Summary

IRAN-CONTRA HEARINGS WITH TESTIMONY FROM ELLEN CLAYTON GARWOOD, WILLIAM O’BOYLE ANDJ OSEPH COORS, WEATHLY DONORS INFLUENCED BY OLIVER NORTH TO MAKE LARGE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NICARAGUAN REBELS AFTER CONGRESS CUT OFFICIAL UNITED STATES AID

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 294836
Story Slug IRAN-CONTRA HEARINGS (1987)
Location WASHINGTON, DC
Format B-ROLL
Date 05/21/1989
Archive Time 10:02:30
TRT 27:24
Video Description SENATOR RUDMAN, COMMITTEE COUNSEL SPEAKING, THREE TESTIFYING STAND AND RAISE THEIR RIGHT HANDS TAKING OATH, MS OF THE THREE TESTIFYING SITTING WITH THEIR ATTORNEYS CU OF GARWOOD MAKING STATEMENT, WIDE SHOT OF JOINT COMMITTEE, COUNSEL FRYMAN ASKS QUESTIONS, GARWOOD ANSWERING QUESTIONS, O’BOYLE ANSWERS QUESTIONS, DICK CHENEY, VARIOUS SHOTS OF O’BOYLE,
Description IRAN-CONTRA HEARINGS WITH TESTIMONY FROM ELLEN CLAYTON GARWOOD, WILLIAM O’BOYLE ANDJ OSEPH COORS, WEATHLY DONORS INFLUENCED BY OLIVER NORTH TO MAKE LARGE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NICARAGUAN REBELS AFTER CONGRESS CUT OFFICIAL UNITED STATES AID
Script (SUGGESTED TRANSCRIPT OF AUDO) 00:02 The chairman in LA is detained on the floor of the Senate, but we expect he will be here momentarily 00:08 The Senate will have a number of votes throughout the day 00:15 before we start the proceedings I believe Senator Trible indicated to me, he had a question for House Counsel, Senator turtle, 00:24 Mr 00:26 Vice Chairman, I I understand in the press that general Secord may have filed an appeal with the Swiss Supreme Court to block the release of bank records yesterday Is that correct? 00:40 Mr Neal, sir, I believe the question was directed to you I'm sorry, I have heard the same thing you have, and I cannot verify it Mr I have not yet spoken to Mr Secords council to ask him one way or the other, but I will do so at the noon hour Mr Vice Chairman, if I might say briefly that I believe the proceedings of this the record of this proceeding should reflect that, according to the press, yesterday, general Secord filed a last minute appeal with the Swiss Supreme Court to block the release of bank records essential to the task of the Special Counsel and to these committees The General's actions will inevitably frustrate and delay the pursuit for truth and are totally inconsistent with his words of cooperation and good faith Unless and until we gain access to those Swiss bank records, we will be unable to determine precisely what happened to those massive amounts of money accumulated in Swiss accounts by General Secord, Mr Hakim and Mr Gabbanafar, I would note for the record that, according to public press accounts, all three have now taken legal action to block our access to those vital records Thank you, all right Thank you, Senator Tribble, Good morning, Mrs Garward and Mr O'Boyle and Mr Coors would counsel or various counsel please introduce themselves for the record 02:12 My name is Duncan Osborne I'm from Austin, Texas, from 02:18 New York City If the witnesses would please stand I'll administer the oath 02:24 Please raise your right hand testimony about to give them the course This hearing will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, to help you God 02:36 Mr Freeman of the House Committee staff is going to conduct the initial questioning of Mrs Garwood and Mr O'Boyle, and then Mr Kaplan of the Senate committee will initially question Mr Coors It is our understanding that Mrs Garwood would like the privilege of delivering a short opening statement Is that correct? Mrs Garwood, that's correct Well, if you pull that microphone up, you may proceed Thank you, Mr Chairman and members of the committee, as has been noted in the press, I have given substantial sums for the purpose of assisting the freedom seeking people of Nicaragua They are trying to achieve a non communist alternative in Central America This in itself, is important, 03:26 and it is of vital importance to the United States of America 03:35 This is the third time I have appeared in Washington, DC on the subject of aid to the freedom seeking people of Nicaragua, the first time I came to answer inquiries by the special prosecutor, the next time I appeared before the lawyers of your select investigating committees Today, I am also here to answer any questions you may have for me Thank you 04:03 Thank you very much Does anyone else have any statement to make amongst the witnesses? 