Subject: NORTH ACQUITTAL: ALL IN THE FAMILY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Written 4:29 pm Feb 25, 1991 by christic in cdp:christic.news 


   NORTH ACQUITTAL: ALL IN THE FAMILY 

  Project Censored: Nomination for the "Ten Best Censored Stories of 1990" 


  Substantial questions of conflict of interest should be raised in 
connection with the July 20, 1990 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in 
Washington to void the three-count conviction of former White House aide 
Oliver North on charges stemming from the Iran- contra scandal. Judge 
Laurence H. Silberman, a member of the three- judge panel that threw out the 
convictions, has ties to at least one of North's co-conspirators, and 
participated in activities that closely paralleled and possibly even 
initiated North's arms-for- hostages dealings.  

  Silberman's vote proved decisive in the court's 2-1 ruling to throw out 
North's convictions.  

  A key Iran-contra figure linked to Silberman is Robert McFarlane, 
former-President Reagan's National Security Advisor, and North's former 
boss.  In the fall of 1980, Silberman and McFarlane took part in a 
controversial meeting to discuss the possible release of the 52 American 
hostages being held in Teheran in exchange for U.S. military equipment. 
Silberman, at the time, was a top advisor to the Reagan-Bush presidential 
campaign. McFarlane was on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee. 
Also present at the meeting was Richard Allen, Silberman's immediate 
superior and chief foreign policy analyst for the Republican campaign, and 
another man who claimed to be a representative of the Iranian government.  

  The four men met in the lobby of the L'Enfant Hotel in Washington D.C., 
shortly before the 1980 presidential election. Significant details remain 
sketchy, however. "All I can remember was that there was discussion about 
somehow releasing the hostages to the Reagan campaign or under the auspices 
of the Reagan campaign...to humiliate Carter and influence our election," 
Silberman told the San Jose Mercury News.  

  In 1988, Houshang Lavi, an Iranian-born arms dealer, stepped forward 
claiming to be the "emissary" who met with Silberman, McFarlane, and Allen. 
Silberman does not deny knowing Lavi, but in an interview in Newsday, he 
stated that he was "sure" that Lavi was not the emissary at L'Enfant Plaza. 
After being confronted with Lavi's notes from the meeting, however, 
Silberman downgraded his disclaimer to being "virtually certain." 

  As we now know, both Allen and McFarlane went on to become President 
Reagan's National Security Advisor, and interestingly enough, Silberman went 
on to become the Reagan-Bush transition team's liason to the CIA during the 
period between the election and the inauguration before being appointed to 
the federal judiciary by President Reagan in 1985.  

  At this point, Judge Silberman, who made North's acquittal possible, isn't 
returning phone calls, and independent counsel Lawrence Walsh has refused 
comment on the matter. And so, it seems, has the press.  

  SOURCE: RANDOM LENGTHS, 8/16/90, "North Verdict Tainted," by David 
Armstrong, pp 1-6.  


  End of text from cdp:christic.news 
 Source: Peacenet Via New York Transfer News 718-448-2358, 718-448-2683 
---
[ This file has travelled through the Socialism OnLine! BBS
  at +1-719-392-7781, 24 hours, 300-9600 bps HST/MNP/V42bis,
  on its way to you, the reader of this file.  Please share
  any information you have about "big brother."  Venceremos! ]