Time: Fri Dec 05 14:23:00 1997 To: From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Ron Brown's Mysterious Death - Assassination & Cover-Up? (fwd) Cc: Bcc: sls, friends References: <snip> > > At about the same time, a conservative legal group, Judicial > Watch, was investigating the possibly illegal ties of Brown and > his Commerce Department to DNC fund-raising efforts. Using a > Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, Judicial Watch focused on > Commerce's overseas trade missions and whether participants were > selected because they had been major donors to the DNC. Judicial > Watch had already identified John Huang, a Commerce official and > former DNC fund-raiser, as a target of its suit. > > Huang had also been APAC's major fund-raiser and was president > of the Lippo Group USA, the American arm of the now-famous > Indonesian firm headed by Mochtar Riady. Lippo has had > longstanding ties to Bill Clinton and alleged links to the fund- > raising scandal and the Chinese government. As part of its suit, > Judicial Watch had taken a deposition from Huang and was > preparing to take a deposition from Brown. > > Another curious figure was Melinda Yee of APAC, who became > Brown's personal assistant at Commerce. Months later, after the > 1996 election had passed, new scrutiny by Congress and the media > would place some of these individuals - including Huang, Yee and > the Lums - and groups like APAC at the center of a massive, > perhaps illicit, fund-raising effort by the Clinton-Gore > campaign. > > But as of April 3, 1996, these matters had received little > public or press attention, and Brown's death appeared to make > them irrelevant. Six hours after the official confirmation of > Brown's demise, Pearson quietly announced he was closing his > probe of Brown. > > THE CRASH > > According to Nolanda Hill, originally Brown was not scheduled to > head up the trade mission to the Balkans that ended in his > death. She says at the last minute - after Pearson's subpoenas > were issued - the White House asked Brown to join the > delegation. > > Given the later questions about DNC fund raising, his own > involvement in that effort, and the timing of his death as the > Pearson inquiry was getting into gear, it may have been > inevitable that questions would be raised about the plane crash > itself. > > Hill herself has alleged, with no real basis other than > suspicion, that Brown's plane crash was no accident. Her > suspicion may also have something to do with the fact that > Brown's death left her holding the bag. Pearson's investigation > of her was turned over to the Justice Department, where that > inquiry continues today. Hill has also alleged that when she was > first informed of Brown's death, an Army undersecretary told her > Brown's plane had crashed in the Adriatic and Navy divers were > already on the scene. > > Confusion often reigns when disaster strikes, and later becomes > the fodder of conspiracy mills. But legitimate questions about > the crash remain outstanding. According to the official Air > Force report on the Brown crash - which totals more than 17,000 > pages bound in 22 volumes - the government identified three > causes. > > First, a paperwork foul-up had not alerted Air Force personnel > that the Dubrovnik airport and its approaches had never been > certified as safe by the Air Force. Second, the approach to > Runway 12, the one assigned to the Brown plane for landing, had > not been designed properly by the Croatians. And third, > according to the Air Force, gross pilot error contributed to the > crash. The plane's pilots flew on a heading some 10 degrees to > the left of their proper course, driving the jet directly into > the side of a nearby mountain, St. John's Hill. The Air Force > report suggested the pilots likely used improper timing methods > to aid navigation and were coordinating their course based on > the wrong ground navigation beacon. > > The pilot of the Brown plane was an "evaluator pilot" for the > type of aircraft that crashed, the most senior pilot flying that > type of plane in the squadron. He had accumulated nearly 3,000 > flight hours, and his co-pilot had even more time flying the > same plane. Despite the voluminous Air Force report, critics of > the investigation have suggested that the inquiry was > compromised from the beginning because investigators began with > the assumption the crash was simply an accident. > > On the day of the crash, and though American rescuers and > investigators were hours if not days from the scene, spokesmen > at the White House and Pentagon ruled out hostile fire - though > the region had been the center of a military conflict of long > duration. Almost all initial press reports referred to terrible > weather the Brown plane encountered, implying that might have > been a cause. > > One day after the crash, with no real investigation under way, > Secretary of Defense William Perry told the AP that the Brown > crash was "a classic sort of accident that good instrumentation > should be able to prevent." These initial statements from > politicians carried over to the first phase of the Air Force > inquiry, which is supposed to treat every military plane crash > as suspicious until the investigation is completed. > > Air Force procedure calls for a two-step investigation. The > first inquiry is called a safety board, which convenes to > determine if the plane crashed as a result of