The following article was printed in the Thursday, January 30, 1992
issue of the *The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette* on page 7B.
UA GROUP CHARGES CLINTON DID LITTLE ON MENA INQUIRY
By Cyd Tabyanan
FAYETTEVILLE - The Arkansas Committee charged Wednesday that Gov. Bill
Clinton did little to investigate the possibility that the Mena Airport
was used as part of a gun and drug smuggling operation in the mid 1980s.
"He did not respond to the people of Arkansas when they asked him for
justice," said Mark Swaney, president of the Arkansas Committee, a
University of Arkansas student group formed to support constitutional law
and human rights.
"We ask the people of the United States if they want to vote for a man
to lead this country out of a massive drug problem if he won't even
respond to his own citizens when we asked him to," Swaney said.
The committee is questioning Clinton's statement last year that he did
all he could to investigate allegations that the CIA used the airport to
export guns to Nicaraguan rebels and bring drugs into the United States.
Wednesday, the committee made public a Jan. 7 letter it received from
Arkansas State Police Col. Tommy Goodwin that said Clinton made a "verbal
commitment" to expend money for a grand jury investigation.
Swaney said Clinton reportedly authorized $25,000 to aid Polk County
authorities in an investigation of the alleged criminal activity at the
airport.
Letters the committee received from former Polk County Prosecuting
Attorney Prosecuting Attorney Joe Hardegree and former deputy prosecutor
Charles Black say the county authorities never knew money was available.
"Quite frankly, even if I had been made aware that $25,000 was
available, that specific amount would have been tantamount to trying to
extinguish a forest fire by spitting on it," Black said in his response.
Clinton told reporters last year that when local officials failed to
act, the state police case was given to the U.S. attorney, who eventually
called a grand jury.
-------------------------------------------------------
The following text is from a photocopy of a letter that
was originally sent to Arkansas Governor William J.
Clinton on July 29, 1991 by Mark Swaney, then-President
of the Arkansas Committee, a Fayetteville student
organization that pushed for a state investigation into
government-sanctioned drug smuggling, gunrunning, and
money laundering at the Intermountain Regional Airport
in Mena.
--------------------------------------------------------
July 29, 1991
Mark Swaney
Arkansas Committee
Arkansas Union Room 517
(501) XXX-XXXX
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Dear Governor Clinton;
The Arkansas Committee is a registered student organization on
the Fayetteville campus of the University of Arkansas. The
Arkansas Committee is a multi-issue political action organization
dedicated to preserving human rights and constitutional law.
We have been concerned for some time about significant
criminal activities in the Mena, Arkansas area. These activities
which have occurred and continue to occur involve drug and gun
smuggling, money laundering, conspiracy, and obstruction of
justice. Numerous articles in the local and national press have
alleged U.S. Government involvement in these crimes. Recently,
Richard Brenneke, a career CIA contract agent, spoke to our
organization and confirmed many of these allegations. Mr. Brenneke
provided sworn depositions to Attorney General Winston Bryant, who
is on record as favoring an investigation into the affair.
The Arkansas Committee has collected over 1,000 signatures on
a petition calling for a state grand jury investigation. We are
continuing to gather signatures on this petition. (Copies of the
petition have been sent to your office.) We have specific issues
we wish to discuss with you, which are of vital importance to the
state of Arkansas, and to the entire nation. We wish to request a
personal meeting with you in Little Rock at your convenience,
sometime in August. As our organization is quite active, our
schedule requires a response to our request within 10 days of
receipt of this letter.
We assure you that we are not attempting to provoke a
confrontation, and we are confident that you are as concerned, as
we are, about the use of our state as a base for drug smuggling and
illegal operations.
Yours truly,
M A R K S W A N E Y
Mark Swaney
President
Arkansas Committee
-------------------------------------------------------
The following text is from a photocopy of a letter that
was sent in response to Swaney's request for a meeting
with the Governor by Robert J. DeGostin, Jr., Office of
the Governor, State of Arkansas, on August 12, 1991.
-------------------------------------------------------
STATE OF ARKANSAS
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR Bill Clinton
State Capitol Governor
Little Rock 72201
August 12, 1991
Mr. Mark Swaney, President
Arkansas Committee
Arkansas Union Room 517
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
Dear Mr. Swaney:
Thank you for your recent letter to Governor Clinton regarding
your desire to have a state grand jury investigate possible
criminal activity in the Mena, Arkansas area. The Governor has
asked me to respond on his behalf.
It is my understanding that Attorney General Bryant and Rep. Bill
Alexander have brought this matter to the attention of Lawrence
Walsh's Office in Washington, D.C. It appears to me that a
meeting with Attorney General Bryant, rather than Governor
Clinton, would be more appropriate at this time.
The Governor appreciates your bringing this matter to his
attention.
Sincerely,
R O B E R T J . D E G O S T I N , J R .
Robert J. DeGostin, Jr.
Senior Advisor on Criminal Justice
RJD: prn
-------------------------------------------------------
The following text is from a photocopy of a letter that
was originally sent to Arkansas Governor William J.
Clinton on September 19, 1991 by Tom Brown, then-
Treasurer of the Arkansas Committee.
