working to make information available to concerned U.S. businesses."..."
Excerpt from "Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue - Clinton's Crazies", published in 1995 by Human Events: "Although the ethics questions surrounding Brown scuttled plans to have him lead Clinton's re-election bid, the President, for the time being, is standing by his man at Commerce, which leads some to speculate that wheeler- dealer Brown MAY HAVE SOME DIRT ON BILL CLINTON. STAY TUNED - THERE's UNDOUBTEDLY MORE TO COME."
January,1995
World Net Daily 7/21/98 Charles Smith concerning waivers for Loral, etc. ".starting in 1994 the CSPP was represented by the brother of Clinton adviser John Podesta. Moreover, John Podesta was then charged with the Clinton administration oversight on super-computers and encryption policy -- the same policy his brother's company was responsible for lobbying. Documents obtained from the U.S. Commerce Department and from the CSPP shows that on June 6, 1995 the CSPP had a secret meeting in the White House on super-computer and encryption export policy. One such document, a briefing memo prepared for Ron Brown by William Reinsch, notes the CSPP was interested in "computer" and "encryption" exports. CSPP executive director Ken Kay in 1994 and 1995 was also an employee of Podesta Associates, a lobbying firm owned by Tony Podesta. In fact, the official CSPP reports issues in Jan. 1995, also found in Ron Brown's files, note that Podesta Associates was running the CSPP lobby effort. Mr. Kay, and the CSPP lawyer, Charles Levy from the D.C. law firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering, both attended the secret White House meeting in June, 1995. Both Levy and Kay also donated thousands of dollars to DNC candidates according to Federal Election Commission records. In fact, the June 6, 1995 secret meeting at the White House included a State Department specialist on super computers and nuclear proliferation. CSPP member Silicon Graphics sold five super-computers to the Russian Ministry of Atomics (MINATOM) just after the June meeting in late 1995. The Silicon Graphics computers are now being used by the Russians to improve their nuclear warheads. On June 6, 1995, John Podesta, was employed at the White House to oversee computer and encryption policy. John Podesta was executive secretary and assistant to the president until July 1995 when he left to work for his brother at Podesta Associates. Documentation obtained from the Clinton National Security Council (NSC) shows that starting in 1993 John Podesta was charged with oversight of U.S. computer and encryption policy. A series of White House 1993 email messages from George Tenet, the current CIA Director, clearly details meetings and reports prepared for John Podesta. John Podesta was charged with the very same policy that Ken Kay, Tony Podesta's employee, was lobbying for inside the White House -- at the same time.. Ken Kay, the CSPP and the Podesta brothers have all denied any wrongdoing. However, in 1997, John Podesta also obtained a waiver to resolve the potential legal conflict of interest he shared with his brother from the White House counsel, two years after the secret meetings began and three years after the computer exports. Podesta has so far refused to produce that legal document.
Worldnetdaily 6/22/99 Charles Smith "...The Chinese are not alone in "conspiracy" theories. Nolanda Hill testified under oath that her lover and business partner, Ron Brown, feared for his life because of his dealings with the Chinese army. It is clear now that after the August 1994 meeting with Ding, DOD Secretary Perry ordered Brown to engage the PLA in "commercial" activities -- an order which is documented in a January 1995 letter to Brown from Perry. Perry also wrote Ding, informing him that Brown would assist the Chinese army in the "Defense Conversion" project. ..."
January 31, 1995
WorldNetDaily 6/1/99 Charles Smith "...While the close working relationship between PLA Gen. Ding, Secretary Brown and Defense Secretary Perry may be missing from the Cox report -- it has not been missed in federal court. In a WorldNetDaily exclusive, this reporter has obtained two previously unreleased letters from Secretary of Defense William Perry. The letters were forced from the U.S. Commerce Department by Federal Judge Robert Payne who ordered them to be released to the public in 1999. One Jan. 31, 1995 letter is addressed to Ron Brown and the other letter is addressed to Gen. Ding Henggao. "Dear Ron," wrote Perry in his 1995 letter to Secretary Brown. "I recently received a letter from General Ding Henggao, the Minister of the Chinese Commission for Science Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). As you know, General Ding and I head the Sino-American Joint Defense Conversion Commission that was established during my visit to the PRC this past October (1994)." I am most appreciative, Ron," wrote Defense Secretary Perry. "Of the support that the Department of Commerce is providing for this effort. Unlike our defense conversion projects with Russia, Ukraine, and other states in the former Soviet Union, there are no funds earmarked for our activities with China. Hence, we need to rely on already established channels and create informal ones to accomplish the task at hand." Perry's second letter of Jan. 31, 1995 is addressed directly to General Ding Henggao. "Dear General Ding," wrote Perry. "I have asked our Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Ronald Brown, for the support of his Department to ensure U.S. businesses are apprised of the opportunities that have been offered." "As you know, we have been working to develop a plan for air traffic control cooperation that meets the expectations of COSTIND, as well as the People's Liberation Army Air Force," wrote Perry to Gen. Ding. "I am confident that at the second meeting of the Joint Defense Conversion Commission, we will be able to receive reports detailing significant progress in all of our endeavors." In fact, Perry wrote his letter to the Chinese spy-master with the warmest of affections reserved for an old friend. "Best wishes in the coming year," wrote Perry. "And I look forward to our next meeting." The "informal channels" to "fund" the PLA operations required by Perry and the PLA placed Ron Brown in direct contact with Chinese military officers during the last few months of his life. According to the testimony of Brown confidant, Nolinda Hill, the Commerce secretary openly worried that the deals with the PLA were bordering on treason and posed a threat to his life. According to the GAO, the "air traffic control" that meets the expectations of "the People's Liberation Army Air Force" included a Presidential waiver from Bill Clinton. According to a June 1998 report to Congress, the GAO stated that "Waivers were also granted to permit the export of encryption equipment controlled on the Munitions List. One case involved a $4.3 million communications export to China's Air Force." The PLAAF can use the equipment supplied by Clinton's waiver for offensive operations against U.S. forces in Asia. The next PLAAF bombs that fall will do so with great accuracy, due mainly to the efforts of Gen. Ding and his puppets in Washington...."
February 27, 1995
In a letter sent by Johhny Chung to Richard Sullivan, Chung requests help to arrange: (1) a meeting with President Clinton, (2) a meeting with Vice President Gore, (3) lunch at the White House mess, (4) a tour of the White House, and (5) a meeting with Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. Chung sent an identical letter to Eric Sildon at the DNC, and faxed a letter to Ann McCoy of the White House Visitor's Office requesting her assistance in arranging a White House tour. He also asked Mark Middleton for help in setting up meetings with President Clinton and Vice President Gore, and in arranging a luncheon at the White House Mess.
March, 1995
WorldNetDaily 5/11/99 Charles R Smith "...In 1995, Chinese Army Lt. Gen. Huai Guomo and several other key generals of the PLA, were taken on a tour of the U.S. Energy Department. The tour, part of a joint U.S-Chinese defense conversion project, included an invitation to the Chinese generals to form "joint" U.S.-Sino nuclear projects. Details of the 1995 Chinese army meeting at the Energy Department were written in a report by the U.S. Commerce Department... "She noted that the DOE Secretary visited China last month and that cooperation with China is a high priority," states the Commerce report. "(Tierney) noted that DOE and the China State Planning Commission have similar goals in the following areas: 1) Science and technology development (especially in energy); 2) Funding of research (such as fusion and fission)." The Chinese general who attended the meetings, Lt. Gen. Huai Guomo, was then vice minister of COSTIND -- the Chinese Commission on Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. In 1995, Huai was under the command of COSTIND minister, PLA Gen. Ding Henggao. In 1994 Ding and Huai helped establish the Galaxy New Technology joint venture called "HUA MEI," a deal which allowed the Chinese army to purchase an AT-encrypted, secure, fiber-optic network...."
WorldNetDaily 5/11/99 Charles R Smith "...According to the March 1995 report, Huai explained that his unit, COSTIND, had "six specialty areas: 1) Aerospace; 2) Aviation; 3) Electronics; 4) Ground Force Military Equipment; 5) Shipbuilding; 6) Nuclear." "The business leaders asked for POC's (point of contact) for the 49 projects and Huai suggested they contact Col. Xu at the Embassy," states the Commerce Department report. "Barry Carter (Commerce) mentioned the package he was preparing which will include POC info. Ding offered his assistance in COSTIND if any company had difficulty communicating with industries in China. He said there are investment dollars put aside for the 9th five year plan, and they do not have to be limited to the 49 projects. ... The Chinese said that anyone wanting to make deals should move forward rapidly so that it will be covered in the next five year plan which is just being drawn up."...."At the end of the meeting at Energy," concludes the Commerce document, "the Chinese indicated that they would like to develop cooperation in the nuclear field. They expect to have problems in handling nuclear waste and would like to develop future cooperation in handling such waste. U.S. has no cooperation right now in the nuclear area, but China hopes to have some in the future."
WorldNetDaily 5/11/99 Charles R Smith "...Huai had good reason to hope for future U.S.-Sino nuclear cooperation. Gen. Ding, his commander, gave the Commerce Department an official 1995 list of PLA-owned companies wanting business. The list included contacts and projects at the "China National Nuclear Corp.," "The Academy of Engineering Physics" and "China Yuanwang (Group) Corp." Ding sent the list of official contacts from the Chinese defense industry, along with a personal letter, to be circulated to U.S. businesses by the Clinton Commerce Department. If any contact on the list should fail to respond, the Chinese army eagerly provided a "Col. Xu" as the prime contact at their Washington embassy, including the military attache's direct phone and fax number. The PLA-owned companies operated with the direct blessing of the Clinton administration, seeking joint ventures, American investors, and U.S. technology..."
Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "....Commerce documents show that Lippo business partner Mission Energy (now named Edison Mission Energy) received strong Clinton administration support for the Paiton project. In March 1995, Mission Energy CEO John Bryson wrote Commerce Secretary Brown: "Dear Ron -- Thank you once again for being so ready to support a successful completion of the Paiton Power Project. ... The U.S. Government, from the President on down, has put a high priority on the Paiton Project." Furthermore, the Paiton power plant was designed to burn "low-sulfur Indonesian coal." In 1996 President Clinton created the 1.7 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, placing off-limits the world's largest deposit of low-sulfur coal. In the process, Clinton also greatly enriched Suharto. The coal for the Paiton plant is provided under a no bid contract from the global monopoly of "soft" environmental coal. Prabowo's brother-in-law, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, owns the Indonesian reserves of soft coal and is also another partner in the Mission Energy-General Electric partner at Paiton. Furthermore, Hashim is not only an old friend of Suharto, but Hashim's brother is Suharto's son-in-law and a general in the Indonesian army...."
April, 1995
Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...The Commerce documentation shows that U.S. Ambassador Barry worked directly with Linda Yang, executive director of the Asian Development Bank, to obtain financial support despite the concerns over kickbacks to Suharto.... However, after the signing by Clinton, in 1995, the ADB decided to not finance the Paiton deal due to their concerns. According to notes taken by Commerce Department officials at a Paiton meeting, "Mission Energy expecting default by March [1995] ... first project to go on bond market $180 M and will default also." In April 1995, Ron Brown came to the rescue and provided the U.S. Export-Import bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to substitute for the Asian Development Bank. Over $1.8 billion in limited recourse project debt was provided to Paiton by The Export-Import Bank of Japan, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation of the United States, and eight commercial banks...."
