From misc.activism.progressive Thu May 16 17:56:50 1996 Path: news.missouri.edu!pencil.math.missouri.edu!rich From: ralph@teaminfinity.com Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive Subject: DOLE'S ARKANSAS CONNECTION (1/2) Followup-To: alt.activism.d Date: 15 May 1996 21:12:11 GMT Organization: ? Lines: 403 Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu Distribution: na Message-ID: <4ndhbb$e6i@news.missouri.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: pencil.math.missouri.edu Resent-From: rich Originator: rich@pencil.math.missouri.edu PRESS RELEASE: BOB DOLE is BANKROLLED by ARKANSAS BANKER and BCCI PLAYER We may be getting ready to nominate another ARKANSAS bankrolled Candidate, EVEN though he claims to be a REPUBLICAN. This should set off alarms for for Democrats and Republicans alike. BOB DOLE and JACKSON STEPHENS are linked. Jackson Stephens is the co-chairman of DOLE's Finance Committee >>>>> REFERENCE MATERIAL on DOLE ARKANSAS CONNECTION <<<<< >From lar+jen@interaccess.com Mon Mar 4 21:59:19 1996 Excerpt from: "Razorback Money Drops Clinton, Backs Bob Dole" by Micah Morrison WALL STREET JOURNAL February 15, 1996 This time around, though, the favorite of big Arkansas business does appear to be Mr. (Robert) Dole. In addition to Tyson and Stephens, Arkansas heavyweights Riceland Foods and Alltell Corp. have contributed to the Dole campaign. Stephens Inc.'s relationship with Sen. Dole is much more complex and intriguing. The longtime head of the world-wide investment firm, Jackson Stephens, is an old friend and political ally. Mr. Stephens and the Doles have apartments at the exclusive Sea View Hotel in Bal Harbour, Fla. So does top Dole supporter Archer-Daniels-Midland chairman Dwayne Andreas. Stephens Inc. also employs a controversial figure in the world of the Doles, David Owen. Mr. Owen, a former banker and lieutenant governor of Kansas, was a top Dole aide and financial advisor until he was ousted from Mr. Dole's 1988 presidential campaign amid reports that he mismanaged a blind trust for Elizabeth Dole and violated campaign finance laws. Mr. Owen went to jail for seven months in 1884 on an unrelated tax-evasion charge and last year paid the FEC $13,000 in fines on the campaign-finance violations. Mr. Owen has been a Stephens employee in Kansas for "a long time," Warren Stephens says. "My recollection is we first met him in some connection with Dole." Currently, however, Mr. Owen seems to be an enemy of Mr. Dole; he recently told the NEW YORKER that he'd been "made a scaoegoat for Dole" -- "He betrayed me." What Mr. Dole's enemy is doing working for Jack Stephens, one of Mr. Dole's friends, is one of those happenstances that fascinate observers of the enigmatic chairman of Stephens Inc. As readers of this newspaper know, Mr. Stephens's range of acquaintances runs the gamut from the corrupt bankers of BCCI to virtually every modern American president. He was, for example, an Annapolis classmate of Jimmy Carter. Excerpts from: NEW YORK TIMES February 5, 1992 "Wealthy Investment Family a Big Help to Clinton" by Jeff Gerth LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Two days before Bill Clinton's bitterly contested re-election in 1990, the Arkansas Governor grew concerned that his campaign was slipping. He placed calls to members of an influential Arkansas business group, asking them to raise $50,000for his campaign, according to people involved in the effort. "He was somewhat in a panic," recalled Warren A. Stephens, one of those contacted by the Governor. Mr. Stephens is president and chief executive officer of Stephens Inc., the investment banking flagship of the Stephens family empire, which has vast holdings in natural gas, finance and real estate. Published estimates of the family's wealth put it well over $1 billion. Mr. Stephens and his associates quickly agreed to raise the money, providing the pledges that helped Mr. Clinton get $50,000 from a bank the next day. The money was used for last-minute television advertisements. Thus began an important financial alliance that has helped drive Mr. Clinton's campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination. The Stephens and their associates have raised more than $100,000 for Mr. Clinton's Presidential campaign so far, soliciting donations from scores of business associates and friends who each contributed up to $1,000, the maximum allowed under Federal laws. Among these Stephens associates is Curt Bradbury, a former employee of Stephens Inc., who is now the chief executive of Worthen National Bank of Arkansas and its parent, the Worthen Banking Corporation, in which the Stephens family own a 38 percent interest. Last month, the Worthen National Bank approved a credit line that allows the Clinton campaign to borrow up to $2 million. The Stephens group's investment firm is one of the nation's largest. Arkansas state auditors have criticized some of its financial dealings with the state, and some critics have complained that the Governor has allowed the Stephenses to exercise too much influence over state government. -- Ties to Republicans -- In the 1980's, there were few visible financial ties between Governor Clinton and the Stephens family. The Stephenses seemed more closely aligned with the Republicans. Stephens Inc. and its chairman, Jackson T. (Jack) Stephens, donated $100,000 to the national Republican Party both in 1988 and 1991. But beginning in 1990, the Stephenses started paying closer attention to the Democratic Governor. Mr. Clinton's Republican opponent that year was a critic of the Stephenses who wanted to reduce their financial dealings and their general influence in the state. "I would have brought all this to a halt, the free ride in Arkansas, doing what they wanted with the blessing of the Governor," the losing candidate, Sheffield Nelson, said in an interview. Mr. Nelson is a Little Rock lawyer. The state auditor, Julia Hughes Jones, opposed two state pension fund investments that Stephens Inc., arranged in 1987 and 1988, noting that Stephens had represented both the bond issuers and the