Question asked of President William J. Clinton
at a News Conference held in the East Room of
the White House at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard
Time on Friday, October 7, 1994.
Yes, Sarah?
Q: Sir, the Republicans are trying to blame you for the existence
of a small airbase at Mena, Arkansas. This base was set up by George
Bush and Oliver North and the CIA to help the Iran-Contras, and they
brought in planeload after planeload of cocaine there for sale in the
United States, and then they took the money and bought weapons and took
them back to the Contras, all of which was illegal as you know under
the Boland Act. But tell me, did they tell you that this had to be in
existence because of national security?
A: Well, let me answer the question. No, they didn't tell me anything
about it. They didn't say anything to me about it. The airport in question,
and all the events in question, were the subject of state and federal
inquiries. It was primarily a matter for federal jurisdiction. The state
really had next to nothing to do with it. The local prosecutor did conduct
an investigation based on what was within the jurisdiction of state law.
The rest of it was under the jurisdiction of the United States attorneys
who were appointed successively by previous administrations. We had
nothing -- zero -- to do with it, and everybody whose ever looked into
it knows that.
