Perot asked Clinton about Mena The following article was printed on the front page of the Sunday, April 19, 1992 issue of *The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette*. PEROT CALLED CLINTON ABOUT MENA INQUIRY By Terry Lemons and Jane Fullerton Gov. Bill Clinton talked in 1988 with Ross Perot, now a potential presidential rival, about the investigation of the shadowy activities involving the Mena Airport. Clinton's office confirmed last week that the governor received a telephone call from the Texas billionaire, who expressed interest in the case. Perot said he thought there was something to the allegations of illegal activities surrounding the Polk County airport, according to the governor's office. The Mena case involves allegations that the airport was the centerpiece of a covert staging area for smuggling drugs, guns and money in the mid-1980s to assist the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Federal and state officials have investigated the case, but no charges ever resulted. That led to allegations from some people that the Republican Presidential administration of Ronald Reagan and George Bush - supporters of the Contras - were responsible for the cover-up. The Mena saga has resurfaced nationally in recent weeks after Clinton's emergence as the apparent Democratic presidential nominee. Now Perot, who is considering an independent run for the White House, has also been linked to Mena. Perot, who has investigated other controversial cases involving espionage and international intrigue, apparently was alerted to the Mena case in 1988 by Gene Wheaton, a private military investigator. Wheaton said he became concerned about the Mena case after his research and after talking with government investigators in the case. He along with several investigators - felt the U.S. attorney's office and a federal grand jury in Fort Smith weren't handling the case properly. Wheaton said he had dealt with Perot, previously, so he contacted Perot about Mena on Jan. 28, 1988. "I called him and told him the federal grand Jury wasn't doing anything," Wheaton said in a telephone interview from his California home. Perot was concerned about the situation and called Clinton, Wheaton said. Perot then called Wheaton back on Jan 29, 1988. According to Wheaton's notes of the telephone call, "Perot says he has briefed Gov. Clinton and 'everybody else' and nobody can stop investigation now that it's out in open." Perot did not respond last week to phone calls and written questions submitted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to his Dallas office. But Clinton's office confirmed the governor had talked to Perot about Mena. "Perot talked about his interest in (U.S. Rep. Bill) Alexander's work on the Mena airport and his own feeling that there was something to it," the Governor's office said in a written statement. Clinton remembers Perot calling a "couple of times," once involving enrolling a student at the University of Arkansas, governor's office spokesman Mike Gauldin said. In the Mena discussion, Perot did not offer any money or other assistance in the case, Clinton's statement said. "Clinton assured him that State police would continue to pursue the case," the statement concluded. Investigation The Arkansas State Police investigated aspects of the Mena case. Alexander, a Democratic congressman representing Northeast Arkansas, also has been active in the Mena investigation. Wheaton said he also briefed Alexander about Mena in September 1988 - a few months after the federal grand jury failed to return indictments in the case. According to Wheaton, Alexander later met with Clinton about Mena. Alexander said following the meeting that state money, would be available for the investigation, Wheaton said. Clinton has said he made $25,000 in state money available in 1988 and directed state police Col. Tommy Goodwin to offer the money to Polk County authorities. But Joe Hardegree, then Polk County's prosecuting attorney, said he never received the offer. The Democrat-Gazette submitted written questions to Alexander last week about his meetings with Wheaton and Clinton, along with other aspects of the case. The congressman declined comment, citing an ongoing investigation by Lawrence Walsh, the independent federal counsel examining the Iran-Contra affair and the Mena case. "At some point Congressman Alexander would be glad to answer any and all questions involving Mena, but at this time while there is an active investigation going on, the congressman believes that it would be in the best interest of the investigation not to comment," his office said in a written statement. Perot involvement Perot has seen his share of investigation and involvement in several prominent cases with international political implications. - For years, he has examined the mystery of American prisoners of war in Southeast Asia. - He hired a commando unit in 1979 to rescue two of his employees taken hostage in Iran. - He and his representatives have inquired about the October Surprise, the allegation that Reagan and Bush secretly conspired to keep Americans hostage in Iran to help defeat President Jimmy Carter in 1980. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that in February Perot sent his general counsel and two pilots to interview a Missouri prison inmate about Bush's role in the October Surprise. "The Missouri episode... illustrates Mr. Perot's hands-on style and his penchant for conspiracy theories," the Journal said.