bond purchasers. In an interview, Mrs. Jones, who is an elected official, said she believed the Stephenses should have given the pension fund more information about what it was doing. She added that outside advisors should have been brought in. And she complained that the Stephenses' fees were excessive, though Mrs. Jones did support subsequent deals after Stephens lowered its fees. Warren Stephens defended the state pension investment deals, saying their "record has been outstanding." The trustees of the pension funds, most of them appointed by Mr. Clinton, did agree to the investments, and Mr. Clinton also gave approval. ________________ Interesting to see this in the TIMES, especially back then. On the other hand, the TIMES reported the Whitewater land deal not long after. So what does this have to do with Gennifer Flowers? The $2 million loan to Clinton from Worthen National came one week after Ms. Flowers publicly discussed her intimate relationship with the Governor. Also note, it is illegal for a securities firm, like Stephens Inc., to own a bank, like Worthen National. The Stephens convinced regulators to circumvent the law by changing Worthen's charter from federal to state. Jackson Stephens loves a good bank deal. He assisted the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in its initial attempts to buy an American bank, something the Fed did not approve of. BCCI, of course, succeeded in buying First American Bankshares. Jackson Stephens also helped arrange a loan for George Bush, Jr. from a BCCI affiliate in Switzerland so he could buy a chunk of Harken Energy. See the WALL STREET JOURNAL, "How Oil Firm Linked to a Son of Bush Won Bahrain Drilling Pact," December 6, 1991. Larry Please respond so I can know you got it. This is a HOT ONE ! I was BLOWN away when I first found out. I became very suspicious to say the least ! I thought DOLE was the Republican Standard Bearer, now I see he is even indirectly connected to CLinton and the Arkansas CROWD !! WOW ! BOB DOLE and JACKSON STEPHENS are linked. Jackson Stephens is the co-chairman of DOLE's Finance Committee It has recently come to my attention that Bob DOLE's co-chairman of Finance is none other than Arkansas Banker, long time Clinton associate Jackson Stephens. In fact this is the same Jackson Stephens who bankrolled Clinton in 1992. Stephens Inc. was HEAVILY involved in BCCI. Word is that DOLE while in congress has STEADFASTLY stood in the way of ALL INVESTIGATIONS into MENA ARKANSAS, the entry point of drugs from planes returning from gun running missions to the Contras while Bush was president and Clinton Governor of Arkansas. STEPHENS INC heavily involved in the BCCI and these operations therefore needing DOLE to continue to cover as CLINTON did for BUSH and STEPHENS. Fact: During the MENA influx of Cocaine, Little Rock become the MURDER CAPITAL of USA periodically due to the MASSIVE influx of COCAINE and DIRTY MONEY to that area. Question: Why isnt anyone talking about this ? Do you have any info on this ? Please see attached for background on Jackson Stephens. If you have any references please pass them along thanks. Concerned, Ralph@TeamInfinity.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clinton: Who's pulling the strings? From: Robert Lee Sitler Date: 1995/12/21 MessageID: 4bceif$s63@salt.ncinter.net#1/1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I discovered this little snippet in my investigations. In 1988, Jackson Stephens wife was co-chairperson in 1988 of the national "Bush for President" campaign. Jackson Stephens has contributed up to 2,000,000 to Clinton's 1992 president campaign, and contributed up to 250,000 to Bush's 1992 presidential campaign. This in light of him contributing to Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. This leaves one to ponder whether we are a democracy or not, considering this is only one individual who has contributed heavily to both sides. Thanks. Rob ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read on to discover who Jackson Stephens is. From: Orlin Grabbe Date: 1995/10/22 MessageID: J-JkAxe.kalliste@delphi.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) newsgroups: sci.econ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Allegations Regarding Vince Foster, the NSA, and Banking Transactions Spying, Part XXXI by J. Orlin Grabbe There is something about the explosive smell of money in Little Rock's Ozark air that turns a young man's thoughts to suicide. But one might have believed John Markle, a PhD economist and son of the actress Mercedes McCambridge, was sitting on top of the world in 1987. He had left Salomon Brothers eight years earlier to become the one-man futures trading operation for Stephens Inc. on East Capitol Street. Markle had a lot of money to play with. He had no position limits, at least none that he knew about. "They're at least $800 million, because I once had that much at risk and nobody stopped me," he told *Forbes* on March 31, 1987. He traded exclusively for the house account--essentially for the personal profit of the two brothers Wilton R. "Witt" and Jackson T. "Jack" Stephens, the only stockholders in Stephens Group, which controlled an empire that included the investment bank Stephens Inc., the multibank holding company Worthen Banking Corp., the Capital Hotel of Little Rock, the software firm Systematics, the nursing home operator Beverly Enterprises, the insurance holding company ICH Corp., and (the crown jewel) the natural gas company Stephens Production Co. Witt Stephens, a former Bible saleman, had long controlled Arkansas politics through a simple mechanism: those local candidates he didn't support saw all their funding cut off. Naturally no local candidate could afford to be seen taking out-of-state money, assuming it was available. But like many of the super-rich, the Stephens brothers were neither Republican nor Democrat. Jackson Stephens, who was a major fund-raiser for Jimmy Carter in 1976 and 1980, would also become one of George Bush's "Team 100" through $100,000 political donations in 1988 and 1992. The latter was