-------------------------------------------------------
THE ARKANSAS COMMITTEE
Student Union #517
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
19 September 1991
Governor Bill Clinton
Governor's Office
The State Capitol
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Dear Governor Clinton,
The Arkansas Committee, under the FOIA of the State of
Arkansas, is making this request for copies of all records,
including, but not limited to, all letters, memorandum of
meetings, telephone records and financial records relating to the
request you received from Polk County prosecutor, Charles Black,
for funding and support of the investigation into Barry Seal's
drug smuggling operation at Mena Airport. We are grateful for
your statements about your support for the Mena investigation of
September 10, 1991.
As you know, the Arkansas Committee is commited to a full
and complete exposure of the coverup of this drug smuggling
operation. It is clear from the investigation already completed
by the state police that major criminal acts of drug trafficking,
gun smuggling, and money laundering, occurred as a part of the
Contra resupply operation located at Mena Airport. With your
continued help, the citizens of Arkansas will realize a new level
of political accountability and moral responsiveness on the part
of the state government.
Sincerely,
T O M B R O W N
Tom Brown
Treasurer
-------------------------------------------------------
The following text is from a photocopy of a letter that
was sent in response to Brown's FOIA request by Field
K. Wasson, Jr., Office of the Governor, State of
Arkansas, on September 26, 1991.
-------------------------------------------------------
STATE OF ARKANSAS
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR Bill Clinton
State Capitol Governor
Little Rock 72201
September 26, 1991
Mr. Tom Brown, Treasurer
The Arkansas Committee
Student Union #517
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
Dear Mr. Brown:
On behalf of Governor Clinton, please accept this letter as his
response to your Freedom of Information Act request that was
received by our office on September 23, 1991.
The request you made was for our office to supply you with copies
of all records, including but not limited to all letters,
memorandum of meetings, telephone records and financial records
relating to requests this office received from Polk County
Prosecutor, Charles Black, for funding and support of the
investigation into Barry Seal's drug smuggling operation at the
Mena Airport. Unfortunately, this office has been unable to find
any such records of any kind relating to this matter.
I am sorry that this office could not be of any further assistance
to you. However, we do wish you the best of luck in your
investigation.
Very truly yours,
F I E L D K . W A S S O N , J R .
Field K. Wasson, Jr.
Chief Legal Counsel
FKW:prn
From eaou669@aldebaran.oac.uci.edu Tue Mar 26 08:33:25 1996
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 08:33:20 -0800
From: Duane Roberts
Subject: MENA: The Arkansas Committee (4/5)
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: RO
X-Status:
-------------------------------------------------------
The following text is from a photocopy of a letter that
was originally sent to Arkansas State Police Director,
Colonel Tommy L. Goodwin, on December 19, 1991 by Tom
Brown, then-Treasurer of the Arkansas Committee.
--------------------------------------------------------
THE ARKANSAS COMMITTEE
Student Union #517
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
19 December 1991
Tommy Goodwin
Director of Arkansas State Police
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Dear Director Goodwin,
The Arkansas Committee, under the FOIA of the State of
Arkansas, is making this request for copies of all records,
including, but not limited to, all letters, memorandum of
meetings, telephone records and financial records relating to the
request Governor Clinton received from Polk County prosecutor,
Charles Black, for funding and support of the investigation into
Barry Seal's drug smuggling operation at Mena Airport.
Governor Clinton's office has informed us that they have no
documentation regarding this request. We thought you may have
some information regarding this matter.
The Arkansas Committee is committed to a full and complete
exposure of the coverup of this drug smuggling operation. It is
clear from the investigation already completed by the state
police that major criminal acts of drug trafficking, gun
smuggling, and money laundering, occurred as a part of the Contra
resupply operation located at Mena Airport. With your continued
help, the citizens of Arkansas will realize a new level of
political accountability and moral responsiveness on the part of
the state government.
Sincerely,
T O M B R O W N
Tom Brown
Treasurer
Enclosures ( )
-------------------------------------------------------
The following text is from a photocopy of a letter that
was sent in response to Brown's FOIA request from
Colonel Tommy L. Goodwin, Director of the Arkansas
State Police, on January 7, 1992.
-------------------------------------------------------
State of Arkansas
A R K A N S A S S T A T E P O L I C E
Post Office Box 5901 * Little Rock, Arkansas 72215
January 7, 1992
Mr. Tom Brown
The Arkansas Committee
Student Union #517
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Dear Mr. Brown:
In response to your request and in reference to our
telephone conversation last Friday, please be advised that we
have no documentation concerning Governor Clinton's commitment to
expend money from his emergency fund to share expenses with Polk
County to empanel a grand jury for the purpose of investigating
the Mena Airport situation. As I told you by phone, this was a
verbal commitment made to me in his office to be relayed to the
appropriate authorities.
I am willing to supply the committee with all written
documentation available to us. The case file we discussed is
available. However, I talked to Major Stephens about the
reproduction and he informs me there is approximately three
thousand pages. A great portion of these may be of no interest
to you.
We will make this file available to you for full review and
reproduce the portion you want or we will reproduce the file in
its entirety.