May, 1995
Koenig's International News 6/10/99 Charles Smith "...According to a May 1995 CSPP document sent to Ron Brown, "controls on computer exports to Russia and China for commercial, civil end-users should be eliminated; controls on exports for actual military end-uses may be appropriate until there is greater certainty that neither country poses a threat to U.S. national security." The Clinton administration saw no "threat" to U.S. national security in the U.S. "strategic partner" Communist China. In response, CSPP members IBM, and Tandem were given the list of approved PLA owned companies wanting their business by Barry Carter. In 1995, both companies elected to join the "Chinese Defense Conversion" project. The list of IBM and Tandem contacts were given to the Chinese Army in an exclusive report on U.S. companies provided by Barry Carter directly to PLA General Huai Guomo of COSTIND. By November, 1995, the CSPP sent a letter to Ron Brown thanking him for the change in export policy. The CSPP letter states "we want to express our great appreciation for your role in the President's recent decision to significantly reform computer export controls." ..."
May 5, 1995
There are curious connections between Commerce and a Washington based multi-billion dollar satellite company called Iridium, a company created in 1987 with direct ties to late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and the Democratic party. Leo Mondale, a nephew of the former vice president, is vice president of strategic planning for Iridium. Mondale and Motorola executive Edward Staino hired four of Brown's former employees with high level security clearances to help run Iridium's project on worldwide telecommunications. Motorola also took part in Brown trade-mission trips.
Former assistant secretary of Commerce, Lauri Fitz-Pegado, a long-time friend of Brown and special adviser to the chairman of the DNC, became vice president of the Iridium division called Global Gateway Management. Her responsibilities at Iridium include coordinating meetings and trips with international investors. She was joined there by her former Commerce assistants Pilar Martinez, Charlotte Kea and Andrew Balfour, who was a director under the executive secretary for Commerce.
June, 1995
Daniel S. Pearson was named O.I.C. to look into possible criminal violations involving Ronald Brown's receipt of $400,000 from First International Inc.
July, 1995
Huang's California friend, Commerce aide Melinda Yee, was a senior adviser to Ron Brown.
October, 1995
Ron Brown led trade mission to China with Trie, Antonio Pan.
Motorola announced plans to build a $720-million semiconductor plant in Tianjin, China.
Chung gives $50,000 check to DNC
WorldNetDaily 5/11/99 Charles R Smith "...In 1995, eager to make new foreign sales, Cray sales representatives traveled to Beijing to meet with PLA officers during a Commerce-sponsored event. In 1995, Cray attended the "JCCT Meeting" in China. The Joint U.S.-China Technology summit held in October 1995 in Beijing, included major American defense computer manufacturers such as IBM, SUN, Apple, Digital, Silicon Graphics and Cray. Nor was China's missile program left begging for CPU power. In 1994, Tandem Corp. exported computers to China Great Wall Corp., a company owned by the Chinese army, during a Ron Brown trade trip. Commerce documents show that China Great Wall Industry is owned by "China Electronics Systems Engineering Company (CESEC), a subsidiary of the People's Liberation Army."..."
Early, 1996
Nolanda Hill (Well-known mistress of Clinton Commerce Secretary Ron Brown) swears under oath (In late 1997) that in early 1996 Ron Brown showed her Commerce Department documents signed by Melissa Moss of the Office of Business Liaison that proved the department's trade missions were being used for partisan political fundraising. She also said she told Brown he should fire Moss because of this and that he said he would speak to her about it. He died in an April plane crash before she had the chance to see him again.
February, 1996
Washington Times 5/18/99 Bill Gertz "...In a move aimed at keeping the ring-magnets dispute quiet, Mr. Christopher wrote to the Export-Import Bank later in February 1996, asking it to defer loan approvals for American businessmen operating in China. The cutoff would have been worth about $10 billion in new loans if it had been kept in place. But the measure lasted only 30 days and did not affect already-approved loans..... National security interests, Mr. Brown asserted, should not be a higher priority than trade. "I happened to think the best chance for us to have an impact in those other areas is through being engaged with China," he said..... After months of secret U.S.-Chinese talks, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns issued a carefully worded statement May 10, 1996, saying the secretary of state had cleared China of any culpability. "Of particular significance, the Chinese assured us that China will not provide assistance to unsafeguarded nuclear facilities, and the Chinese will now confirm this in a public statement," Mr. Burns said. Unsafeguarded facilities are nuclear plants and support facilities that are not subject to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors nuclear facilities around the world under the treaty. "In addition," Mr. Burns declared, "senior Chinese officials have informed us that the government of China was unaware of any transfers of ring magnets by a Chinese entity, and they have confirmed our understanding that China's policy of not assisting unsafeguarded nuclear programs will preclude future transfers of ring magnets to unsafeguarded facilities." There was "not a sufficient basis" to impose sanctions as required by the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994..... China's public announcement of the accord said only that "China will not provide assistance to unsafeguarded nuclear facilities." The Clinton administration claimed this was a "significant public commitment." ..."It is outrageous that the administration has now freed the Export-Import Bank to use taxpayer funds for loans to assist the China National Nuclear Corp. -- the very company that sold the ring magnets to Pakistan," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat. "When all is said and done," she added, "the Chinese proliferated nuclear-weapons technology and got away with it, and Pakistan received essential nuclear-weapons technology and was rewarded."..."
February 6, 1996
Just four days after the assault weapon waivers were issued, Ron Brown met with Wang Jun, chairman of the state-owned China International Trust & Investment Corp, Wang attended a White House coffee with President Clinton and Charlie Trie, a suspected conduit for political donations to the Democratic Party from China. President Clinton approved the launch of four U.S. satellites on China Aerospace- owned rockets. Nolanda Hill said that Wang and Brown discussed lowering export controls. China International Trade and Investment Corp. (Wang Ju chair) had multibillion dollar stakes in getting access to American satellites.
Ernie Green's wife donated $50,000 to the DNC. Charlie Trie had worked with Ernest Green, a longtime friend of Bill Clinton's, to get Wang a U.S. visa. Wang conveniently forgot to mention that he was a Communist arms dealer on the visa application. Had he disclosed that fact, Wang Jun would never have been let in the country, let alone the White House.
Clinton signed waivers for four new American satellite launches in China despite evidence that China was still exporting nuclear and missile technology to Pakistan and Iran.
March 6, 1996
Ron Brown announces at meeting in Baltimore that he will take trade delegation to Bosnia in April (Washington Times, Mar. 6, 1996);
March 14, 1996
In 1995 Hughes Electronics CEO (C. Michael Armstrong) - head of Clinton's export council - urged Secretary of State Warren Christopher that satellites no longer be treated as military goods. On 2/6/96 Clinton approved 4 applications for launches. On the same day, Wang Jun ("Chinese arms dealer") met with Ron Brown and had coffee with Clinton. On 2/15/96 a State Department memo said "the administration wanted to wrap this up." On 3/14/96 Commerce email recommended a low key spin on the news to "not draw attention to the decision." State Department issued regulations shifting most satellite licensing to Commerce on 11/5/96, the day Clinton was re-elected.
March 19, 1996
Independent Counsel Pearson obtained subpoenas that showed his probe had widened to include Ron Brown's ties to possibly illicit fund-raising activities involving the Democratic National Committee and a DNC-affiliated group called the Asian Pacific Advisory Council.
March 20, 1996
A federal judge ruled in favor of President Bill Clinton's request that he be allowed to give testimony in the trial of Jim and Susan McDougal, the president's former Whitewater partners, by videotape. The president's supporters describe the decision as a major victory for the president, who sought to avoid appearing in person. But the judge denied Clinton's request that questions be provided in advance.
March 21, 1996
Little Rock businessman and friend of Bill Clinton, Charles "Charlie" Yah Lin Trie, gives Michael Cardozo of Clinton's Presidential Legal Expense Trust two manila envelopes containing $460,000 in questionable donations.
Charlie Trie met with Mark Middleton and gave him a letter that outlined a number of views regarding the Taiwan Strait crisis which was brewing at the time. A witness informed the House Committee that Trie was "terribly concerned" over possible incidents between the United States and China over Taiwan. According to this witness, Trie spoke of having talked to "people in the White House and National Security Council about the danger of confronting China over Taiwan." Middleton faxed Trie's letter to the White House, and on the cover page, informed the White House staff that "[a]s you likely know, Charlie is a personal friend of the President from L.R. He is also a major supporter." Trie's letter received a response from President Clinton just one month later. The response, in relevant part, stated that the U.S. action "was intended as a signal to both Taiwan and the PRC that the United States was concerned about maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait region. It was not intended as a threat to the PRC." Trie's letter and the Administration's response to it were handled by several high-level national security staffers, including National Security Advisor Anthony Lake and staffer Robert Suettinger. http://www.house.gov/reform/reports/fundraising/4b_trie.htm
March 25, 1996
David Hale was sentenced to 28 months in jail and ordered to pay back $2,000,000. for his guilty plea on charges of defrauding the Small Business Administration.
Freeper Helen and Jolly "...Title 15 - COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE Chapter VII - BUREAU OF EXPORT ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Part 742 - CONTROL POLICY, CCL BASED CONTROLS Sec. 742.4 National Security (a) License requirements. It is the policy of the United States to restrict the export and reexport of items that would make a significant contribution to the military potential of any other country or combination of countries that would prove detrimental to the national security of the United States. Accordingly, a license is required... [snip] (b)(7) For the People's Republic of China, the general licensing policy is to approve applications, except that those items that would make a direct and significant contribution to electronic and anti-submarine welfare, intelligence gathering, power projection, and air superiority receive extended review or denial. Each application will be considered individually. Items may be approved even though they may contribute to Chinese military development or the end-user or end-use is military...." Alamo-Girl note "appears to have been issued 3/25/96 for review ... less than 2 weeks before Ron Brown's plane crash"
WorldNetDaily 7/27/99 Charles Smith "...These Chinese Army/Brown meetings were approved by Bill Clinton. It was Bill Clinton who decided to arm China with U.S. made weapons. Since 1993, all the advanced sales and all the waivers for each export were approved by Bill Clinton. According to a 1995 letter from Motorola Chairman, Gary Tooker, it was Bill Clinton who signed the "Presidential waiver for encryption export sales to China." In 1996, Clinton transferred export oversight to the inept and ill-equipped Commerce Dept. President Clinton signed the executive order that ended 40 years of legislation designed to prevent war. The transfer also forced the paper trail for military exports to China to now end at the Commerce Dept. instead of at the Oval Office. In 1997, after the transfer of authority by Clinton, Commerce Dept. officials in Beijing clearly stated they did not track Chinese Army owned companies. Thus, the only U.S. government agency with the legal authority to stop exports had no idea what to do but say "yes"...."
New York Times 5/5/99 Gary Milhollin Jordan Richie "...More than half of the $15 billion in exports [to China] consisted of computers. China had been denied access to high-performance computers until President Clinton loosened computer controls in 1996, after strenuous lobbying by his political supporters in Silicon Valley. Then a flood of computer exports began. By now China has imported about 400 high-performance machines, just what would be needed to process the American nuclear codes and simulate the workings of our arsenal. Although China has insisted that these computers were imported for civilian uses, it has refused virtually all requests to let United States officials see what the machines are really doing.