the year that a Stephens-controlled bank would supply a $3.5 million line of credit to the campaign of Bill Clinton. No, these boys weren't hard-core Democratics. It was Witt Stephens who started the rumor that Geraldine Ferraro was Benito Mussolini's grandniece, a stunt he found so entertaining that he repeated it four years later with a story that Michael Dukakis was Aristotle Onassis' nephew. Such international wit was curious for a man who retired weekends to the family homestead in Prattsville, and boasted that he had left the state of Arkansas only once in fifteen years. Witt's brother Jack, on the other hand, could more likely be found on the 6,000-acre plantation that Jack owned in Chittlin Switch, Georgia, where he might be joined for a weekend of hunting by Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, Oklahoma Govenor Henry Bellmon, or Joseph Williams, the chairman of Williams Cos., of pipeline and telecommunications fame. Markle, perched in front of his data screens trading futures, probably didn't know about the monetary flows generated by Operation Black Eagle and siphoned through the Stephens' financial institutions. He just knew that the different parts of the Stephens empire--legally administered by the Rose Law Firm trio of Webster Hubbell, Vince Foster, and Hillary Rodham Clinton--generated a lot of cash. ("They have so much money it scares you," a Merrill Lynch vice president would tell *Time* magazine a few years later.) First, there was Beverly Enterprises, the nation's largest nursing home operator. As explained by Stephens' executive Jon Jacoby, "In 1968 the Great Society started the nursing home business, and all you had to do was open the doors and they filled up." That same year Jack bought into a chain of nursing homes called Leisure Lodges, and took them over in 1975. Then, after helping Beverly Enterprises avoid a takeover they didn't want, he sold Leisure Lodges to Beverly in 1978. The Stephens brothers then acquired control of Beverly and turned it into a cash cow. In 1980 the Stephens sold most of their Beverly stock at a handsome profit, but retained the real estate from Leisure Lodges, which was rented to Beverly, and also contracted to provide data processing services to Beverly through Jack's software firm Systematics. The Stephens also remained one of Beverly's primary bankers. The Stephens brothers were thus nicely positioned to make out like a bandit if they could convince some politician to push through a system of National Health Care, which would provide a built-in government demand for both health and software services. The Stephens brothers had always favored the notion of private enterprise supplemented by government subsidies. The Systematics contracts were overseen by Vince Foster and Hillary Rodham Clinton of the Rose Law Firm. Systematics provided data processing services and software to track the flows of money through banks, and the flows of people and money through the nursing home industry. Vince and Hillary represented Systematics in the Jackson Stephens-Bert Lance-BCCI attempted takeover of First American Bank in 1978. Hillary also became self-taught in intellectual property law, important for a software company. Stephens had even picked up some neat software from Earl "Cash" Brian who had once been influential at Beverly Enterprises at its Pasadena, California, headquarters. Jack Stephens had purchased 49 percent of Systematics for $400,000 in 1968, and it had since become one of the largest suppliers of retail banking software. Banking customers could purchase Systematics software to do their back office data processing (i.e. to transfer money between accounts and between banks), or they could contract with Systematics to do all their data processing for them (this was called "outsourcing")--either on the premises, or at remote locations using telecommunication links. The investment bank Stephens Inc. had, with White Weld (now part of Morgan Stanley) underwritten the initial public offering of Wal-Mart in 1970. Other public offerings included Tyson Foods (which made about one-half McDonald's Chicken McNuggets), Beverly Enterprises, and Systematics. Jack Stephens had joined the firm in 1946, and was now its Chairman, while his son Warren was President. In 1983 the Stephens brothers had acquired controlling interest in Arkansas' largest bank holding company, Worthen Banking Corp. Another major shareholder in Worthen would be Mochtar Riady, an Indonesian banker closely connected to President Suharto. Jackson Stephens met Riady in 1976, when Riady wanted to buy into an American bank. Two years later Riady and Stephens Inc. set up a joint venture, Stephens Finance Ltd., in Hong Kong to write letters of credit. Later, in 1983, Stephens and Riady bought Seng Heng Bank in Macao, and in 1984 they bought the Hong Kong Chinese Bank. Riady also controlled the Bank of Trade in San Francisco. Hong Kong was then the banking center for the heroin trade, just as Panama was the banking center for the cocaine trade. Stephens Link, a customized computer network designed for commercial banks, was launched in 1986. It tied together bank branches to Stephens Inc. trading and clearing operations. There were computer terminals in eight states and Panama. The good citizens of Panama, the home of the Stephens' friends Gabriel Lewis and Manuel Noriega, could purchase a variety of Stephens financial services and products without ever having to leave home. Finally, there was Stephens Production Co., based in Ft. Smith, which owned perhaps a trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Arkoma Basin. The property, purchased in 1953 for $5.4 million, was now worth at least a billion dollars. But the Stephens brothers valued the property at cost, which led to an understatement of their ranking among the world's wealthiest individuals. And Markle, the futures trader, could put much of this wealth at risk, could bet it on the rolls of the market dice. Markle liked to think he could predict the future. He would quote from Michael Talbot's *Beyond the Quantum*: "The human biological