04:10 If not, we will proceed to questioning Mr Freiman, would you state your full name for the record? Please My name is Ellen Garwood, Mrs St John Garwood, and in what city do you reside? Mrs Garwood, Austin, Texas Are you an author? Mrs Garwood, yes What books have you written? I've written, will Clayton, a short biography, 04:36 a novel come to me, Megan, and another biography, the undying flame Mariano Moreno of Buenos Aires, are you a widow? Mrs Garwood, yes, sir Was your husband in public service? Yes, he was What positions did he hold? He was Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas He 05:00 Uh, was your father also in public service? Yes, sir What was his name? His name is Will Clayton He was under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs in the Truman administration in 1945 05:12 to seven 05:15 Was he involved in the implementation of the Marshall Plan? Mrs Garwin, he was the originator and instigator of the Marshall Plan Mrs Garwood Do you know a gentleman named Carl channel? Yes, sir When did you first meet Mr Channel? I met him 05:34 first 05:36 in connection with the National Conservative Political Action Committee, of which Terry Dolan was the head and Carl channel was an assistant And this was, I think, around 1980 05:48 subsequent to that, did Mr Channel form an organization of his own? Yes, sir And what was the name of that organization? 05:57 He had several organizations, and one of them was the American Conservative trust I think this was the first Then he had one called the National Endowment for the preservation of liberty He had another one called 06:10 American anti terrorism committee and Sentinel 06:16 Mrs Garwoo, do you also know a colonel Oliver North? Yes, sir When did you first meet Mr North? I first met Colonel north in May of 1984 and what were the circumstances of that meeting? That was a meeting of the Council for national policy being held in 06:38 Have you the name of the place, Virginia It's 06:43 where we have the colonial restoration Williamsburg Williamsburg Yes Williamsburg, Virginia Now Mrs Garwood, in april of 1986 or prior to april of 1986 06:58 had you made various contributions to Mr Channel's organization, the National Endowment for the preservation of liberty 07:08 Prior to April, yes, sir, you had made a number of contributions Yes, I had Is that organization also called nepl or Nepal? Yes, sir 07:18 Now in april of 1986 Did you have an occasion to be in Washington DC? Yes, sir, I did What was the reason that you came to Washington, DC? This was for another meeting of the contributors to Mr Channel's organization And it was also, I was understood that I might be able to see the President that they had made an 07:43 appointment with me to see the President And did Mr Channel make the arrangements for you to come to Washington? 07:49 Yes, he did Did you see the president during that visit? Yes, I did All right, 07:56 what did Mr Channel tell you in advance of your coming to Washington, he told me also that I would probably be asked, or I would be asked for a great deal more, a great, much larger donation than I had been asked for before, for the National Endowment for the preservation of liberty 08:17 Did he indicate that you would be meeting with anyone else in Washington apart from himself and the President 08:26 Well, I think it was understood that it would probably be Colonel north 08:30 Now, did you meet with Colonel North after you arrived in Washington? Yes, sir Where did you meet with him? 08:38 I met with him at the hay Adams hotel in the evening, after dinner, and who else was present? And Mr Channel 08:47 Where was that meeting? At the hay Adams It was in a sort of corner of a little room adjoining the cocktail room Now, when the three of you went into that room, what do you recall that Mr Channel said, and Colonel North said 09:04 Mr Channel said that there was a crisis in the situation of the freedom fighting forces in Nicaragua And 09:15 then Colonel North appeared and described this crisis 09:20 Now, was there any discussion of any particular needs of the resistance forces in Nicaragua? He said that they were in such a bad condition that they were out of food, they were out of 09:36 clothes and medicine, other necessities, and also practically out of weapons What was said in that meeting between Mr Channel and Colonel North about weapons, 09:51 the colonel North had said also that they might cease to exist if something weren't done about these various needs and 10:00 And then Mr Channel and Colonel North spoke in low tones to each other And after they had