Please be assured that this agency will cooperate with your
Committee in this matter.
Sincerely,
T . L . G O O D W I N
T. L. Goodwin, Colonel
Director
TLG:1rr
--------------------------------------------------------
The following text is from a photocopy of a letter that
was originally sent to former Polk County Deputy
Prosecutor Charles E. Black on January 9, 1992 by Tom
Brown, then-Treasurer of the Arkansas Committee.
--------------------------------------------------------
THE ARKANSAS COMMITTEE
Student Union #517
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
9 January 1992
Chuck Black
Texarkana, Arkansas
Dear Chuck,
The Arkansas Committee, under the FOIA of the State of
Arkansas, is making this request for copies of all records,
including, but not limited to, all letters, memorandum of
meetings, telephone records and financial records pertaining to
the authorization of expenditure of $25,000 in state funds you
may have received from Tommy Goodwin of the Arkansas State Police
for the funding and/or support of prosecution of Barry Seal's
drug smuggling operation at the Mena Airport.
As you know, the Arkansas Committee is committed to a full
and complete exposure of the coverup of this drug smuggling
operation. It is clear from the investigation already completed
by the state police that major criminal acts of drug trafficking,
gun smuggling, and money laundering, occurred as a part of the
Contra resupply operation located at Mena Airport. With your
help, the citizens of Arkansas will realize a new level of
political accountability and moral responsiveness on the part of
the state government.
Sincerely,
T O M B R O W N
Tom Brown
Treasurer
-------------------------------------------------------
The following text is from a photocopy of a letter that
was sent in response to Brown's FOIA request from
Charles E. Black, former Polk County Deputy Prosecutor,
on January 13, 1992.
-------------------------------------------------------
BRENT HALTOM
Eighth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney
MILLER COUNTY COURTHOUSE
TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS 75502
(501) 774-1002
January 13, 1992
THE ARKANSAS COMMITTEE
Student Union #517
University of Arkansas
Att: Mr. Tom Brown
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
RE: response to FOIA request
Dear Mr. Brown:
This letter is in response to your request, via your letter
received January 13, 1992, for material described in your letter
(copy attached). Unfortunately , I do not currently have (and
have never had) any records as described in your request. As I
have previously stated, I did (quite some time ago) in my
capacity as deputy prosecuting attorney for Polk County ,
Arkansas, make an in-person request to Governor Clinton for any
available State-level financial aid to assist in the local-level
effort to investigate the rather wide array of illegal
activities by Barry Seal, and accomplices, in Polk County. To
the best of my recollection, Governor Clinton's verbal response
was to the effect that he would have someone (not identified to
me) check on the availability of financial aid and get word to
me.
Thereafter, I never personally received any word or
information, from anyone, that any amount of state funds was
available. Quite frankly, even if I had been made aware that
$25,000.00 was available, that specific amount would have been
tantamount to trying to extinguish a raging forest fire by
spitting on it. That characterization is made due to the
interstate and international ramifications of the illegal
activities disclosed in the mammoth investigative file compiled
by Russell Welch and Bill Duncan, among others.
I heartily commend and applaud the efforts and goal of The
Arkansas Committee to fully expose what I, too, believe to be a
coverup of the above-referenced illegal activities. Perhaps the
efforts of Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh will foster this
goal. I personally stand ready and willing to do anything I can
to attain that goal.
Sincerely,
C H A R L E S E . B L A C K
Charles E. Black
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
CB/cn
enclosure
-------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Brown also sent an identical letter to Joseph
Hardegree, the former Polk County Prosecutor, on
January 9, 1992. The following text is from a photocopy
of a letter that was sent in response to Brown's
FOIA request on January 21, 1992.
-------------------------------------------------------
JOE HARDEGREE P.A.
ATTORNEY AT LAW
507 Hickory Street
Mena, Arkansas 71953
(501) XXX-XXXX
January 21, 1992
The Arkansas Committee
Student Union #517
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 71701
Re: Mena Airport
Your letter of 1/9/92
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am in receipt of your letter of January 9, received by my
office while I was out of the State. Please be advised that I am
no longer a public person and I have none of the records of the
office of the prosecuting attorney of 18th Circuit West, which
office I held through 1990. Mr. Orvin W. Foster of Mena is the
present prosecuting attorney for this circuit.
You have asked for letters, memoranda and records pertaining
to "the authorization of expenditure of $25,000.00 in State funds"
which I may have received from Tommy Goodwin of the Arkansas State
Police for the funding and/or support of prosecution of Barry
Seal's drug smuggling operation at the Mena Airport. During my
tenure as prosecuting attorney, I did not receive $25,000.00 in
State funds, or any part of this amount of money, nor did I hear
anything concerning these State funds, from Col. Goodwin or anyone
at Arkansas State Police or anyone in the governor's officer. The
only investigation that I am aware of which has expended funds or
resources has been the Grand Jury investigation of the Federal
Court for the Western District of Arkansas. You will need more
than lots of luck to obtain any information about this
investigation, but that's all I can wish you, and I have no
information of any kind to share with you on your request.
Sincerely,
J O E H A R D E G R E E
Joe Hardegree
JH/bjm