organism possesses the ability to leap into the future, to actively tap into information about future events and process that information in the present." Luckily, as is often the case, he was spared the vision of his own demise. He was fired on Friday the 13th (Nov. 1987). He had been asked, they said, about an unidentified, out-of-state brokerage account he controlled, and its relationship to a Stephens corporate account. Rumors would circulate saying maybe he was putting profitable trades in the secret account, and sticking Stephens with the unprofitable ones. But that's all they were, rumors. For Markle himself wasn't talking. Three days after Markle was fired, there was a furious thunderstorm in Little Rock, during which, it is said, John Markle killed his wife, his two young daughters, and then himself. And to do the job, he used three different handguns. That's what they said. Curious deaths, those. But this was Stephens country, and no one wanted to ask very many questions. They found it much safer to talk about the violent weather. [to be continued] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMIrFFGX1Kn9BepeVAQE2igP/T3doKz74GC2r07T8OttmTBWheHkYU5q8 UTN+u9vQUyU3lFJoFYPDWxn49mFIQ2DQT/FdM+bhCV0fnmFgCQL7aV5kegodSlA0 gQ+Sy4W+xlTWVpXABmrQPGWPTPIgeTsv0UyOjNz/RHFcFf62wDEDErqDSXhndXsP s7FON1CrIt4= =sXDk -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From misc.activism.progressive Thu May 16 17:56:50 1996 Path: news.missouri.edu!pencil.math.missouri.edu!rich From: ralph@teaminfinity.com Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive Subject: DOLE'S ARKANSAS CONNECTION (2/2) Followup-To: alt.activism.d Date: 16 May 1996 22:22:37 GMT Organization: ? Lines: 664 Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu Distribution: na Message-ID: <4ng9rd$1avs@news.missouri.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: pencil.math.missouri.edu Resent-From: rich Originator: rich@pencil.math.missouri.edu From: Orlin Grabbe Date: 1995/10/22 >From KALLISTE@delphi.com Thu Jul 6 15:48:18 1995 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Allegations Regarding Vince Foster, the NSA, and Banking Transactions Spying, Part I by J. Orlin Grabbe On April 17, 1995, James R. Norman, Senior Editor at Forbes Magazine, sent the following letter to Michael D. McCurry, Press Secretary at the White house: "Dear Mr. McCurry: "Forbes Magazine is preparing an article for immediate publication. We would like to offer the White House an opportunity to comment on the following assertions. "1.) That Vincent W. Foster, while White House Deputy Counsel, maintained a Swiss bank account. "2.) That funds were paid into that account by a foreign government, specifically the State of Israel. "3.) That shortly before his death and coincident with the onset of severe and acute depression, Vincent Foster learned he was under investigation by the CIA for espionage. "4.) That this information was made available to him by Hillary Rodham Clinton. "5.) That while he was White House Deputy Counsel and for many years prior, Vincent Foster had been a behind-the- scenes control person on behalf of the National Security Agency for Systematics, a bank data processing company integrally involved in a highly secret intelligence effort to monitor world bank transactions. "6.) That Systematics was also involved in "laundering" funds from covert operations, including drug and arms sales related to activities in and around Mena, Ark. "7.) That through Systematics' relationship with E-Systems, Vincent Foster may have had access to highly sensitive code, encryption and data security information of strategic importance. "8.) That both prior to and after his death, documents relating to Systematics were removed from Vincent Foster's office in the White House. "9.) That the meeting at the Cardozo (Landau) estate on the eastern shore of Maryland on the weekend before Vincent Foster's death was attended by, among others, George Stephanopolous. "10.) That Hillary Rodham Clinton was also a beneficiary of funds from Foster's Swiss account. "Thank you very much for your prompt attention to this matter. Please fax your written response before end-of-business Tuesday, April 18, to Forbes at 212-620-2417. If you have questions, please call me at 212-620-2215. "Respectfully yours, "James R. Norman, Senior Editor" The White House did not respond until April 25, 1995. However, on April 20, 1995, a copy of this letter was leaked by White House counsel to Mark H. Tuohey IV, an assistant to Kenneth Starr, a prosecutor leading an "independent" investigation of events related to Whitewater. Why was the letter forwarded to a Starr assistant? Did the White House have reason to believe that the death of Vincent Foster was related to Whitewater? Was the letter forwarded to Mark Tuohey so that he could investigate and comment on the allegations in the letter? Or was the letter leaked to Mark Tuohey by the White House because Tuohey is the White House point man for spin control with respect to any evidence "uncovered" by the investigation? On April 25, 1995, Michael D. McCurry replied as follows: "Dear Mr. Norman "This letter responds to your April 17, 1995 request. "The allegations contained in your request are outrageous. Publication of these false allegations will discredit *Forbes*, maliciously tarnish the reputation of Vincent Foster, and cause great pain to Mr. Foster's wife and family. "Should *Forbes* insist on publishing these baseless allegations, we insist that the Editor of *Forbes* have a pre- publication meeting with Jane Sherburne of the White House Counsel's Office and the personal representative of the President and First Lady, David E. Kendall of Williams & Connolly. Ms. Sherburne can be reached at (202) 456-5116 and Mr. Kendall's number is (202) 434-5145. "Sincerely, "Michael D. McCurry "Press Secretary" "cc: Mr. James W. Michaels Editor, *Forbes* Mr. Lawrence Minard Managing Editor, *Forbes* Mr. William Baldwin Executive Editor, *Forbes* " [to be continued] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBL/sIFWX1Kn9BepeVAQEUUAP+Mi0KZlXXTM37w1PvtKz1gpnHc/Yq4DXU