accident, hostile > fire, sabotage, mechanical failure or some other cause. The > safety board is nonpunitive and secret. It exists not to assign > guilt or suggest punishment, but to gather all the relevant > details, evidence and testimony from those involved in the crash > - to determine why the plane crashed. Information gathered in > this phase can't be used in court, which encourages personnel to > come forward to admit mistakes. > > The second step, according to Air Force regulations, is the > convening of an accident/legal investigation, which does assign > guilt and exists largely to find out what happened during the > crash and its aftermath for legal proceedings. Because of its > limited scope, this part of the inquiry can be more stunted in > finding the true causes of a specific crash. In Brown's case, > the Air Force decided to suspend normal procedures and skipped > the use of the primary safety board investigation. The second > part of the inquiry, the accident/legal investigation, began > immediately after the crash. > > According to the Air Force, the only other instance in recent > memory when the safety board was skipped followed the crash of > two Army Blackhawk helicopters in Iraq in the wake of the Gulf > War. In essence, the Air Force assumed the crash was an accident > from the beginning. > > Air Force spokesman Maj. Ed Worley said the safety board was > skipped because of its secret nature and because the Air Force > wanted to make "full public disclosure as soon as possible" to > the public and Congress. "This was an odd case," Worley > explained. "We were flying the secretary of commerce, and a > decision was made early on that for the public interest we would > conduct an accident, not a safety board. That was our overriding > concern and we were not overlooking something." > > OTHER ISSUES > > A number of other unusual facts and anomalies regarding the > crash have emerged since issuance of the Air Force's report: > > *The weather. Initial press reports stated the Brown plane > attempted to land in extremely poor weather, including heavy > rains, winds and lightning. Newsweek magazine reported that it > was "the worst storm in 10 years." Time magazine reported "the > worst storm in a decade was raging." Even Hillary Clinton wrote > in her weekly column that the plane crashed "in a violent > rainstorm." Yet the Air Force investigation report concluded > "the weather was not a substantially contributing factor to this > mishap." Why was the Air Force so sure? Simple. There was no > major storm. > > According to the report, the weather conditions broadcast by the > control tower were basically good: winds were at 14 mph, with > only a light to moderate rain. Less than 50 minutes before the > Brown plane crashed, an executive jet carrying U.S. Ambassador > Peter Galbraith and the premier of Croatia landed at the same > airport. The pilot of that plane later said, "I was sure they > would land." > > The only possible hindrance to landing was scattered cloud cover > at 500 feet and solid cloud cover at 2,000 feet. Since Dubrovnik > airport sits between the Adriatic on one side and a mountain > range on another, clouds frequently blanket the mountainside, > making an instrument approach a necessity. > > *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." > > A related curious matter was the Air Force report's revelation > that a backup portable navigation beacon, formerly stored at the > airport, had been stolen before the crash and has never been > recovered. Conspiracy buffs have suggested Brown's plane may > have been a victim of "spoofing" - aviation slang for what > happens when a spurious navigation beacon is used to trick a > pilot to change course. > > *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. > >------------------------------------------------------------------ > > "Ron Brown's 'accident': Confusion or Cover-up" > http://www.serv.net/~mjenn/ronbr.html > By Nick Guarino > >Ever since the crash, most reporters and officials have refused to >even consider the possibility of foul play. Some of them are >merely following orders. But most have instinctively fled from >the highly disturbing possibility that Ron Brown was assassinated >by people close to his own President. They are confronted with >the brutal impossibility of two experienced pilots following a VOR >beam into a mountain 1.6 miles of course. So they all shrug their >shoulders in bewilderment. None of their theories have come even >close to explaining how a beacon that is accurate to within two >feet at the landing point could lead the plane so far astray. But >they have tried: E The Air Force's official explanation is that >the pilots set the compass on the airplane 10 degrees off course. >That is absurd. Besides having an electric compass, the plane was >also equipped with a magnetic compass. Pilots routinely set their >compasses right before takeoff. If the compass was set off 10 >degrees, they could not have been on course when they passed the >first beacon, 11.8 miles from the airport. Instead they would >have been miles and miles off course at this point. To make this >explanation even more absurd, the plane was flying on the VOR >signal, not the compass. That explains the half-truth. Yes, the >plane was flying 10 degrees off course, but it was because the VOR >beam had been tampered with. E One desperate explanation was that >a nasty cross wind blew" the plane