March 25-26, 1996
Hillary in Tuzla, Bosnia, accompanied by Chelsea and Army Secretary Togo West; from there, she goes on to Aviano, Turkey, and Greece (FDCH, White House schedule, Mar. 15, 1996);
March 26, 1996
Trip of Defense Secretary Perry to Bosnia, Croatia, Albania, and Egypt announced (Xinhua, Mar. 26, 1996);
March 27, 1996
White House W.A.V.E. records indicate John Huang's attendance at a DNC dinner with the President.
The Energy Department receives a report from a Chinese spy that China has stolen information about the neutron bomb from American nuclear weapons laboratories.
March 28, 1996
Perry and Lt. Gen. Wesley Clark appear before Senate For. Rlns. Comm. Hearing on Chemical-Biological Defense; Clark answers questions about crowd control agents (shades of Waco!) (FDCH transcript of hearing);
March 29, 1996
White House W.A.V.E. records indicate a meeting between John Huang and Harold Ickes.
A federal appeals court denied a request by President Bill Clinton to reconsider its January decision allowing the president to be tried on the Paula Jones sexual harassment complaint during his presidency.
Timetable and itinerary announced for Ron Brown's trip to Bosnia and Croatia (Xinhua, Mar. 29, 1996);
(late): Perry leaves Washington (Agence France Presse, Mar. 29, 1996);
March 30, 1996
Perry in Zagreb (Xinhua, Mar. 30, 1996);
March 31, 1996
Perry goes to Tuzla, Sarajevo (Deutsche Presse Agentur, Mar. 31, 1996), later in day goes to Tirana, Albania, where meeting of defense ministers opens (UPI, Mar. 31, 1996);
April, 1996
....Wah Lim, Chinese-born American citizen and senior vice president and engineer at Loral Space and Communications wrote a letter to China Aerospace Corp. in April 1996: " Equally important, I believe, is the task of using this failure as an opportunity to insure that the Long March launch vehicles have the best reliable record in the future. Even if that means your engineers and Cgwic takes a little more time to implement several phases of improvements over time; I believe it is worth it. We, at Space Systems/Loral would like China Great Wall to be a strong supplier of launch services and we will do everything in our power to help you. " A few weeks later, the technical information was provided to China Aerospace.
"...in April of 1996 -- a Department of Energy official informed President Clinton's deputy national security adviser, Samuel Berger, (1) that China had probably stolen our secrets of making warheads small enough to enable long-range missiles to pack multiple nuclear punches, and (2) that the suspected spy was still at work in the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico. Mr. Berger, who sat in on most of the political meetings with Clinton's Asian fund-raisers, did nothing. The internal security division of the Department of Justice apparently did not ask a court for wiretap authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. At Reno Justice, investigating any Chinese penetration is a no-no..." NY Times OpEd 3/8/99 William Safire "
Ronald Pandolfi writes a report for the CIA warning about military implications of Hughes Electronic's sharing of expertise with the Chinese. The CIA decides not to distribute the classified report to select government officials, as is routinely done with intelligence estimates, saying it was insufficiently rigorous.
The Energy Department decides to brief the White House about apparent Chinese espionage at Los Alamos weapons lab. A group of senior officials including Trulock sat down with Sandy Berger, then Clinton's deputy national security adviser, to tell him that China appeared to have acquired the W-88 and that a spy for China might still be at Los Alamos.
Vice President Al Gore meets at the Hsi Lai Buddist Temple in Los Angelas. Alleged Communist Chinese spy Maria Hsia is his host. He walks away with $140,000 in campaign donations from "monks" which must later be returned. Maria Hsia is currently represented by lawyer Nancy Luque. Luque was the lead attorney for the 1996 Clinton/Gore campaign. She also represents Virginia housewife Julie Hiatt Steele who has been indicted by Starr's grand jury in relation to the Kathleen Willey assault and ensuing intimidation.
The administration transferred licensing authority for jet-engine production technology from the Munitions List, which is administered by the State Department, to the "dual-use" list at Commerce; gaining access to hot section technology was another top COSTIND priority, Pentagon officials say- The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman
April 1, 1996
Hillary returns to Washington (WH Schedule);
April 2, 1996
Meeting in Tirana concludes, Perry meets with president of Albania(UPI, Apr. 2, 1996); Ron Brown arrives in Tuzla;
Days before April 3, 1996
At the time of Ron Brown's death, he was scheduled to be deposed by Judicial Watch. He was also a target of an independent counsel's investigation where an indictment was expected. Brown's former business partner, Nolanda Hill, told Judicial Watch that days before Brown died, Brown went to see Clinton and told him that he intended to enter a plea agreement with the federal prosecutor and testify against the Administration. Clinton responded, according to Hill's sworn testimony, with a terse "that's nice" and Brown told Hill that Clinton left the room in icy silence. Judicial Watch is now representing several of the pathologists and a photographer of the Armed Forces Pathology Institute who examined Brown's body and observed a .45 caliber bullet hole in Ron Brown's head. - Judicial Watch 11/30/98 Larry Klayman
April 3, 1996
Within 3 weeks of the policy change by Clinton - a plane carrying Ron Brown, U.S. commerce secretary, and 34 others, crashes in rocky terrain over Croatia. There are no survivors. Pearson's investigation was closed soon after Brown's plane crashed. Unfinished matters, including the investigation of Hill and Brown's son Michael, were turned over to the Justice Department.
Huang's ex-boss, Charles Meissner Assistant Secretary for International Economic Policy at the Department of Commerce, also died in the same plane crash with Ron Brown.
The CIA discovered evidence that China is supplying parts and technicians for a plutonium reprocessing plant in Pakistan.
April 3, 1996
Perry departs for Egypt; Ron Brown's crash;
April 4, 1996
Peter Galbraith tells press in Dubrovnik, "I can simply state two facts: First, the weather yesterday as the plane flew in was terrible, people in Dubrovnik say it was the worst storm in decades." (AP Worldstream, Apr. 4, 1996);
April 18, 1996
Ken Bacon announces at Pentagon press briefing, "President Clinton has nominated Lieutenant General Wesley Clark to the rank of General to become the commander-in-chief of the Southern Command in Panama." (FDCH transcript of briefing).
June, 1996
Investors Business Daily 3/30/99 Paul Sperry "...In auditing former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary's bloated travel budget in June 1996, House Commerce Committee investigators didn't really focus on her China trip any more than her other three overseas ''trade missions.'' ....Fast forward to 1999. Committee investigators now know that: Chinese spies stole the U.S.' latest nuclear missile secrets from Los Alamos and possibly other labs that Energy owns, thanks in part to the security cuts O'Leary made in February 1995 - the same month she went to China..... Beijing bagmen -including John Huang, Charlie Trie and Johnny Chung - beat a path to the White House during the 1996 campaign, raising millions in illegal cash. Chung claims to have bribed O'Leary into meeting with a Chinese petrochemical industry official in October 1995. Former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown allegedly ''sold'' tax-paid seats on his own China trip to big Democratic Party donors like Loral Corp. CEO Bernard Schwartz, who cut a controversial satellite export deal with Beijing officials. All told, Brown's trade junkets raised an estimated $17 million for Democrats. Against that backdrop, O'Leary's China trip takes on new weight, sources say. ''Now we have a clearer picture of all this Chinese chicanery in the 1996 (election) cycle,'' said a House aide familiar with the O'Leary probe. ''And it (O'Leary's China trip) looks like it was just a shakedown operation following the Ron Brown model.''..... The Energy chief led her China mission about six months after Brown's. She took at least 45 ''business delegates,'' while Brown took at least 24. (The agencies still haven't fully disclosed all the participants.) Some showed up on both trips. One, Westinghouse Electric Co., has managed to tag along on yet another tax-backed junket to China - this one led by Commerce Secretary William Daley. He and 18 executives are in China this week. Like Brown's delegation, which boasted 15 major Democratic Party givers, O'Leary's was packed with Democratic donors. An Investor's Business Daily analysis of Federal Election Commission records from 1994 to 1998 shows that, among Energy's China delegation, Democratic donors outnumbered GOP donors by more than 2-to-1. And big Democratic donors dwarfed big GOP donors by 4-to-1. Democratic donors tended to open their wallets wider after the trip. For instance, AES Corp. Chairman Roger Sant gave $30,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 1996 and 1997, but nothing in 1994 or 1995. He also gave his thanks to O'Leary, who now sits on the AES board. The Arlington, Va.-based contractor builds and runs coal-fired power plants and is working on projects in China. Or take Entergy Corp., which owns Arkansas Power & Light. It kicked in $100,000 in soft money to the DNC about four months after the China trip. Entergy President and CEO Terry Ogletree, who rode on the plane, gave $1,000 (the maximum individual gift to candidates) to the Clinton- Gore campaign at the same time, records show. Entergy was also represented on Brown's August-September 1994 trip to China. There, it signed a $1.3 billion deal with Indonesia-based Lippo Group to expand and run a coal- fired power plant in northern China..... Schwartz, for one, joined Brown's key China mission just two months after writing a check to the DNC for $100,000...... In Brown's mission to China, Klayman only recently discovered that fund-raiser Chung tagged along as an ''unofficial'' delegate. While there, Chung met with People's Liberation Army officers. In 1996, Chung funneled at least $100,000 in PLA money to Democratic causes. In auditing O'Leary's trip to China, even the inspector general couldn't make a firm head count...... While there's no direct proof of a pay-to-play scheme at Energy, the department did work closely with Commerce on its trips. For example, O'Leary testified that she and Ron Brown '' convened (with a team from the White House) to conduct trade missions to China.''..... At the same time Energy officials were exchanging information with communist leaders in early 1995, they were dismantling the security system at the nation's top-secret nuclear-weapons research labs. It was also in 1995 that intelligence officers learned that China had stolen from Los Alamos critical data for building miniature nuclear warheads........ Some experts fear there might be a link between recent Chinese espionage and the administration's trade trips to China. Computer encryption, satellite and energy secrets would be the three most likely things compromised on the trips, they say. Officials with both Commerce and Energy assert that business delegates got ''counterintelligence briefings'' at the airport before takeoff. But according to Layton's report, the China group wasn't briefed until ''the secretary met (them) in Shanghai,'' their first stop, on Feb. 19, 1995. In her statement to Congress, O'Leary said, ''the National Security Council approved our foreign travel in advance.'' That would be the same NSC that gave Chinese espionage at Los Alamos low priority for three years after its discovery. Another troubling aspect to O'Leary's China mission is what happened about eight months later. On Oct. 19, 1995, O'Leary met here with a Chinese petrochemical industry official in what she says was a routine meeting. But Chung claims he arranged the meeting -after giving O'Leary a $25,000 donation. The charge, made on NBC News in August 1997, triggered a review by Attorney General Janet Reno to see if it was probative enough to name an independent counsel to investigate. On Dec. 2, 1997, she announced that it was not...."
December, 1996
While at Commerce, Sockowitz, a 1992 Clinton/Gore fundraiser, held a top-secret clearance and kept classified files in a safe. After being transferred to the SBA (without a debriefing) he came back to Commerce and remove 136 files. After he left the SBA he was not debriefed. He now works for the Strategic Planning Group in Bethesda, Md., an international business consulting firm. Justice stopped looking into the security breach matter in December '96 without ever talking to Sockowitz, or his boss whom he followed to SBA, Ms. Lew. Nolanda Hill told Judge Lamberth in March of 1998 that Brown worried that Sockowitz might have ''funneled information to others.'