qFAA+bhCQlVD/Fb0xejD3Zvrfk4peXAI+2xO7ApqFBbeZBY2igjEGsMkCHrpaQXV RhnAUFCeMwEfdLlw2P8awb7RBgA9prTf/c7M9FfHan+af7RzUzOcGEOLcPvXMyv4 d5Zv9mKPsGs= =C10M -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----[ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Allegations Regarding Vince Foster, the NSA, and Banking Transactions Spying, Part II by J. Orlin Grabbe Upon hearing of the alleged connections between Vincent Foster, the NSA, and its subsidiary Systematics--since renamed ALLTEL Information Services (4001 N. Rodney Parham Rd., Little Rock, Arkansas 72212-2496, phone 501/220-5100)-- ALLTEL Corp. (1 Allied Dr., Little Rock, Arkansas 72202, phone 501/661-8000) hired a San Francisco libel attorney named Charles O. Morgan (450 Sansome Street, 13th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111-3382, phone 415/392-2037) to threaten journalists who made such allegations. ALLTEL feared the economic consequences of the charges made against its private subsidiary: "Banking and financial institutions are clients of ALLTEL. The irresponsible and false statements . . . have and will cause my client substantial damage" (letter from Charles O. Morgan to Agora Inc., March 28, 1995). Published news articles in the *American Banker* and elsewhere show that Systematics' (ALLTEL Information Serivces') customers have included Home Bank, Manufactuers Hanover (now merged with Chemical), Vboss, Southwestern Bell, various overseas military bases, City National, California Federal Bank, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Guaranty Federal Savings Bank, River Forest Bankcorp, First Busey Corp, Decatur Federal Savings and Loan, Republic National Bank of New York, Anchor Savings Bank, Integra Financial Corp, Banc One, Nations Bank, Citicorp, Vermont National Bank, CNB Bancshares, Liberty Bancorp of Oklahoma City, First Union, First National Bank of Maryland, Amcore Financial, Horizon, Oxford First Corp, Navy Federal Credit Union, People's National Bank, Drung Thai Bank Ltd., Bank of Commerce Berhad, Unisys Corp, Corestates Financial Corp, Novorosiysk Industrial Commercial Ecobank, Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, United Overseas Bank (Singapore), Soneri Bank Ltd (Pakistan), Banco National Ultramarino SA (Macao), BMJ Financial Corp, Security Bank (Arkansas), Hiberia National Bank, Glendale Federal Bank, First Alabama Bancshares, Union Bank of Manila, First Pacific National Bank, Pine Bluff National Bank, Consolidated Bank (Miami), Citibank of Australia, Savings Bank of the Russian Federation, Family Bank, Sabine State Bank & Trust, Central Bank, Chemical Bank, Citibank, Moscow Savings Bank, National Home Mortgage Company, Barclays Bank PLC, Keycorp, Bank IV Kansas, Borel of California, Dime Bancorp, and Bellsouth Cellular Corp. According to John E. Steuri, Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the Board of Systematics: "Today, we have banking, financial services, cellular telephone and hospital clients in thirty-six (36) countries outside the United States" (memo from John Steuri to Jim Norman, March 8, 1995, with the subject listed as "Systematics"). Attorney Charles O. Morgan sent threatening letters to, among others, Agora Inc., publisher of Strategic Investment (824 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21202-4799), to David Fondiller and Jim Norman of Forbes (62 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011), and to Bill Hamilton of Inslaw Inc. (1125 15th St. N.W., #300, Washington D.C. 20005-2707, phone 202/828-8600). In denying various allegations, Charles O. Morgan makes personal claims of knowledge that border on the supernatural. For example, Strategic Investment had written in its March 22, 1995, issue: "Several years ago, investigative reporter Danny Cassalario [sic] spent many months investigating the Inslaw case. He told associates that his probe had revealed an astonishing tale of corruption that he intended to reveal in a story entitled 'The Octopus.' He was days away from completing his story when he was found dead, allegedly a 'suicide.' " In his March 28, 1995, letter to Agora, Inc., Charles O. Morgan makes the blanket assertion: "Systematics was not in any way involved in any investigation by Danny Cassalario [sic]" (page 2). How could Charles O. Morgan possibly know what topics Danny Casolaro, a private journalist, was investigating at the time of Casolaro's death? Was Charles O. Morgan in close communication with Danny Casolaro at the time of Casolaro's death? Did Charles O. Morgan examine Casolaro's papers and notes following Casolaro's death, to determine if there were any references to Systematics? Or did Charles O. Morgan rely on statements by the FBI/Justice Department regarding the topic of Casolaro's investigations? If so, he was relying on a biased source, for according to the "Executive Summary" of a document supplied by Inslaw to each member of the House Judiciary Committee: The Office of Special Investigations' (OSI's) "publicly- declared mission is to locate and deport Nazi war criminals. The Nazi war criminal program is, however, a front for the Justice Department's own covert intelligence service, according to disclosures recently made to INSLAW by several senior Justice Department career officials. .... "According to written statements of which INSLAW has obtained copies, another undeclared mission of the Justice Department's covert agents was to insure that investigative journalist Danny Casolaro remained silent about the role of the Justice Department in the INSLAW scandal by murdering him in West Virginia in August 1991. INSLAW has acquired copies of two relevant written statements furnished to a veteran investi- gative journalist by a national security operative of the U.S. Government, several months after Casolaro's death. ..." Finally, did instead Charles O. Morgan simply rely on Sytematics' assertions that it was not the subject of investigation by Danny Casolaro? If so, why would Systematics make such an assertion? Who would suppose there was a connection between Systematics and the death