finished, 10:10 Mr Channel produced a list of weapons that they needed Could you tell that Mr Channel and Colonel north were discussing weapons in this lowered voice, it only seemed that they were after this list appeared And did Mr Channel give you this list? Yes, he did And could you describe the list? What sort of information was on it? The list had different categories of weapons Had hand grenades, I remember, and 10:45 bullets, cartridge belts, possibly surface to air missiles 10:51 And they were, there were quantities opposite each category And after that, there was a sum of money that was needed in order to provide those weapons, that those weapons would cost Was there an amount of money for each type of weapon? Yes, sir And was there also a total amount? I think there was a total amount What was the approximate total amount? The approximate total amount was over a million dollars And 11:21 I'm not sure just exactly what it was It was over probably a million and a half something like that 11:28 Did Colonel north in this meeting ask you to make a contribution for weapons? After No, Colonel North did not Did Mr Channel ask you to make a contribution? Channel did after Colonel North left, what did he say? He said, This is the list of things needed, and can you do something about it? Can you help provide for this and some of the other needs that Colonel North had described, and I said, it's a tremendous amount of money I don't know whether I can afford to do it, whether I am able to or not, I will have to consult my banker back in Austin 12:08 Did you then return to Austin, Texas? Yes, sir What did you do with the list? 12:14 Well, I returned on Sunday afternoon and on Monday morning I took the list to Mrs Anne Glanz, who is the manager of my trust account at the interverse Bank in Austin, and asked her if, and showed her the list, and asked her if it were possible for me to supply the funds needed for that And what was her response? She said, I think you can, but I think we will have to sell some stock We certainly don't have the cash 12:45 Do you know what Mrs Glanz did with the list? Mrs Glanz, I asked her afterwards for the list about two or three days afterwards, because I left all of the arrangement of the transfer of the stocks and so forth To Mr Channel I left all this to her, as you know, my husband was ill, and I wanted Mrs Glance to take care of all this So two or three days later, I asked her for the list, 13:16 and she said she had given it to my lawyer, to Mr Osborne, who is here, 13:21 and have you asked Mr Osborne about the list? Yes, sir, 13:27 I immediately called him to get it, 13:29 and he said that he his memory was that he had given it back to Mrs 13:36 Glantz Mr Osborn recalls seeing the list, but he did not have the list Is that right? And Mrs Glanz recall seeing the list Is that correct? Yes, sir And has she been able to locate the list? She has not been able either She has looked, I have looked and and Mr Osborne has looked It was a very small piece of paper and easily lost 13:58 Now, following 14:00 the presentation of this list to you by Mr Channel Did you make a contribution to nepl in response to Mr Channel's request? Yes, sir And were those contributions in April and May of 1986 14:18 as I remember they were? And were they a combination of wire transfers of cash and contributions of stock? That's right That's correct 14:30 Ms Garwood, would you look at the exhibit book? 14:40 And particularly exhibit ECG one is that a letter that you sent to Mr Channel notifying him that you had made a wire transfer $470,000 14:57 on or about April 15, 1987, 15:00 Six, yes, sir And that also notifies Mr Channel of the transfer of various shares of stock, does it not That's right? Would you look at exhibit ECG two? 15:13 Is that an acknowledgement that any PL sent to your lawyer stating that the value of the wire transfer and the stock contribution was $1,633,506 15:31 that's correct, sir And would you look at exhibit ECG three? 15:37 Is that a letter that you sent to Mr Channel on May 19, notifying him of a further wire transfer of $350,000 15:47 Yes, sir Now do those documents reflect the contributions that you made to Mr Channels organization in response to his request for a contribution for the items on the list that he gave to you That's true 16:07 Thank you Ms Garwood, I have a few questions for Mr O'Boyle 16:15 First, Mr O'Boyle, would you state your full name for the record? My name is William Buchanan O'Boyle, and in what city do you reside? Mr O'Brien, I live in New York City Would you briefly describe your educational background? 