1997
WorldNetDaily 5/11/99 Charles R Smith "...A 1997 Commerce e-mail to Frank Deliberti at the Commerce Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) from Robert Bannerman in Beijing states, "This list, called 'China's Defense-Industrial Trading Organizations' published by DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), was posted in several places in the BXA/OEE section I worked in a year ago." "I used the chart to discover that Yuanwang Group," continued Bannerman. "The importer that is alleged to have imported the Sun Computer shipped to the National Defense Technical Institute of China in Changsha was directly under the control of COSTIND. I keep a copy of this chart in my files." The Commerce Department knew computers were being sold directly to the Chinese army. The U.S. Commerce Department acted as a contact point for both the PLA buyers and the American computer manufacturers. The same PLA-owned Yuanwang Corp. that Commerce would push as an official contact in 1995 for peaceful "defense" conversion projects, acquired high-speed Sun computers for the Chinese army in 1997. According to another document from the Commerce Department, Defense Secretary Perry had promised Ding, "a Cray super-computer to be used directly by the Chinese weapons establishment to help design newer and safer nukes."
WorldNetDaily 8/17/99 Charles Smith "…Another key report found at the Commerce Department is a 1997 Rand Report on the Chinese army. The Rand Corp. found that PLA bribes paid for "lavish parties, luxury foreign automobiles and Swiss bank accounts". The Rand report, "Chinese Military Commerce and U.S. National Security" also details the CITIC bank-owned Poly Technologies and the smuggling of 2,000 fully automatic AK-47s from Chinese army inventories. According to the Rand report, U.S. Custom agents, posing as U.S. drug gangsters, arranged to purchase the machine guns in a sting operation that led directly to the Chinese army in Beijing. However, the Customs PLA machine-gun sting crossed with Poly Tech President Wang Jun and his visits to the White House. The Rand report ignored the donations made by the PLA through operatives to Mr. Clinton. The Rand Corp. missed the Chinese atomic espionage altogether. ….. The answer to the big miss in Rand analysis becomes all too clear upon closer inspection. The 1997 Rand report was sponsored and, in part, authored by Asia-Pacific "policy" expert Gareth C.C. Chang. Chang is a familiar player in the Chinagate affair. Even in the 1997 Rand report Chang is listed as "Senior Vice President" of Hughes Corporation. In fact, Chang is also in the 1999 Cox report. On April 4, 1995, Hughes Electronics Senior Vice President Gareth Chang wrote a memorandum to Hughes CEO Steven Dorfman regarding the Apstar 2 failure. Chang wrote, "We need to personally share our findings with the Chinese leadership. A senior Hughes executive, armed with detailed scientific and technical evidence, should meet with General Shen of COSTIND and Chairman Liu of CASC before anything is said to the media." Hughes' Chang and COSTIND PLA General Shen traveled in the same small circle of international arms dealing as Poly Tech Wang Jun and Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz. All of the above elected to connect their weapons business through Commerce Secretary Ron Brown…."
January 24, 1997
The White House releases documents showing that both Bill Clinton and Al Gore were at the very heart of a massive fund-raising scheme which raked in nearly $100 million in soft money donations. Documents show that at least 100 coffees arranged by the DNC were held at the White House, some of which were attended by Clinton and Gore. Of particular interest is one held last May with more than a dozen executives of the nation's biggest banks, and attended by the president, Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, and Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig, the nation's top financial regulator. Former DNC chairman Don Fowler acknowledges Feb. 10 that the DNC routinely solicited attendees of White House coffees for funds, and that they collectively donated $27 million.
Documents released indicated that White House Director of Public Liaison Alexis Herman was at the center of foreign trade missions organized by the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown which were linked to Democrat fund-raising operations.
June, 1997
Two key democratic fund-raisers have pleaded guilty to arranging $50,000 in illegal contributions during the 1994 elections. Nora Lum and her husband Gene, sought Commerce Department access to further their business through campaign donations to Democrats. Mrs. Lum was a confidante to the late Commerce Secretary Brown. The couple's daughter also pleaded guilty to serving as an illegal conduit for a $10,000 donation to the DNC.
June 19, 1997
The White House denied that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was behind the Commerce Department's hiring of controversial Democratic party fund-raiser John Huang, and that the White House pressured the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown to go to China in 1994 to close a deal that would benefit Huang's previous employer, the Lippo Group of Indonesia. The denials followed allegations from Nolanda Hill, a close associate and friend of Brown, during an appearance on ABC News'"Prime Time Live." Hill, claimed to have had a 10-year love affair with Brown.
June 30, 1997
The Los Angeles Times reports that former DNC Chairman Ron Brown led a 1991 fund-raising exploration mission to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Hawaii. The trip suggests that Brown may have been laying the groundwork for foreign fund-raising by the DNC. While in Taiwan, Brown was met by John Huang and attended a lunch hosted by the Lippo Group while in Hong Kong. During his visit to Hawaii, Brown went to a lunch with Nora and Gene Lum, who have since plead guilty to funneling illegal contributions to Democrat campaigns in 1994 and 1995.
August 1997
Michael Brown, the son of late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, was allowed to plead guilty to a mere misdemeanor of illegally donating $4,000 to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's 1994 campaign--in excess of the $2,000 legal limit for an individual donor. In 1993, Stewart Price, former president of Oklahoma-based Dynamic Energy Resources, testified to a Tulsa grand jury that Michael Brown was given a pro forma slot on Dynamic's board and $500,000 in stock and $160,000 in cash, in order to funnel the money to then- Commerce Secretary Ron Brown who would then "fix" a huge lawsuit for Dynamic.
Entergy Corp. made $80,000 contribution to DNC and went to China with Ron Brown, returning with $845 million in new business.
December, 1997
The photos of his [Ron Brown’s] head are available for anyone to see for themselves at newsmax.com. In an interview with Alan Keyes in December of 1997, the spokesman for the AFIP (the organization that handled the bodies) acknowledged that the newsmax photos (obtained by Chris Ruddy) were legitimate. The body is not horribly burned as you imply and does clearly show a circular wound at the top of his head. Several pathologists (Cogswell, Hause, Parsons, Wendt) have indicated it is consistent with a gunshot wound. – Freeper Earn Your Vote 8/11/99
December 31, 1997
Phelan's interview of Janoski was excellent. I wish I could have seen a video of that interview (I wish America could have). Another great source was the transcript from Rivera Live from December 31, 1997 (guest host Larry Elder). Dr Cyril Wecht (sp?) was one of the panelists and he had some excellent comments – Freeper Earn Your Vote 8/11/99
January 9, 1998
1/9/98 Western Journalism Center Joseph Farah "…Janet Reno's Justice Department has looked into Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's death and -- surprise, surprise -- found no evidence of a crime….The Justice Department says it reviewed with Defense Department officials the information obtained by military pathologists after Brown and 34 others died in the 1996 crash of a U.S. military plane. Officials found no evidence of a crime "at this time," hedged head mouthpiece Bert Brandenburg. To the best of his knowledge, no crime took place. To the best of Reno's recollection, it was just a simple plane crash. Yada yada yada. Despite the hedging, Reno does not plan any further investigation into the Brown affair. But, she adds, "If there is credible information developed that a crime has been committed, then we will pursue it immediately." I guess what that means is that if the guy who shot Brown turns himself in, confesses to the crime and brings a witness with him to verify every word he says, the Justice Department will consider looking into the matter. Maybe…."
1/9/98 Western Journalism Center Joseph Farah "…Apparently, the Justice-Pentagon review of the case consisted of allowing the same officers to defend their previous conclusions without any examination or hearing for the dissenting opinions of qualified forensics experts. The review also didn't turn up the missing photos and x-rays that help make this case so suspicious. Apparently, the official line is based on the year-old recollections of some of those who examined Brown's body. What about Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Cogswell and Army Lt. Col. David Hause? Are they nuts? Were they hallucinating? Were they seeking early retirement from the military? How does the Justice Department-Pentagon official line explain these guys away? The answer is: They don't bother. They don't even acknowledge their existence. And because the establishment press is so willing to accept and disseminate the official handouts, they really don't have to explain much. Nobody in the press is even asking intelligent questions. As far as they're concerned, it's just another conspiracy theory shattered….."
January 11, 1998
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 1/11/98 "...Two ranking military officers are denying claims by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology that they agreed with findings that Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown died as a result of a plane accident. One of the officers, Air Force Maj. Thomas Parsons, for the first time spoke publicly on the matter Saturday. The forensic pathologist joined two other AFIP medical examiners in disputing government claims about Brown's death after an Air Force jet carrying him and 34 others crashed in Croatia on April 3, 1996. Last Thursday, the Justice Department and Attorney General Janet Reno announced that her department had found "no credible evidence" of wrongdoing in Brown's death. The Justice Department noted that it had not conducted its own independent probe, but had reviewed information provided by the Pentagon. Questions about Brown's death first caused headlines when the Tribune-Review reported in early December on the allegations of AFIP forensic pathologist Steve Cogswell, an Air Force lieutenant colonel. He alleged that a circular wound found on Brown's head looked like a gunshot wound and should have prompted an autopsy. In subsequent Tribune-Review reports, his claims were supported by a second AFIP medical examiner, Army Lt. Col. David Hause. ..."
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 1/11/98 "...As for Reno's statement, Hause said it's no surprise that the Justice Department found no evidence of criminal conduct in Brown's death. "There's no evidence because there has been no autopsy. An autopsy which might produce such evidence hasn't been done," he said. Cogswell declined to talk to the Post about the matter. In a written statement, he informed Fletcher, "I do not trust you to accurately and fairly represent what I say." The Post did not include Cogswell's statement in its article. Cogswell told the Tribune-Review that no one from the Pentagon or the Justice Department has interviewed him, Parsons, Hause or other key staffers about the possibility that Brown's death was mishandled. Reno's comment on the matter has sparked a firestorm of criticism from black leaders and some conservative groups. "We expected she wouldn't do a thing," civil rights activist Dick Gregory said. He said efforts in the black community would be targeted toward Congress...."
The Washington Weekly 4/6/98 Editorial "…In today's issue of National Review, Michael Ledeen makes a compelling case that the Clinton administration has modeled itself after the larger Mob families of organized crime. Indeed, the modus operandi of the Clinton administration is indistinguishable from that of organized crime: KEEPING THE CODE OF SILENCE …..(2) When Nolanda Hill started saying that she believed that her former business partner and lover Ron Brown was murdered, and that there was a cover-up of the crimes in which he was involved, she told Judge Royce Lamberth that she was afraid "the Clinton administration and more particularly its Justice Department will try to retaliate against me." She was right. The Clinton Justice Department recently indicted Nolanda Hill on charges of filing a false tax return….."