sideways. Not credible. This >wind would require a wind 90 degrees off the actual wind E Most of >the press and officialdom have blamed poor visibility. To do >this, they have taken the ferocity of the rainstorm later that >afternoon and evening -- and moved it back in time to the crash >hour. But records show the weather from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm was >simply not that bad. It was well above the minimum required for >landing. And VHF beacons NEVER get blown off course by the wind. >Pilot fatigue and strain? Not likely on a 45- minute flight. >Equipment malfunction on a rickety old plane? IFOR-2l was the >number two plane in the White House fleet -- in essence, Air Force >2. It had carried Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Defense >Secretary William Perry just the week before. Everything about >the flight was checked-out and rehearsed a week in advance. >Lightning or other troubles causing the pilots to lose track of >the beam? No, they were both drilled in the standard procedure >for Cilipi: if you lose the beam or miss the airport, you >immediately veer TO THE RIGHT AND UP to make sure you avoid Sveti >Ivan. Indisputably, the pilots thought they were following the >beacon. Otherwise, they would have executed the standard right >turn within seconds. Plus, their landing gear was locked down. >They expected to land at any moment. > >In sum, none of the "official" explanations to date hold any >water. And all of them ignore the glaring fact that IFOR-21 did >not simply stray off path at the last moment. By all accounts, she >went straight as an arrow to her doom, the moment she left the >Kolocep Island beacon and picked up the Cilipi beacon. The problem >had to be the Cilipi beacon, which was broadcast to cause the >plane to fly 10 degrees too far north. > >And even worse > >Could the problem have been that technician Niko Jerkuic had let >his equipment become run-down? No. Thousands of landings had taken >place while his equipment was running. Some, just minutes before >IFOR2. To transmit a VOR beacon that's ten degrees off, has got to >be done intentionally. Yes, that VOR system is old and antiquated. >But the fact is, millions of flights land successfully all around >the U.S. every year, using the same old, antiquated equipment. A >magnetic compass is old and antiquated. Columbus sailed to the new >world with one. But to this day, every ship and plane in the world >uses the same old, antiquated magnetic compass. They use them >because they work. > >Obviously, this explanation could do double duty, by aiding the >suicide theory. In this scenario, Jerkuic simply felt so bad about >his shoddy work that he shot himself. Unfortunately for the >theory, you can't just accidentally bump a knob and make the whole >VOR apparatus line up planes with Sveti Ivan. It takes a sustained >effort, from an expert technician. > >Plus, the same beacon had guided other planes safely onto the >runway, just before IFOR-2 1. So Jerkuic had to have made his >adjustment at the last minute. Alternative scenario: It is very >possible -- and a bit simpler -- that Jerkuic simply shut his >beacon down. At the same moment, a decoy beacon would have been >turned on by a fellow operative sitting on Sveti Ivan. A decoy >beacon easily fits in a jeep. This is an old, old trick. > >The question arises: could not the whole issue be resolved by a >quick review of the tapes at the control tower? They probably >could -- if the tapes had not suddenly disappeared. And couldn't >the air traffic controller shed some light on things? Certainly. >But now he, too, has "committed suicide" -- which, by the way, is >a rare event for such a cause in Croatian culture I repeat: No >official anywhere is facing these facts. As a result, their >"explanations" are laced with words like "mysterious" and >"unknown" and "inexplicably" and "unfortunate." > >Air Force investigation killed for the 1st time in history. > >The chief investigator for Pratt & Whitney happened to be at the >Paris Air Show on April 3. Pratt & Whitney always sends an >investigator when a plane powered by their engines has a mishap. >So the man called his boss in America, and said in effect, "We >just had a crash in Croatia. I think I'd better get down there." >The response was "Go pack." But as the investigator was packing at >his hotel, his boss called back. "DON'T go," he told the >astonished employee. "There's not going to be a safety >investigation." For the first time in its history, the Air Force >had canceled the safety investigation of a crash on friendly soil. >There would only be a quick token legal investigation, designed to >enable a committee to blame the pilots and some Air Force brass, >and go home. > >At this time, it's an open question whether the black boxes will >play a role. Within hours after the crash, the Croatian Ministry >of Transport announced they had the black boxes. One and a half >days after the crash, Croatian TV (plus Russian and French TV) >announced the FDR (flight data recorder) and the CVR (cockpit >voice recorder) were safely in the hands of the U.S. Marines. They >said that soon, "the cause of the crash will be assessed to find >out what happened." The U.S. European command in Stuttgart, >Germany,also stated that a black box was aboard. Later, the >Pentagon brass stoutly denied all this. They said there were NO >black boxes aboard. They claimed the actual recovered boxes were >designed