[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5847-H5848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CIA ADMITS TIES TO CONTRA DRUG DEALERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATERS. Today I renew my call on CIA Director George Tenant to 
immediately release the CIA Inspector General's classified report on 
the allegations of CIA involvement with Contra drug trafficking. I also 
call, once again, on the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Porter Goss), 
chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to 
hold prompt public hearings on the findings of these reports.
  Today's New York Times, front page, put it bluntly. ``CIA says it 
used Nicaraguan rebels accused of drug tie.'' The times reported that, 
and I quote again, ``The Central Intelligence Agency continued to work 
with about two dozen Nicaraguan rebels and their supporters during the 
1980s despite allegations that they were trafficking in drugs.''
  The Times finally reported the explosive truth that the Senate 
investigators and investigative journalists alike have been telling the 
American people for nearly 15 years.
  This front page confirmation of CIA involvement with Contra drug 
traffickers evidently came from a leak of the still classified CIA 
review of the allegations stemming from Gary Webb's 1996 Dark Alliance 
series. Webb's series and his recent book details the CIA's involvement 
with Contra drug trafficking, including ties to south central Los 
Angeles' largest crack cocaine network. Until today, the CIA has 
vehemently denied the charges. But, apparently, even the CIA is having 
trouble hiding the truth from the American people.
  The leaked CIA report remains classified, sitting at the House 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, because the CIA refuses to 
declassify a report full of what are being described as devastating 
revelations of CIA involvement with known Contra drug traffickers.
  I have repeatedly called for the public release of these CIA reports, 
and I applaud Senator Kerry in calling for the immediate public release 
of the CIA Inspector General's reports. Senator Kerry has worked for 15 
years to bring truth, having chaired the Senate investigation that 
first uncovered the sordid details of Contra drug trafficking in the 
1980s.
  There is no conceivable reason to keep this report classified. It is 
tantamount to protecting drug dealers. This administration should call 
on the CIA to immediately release the report of the Contra drug 
network. The Contras were a creation of the Reagan-Bush administration 
and run by Reagan's CIA

[[Page H5848]]

and Oliver North. This administration can and should reveal the truth 
and put an end to this terrible affair. I cannot understand why a CIA 
report which details the illegal efforts of Reagan-Bush administration 
officials to protect the involvement of top-level Contras in drug 
trafficking should continue to be protected.
  Although today's New York Times story is somewhat confusing to 
follow, the story includes some explosive details. Perhaps the most 
amazing revelation from these leaks is the admission that the CIA knew 
of drug trafficking allegations against the infamous Legion of 
September 15 Contra organization.
  This group included the key Contra military commanders, including the 
Contra's top military commander Enrique Bermudez, and was the core of 
the most famous of the Contra armies, the FDN. They were comprised of a 
group of violent ex-bodyguards of Nicaraguan dictator Somoza. And they 
had proven themselves among the worst human rights violators in the 
entire Contra-era war.
  The Times somewhat inaccurately reported this organization was 
disbanded, they said, in 1982. Of course, the Legion of September 15 
had, by then, been merged into the FDN. That is the Contra army. So we 
now know that the CIA knowingly worked with Contra rebels involved in 
drug dealing, including the core of the FDN.
  We also know that the CIA and Attorney General had a secret 
Memorandum of Understanding that allowed drug trafficking by CIA assets 
to go unreported to law enforcement. This, of course, was confirmed in 
documents I submitted for the Record in May. And we know that CIA 
officials at the highest levels knew of the Contra drug trafficking 
activities. What we do not know yet are the many damaging details of 
the 500-plus-page CIA report. The American people must be able to see 
this report for themselves.
  We forced these investigations. A lot of people said, oh, there was 
nothing to it. The first half of the CIA reports were unleashed, and 
that is when we determined the Memorandum of Understanding existed that 
they did not have to report drug trafficking.

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