November 2, 1998
Laisse-Faire City Times 11/2/98 ".Kathleen Jonoski, the top photographer for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, took the only pictures showing an apparent bullet hole in former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's head. She has filed a suit, along with two other top pathologists, against the military, which demoted all three after they exposed the problems surrounding no autopsy of Brown's body. This interview [excerpt] is conducted by former Washington Weekly reporter Wesley Phelan. QUESTION: So you don't believe the story of the defective x-ray cassette? JANOSKI: No. About 6 months after the crash I had a conversation with Jeanmarie Sentell, a naval criminal investigative agent. She told me the first set of head x-rays on Ron Brown were deliberately destroyed because they showed a lead snowstorm. I said, "What are you talking about?" She explained to me what a lead snowstorm is: metal fragments breaking up from a bullet. And she proceeded to tell me that the first set of x-rays was deliberately destroyed and a second set was taken. The exposure was changed in an attempt to eradicate or diminish the metal fragments.."
November 30, 1998
Judicial Watch is now representing several of the pathologists and a photographer of the Armed Forces Pathology Institute who examined Brown's body and observed a .45 caliber bullet hole in Ron Brown's head. Judicial Watch has filed Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain all the data on the Brown place crash from the military, the Clinton-Gore Commerce Dept, as well as the Justice and Transportation Departments. The responses to our requests are overdue, and we are now filing suit. Our clients are also considering filing whistleblower suits for Pentagon retaliation against them. That would give us the ability to investigate the apparent cover-up in Ron Brown's death.." Judicial Watch 11/30/98 Larry Klayman
March 25, 1999
Judicial Watch Press Release 3/25/99 "...In a recent Judicial Watch deposition, it was learned that Brown met with John Huang and Chinese arms merchant, Wang Jun -- where Hill has told Judicial Watch they discussed lowering barriers for the export of satellite encryptions to China. It was on the trade missions, Hill has also told Judicial Watch, that the deals were consummated which compromised U.S. national security. Hill is a material witness in Judicial Watch's five Chinagate lawsuits. Just after she came forward to testify to the Court in Judicial Watch's case, Hill was indicted by the Clinton Justice Department for alleged crimes which she allegedly committed in conjunction with Ron Brown. Her Clinton Justice Department indictment, which conspicuously takes pains to not use Ron Brown's name (but refers only to a business partner), caused her to try to take the Fifth Amendment, but the Court in Judicial Watch's case forced her to testify on matters which did not tend to incriminate her. She has much more information to provide, but Janet Reno's investigators are not interested. Judicial Watch is..."
June 7, 1999
Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...The Commerce Department has done its best to conceal evidence and hide the facts. On June 7, 1999, Commerce refused to release all the information on the Indonesian Paiton power plant, citing "commercial" privacy. Many of the documents released by the Commerce Department contained whole sections blacked out for "privacy" reasons...."
WorldNetDaily 8/17/99 Charles Smith "…Federal Judge Robert Payne issued a court order against this reporter to remove a secret DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) report from the Internet. I was ordered to remove the unredacted version of a DIA report by 5:30 p.m. eastern time that same day. Apparently, Department of Justice lawyer Joan Evans released the unredacted version by mistake. The DIA document sent to me contained the names of DIA agents who wrote the 1995 report on the Chinese Army Unit COSTIND. The DIA requested that the names of the agents be withheld under "Title 10, United States Code" to protect their identity. I replaced the secret version with the redacted (blacked out) version as per Judge Payne's orders, prior to the 5:30 p.m. deadline. As part of the process, I had to contact Assistant U.S. Attorney Evans, in an attempt to comply with Judge Payne's order to return the DIA document. Instead of resolving the situation, Evans swore vengeance and threatened to "get" me. I took her threats to be officially sanctioned by the U.S. Justice Department and the Clinton White House. Of course, this is typical of the Clinton administration. Its mistake compromised the identity of DIA agents. Instead of working to minimize the damage to U.S. national security, it has engaged in threats. Discover the truth, and come under attack…."
WorldNetDaily 8/17/99 Charles Smith "…The truth is that Ron Brown and the Commerce Department dealt with the Chinese army. My original Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) was for "all information on COSTIND" or the Chinese "Commission on Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense." In 1994, this PLA unit was led by General Ding Henggao with his two vice "minister" sub-commanders, General Huai Guomo and General Shen Rougjun. In my 1998 appeal to the Commerce Department, I submitted a document showing that "COSTIND Vice Minister Shen Rougjun" met with Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and LORAL CEO Bernard Schwartz in August 1994. The Commerce Department has correctly released a mountain of information on "COSTIND," including data on COSTIND "Minister" General Ding and "Vice Minister" General Huai. COSTIND Vice Minister Shen was a general in the Chinese army. COSTIND is a Chinese army unit. Gen. Shen traveled to the U.S. in May 1994 and arranged for COSTIND to purchase a Hughes Corporation satellite, called Apstar 2, that was later destroyed in a crash. The PLA blamed the satellite for the crash and tried to pin the higher insurance rates on Hughes. Afterwards, Gen. Shen investigated the crash. Commerce Department officials participated in and authorized the Hughes crash analysis to be passed back to the Chinese under Vice Minister Shen. In the process, Hughes passed significant nose cone technology directly to COSTIND under the direction of Shen. In 1994, Gen. Shen also actively sought help from the Commerce Department in obtaining employment for his son, Shen Jun, at LORAL. Gen. Shen succeeded in obtaining a sensitive position for his son at Hughes. Gen. Shen, his son, and Hughes officials met to discuss the satellite crash…."
GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATION
The Brown Probe That Never Was by Joseph Farah http://www.worldnetdaily.com
"…Attorney General Janet "Stonewall" Reno told the nation last week that the Justice Department had conducted a "thorough review" of the facts in the Ron Brown death investigation and concluded that there was no evidence of a crime. In reporting the story, the Washington Post, the semi-official newspaper of the U.S. federal government, stated that the military forensic pathologists involved in the Pentagon-Justice review were unanimous in supporting its conclusion that Brown's death was caused by blunt force injuries as a result of the plane crash. It didn't take long for holes to start springing in this bucket of official lies. What exactly was "thorough" about this review? No one from the Justice Department was even involved with the interviews of the military pathologists who took another look at the photographic evidence in recent weeks. The review was conducted by the same personnel responsible for the extremely suspect decision not to autopsy Ron Brown after finding what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his head. Was it likely they would find that they had committed a breech of professionalism or, worse yet, were involved in an official cover-up, last year?…"
Those conducting the review didn't even bother consulting with Lt. Col. Steve Cogswell, the Air Force pathologist who first blew the whistle on the Brown head wound. Nor did those responsible change the mind of another dissenter, Lt. Col. David Hause, the Army pathologist who actually examined Brown's suspicious head wound. Contrary to the Washington Post report, Hause says he still believes an autopsy is the only way to put this issue to rest. He was angry at reports that he was signing on to a report he has never even seen. Hause also points out that the review was conducted in a most unconventional manner. The participants were not permitted to discuss their thoughts and conclusions with each other. They were interviewed separately and shown "blow-ups of Polaroids" that were "hard to decipher" -- evidence, he said, that was not acceptable for serious scientific analysis…."
Hause even raised a shocking new possibility with his bosses. He said the wound was very consistent with an exotic weapon" -- such as a captive-bolt gun, the kind used to assassinate U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena in Mexico in 1985. The captive-bolt gun, normally used to slaughter livestock, creates a perfectly circular hole in the skull that closely resembles a gunshot. It also leaves no bullet or metal fragments in its wake. But even more surprising is the fact that the Justice-Pentagon review has actually resulted in the emergence of a third military medical pathologist who publicly states that an autopsy is necessary to determine Brown's cause of death. Air Force Maj. Thomas Parsons told intrepid investigative reporter Christopher Ruddy that, as far as he was concerned, the cause of Brown's death is still "undetermined." That makes at least three senior Armed Forces Institute of Pathology experts who have publicly, and on the record, dissented from the official government conclusions. So much for unanimity. And, because of the way the supposedly "thorough" review was conducted -- in a series of secret, individual interviews -- there is really no way of knowing what the other experts believe about what they saw. Lt. Col. Hause's analysis of Reno's statement is exactly right. Of course she hasn't found any evidence of a crime. She hasn't looked for it. "There's no evidence because there has been no autopsy," he said. "An autopsy, which might produce such evidence, hasn't been done."
It's funny, the more the government stands behind its rush to judgment in Brown's death, the more suspect its original conclusions become. What are they so afraid of? Why has the White House resorted to vilifying Chris Ruddy? Why the gag orders on the professionals at the AFIP? Why the hurried and, clearly, botched "review"? Why not take the time for a careful, independent investigation of the photographic evidence? With the high degree of sensitivity in the black community over the botched investigation of this death, why would high-ranking government and military officials risk even more political damage with such cavalier lies and deceit? What the heck do they have to hide? Who, pray tell, are they protecting?
JUDICIAL WATCH INVESTIGATION:
Klayman claims that "with Ms. Hill's uncontroverted testimony providing the capstone to its investigation, Judicial Watch has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that, not only was the Clinton administration engaged in an unlawful scheme to sell seats on Commerce Department trade missions in exchange for campaign contributions, but that a criminal cover-up was ordered by President Clinton's top aides to thwart Judicial Watch's court-ordered investigation and to hide the culpability of the President, Mrs. Clinton, the Clinton Administration and the DNC, for their use of Commerce Department trade missions as a political fundraising vehicle." The China connection and China's plan to "influence the electoral process and spy on American interests must begin with an examination of the operations of President Clinton's Commerce Department," the report says. Many of the key figures associated with the "Chinagate" scandal and its breaches of national security all had direct connections to the department:
* John Huang, alleged Chinese agent, worked for the Clinton Commerce Department, before moving to the DNC. John Huang is said to be Clinton's close friend.
* Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, now deceased, organized the Clinton Commerce Department trade missions to China.
* Johnny Chung informally participated in the Clinton Commerce Department trade mission to China in 1994. Chung later admitted to funneling $100,000 from the Chinese military to the DNC.
* Bernard Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of Loral, participated in the Clinton Commerce Department trade mission to China in 1994.
* Charlie Trie, who was indicted earlier this year on charges that he illegally funneled foreign money to the Democrats, also participated in the 1994 Clinton Commerce Department China trade mission.
Wang Jun, the powerful Chinese Communist "princeling" and friend of Clinton fund-raiser Charlie Trie, met with Brown shortly after attending a fund-raising coffee with President Clinton. The same day as Wang Jun's meeting with Secretary Brown, President Clinton signed a controversial waiver allowing Schwartz's Loral to work with the Chinese on launching a satellite into space.
James and Mochtar Riady's Lippo Group, in addition to benefiting from ex-employee John Huang's placement at Commerce, benefited directly from deals negotiated by him on Commerce Department trade missions. Huang was the "top priority for placement" in the new Clinton administration by the Lippo Group, the Jakarta-based business conglomerate that has substantial dealings and joint operations with the Chinese Government, and is headed by the Riady family. James and Mochtar Riady have been longtime friends and strong financial supporters of the Clintons dating back to when President Clinton was the attorney general of Arkansas. The Riadys are believed by U.S. authorities to "have had a long-term relationship with a Chinese intelligence agency." Before being placed at Commerce, Huang was the top U.S. executive for Lippo, and "the political power that advise[d] the Riady family on issues and where to make contributions"
The DNC, the recipient of most of the foreign money, coordinated with the Commerce Department and White House to sell seats on the taxpayer-financed trade missions.
"Judicial Watch also uncovered the removal by Ira Sockowitz, an official at the Clinton Commerce Department and confidante of alleged Chinese agent John Huang, of top secret documents (from the Commerce Department) relating to satellite encryption and intelligence reports on China, Russia and India," the report says. "These documents have since been impounded by court order."