to hold soda pop and toilet paper. (In fact, the black >boxes are painted bright orange, so investigators can more easily >find and identify them. The Croats, who feel they can tell a reel >of tape from a roll of toilet paper, are keeping mum.) It is hard >to imagine that America's #2 VIP plane had no black box. And a >veteran Air Force mechanic, who claims to have worked on just >about every T-43A in the USAF, tells me he never saw one without a >black box. > >Why would anyone want to murder Ron Brown. > >By all accounts, Ron Brown was a charming fellow who worked very >hard and effectively to promote U.S business. Why, then, would >anyone want to kill him? And who would have the resources to do it >by bringing down the #2 airplane in the White House fleet? The >answer, in brief, is that Ron Brown was going to prison -- no ifs, >and's or but's about it. Also Bill Clinton's presidency was surely >going down with him. And the President could not allow that. To >anyone who has followed the story closely, this conclusion is >inescapable. Brown was up to his neck in numerous major scandals: >Whitewater, the Denver airport mess, Mensa, the Keating Five, >Lillian Madsen and her Haitian prostitutes, etc. Small wonder that >22 congressmen wrote Clinton in February 1995. Demanding he fire >Brown. At the time of his murder, Brown was under investigation >by: a special prosecutor in the Justice Department; 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. > >But in case you missed the piecemeal accounts in the papers, here >is an extremely condensed summary of 11 of Brown's woes. As I'll >show below, many of them were shortly going to become Bill >Clinton's woes: > >1. How did North Vietnam recently get the U.S. to drop its trade >embargo against them so suddenly? Easy. As a leading Vietnamese >businessman and official revealed to the press, the Communist >government paid Brown $700,000 to do it. The money went into a >Singapore bank account, the embargo fell, and Clinton squashed a >feeble FBI attempt to investigate. He and Brown also neutralized a >federal grand jury probe later. > >2. Brown sold plane seats on other trade trips besides the one to >Bosnia/Croatia. Companies making big contributions to the >Democratic Party or the Clinton Victory Fund could buy access and >tax break or regulatory favors. > >3. The 1-23-95 U.S. News World Report broke the news that Brown >had bought a $360,000 townhouse for his girlfriend, Lillian >Madsen, a prominent political player and whorehouse madam from >Haiti. > >4. Brown used to receive $12,500 a month as the P.R. agent for >Baby Doc Duvalier, the much-loathed dictator of Haiti. Brown >received this money for nearly five years, while he was a member >of the Democratic National Committee. Brown also managed Baby >Doc's $50 million Investment fund, most or all of which is now in >Vietnam firms. > >5. Brown was a key board member of Chemfix, a Louisiana "waste >management" corporation that landed a $210 million contract with >New York City in 1990, with Brown's help. That was despite the >fact that Chemfix had two other contracts with other >municipalities canceled because of its inability to perform. Brown >got company stock at 24% of market value, making him millions. New >York mayor David Dinkins got to host the Democratic Convention. A >typical Ron Brown win-win deal. > >6. Brown founded Capital Pebsco, which -- fresh out of the box -- >got a contract with Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry to handle >the city's pension funds. Not a bad start for a new company with >no investing experience. > >7. In a deal that has left CIA pedple livid, Brown okayed the sale >of a new U.S. gas turbine engine to China. China will use the >engines in its cruise missiles. McDonnell Douglas developed the >turbine as a military engine. But Brown arbitrarily reclassified >it as "civilian." That let China build a fleet of missiles, using >U.S. engines and technology, which they can point at (who else?) >the U.S. > >8. Brown irked Congress and most of Europe by acting as point man >for Clinton to bring Iranian influence and weapons into the >Bosnian War. That broke the U.S.- endorsed arms embargo. The money >for the arms most likely came from Commerce and Agriculture, slush >fund money channeled to U.S. manufacturers; from there to U.S.- >friendly nations and firms overseas; and from there to Iran. The >arms included helicopter gunships, big artillery, stinger >missiles, land mines, anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank weapons, >grenade launchers, and other quality weapons. Most of the arms >will stay on the European scene for decades to come, keeping the >area destabilized. As one leading munitions dealer put it: >"Iran/Contra was slingshots and cap guns compared to the >quantities and size of arms given the Croatian Serbs" That is why >the Croatian Muslims enthusiastically hosted Brown's planeload of >executives. They felt gratitude for the free arms, as well as a >desire to do deals. > >9. Brown was the partner of a Democratic fund-raiser named Nolanda >Hill. Hill paid Brown $500,000 for his 50% interest in First >International, Inc., a company that never made any profits. Most >glaringly, Brown never invested a cent in First International. >First International owned Corridor Broadcasting, which had >defaulted on massive government loans of $40 million. The loans >were passed on to the FDIC, which was unsuccessful