of Danny Casolaro? Charles Morgan's denials suggest to me that an important part of the Kenneth Starr investigation into matters related to Whitewater should focus on the relationship between the death of Danny Casolaro and the death of Vincent Foster. And Kenneth Starr should question Charles O. Morgan with respect to his personal knowledge of the topics of Danny Casolaro's investigation which lead to Casolaro's death. [to be continued] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBL/Y1o2X1Kn9BepeVAQHcSgP+L1Mg6YXwXPIHbNaHxuxmH7UNOGSEWwmB Uz002PB/2PcBdiGWXQ0KZQd/NxqIrjGrCVPtN7aFOKUtra9zzUXYQB/Y3pmqpF5S HjzSnAfVWmLqC58ecLHFx1WYkSDdLAfVbt62Tusa2Tm56KJa7hb7c6adCtrq1asz /2m9UKlHMCQ= =w+Pd -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Allegations Regarding Vince Foster, the NSA, and Banking Transactions Spying, Part III by J. Orlin Grabbe The sequence of events leading the banking software company Systematics (ALLTEL Information Services) to hire a libel attorney to deny it was operating on behalf of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) began more than a decade ago. In the early 1980s, the War on (Some) Drugs and the War on (Some) Terrorists lead to various U.S. government initiatives to "follow the money." A Senate subcommittee recommended that the Treasury Department should work with the "Federal Reserve Board to develop a better understanding of the financial significance and use of currency repatriation data as well as information about foreign depositors' currency deposits." (U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, *Crime and Secrecy: The Use of Offshore Banks and Companies*, U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1983.) Over at the National Security Council, Norman A. Bailey, an economist who understood the electronic flow of money through SWIFT, Fedwire, and CHIPS, urged the involve- ment of the National Security Agency (NSA), the Ft. Meade-based Defense Department agency for signals intelligence and communications security. Bailey "confirms that within a few years the National Security Agency . . . had begun vacuuming up mountains of data by listening in on bank wire traffic. It became a joint effort of several Western governments with the Israelis playing a leading role, since they were the main target of terrorism" (James R. Norman, "Fostergate"). The NSA proceeded to jack into Fedwire, CHIPS, and Swift. Doing so would be a priority if the aim was to monitor banking transactions. But even while essential, this in itself would be of limited utility without further information. What is the use of monitoring interbank transfers that are DES-encrypted? And even if you break the code, or have the keys, what remains is a money amount transferred from one account number at one bank to another account number at another bank. Who owns the accounts? One way of finding out was the CIA method: to sneak agents working under cover as computer hardware or software suppliers into computer rooms. Sometimes a lowly computer programmer has more access to banking information than does a senior executive, so this method could enable one to piece together account names and customer information with account numbers. But such an approach is not efficient. Efficient spying implies access at all times. The evidence indicates that at some point NSA made the logical decision that continual access meant the NSA had to become a major provider of banking software. James R. Norman, Senior Editor at *Forbes*--in an article entitled "Fostergate," an article scheduled to appear in the May issue of *Forbes*, but killed at the last minute by Steve Forbes, apparently through the persuasive urging of Casper Weinberger, the former Defense Secretary who is Publisher Emeritus at *Forbes*--makes specific allegations about several companies which may have become part of such an NSA operation, and about the role of Vincent Foster: "Forbes' sources say that since at least the late 1970s, Foster had been a silent, behind-the-scenes overseer on behalf of the NSA for a small Little Rock, Ark., bank data processing company. Its name was Systematics Inc., launched in 1967 [ 1968? ] and funded and controlled for most of its life by Arkansas billionaire Jackson Stephens, a 1946 Naval Academy graduate. Foster was one of Stephens' trusted deal- makers at the Rose Law Firm, where he was partner with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Webster Hubbell and William Kennedy (whose father was a Systematics director). Hubbell also played an overseer role at Systematics for the NSA for some years according to intelligence sources. "Systematics has had close ties to the NSA and CIA ever since its founding, sources say, as a money-shuffler for covert operations. It is no secret that there were billions of dollars moving around in 'black' accounts--from buying and selling arms to the Contras, Iran, Iraq, Angola and other countries to paying CIA operatives and laundering money from clandestine CIA drug dealing. Having taken over the complete computer rooms in scores of small U.S. banks as an 'outsource' supplier of data processing, Systematics was in a unique position to manage that covert money flow. Sources say the money was moved at the end of every day disguised as a routine bank-to-bank balancing transaction.... .... "Systematics' money-laundering role for the intelligence community might help explain why Jackson Stephens tried to take over Washington-based Financial General Bankshares in 1978 on behalf of Arab backers of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. BCCI's links to global corruption and intelligence operations has been well documented, though many mysteries remain. "According to a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Stephens insisted on having then-tiny Systematics brought in to take over all the bank's data processing. Representing Systematics in that 1978 SEC case: Hillary Rodham Clinton and Webster Hubbell. Stephens was blocked in that takeover. But FGB, later renamed First American, ultimately fell under the domination of BCCI through Robert Altman