16:29 I have a bachelor's degree from Stanford University, master's degree from Columbia University and a master's degree from New York University 16:40 Are you a private investor? Mr O'Boyle, yes, I am Is there any particular area where your investments are centered? I'm active primarily in the oil and gas business I own and manage an oil and gas exploration company 16:55 Mr O'Boyle, in March of 1986 16:59 Did you receive a telephone call from a representative of nepl Yes, I did Who was this representative, Jane McLaughlin, and was this in late March, 1986 Yes What did Ms McLaughlin say to you in this telephone call? 17:18 She indicated that she'd been given by my name by an old friend from Texas, and that 17:26 she wanted to know if I might be interested in coming down to the White House for a briefing on the political and military situation in Nicaragua What 17:36 was your response? I told her I was interested 17:41 When did she ask you to come the next day? And did you go? Yes, I did 17:48 How did you travel to Washington? I came down on the shuttle, and you came to national airport Yes Did Ms McLaughlin meet you? Yes, she did How did you travel into Washington? She met me in a limousine, and we went back to the hay Adams hotel in limousine What happened after you arrived at the hay Adams 18:09 Well, we rendezvoused there with a number of staff members from nepl and several other people who were possible contributors to nepl 18:20 Did you meet Mr Channel at 18:23 this on this occasion? Yes, was that the first time you'd met him? Yes, it was 18:29 Were there representatives from any other organization at this 18:34 meeting? Yes, there were representatives from a group called IBC I think that's International Business Communications Now, 18:44 on this day, did you meet a Mr Richard Miller from IBC? Yes, I did later, later in that day, yes 18:55 How long did this initial meeting at the hay Adams with Mr Channel and the others last about half an hour, as I recall, and what happened after this meeting, the group went over to the old executive office building, 19:09 went through security at the old executive office building, and we went up to a conference room 19:16 where we waited for Colonel north to appear Approximately how large was the group? Mr Aboy, about 10 people or so, 1012 people, something like that And then Mr Colonel North arrived at the conference room That's right And did he speak to the group? Yes, he did What did he say? 19:37 He described the military and political situation in Nicaragua He 19:45 had photographs of an airport in Nicaragua that had been recently built 19:51 The purpose of the airport was ostensibly commercial, but it was in fact a disguised military airport, one of 20:00 The uses for which the airport was intended was to recover the Russian backfire bombers after they made a nuclear attack on the United States 20:10 Another possible use of this airport was to fly a certain kind of mission that was currently being flown out of Cuba, up and down the East Coast of the United States Apparently, every day, a Russian plane leaves Cuba, as I recall, and goes right up the 12 mile limit, has some kind of a large device on the outside of the plane We don't know what it is exactly, our planes follow it right along come back This Nicaraguan air base would allow the Russians to fly the same kind of mission up the West Coast of the United States He 20:44 showed how the 20:46 harbors in Nicaragua were being enlarged, 20:50 how the harbors were filled with Eastern Bloc traffic, freighters and so forth from the various Eastern Bloc countries 21:00 He described the refugee problem that was happening, and that we could expect to happen to an even greater degree as the communists gain a bigger foothold in Central America Apparently, when communists take over a country, 21:18 1020, 30% of the people have to leave the country, and these people are beginning to spill over into Honduras and Guatemala and perhaps Mexico, and we could look forward in the next few years to millions of refugees flooding across our borders as this as this happened, 21:36 he indicated How our security services had intercepted the text of 21:42 a speech which was delivered to the UN by the Nicaraguan representative to the UN, which was complaining about the United States in one respect or another The point being that it's really the Russians who are managing the diplomacy of the Nicaraguans