in collecting >anything from Hill. Yet at the same time, First International was >making large contributions to the Democratic Party, and paying >hundreds of thousands of dollars to Brown, through shell >corporations. These payments to Brown -- thr6e checks for $45,000 >each -- were the core of Representative Clinger's evidence that >forced Janet Reno to hire Daniel Pearson as special investigator >of Brown's crimes. They were cashier's checks, all cut the same >day in 1993, with sequential numbers. Yet supposedly, the money >came from three contributors, acting independently. Brown never >disclosed or paid any taxes on these amounts. > >10. By personally delivering a warning letter signed by Clinton, >Brown was able to force a bargain deal with the Saudis for $6 >billion in American military aircraft and hardware. To get the >planes, the Saudis also had to accept a fat $4 billion phone >contract with AT&T: otherwise, they would get no aircraft. Also >part of the deal: AT&T had a multi-million dollar side agreement >with Brown's First International, which was hired as a >"consultant" (see above). And the Democratic National Committee >and the Clinton campaign fund were beneficiaries. This is how big >business is done in Clinton's America. > >11. The last nail in Brown's coffin was pounded in four days >before his crash. FBI and IRS agents subpoenaed as many as 20 >witnesses for a serious new grand jury probe of Brown in >Washington. It seems that an Oklahoma gas company called Dynamic >Energy Resources gave Brown's son Michael $500,000 in stock, a $ >160,000 cash payment, and exclusive country club memberships. >Former Dynamic president Stewart Price told a Tulsa grand jury >that the money was to be routed to Ron Brown, who was expected to >"fix" a big lawsuit for Dynamic. There is little chance you heard >about this death-knell, grand jury case. Radio station KTOK in >Oklahoma reported it on March 28, 1996; the Washington Times made >it a front-page story on March 29. But then a lock was put on the >story. The AP and New York Times wire services blocked any further >release of the information. Welcome to the new world order. > >Final proof: > >The 2-8-96 Washington Post reported Brown had retained top legal >gun Reid Weingarten, a former high official in the Justice >Department, as his criminal attorney. You don't pay his price >($750 an hour) unless you know a criminal indictment is coming, >and you're probably going to jail. Janet Reno appointed Daniel >Pearson as Brown's special prosecutor earlier this year. She gave >him blanket permission to investigate anything. That's when Brown >angrily demanded that Clinton force her to withdraw Pearson. But >Reno couldn't do that. She had been backed into a comer by Rep. >William F. Clinger, Jr., chairman of the House Government Reform >and Oversight Committee. Clinger had copies of Brown's First >International checks, plus other incriminating documents. When >Clinton said he couldn't comply, Brown went ballistic. His fatal >mistake -- according to Brown confidants who requested anonymity - >- was telling Clinton he wasn't going to take the rap. He wasn't >going to let his wife and son take the rap, either. (Both had >received hundreds of thousands in under-the-table payments >themselves.) He was going to finger Bill and Hillary instead. That >would have sunk Bill's reelection campaign on the spot. > >Dead man walking. > >>From that point on, Brown was dead. Like Vince Foster before him, >he knew too much. He knew where all the money went for the >payoffs, bribes, scams, money laundering, cover-ups, participation >fees, hush money and side deals -- all the way from one-man >operations to vast multinational trade treaty fixes. The phony >suicide fake out used on Foster could not be repeated, of course. >But an airplane crash is always viewed as an accident. So agents >were sent -- not directly by Clinton, but through a White House >staffer -- to a standing network of high-level killers, sometimes >called the "Octopus." If the frequently stormy weather at Cilipi >had not cooperated, there would always be another trip -- >somewhere, somehow -- and soon. If the preceding data were widely >know, America would realize Bill Clinton is by far the most >dangerous man ever to live in the White House. His complex >personality certainly has a genial side. But a clear overall >picture of this man must include the brutal nature of the hit team >that carries out his muttered wishes, and looks after his >political fortunes. This is not simply the rag-tag "Arkansas >Mafia" that followed Clinton to Washington. It is a small but >extremely well-organized network of pro-establishment heavy >hitters and their ground-level operatives. With a few changes of >face, they have been on the scene since the 1970's. They are a >diverse band of high-level thugs who are the muscle squad of the >establishment. If you are a member of Congress, I urge you to >assign your most trusted staff members to investigate these >crimes. Start with a conversation with Daniel Pearson. He is still >willing to share his information. > >------------------------------------------------------------------ > ARTICLES FOR FAIR USE ONLY >------------------------------------------------------------------ > >-> Send "subscribe snetnews " to majordomo@world.std.com >-> Posted by: Spirit Of Truth Page <JPA94001@UConnVM.UConn.Edu> > > >
Return to Table of Contents for
Supreme Law School: E-mail