and former Defense Sec. Clark Clifford. According to a technician who worked at First American in Atlanta, Systematics became a key computer contractor there anyway. "In the 1980s Systematics' business boomed. When it first sold stock to the public in 1983, revenues were $64 million. That had risen to $230 million by the time Stephens arranged Systematics' sale to Alltel Corp., a telephone holding company which then moved its headquarters to Little Rock. Last year Systematics sales hit $861 million--a third of Alltel's total. Stephens now owns more than 8% of Alltel and wields significant influence over the company. .... "Another curious company is Arkansas Systems, founded in 1974 by Systematics employee and former U.S. Army 'analyst' John Chamberlain. Located just down the road from Systematics, Arkansas Systems specializes in computer systems for foreign wire transfer centers and central banks. Among its clients, Russia and China, according to Arkansas Systems president James K. Hendren, a physicist formerly involved with the Safeguard anti-missile system. Arkansas Systems was one of the first companies to receive funding from the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, an agency created by then Gov. Bill Clinton that is now coming under congressional scrutiny. "What does Alltel have to say about all this? 'I've never heard anything so asinine in all my life,' steams Joe T. Ford, Alltel's chairman and the father of Jack Stephens' chief administrative aide." Charles O. Morgan, on the other hand, claims omniscience with respect to what did *not* happen with respect to Systematics. [to be continued] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBL/eZYmX1Kn9BepeVAQHiTgP/WiDyJnMtplKeo8gFLEaSUE4IrLISFchZ i0oy5Lrl10ty0Xj5QIJBx+zUw/aKOOakMkKYcO02UNPubANtg2NY7NLRcVj5C6z6 WHatFUYtLLtOIM1Z9GG6fIGeq0c2I6sr3RBgd+HonSrAfjOACy4BnFLOA4mMQxPY oK6XgsqNSx0= =fSpC -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Allegations Regarding Vince Foster, the NSA, and Banking Transactions Spying, Part IV by J. Orlin Grabbe In an April 5, 1995, letter to Michael Geltner (10 E Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003)--an attorney for Agora, Inc.-- Charles O. Morgan asserts; "6. Webster Hubbell never served as an attorney or in any other capacity for ALLTEL Corporation, or for any of its operations or subsidiaries, other than a single instance in 1983, when Systematics, Inc., engaged Mr. Hubbell to pursue a competitor that was using Systematics, Inc.'s propriety software without authorization; ..." In his admirable zeal to defend his client Systematics, Mr. Charles O. Morgan apparently forgot to do any research regarding the allegations he was denying. For his denial is mistaken. Web Hubbell (along with Hillary Rodham Clinton) represented Systematics in a 1978 lawsuit. In 1978 Jackson Stephens tried to take over Financial General Bankshares (FGB) in Washington, D.C. (FGB was later acquired by BCCI, renamed First American, and run by Robert Altman and Clark Clifford. Robert Altman was later acquitted of mis- leading regulators, and the case against Clifford was dropped due to his age and infirmity.) In the Stephens' takeover attempt, FGB sued--among others--Systematics. Briefs for Systematics were submitted by C.J. Giroir, Web Hubbell, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. The essential details may be found in the article "Who is Jack Ryan?" (*Wall Street Journal*, Monday, August 1, 1994): "Attorneys for Mr. Clifford and Mr. Altman included independent counsel Robert Fiske and Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, as well as Robert Bennett, president Clinton's attorney in the Paula Corbin Jones case. And, of course, Arkansas investment banking giant Stephens Inc., which says all connect- ions with the BCCI front men ended in 1978, does acknowledge it handled their initial brokerage for the purchase. "Indeed, in the early takeover maneuvers Financial General Bankshares, First American's predecessor company, brought a 1978 lawsuit naming 'Bert Lance, Bank of Credit & Commerce International, Agha Hasan Abedhi, Eugene J. Metzger, Jackson Stephens, Stephens Inc., Systematics Inc. and John Does numbers 1 through 25.' The suit was ultimately settled, but intriguingly, briefs for Systematics, a Stephens property, were submitted by a trio of lawyers including C.J. Giroir and Webster L. Hubbell and signed by Hillary Rodham." First American was subsequently used by the CIA to manage and launder money for covert operations. As noted in a U.S. Senate report: "After the CIA knew that BCCI was as an institution a fundamentally corrupt criminal enterprise, it continued to use both BCCI and First American, BCCI's secretly held U.S. subsidiary, for CIA operations. ... "Kamal Adham, who was the CIA's principal liason for the entire Middle East from the mid-1960s through 1979, was the lead frontman for BCCI in its takeover of First American, was an important nominee shareholder for BCCI, and remains one of the key players in the entire BCCI affair." (Senator John Kerry and Senator Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: a Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate*, GPO, December 1992.) The Arkansas connection to CIA covert operations and First American may help explain why "independent" counsel Robert Fiske failed to find much evidence of wrong-doing in his investigation into Whitewater. And perhaps it also helps explain why Charles O. Morgan does such sloppy research, for as we have seen, Web Hubbell represented his client Systematics Inc. five years prior to the "single instance in 1983" that Charles O. Morgan claims. Does Charles O. Morgan have a blind spot where intelligence activities are concerned? Surely he has thought about the issue, for in his April 5, 1995, letter to Michael Geltner, Morgan sweepingly asserts: "4. None of ALLTEL's operations or subsidiaries has ever had any connection in any capacity with the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, or any other similar agency in the United States Government; ..." How can Charles O. Morgan possibly know this about his client, given that he *doesn't even know about that Systematics Inc. was a defendent in a lawsuit brought by Financial General Bankshares, or that Systematics was involved in a takeover attempt of FGB/First American even prior to BCCI's?