Klayman adds: "The sensitivity of this information is immeasurable -- encryption data are used by U.S. intelligence to keep instructions sent to communication satellites, including instructions for nuclear missiles, secret. Undoubtedly, the documents Sockowitz took with him contained information extremely vital to U.S. national security -- and likewise invaluable to rival nations. Despite this alarming security breach, the Clinton Justice Department decided in a matter of only weeks without any real investigation, that there was no case against Sockowitz. It came to this astonishing conclusion without even questioning (Commerce Department General Counsel Ginger) Lew or his replacement at OGC, Jeffrey May." To date, according to Klayman, Judicial Watch lawyers have been the only investigators to question John Huang under oath. Furthermore, Klayman states that since the deposition of John Huang under oath in October 1996, "it has been learned, largely contrary to his sworn testimony, that Huang:
Raised money for the DNC while at the Commerce Department;
* Received over 100 top secret intelligence briefings at Commerce;
* Continued his contacts while at the Commerce Department with his former employers at the Lippo Group;
* While still working at the Commerce Department, he had access to the office of Stephens, Inc., a firm with close ties to the Lippo Group; and
Maintained contact with the Chinese Government."
REBUTTAL
From Freeper nickolas9 8/14/99 "…I'm a very experienced pilot, and I studied the accident and it's investigation. Captain Ashley (female?) Davis did everything wrong. This was an ADF non-precision approach. To execute it successfully, you really have to stay with it. The plane must be in the landing configuration at the NDB, and commence letdown at the approach speed. It did not. It was way to fast, and clean. It corrected for a crosswind from the left, when the wind was from the right, putting her way off course to the left, into the terrain…."
Source Articles:
Questions linger about Ron Brown plane crash (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) - November 24, 1997
Experts differ on Ron Brown's head wound (Pittsburg Tribune-Review) Dec. 3, 1997
Air Force pathologist placed under gag order - December 6, 1997
Gag order issued in cause of Brown death - December 11, 1997
Wecht: Autopsy needed in Brown case - December 17, 1997
NAACP Wants Explanation on Ron Brown's Death (Fox News) Dec. 19, 1997
Ron Brown conspiracy protest today (UPI) Dec. 24, 1997
EXODUS - Civil Rights Activist Gregory Arrested Dec. 25, 1997
Jesse Jackson calls for investigation of Ron Brown's death (Nando Times/AP) Jan. 5, 1998
Jesse Jackson calls for probe of Ron Brown's death (Nando Times/AP) Jan. 6, 1998
Controversy over Ron Brown's death continues (AP) Jan. 8, 1998
Pathologists dispute claims in Brown probe - January 11, 1998
Forensic expert claims military bungled probe of Brown's death - January 13, 1998
http://www.erols.com/igoddard Tripping With the Secretary: Ron Brown's Foreign Trade Missions
"…When Ron Brown was simultaneously a partner at the preeminent Washington law and lobbying firm of Patton, Boggs and Blow and chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), he was renowned as the consummate deal-maker. By all appearances, Brown's Department of Commerce has continued to apply the art of the deal. As one Justice Department investigator put it, a corporation can "pay to play." American giants such as AT&T and ARCO, among others, which made contributions to the DNC, have gotten seats on Brown's plane when he has traveled to far-off lands to meet with foreign governments in an effort to promote American business. The seat on the secretary's plane can be viewed essentially as the quo in the quid pro quo relationship between contributors and the administration. Those DNC contributors, with Brown's assistance, were in a position to cut their own deals for projects in those foreign countries whose representatives attended meetings with the U.S. delegation. Some companies came away from the trips with million and sometimes billion dollar deals….."
Trade Missions:
November 26-December 1, 1993: South Africa
December 7-8, 1993: Mexico
January 14-21, 1994: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, West Bank and Gaza and Egypt
March 27-April 2, 1994: Russia
June 25-July 2, 1994: Brazil, Argentina and Chile
August 27-September 3, 1994: China and Hong Kong
December 13-14, 1994: Ireland
January 13-21, 1995: India
May 2-6, 1995: Senegal
Atlantic Chemical Company (ARCO)
ARCO chairman Lodwrick Cook accompanied secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September 1994. Cook is personally close to Clinton and the president presented him with a birthday cake at the White House in June, 1994. Just four months after the China trip, Cook signed a deal potentially worth millions of dollars to open Chinese territorial waters for oil and gas exploration. In November, 1994, ARCO announced an agreement to take a 9.9 percent equity stake in China's state-owned oil refinery, the Ahenhal Refining and Chemical Company. ARCO's chief financial officer Walter J. Tusinski accompanied Brown on the trade mission to South Africa in November and December 1993. ARCO gave $171,923 in 1991 and 1992 to the Democratic party while Brown was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In 1993-1994, ARCO gave $174,500 to the Democratic party.AST Research, Inc. AST Research Inc. chairman and CEO Safi Qureshy accompanied secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China in August and September 1994. The California-based computer continued negotiations to sell computer hardware to the Chinese while on the trip. Neither AST Research Inc. nor Qureshy made donations to the Democratic party from 1991 through 1994.
AT&T In May, 1993, Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown invited AT&T;executives to travel with him to Saudi Arabia where AT&T;signed a $4 billion contract to upgrade the nation's telephone system. AT&T;Network Systems Group Chief Executive Officer William Marx accompanied Brown on the trade mission to Russia in March and April of 1994. In September, 1994, AT&T;announced that AT&T;Tridom, along with IBM and Sabre, would develop and install a state-of-the-art reservation system in Russia. The announcement was made in the old Executive Office Building with Vice President Al Gore and Brown in attendance. "We've been pleasantly surprised right from the beginning of this administration with Commerce," Marx said. AT&T/NCR;senior vice president Anthony Fano accompanied Brown on the trade mission to South Africa in November and December 1993. During President Clinton's South Asia trip in November, 1994, AT&T;signed a $36.7 million contract with the Philippine Telephone Corporation (Pitel) of Manila to expand and update Philippine telephone service. AT&T;signed another contract with Pitel for a $32.2 million cellular communications project. In Indonesia with Clinton, AT&T; signed a $65 million contract with PT Telekomun-ikasi of Jakarta which will eventually provide 1.1 million new telephone lines in Indonesia. AT&T;also has a $500 deal to sell telecommunication equipment to the Guangdong provincal post in China. AT&T;gave $36,315 to the Democratic party in 1991 and 1992. Also in 1992, while Brown was chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and head of the convention in New York City, AT&T;gave $400,000 to the DNC. AT&T;gave $61,049 to the Democratic party in the 1993 and 1994 election cycle.
AT&T;also has a business relationship with Kellee Communication. Kellee Communications is a minority vendor for AT&T;pay phones in airport terminals. Up to the time he was appointed to the cabinet, Brown was a general partner of Kellee Communications. After he joined the administration, Brown gave his interest in Kellee to his son, Michael. The Justice Department probe of Brown included a look at whether he received an ethics waiver to keep his interest in Kellee and his failure to disclose Kellee's involvement with AT&T.; In 1993, Alex J. Mandl, executive vice president of AT&T,; was named to the President's National nformation Infrastructure Advisory Council which consults the administration on the "Information Superhighway."
Bell Atlantic Raymond Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of the Bell Atlantic Corporation, accompanieds Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. William M. Freeman, president and chief executive officer of Bell Atlantic--Washington, D.C., accompanied Brown on the trade mission to Dakar, Senegal. Bell Atlantic gave $79,125 to the Democratic party in the 1991-92 election cycle while Brown was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Bell Atlantic gave the Democratic party $113,000 in the 1993-94 election cycle. Smith is also a "trustee" of the Democratic National Committee.
Chrysler Corporation Robert Eaton, chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. While in China with Brown, Eaton negotiated with the Chinese government for a contract to produce minivans and engines in Hainan. Neither Chrysler nor Eaton made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-94.
The Commonwealth Group Howard Glicken, chairman of the merchant bank The Commonwealth Group, accompanied Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to South America in June and July of 1994. The Commonwealth Group gave $5,000 to the Democratic party in the 1991-92 election cycle while Brown served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. According to published reports, Glicken is a top fundraiser for the DNC.
De Leuw Cather Robert O'Neil, president and chief executive officer of De Leuw Cather, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Neither De Leuw Cather nor O'Neil made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-94.
Eastman Kodak Company George Fisher, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Eastman Kodak, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Eastman Kodak gave $2,600 to the Democratic party in the 1991-92 election cycle while Brown served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The company gave $1,000 to the Democratic party in the 1993-94 cycle.
Entergy Corporation Ed Lupenberger, chairman and chief executive officer of the Entergy Corporation, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Trade mission documents released by the Commerce Department included an Entergy Corporation inter-office memo. Written by "JCB", who has been identified as J. "Chip" Brown, the head of Entergy's Hong Kong office who made the trip to Washington "to meet with Commerce Department officials...regarding Entergy's China projects. Entergy's Brown "Met with Jude Kearney (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Service Industries and Finance in the International Trade Association at the Commerce Department and a staffer to President Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas) regarding Secretary Brown's upcoming trip to China." The memo further states that Kearney, "Indicated competitive nature of being selected to ride on the plane with the Secretary. Also indictated that politics of the situation were important and he as a political appointee would push those that were 'politically connected' to the Clinton Administration and to the Democrats."
Entergy is the parent company of various US electric companies, including Arkansas Power &;Light (AP&L).; President Clinton has maintained a long and politically-prosperous relationship with AP&L;for years. Members of AP&L's;and Entergy's boards are close Clinton supporters and fundraisers. Beryl Anthony, a former Democratic congressman from Arkansas and former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), served as one of the company's Washington lobbyists.
Entergy gave $20,000 to the Democratic National Committee's building fund in 1992 while Brown serves as the chairman of the DNC. Since 1993, Entergy has contributed $53,613 to the Democratic Party. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Entergy also made a contribution to the Democratic leadership Council (DLC) at the time that clinton served as its chairman. Neither Entergy nor the DLC would disclose the amount.
Entergy signed two major contracts while on the China trip with Brown. Brown attended the first signing ceremony. On August 30, 1994, in Beijing, Entergy announced what is estimated to be a $465 million share of a $1 billion deal with the Lippo Group of Hong Kong. Entergy will manage and expand Lippo's 1,200 megawatt power plant in northern China. Entergy's second contract for an estimated $400 million was signed in Guangzhou on September 1, 1994, to help build two 660-megawatt generating stations.
In November of 1994, President Clinton and Brown led a trade delegation to Indonesia. Entergy also came home with lucrative deals from that trip. Entergy became part of a consortium of power companies which also includes the PT Transmega Ekacipta Corporation of Jakarta, Indonesia. The consortium signed the $300 million contract for a 200 megawatt coal-fired power plant to supply the state-owned electric company with power.
The consortium also signed a deal for a $200 million power project with the PT Panha Serodia Pradhana to build a 100 megawatt coal-fired power plant for the Indonesian state-owned electric company. In his press release announcing the deals in China, Entergy's CEO, Ed Lupenberger, said, "This is an example of how US business and industry and the governments of China and the US can work together for the mutual benefit of everyone involved." From its China, Entergy will benefit to the tune of contracts worth an estimated $1.3 billion
Expert Edge David K. Lam, president and chief executive officer of Expert Edge, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994.