Before the United Nations, 22:00 he showed photographs which indicated that the Nicaraguan government officials were indicated in smuggling dope Showed pictures of them involved in dope transactions 22:14 Indicated that the military equipment that was being supplied to Nicaragua by the Cubans and the other Eastern Bloc countries was not merely of a defensive nature, but was the kind of equipment that could be used to expand the communists control beyond the Nicaraguan borders 22:34 He also told an anecdote about some Nicaraguan agents that were recently caught with dope and money and so forth and disguised as American agents 22:47 Did Colonel North make any request for any contribution from the persons attending this meeting in the conference room? No 22:56 What happened after the meeting concluded, 22:59 we went back to the hay Adams hotel, and was there another reception at the hotel? Yes, there was And who attended this reception? 23:08 The people who had been at the briefing, and there may have been one or two other people I believe Richard Miller, at that point, was there, and I don't recall seeing him before There may have been a few other staffers present I wasn't keeping exact track 23:23 Now at this reception, did you speak with any of the staffers about any subjects that had been covered at the briefing with Colonel north? Yes, I did I indicated that I was concerned and upset about what I'd heard, and I asked if there was any way that we could supply weapons, 23:46 military equipment to the to the Contras Do you recall who you made this statement to? 23:53 I 23:55 think it was either to Chris little Dale or Cliff Smith But those are, that's a vague recollection It was to an employee of any PL you believe it was either any PL employee or IBC employee What was the response of this person after you made this comment? Well, I the context I made it in was, was that I I'm a wealthy person I have financial resources Is there any way I can help? But I don't know even what we're talking about How much do weapons cost? Can weapons be be bought, and so forth? And the response came back, well, yes, it's possible that we might be able to do something For example, a blow pipe missile cost $20,000 24:39 and and we started talking about 24:42 expenses, costs of various types of weapons Now, had you intended to spend the evening in Washington on that day? No, 24:53 did you change your mind at some point? Yes, I think it was either Miss McLaughlin or 25:00 Mr Channel came up to me at some point after the briefing and said, Look, why don't you stay for dinner? Spend the night We've made a reservation for you here at the hotel, and it will be a lot easier than trying to get back to New York late at night And I agreed, 25:17 and you attended the dinner at the hay Adams that evening Yes Now, did you have any discussion with Mr Channel that evening? 25:27 Yes, after dinner, he came over 25:31 and indicated that he had heard that I was willing to make an especially large contribution with the idea of possibly supplying weapons or military equipment of some kind to the Contras He said that there was a small group of people in the United States that the President relied on to make that kind of contribution, that this was a cause that was very dear to the President's heart, 25:56 and he thought that perhaps I might be interested in joining this group of people 26:04 Did he ask you to attend any further meetings? Yes, he asked me to stay or to come to breakfast the next morning with himself and Colonel north 26:15 And did you attend such a breakfast? Yes, I did Did you have a meeting with Mr Channel before Colonel North arrived 26:23 Yes, wasn't exactly a meeting Mr Channel arrived first and we we rendezvoused there and waited for for Colonel north to arrive 26:33 What did Mr Channel say to you in this preliminary encounter? 26:40 Well, it was either in this preliminary encounter or 26:45 it may have been the evening before I don't quite remember the exact point, but he said that 26:51 if one were to give money up to a certain point, if one were to give approximately $300,000 26:58 or more, the President would actually meet with the contributor and thank him personally, spend 15 or so minutes with him on an off the record kind of meeting, and 27:11 thank him for the contribution he was making to the national security 27:16 did he comment again about this small group that he had described the night before that were making contributions
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