* The BCCI affair was hardly a minor political story. So what does Charles O. Morgan deny about Vincent Foster? James R. Norman, Senior Editor at *Forbes*, writes: "Vince Foster a spy? Actually, it is much worse than that, if the CIA's suspicions are confirmed by the ongoing foreign counterintelligence probe. He would have been an invaluable double agent with potential access to not only high level political information, but also to sensitive code, encryption and data transmission secrets--the stuff by which modern war is won or lost. That is because for many years, according to nine separate current and former U.S. law enforcement or intelligence officials, Foster had been a behind-the-scenes manager of a key support company in one of the biggest, most secretive spy efforts on record: the silent surveillance of banking trans- actions both here and abroad." (James R. Norman, *Fostergate*.) [to be continued] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBL/t2CGX1Kn9BepeVAQEvaAP/Q3E3bPyPImYriWaXI2NxI7qvseuRA8xh RLB/BVI3jALVcMqtzBbP5lXfccIYdfxIW9ZJdkVRpor2lx2lMprzK/INd+3O53Oz /1/0cJ6P+BxZ9kN0OboFnTn9Cd0WjEL8Dmjp19AJN0SL+7O+ME30HaSpf6oQgi12 i+MusMzh8iQ= =8IOq -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From: lar+jen@interaccess.com (Larry + Jennie) Newsgroups: alt.politics.usa.constitution Subject: CIA Cocaine via Contras and Arkansas Date: Mon, 1 Jan 1996 13:43:36 -0600 Organization: InterAccess,Chicagoland's Full Service Internet Provider Lines: 82 "Contras, Drug Smuggling Questions Remain About Arkansas Airport" By Julie Stewart September 24, 1991 The Associated Press MENA, Ark. (AP) - A state police investigator says that not long ago he would have laughed at the idea of illegal drugs and arms shipments to Nicaraguan rebels going through the airport in this western Arkansas city. But that was before Arkansas' attorney general and a congressman last week asked the Iran-Contra prosecutor to look at evidence that Mena's Intermountain Regional Airport was linked to drug smuggling and the Contras. "Now I can mildly sit back and listen to talk of military training, Central and South Americans involved with the Iran-Contra scandal," said investigator Russell Welch. He helped amass a 34-volume investigative file on cocaine smuggling at the airport in the early 1980s. On Sept. 17, state Attorney General Winston Bryant, U.S. Rep. Bill Alexander and two aides took boxes of information to the office of Lawrence Walsh, the Iran-Contra prosecutor. Bryant said it would take the prosecutor's office a week or two to evaluate the material. "We gave to them what in our opinion is credible evidence of gunrunning, illegal drug smuggling, money laundering and the governmental cover-up and possibly a criminal conspiracy in connection with the Mena airport," Bryant said. Walsh spokeswoman Mary Belcher said Tuesday that his office won't comment on whether he'll investigate the Mena case, or any other case. "I'm not able to discuss decisions made in the office regarding future actions of the investigation," she said. Investigations by various agencies of activities at the airport have been going on since the early 1980s. The Arkansas Committee, a student group at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, has prodded Bryant to pursue the Mena case. Committee president Mark Swaney said the case is "a murky situation." He believes CIA connections to activities at the airport have been documented through telephone records, trial testimony and other sources. The committee, which has been working with the Christic Foundation, a legal foundation in Washington that has focused on the Iran-Contra investigation. The committee says it also has gotten pertinent records through the Freedom of Information Act. Welch said the state police investigation looked only at allegations of drug smuggling at the airport in 1982 and 1983, focusing on smuggler Barry Seal, who based his planes at Mena. Seal transported cocaine for Colombia's Medellin cartel, one of the world's top cocaine distributors, according to prosecutors at the trial of three Colombians who were convicted of assassinating Seal in 1986. Seal became a government informant. Prosecutors at the trial of the three Colombians said Seal was slain to prevent him from testifying against Medellin cartel kingpins. Former Internal Revenue Service investigator William Duncan worked with Welch on the Seal investigation. Duncan left the IRS in 1988, charging that IRS lawyers advised him to lie to Congress about a top Justice Department official being bribed to derail a federal investigation of Seal's activities in Mena. Duncan now is the chief Medicaid fraud investigators for Arkansas' attorney general. On July 24, 1991, Duncan testified before a House subcomittee probing the extent of unethical practices within the IRS. He said evidence he had collected in the last 18 months indicated that the Mena airport "was an important hub-waypoint for trans-shipment of drugs, weapons and Central American Contra and Panamanian Defense Force personnel between 1984 and 1986," when Congress barred the CIA from supplying the Contras with military assistance. The Contras were fighting against the leftist Sandinista government at the time. In July 1989, Alexander, D-Ark., accused the IRS of having blocked congressional and police efforts to investigate an alleged drugs-for-arms operation linking Mena and Central America. IRS officials did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday. ______________ This report came out well before the 1992 Presidential Campaign rolled into gear. Isn't it odd that neither President George Bush nor Governor Bill Clinton ever used this information to trash the other? Is this the reason why Bush and Clinton made a quid pro quo where Bush won't criticize Clinton and Clinton won't investigate Bush? Larry