Neither Lam nor Expert Edge made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-94
Fluor Corporation Leslie McGraw, president and chief executive officer of the Fluor Corporation, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. McGraw said that while in China with Brown he met with government officials to discuss the company's future in China. Fluor has operated an office in Bejing since 1978. McGraw is also a donor and member of the board of the Democratic Leadership Council. Flour gave the Democratic party $9,775 in the 1991-92 election cycle while Brown served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Fluor gave the Democratic party $2,500 in the 1993-94 election cycle.
Foster Wheeler Richard Swift, chairman and chief exective officer of Foster Wheeler, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Neither Foster Wheeler nor Swift made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-94.
Grigsby, Brandford and Company Calvin Grigsby, president and chief executive officer of Grigsby, Brandford and Company, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Grisby made a $15,000 contribution to the Democratic party in the 1993-94 election cycle
Loral Corporation Bernard Schwartz, chairman and chief executive officer of the Loral Corporation, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. While in China with Brown, Schwartz negotiated deals which, according to published reports, are worth $1 billion in the next ten years. Loral gave $12,500 to the Democratic party in the 1991-92 election cycle while Brown was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In the 1993-94 election cycle, Loral gave the Democratic party $112,500, just three months before the China trip.
Olmec Toys
Yla Eason, president of Olmec Toys, accompanied Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. While in China, Eason talked with government offcials about production opportunities for her company. Olmec Toys gave $500 to the Democratic party in 1994.Pacific Century Group K.S. Wu, chairman of the Pacific Century Group, accompanied by Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994.
Neither Wu nor Pacific Century Group made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-93.
Pitney Bowes George Harvey, chairman and chief executive officer of Pitney Bowes, accompanied Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Neither Pitney Bowes nor Harvey made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-94.
Robertson, Stephens & Company Sanford R. Robertson, a partner in Robertson, Stephens & Company, a San Francisco investment banking firm, accompanied Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Robertson was a late addition to the China and Hong Kong trip. Robertson, Stephens & Company closed a deal with a Chinese securities firm during the trade mission. Robertson told Business Week that he "got a lot of things going for several clients" while on the trip. A early Clinton supporter and fundraiser, Robertson and his wife each gave the Democratic party $35,000 in the 1991-92 election cycle while Brown served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In the 1993-94 election cycle, Robertson gave the Democratic party $50,000.
Salomon Brothers Robert Denham, chairman of Salomon Brothers, accompanied Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994.
Neither Denham nor Salomon Brothers made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-94.
SCE Corporation John Bryson, chairman and chief executive officer of the SCE Corporation, accompanied Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Neither the SCE Corporation nor Bryson made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-94.
Sprint Corporation William T. Esrey, chairman and chief executive officer of the Sprint Corporation, accompanied Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Sprint Corporation closed a $2 million deal to to link China and Internet. Sprint gave the Democratic party $88,000 in the 1991-94 election cycle.
Systems Integrated Susan Corrales-Diaz, president of Systems Integrated, accompanied Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to Russia in March and April of 1994. Corrales-Diaz also went on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Neither Corrales-Diaz nor Systems Integrated made a contribution to the Democratic party from 1991-94.
Tandem Computers James Treybig, president and chief executive officer of Tandem Computers, accompanied Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown on the trade mission to China and Hong Kong in August and September of 1994. Treybig negotiated a $100 million contract for Tandem while in China with Brown. "Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, you really have to respect this guy for what he's done for corporate America," Treybig said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Tandem Computers gave $15,000 to the Democratic party in the 1993-94 election cycle.
In their own words from
http://www.atcc.org/atcc.html on American Type Culture CollectionWelcome to the
American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), 10801 University Boulevard, Manassas, VA 20110-2209; 703-365-2700.ATCC is a global nonprofit bioscience organization that provides biological products, technical services, and educational programs to private industry, government, and academic organizations around the world. The mission of the ATCC is to acquire, authenticate, preserve, develop, and distribute biological materials, information, technology, intellectual property, and standards for the advancement, validation, and application of scientific knowledge.
From F.A.Q.s on ATCC site:
40. Why do some of the patent cultures have very little information available on the web site or in the product sheets?
Stocks of cell lines submitted to the ATCC under patent applications are usually prepared by the applicant, and unlike all other cultures distributed by ATCC, patent cultures are not always subject to quality control here. Data provided by the applicant (which, in some cases, is minimal) are passed on to recipients. As a patent depository, the ATCC is required to make patent cultures available once the patent has been granted.
41. How may I deposit a culture with the ATCC?
There are four ways in which cultures are accepted at the ATCC as follows:…
3. Patent Collection
A culture is submitted to the ATCC Patent Depository for purposes of filing a patent application. A form, available from the Patent Depository, must be completed and submitted with the culture. A fee is charged to the person submitting the culture, and the ATCC agrees to maintain the culture for the number of years required by the patent office of the country in which patent application is being made (usually 30 years plus five years after the most recent request for a sample). If the culture is made available, the ATCC charges recipients a fee when distributing the culture.
United States / Solomon Islands Government Correspondence: Following RAFI's discovery of patent applications by the U.S. government on human cell lines from indigenous people in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, in early 1994 the
Solomon Islands Ambassador to the U.S. (and UN) wrote to (former) U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown asking him to withdraw the applications. In March, Ron Brown responded with a chilling letter outlining the U.S. government's wide open policy on patenting people and their parts. Some time later (the letter was not dated), the National Science Foundation's Director of Physical Anthropology Jonathan Friedlaender also replied to the Ambassador's letter, erroneously reporting on the patent applications. Source http://www.rafi.org/pp/
From: Richard Sauder
Date: 1996/11/29
Message-Id:
U.S. Multinationals such as Pfizer, Bristol Myers and Merck now hold several hundred patents on life-forms, many housed in the American Type Culture Collection in Rockville, Maryland where there are some 60,000 patented or potentially patentable organisms...Many of the samples stored in ATCC involve tissue or cell lines scraped from living humans or exhumed bodies. These include World Patent No. WO 9208784, or "human t-lymphotropic virus type 2 from Guaymi Indians in Panama." This patent is claimed by Ron Brown, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and joint U.S. negotiator at GATT, where he is demanding global acquiescence to the patenting of life-forms. (Source: The Ecologist, vol. 23, no. 6, November/December 1993, p. 226)
http://www.trufax.org/chrono/crj.html1980 US Supreme Court rules that microbes can be patented….
1982 The Pakistani government expels a U.S. physician working at the Lahore US chemical biological warfare lab after Soviets charge that experiments are being done there to infect mosquitos with yellow fever and dengue for use in neighboring Afghanistan or Cuba. The doctor was a professor at the University of Maryland, an institutional co-sponsor of the lab and frequent collaborator with Fort Detrick on CBW projects. Ref: New York Times, Feb 10, 1982, "Pakistanis Expel a Maleria Expert". p.A-8.
Lecture by Captain Joyce Riley on Gulf War Syndrome Houston 1/15/96 "…The basic fact is that biological agents were used on our troops. Chemical agents were used on our troops. Germ warfare was used on our troops -- using biologicals that were made in the United States of America . It was made in Houston, Texas and Boca Raton, Florida. It was passed through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and through companies such as American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) in Maryland. It was passed to Saddam Hussein -- sold to Saddam Hussein, as late as 1989. Just prior to the war…This is something that the government is trying to keep you from knowing about. The Reigle report is evidence that biological and chemical weapons were used on our troops. It was presented to the United States Senate, but it has been withheld from you. They don't want you to see it. A news release went out that Senator Reigle from Michigan was a brave man for doing this. He is no longer in the Senate. He had to pay for the report to be done. The Feb 1994 news release said, "Reigle Uncovers U.S. Shipment of Biological Warfare Materials to Iraq Prior to Gulf War". The release went on to say, "there is evidence of transmission to family members. I am deeply troubled that the United States permitted the sale of deadly biological agents to a country with a known biological warfare program." There is no blood ban stopping Gulf War veterans from donating blood to the general blood supply that the general population uses. Reigle also sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Perry on Feb 9, 1994 and talked about the exposure of Gulf War veterans and the transmission of the disease to spouses and children. He found out that we had been exporting these biological substances through ATCC. This information is known to every Senator that was in office in 1994
Freeoer abwehr 8/13/99 "…Some interesting connections that I didn't see mentioned in your synopsis.
W. Stewart Price at the time he headed Dynamic Energy Resources was the son in law of Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. Curiously the former Governor of Hawaii, John Waihee's campaign manager and Attorney General was named Price as well. Don't know if this is how the Lum's came to be connected to a Tulsa oil business but I did note that the Lum's started out converting land ( owned in part by the Bishop Estate) into golf courses. The Country Club that Michael Brown was given a membership to was at the time owned by the Bishop Estate and featured Vernon Jordan on its board of directors. Clinton often plays there as well.
I also note that Charles Meissner as well as being John Huang's boss at Commerce was the husband of Doris Meissner the Commissioner of the INS. Doris Meissner was in charge of Al Gore's 'Citizenship USA' program in which tens of thousands of criminals and hundreds of thousands of others were granted citizenship with only a cursory ,if that, screening. The liason for this program was Gore lieutenant Elaine Kamarck the husband of Export Import Bank board director Martin Kamarck. The Kamarcks are still top Gore people…"
Freeper aristeides 8/13/99 "…Hillary visited Tuzla on the same plane that Ron Brown crashed in two weeks later in late March 1996. Secretary of Defense Perry was in Zagreb, Croatia a few days before Ron Brown got to Bosnia…I know Clark accompanied Perry to Capitol Hill for hearings just before the visit to Croatia. Wesley Clark was the commander of the international force in Bosnia, and Richard Holbrooke's military aide, all through this time. Two weeks after Ron Brown's crash, he was nominated for his fourth star.
The source of the "worst storm in a decade" story was Peter Galbraith, then U.S. ambassador to Croatia, who was awaiting Brown's landing in Dubrovnik. Oddly, he attributed this view to people in Dubrovnik, even though he apparently was at the Dubrovnik airport at the time, having landed shortly before the Ron Brown crash. He participated in Operation Storm, the Croatian expulsion of Serbs from the Krajina, in 1995, and has recently been one of the chief cheerleaders for the Kosovo War….(Freeper aristeides research resulted in entries added to above timeline) … It turns out that not only Hillary, but also Perry, for some of his trip, used the plane that ended up in Ron Brown's crash… "
The Crash of Ron Brown's Plane By Sherman H. Skolnick "…The plane supposedly hit a hilltop in Croatia. Odd, but parts of the plane were found some distance away from the crash site. A local official said they recovered the black box, the tell-tale flight recorder. Yet, later, U.S. officials said the plane had no flight recorder. A senior U.S. defense official hastened to point out that "the U.S. and NATO have the entire region covered with aerial surveillance and detected no hostile action against the plane nor explosion aboard." Who asked him? ….
ITEM: A couple of years prior to the crash, a Vietnamese official accused Ron Brown of soliciting a huge bribe – like $700,000 -- to get Clinton to open up Viet Nam to American big business. A federal grand jury began hearing evidence for a possible criminal indictment. There was jury tampering by President Clinton and his Justice Department. The grand jury proceedings were supposed to be secret, yet Brown and his confederates were day by day, illegally kept informed, so they could obstruct justice by bribing or terrorizing grand jury witnesses. Brown was not indicted.
ITEM: At the time of the crash, a federal grand jury in the Southwest was reportedly just a few weeks away from handing up a criminal indictment, charging Commerce Secretary Brown with taking a huge bribe to fix a matter involving a gas pipeline case, implicating Bill Clinton and his circle of big business scoundrels. Now, according to Brown's confidants, who ask not to be identified -- they say Ron Brown was planning to NOT take the fall -- he was planning to finger Bill and Hillary Clinton on the gas pipeline bribery mess.…"
American Spectator April "Why Ron Brown will not Go Down" By Byron York "…This Weeks AVIATION WEEKLY said flying conditions were PERFECT ! 8 kilometers of visibility 12km winds NO GUSTS. In fact 5 planes landed no problem B4 RB's flight as did others after. This directly contradictes unnamed sources which stated it was the WORST storm in 30 years.
Freeper Earn your Vote offers these concerns: "…
At his death, Ron Brown was under investigation by almost everyone: the FDIC, the Congressional Reform and Oversight Committee, the FBI, the Energy Department, the Senate Judiciary Committee and even his own Commerce Department Inspector General. He was scheduled to be deposed by Judicial Watch regarding the illegal sale of trade mission seats for campaign contributions. He was also about to be indicted by an independent council named Daniel Pearson for multiple, serious crimes. His wife and son had already been indicted. Only weeks before Brown's death, Pearson obtained over 20 subpoenas that indicate he was investigating Brown's ties to campaign finance violations involving the DNC. The Washington Post reported that Brown had retained a $750 an hour attorney, which suggests he was very concerned. He spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal.
Almost immediately after Brown's death, the Pearson probe was shut down. However, Judicial Watch's investigation continued. Nolanda Hill, Brown's personal secretary, gave secret testimony in the case. One week before that testimony, the Whitehouse had her charged with a crime (to intimidate her?). Judge Lamberth has revealed that Hill testified that Brown told her he was ordered by Leon Panetta and John Podesta, two of Clinton's Whitehouse Chiefs Of Staff, to "slow down" the effort to comply with Judicial Watch's request (subpoena) for documents. Lamberth has said there is ample evidence that department officials never really conducted a serious search for the documents.
Nolanda Hill also testified that shortly before the crash Brown met with Panetta and turned over a stack of documents that would have proven he sold seats on trade missions for VERY LARGE contributions to the DNC. If true, these documents were withheld in violation of the Judicial Watch subpoena. Nolanda swore that Brown told Panetta "if I go down, so will everyone else".
According to Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine, the Dubrovnik tower lost voice contact with the aircraft at the same time the aircraft transponder vanished from the screens of both the approach radar and an AWAC. The plane was still 8 miles from the airport at the time. Geography was not a factor, which leads one to speculate that something serious happened BEFORE the crash.
The official Air Force "conclusion" is that the plane just ran into a mountain due to pilot error. However, the pilot was an "evaluator", the most senior pilot flying that type of plane. He had nearly 3,000 flight hours on the plane and his co-pilot had even more.
The plane was 1.6 miles off course when it crashed. The official explanation is that the pilots set the compasses (there were 2) 10 degrees off course. However, pilots usually set their compasses right before takeoff. If the compass was off by 10 degrees, they could not have been on course (which they were) when they passed the first beacon, 12 miles from the airport. Besides, all indications are that the plane was flying on the VOR signal, not the compass. Perhaps it isn't coincidence that the backup portable navigation beacon at the airport disappeared only days before the crash. Recently, Aviation Week reported that the flight trajectory of the plane as it approached the airfield is consistent with being spoofed by a portable beacon.
Just as strange, the airport control tower tapes of conversations with the plane prior to the crash have disappeared. One source also claimed that the backup cylinder, which normally would keep a copy for three months, was missing. And get this ... the air traffic controller in contact with the plane when it crashed committed "suicide" within days of the crash too.
Although the crash occurred within two miles of the airport, it officially took 12 hours for the U.S. Air Force to arrive. This was hours after the Croatians had reached the crash site. Curiously, an Associated Press report states that the first Croatian rescuers were met by three Americans who were already on the ground.
The Croatian Ministry Of Transportation announced shortly after the crash that the black boxes had been found. The US Air Force in Germany confirmed this. Several foreign news stations also reported it. Then, a week later, the Air Force said the plane had no black boxes and that some boxes that looked EXACTLY like the recorders had been found instead. The problem is that flight recorders are designed to be unique in appearance and the people in Croatia who reported finding them were qualified to know what one looks like.
USAF policies also require that all plane crashes initially be considered as resulting from undetermined causes. As crash safety investigation team members prepared to leave for this crash, they were TOLD not to bother ... that it was being RULED "pilot error". This is only the SECOND Air Force crash in US history to have NO post crash safety investigation (the other involved friendly fire in IRAQ where the cause was obvious).
Erich Junger, who never visited the crash site, has been quoted as saying that a "very reasonable explanation" for the hole was found "when we looked around the aircraft area itself." Lt. Colonel Cogswell, mentioned earlier, disputes this. He has testified that Gormley called him at the crash site and asked that he search for something that could cause Brown's head wound. According to Cogswell, NOTHING was found. Gormley has apparently acknowledged that no piece of the aircraft was found to explain the hole. One more item, Cogswell says that when Gormley called, he told Gormley that it sounded more like a gunshot wound and that "this man needs an autopsy."
On December 9, 1997, Lt. Col. David Hause decided to come forward and publically agreed with Cogswell that an autopsy should have been performed. Hause's eyewitness examination also contradicts Gormley. "What was immediately below the surface of the hole was just brain. I didn't remember seeing skull" in the hole, he said. After he talked to the press, the gag order was extended to include all AFIP personnel, but by then the photos and the x-ray slides were already in the public domain. In case you are wondering, on the Alan Keyes talk radio show in December, a spokesman for the AFIP (Chris Kelly), acknowledged that the internet photos were legitimate.
On December 11, 1997, despite the gag order, Gormley agreed to a live interview on Black Entertainment Television. Members of the black community, who had heard rumors about the possibility of a gun shot wound in Brown's head, had begun to ask for an investigation. From what I've read, Gormley attacked the other pathologists. He stated that one could rule out a bullet wound because no brain matter was visible in the wound. He also stated that the x-rays taken during the examination showed no trace of a bullet injury. He denied that two sets of x-rays existed. Then, on live TV, he was confronted with a photograph taken during the examination that showed brain matter visible in the wound. He ended up admitting that brain matter was indeed visible, excusing his former statements as a memory lapse. He then admitted that the hole was a "red flag" which should have triggered a further inquiry. Next he was confronted with a copy of Janowski's x-ray slides. He immediately changed his story and claimed that this first set of x-rays had been "lost" so that a second set was required. It was then pointed out that the Janowski x-rays show signs of a "lead snowstorm".
Judicial Watch says that Colonel Gormley now admits that he consulted with other high-ranking pathologists present DURING the external examination of Ron Brown's body and they AGREED that the hole looked like a gunshot wound, "at least an entrance gunshot wound". Furthermore, he confesses that no autopsy was requested BASED ON "discussions" at the highest levels in Commerce, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and THE WHITEHOUSE! Cabinet members such as Ron Brown are covered by federal laws that deal with assassinations of federal officials and certain acts of terrorism. As such, the matter should have been referred to the FBI as soon as an apparent gunshot wound was discovered.
Brown's daughter, Tracey, said that the family had hired their own forensic pathologist after the bullet wound controversy surfaced and that one of the key reasons they were satisfied that Brown was not shot is that the pathologist told them there was no exit wound. Janoski has testified, however, that Brown's body was never examined or photographed for an exit wound and Gormley admits he didn't look for one.
Christopher Ruddy showed copies of the x-ray slides and wound photos to Dr. Martin Fackler, former director of the Army's Wound Ballistics Laboratory. Fackler said "It's round as hell. ... That's unusual except for a gunshot wound." He also said brain matter was visible. "They didn't do an autopsy. My God." he said.
Christopher Ruddy showed copies of the x-rays and photos to Pittsburgh coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht, one of the nation's foremost forensic pathologists. Wecht, a democrat, said "I'll wager you anything that you can't find a forensic pathologist in America who will say Brown should not have been autopsied." Wecht said the identification of almost half a dozen "tiny pieces of dull silver- colored" material embedded in the scalp on the edge of the wound "suggest metallic fragments". He said "little pieces of metal can be found at, or near, an entry site when a bullet enters bone." If the metal is from a bullet, he said the array of fragments would indicate a shot fired BEFORE the crash. Wecht said Brown's body was relatively intact. Lacerations were superficial, and other damage to his face and body appeared to be caused by chemical burns that probably would not have resulted in death. X-rays indicated Brown's bones were generally intact, with a breakage of the pelvic ring that Wecht said was survivable…."
Ron Brown Award for Corporate Excellence:
1998 Winners
1997 Winners
IBM Corporation
Levi Strauss & Co.
Bright Horizons Children’s Centers Inc.
Lancaster Laboratories
Public Service Electric and Gas Company
More via Yellow Rose of Texas: "…A reader sent an article from "the Twin Cities papers", dated April 5, 1996 (page A16): "Andrew recounts eerie praise of Brown". The article says that a member of Minnesota's Democratic Party, Mark Andrew, was in the White House on the morning of April 3rd. "The eerie part about the meeting is that the president waxed eloquent about Ron Brown, unprompted," Andrew said. Andrew says he was taking notes and that "After the meeting ended at about 10:30, Eastern Time, we were standing at the door and there were about two of us in the room with the president... and two of his staff people came in and said [about the plane crash]."…"
Why Was Ron Brown Left Off the Waiver List by the White House? Mary Mostert "…Did Ron Brown qualify to be buried at Arlington? Hardly…. Why, indeed, was Ron Brown not only buried in Arlington, but, in the midst of an investigation, why was he afforded a hero's send-off? USA Today Reported on April 10, 1996, "At the gates of the cemetery, the coffin (containing Brown's body) was placed on a black caisson drawn by six horses. Brown was accorded military honors because he served in the Army for four years after graduating from college….. Brown and Hill had co-owned an investment and consulting firm. Brown did virtually no work for the company but Hill had paid him more than $400,000 since 1993 to buy his share of the partnership. She said Brown was considering a proposal from Vietnam to pay him a considerable amount of money -- while he was Commerce Secretary -- to get U.S. trade restrictions lifted, but dropped the project after getting a tip that the FBI was investigating the matter. While Brown denied the allegation and in February 1994 was cleared of wrongdoing by the Justice Department, the Clinton administration appointed an ambassador to Vietnam and trade is opening up in a sudden change in Administration policy. Hill said at least $60,000 was passed to Brown from two Democratic donors, Nora and Gene Lumm, who gave Brown's son Michael a senior job at their company, Dynamic Energy Resources. She said Brown also told her that the White House ordered his department to give a job to former DNC fund-raiser John Huang, who is at the heart of current congressional and Justice Department investigations into alleged campaign finance abuses. The White House also pushed Brown to make a 1994 trip to China, pressing officials there to approve a billion-dollar power plant project involving the Indonesian financial conglomerate Lippo Group, owned by the Riady family which has also been linked to the campaign fundraising scandal. In August of this year Michael Brown, son of the late U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, pled guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of making illegal campaign contributions to Sen. Edward Kennedy's 1994 campaign. …"