[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 168 (Tuesday, October 25, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1081-E1082]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING DANIEL KANDALAFT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL F. DOYLE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 25, 2022

  Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I seek to 
correct an injustice to Mr. Daniel Kandalaft, a Lebanese citizen with 
three American children. At a hearing examining Hezbollah's financial 
network before the Committee on Foreign Affairs on June 8, 2017, a 
private citizen provided a prepared statement--now printed in the 
Hearing Record--that identifies certain individuals as arrested in 
France for financing terrorism under Operation Cedar, a January 2016 
coordinated, multinational law enforcement action undertaken by 
authorities in France and other European countries. U.S. law 
enforcement, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), assisted 
French authorities.
  The statement entered into the Hearing Record incorrectly includes 
Mr. Kandalaft as having been arrested in France. A detailed examination 
of the complete and official French Operation Cedar case file reveals 
that Mr. Kandalaft was not investigated, charged, or even asked to 
serve as a witness. Indeed, there is no mention of Daniel Kandalaft in 
the law enforcement investigative reports or court filings for 
Operation Cedar in France. The DEA, having no authority in France, 
could not (and had no reason to) arrest Daniel Kandalaft and confirmed 
that it ``does not have authority to perform arrests or detainments'' 
in France.
  It is incumbent upon this great institution, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, to correct the false statement in a Congressional 
hearing from so many years ago which has unfairly and unjustly 
tarnished Mr. Kandalaft's good name and reputation.

[[Page E1082]]

  I include in the Record the sworn affidavit of William Julie--a 
licensed attorney at law in France (avocat a la cour) who has reviewed 
the entire Operation Cedar case file (registered in France under 
prosecution number 15037000675), and who obtained authorization from 
French authorities to release information contained in the case file--
as part of my statement and insertion in the Congressional Record. 
Names other than Mr. Kandalaft and the affiant (Mr. Julie)--including 
any agent of the DEA or Hezbollah--are redacted from the below 
Affidavit for privacy reasons (and marked as ``[REDACTED]''), as are 
the exhibits to the Affidavit and any internal references to same 
(which are simply deleted).

                       Affidavit of William Julie

       I, William Julie, subscribe and swear as follows:
       1. I am a dual national and hold passports issued by both 
     France and the United Kingdom.
       2. I am bilingual and speak fluent French and English.
       3. I am a resident of Paris, France.
       4. I am a duly licensed attorney at law in France (avocat a 
     la cour), and I have held this position since being admitted 
     to the Paris Bar in 2000. I established my own law offices in 
     2002.
       5. I earned my undergraduate degree in international law 
     (BA), my masters (MA) in public law, and my doctoral 
     certification (Doctorat d'Etudes Approfondies) in European 
     criminal justice policy from the University of Paris-Sorbonne 
     (Paris I), where my studies focused on criminal law and 
     criminology.
       6. Among other things, I am a member of the International 
     Bar Association (IBA), the Criminal Lawyers Association 
     (ADAP), the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA), the 
     Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum (DELF), the FrancoBritish 
     Lawyers Society (FBLS), and serve as Chair of the Criminal 
     Commission of the Corporate Firm Lawyers Association (ACE).
       7. This affidavit sets forth my views on whether Daniel 
     KANDALAFT was arrested in France as part of Operation Cedar.
       8. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated in this 
     affidavit, and if called as a witness, I could and would 
     testify competently thereto.
       9. On September 5, 2016, I was retained by [REDACTED], who 
     was arrested during Operation Cedar, as his defense attorney.
       10. I represented [REDACTED] as his defense counsel from my 
     appointment during the investigation stage in September 2016 
     through trial and ultimately the rendering of judgement by 
     the Paris correctional court on November 28, 2018. In this 
     role, I was provided and remain in possession of a complete 
     copy of the case file, as required by French law, which is 
     registered under the prosecution number 15037000675. In 
     preparing this affidavit, I reviewed the case file in its 
     entirety and obtained authorization from the French 
     prosecutor to release the information from the case file that 
     is included here in the Exhibits.
       11. Operation Cedar was a coordinated, multinational law 
     enforcement action in January 2016 undertaken by authorities 
     in France and other European countries targeting criminal 
     operations in Europe related to the organization known as 
     Hezbollah (also known as--or ``aka''--Hizballah). United 
     States law enforcement, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement 
     Agency (DEA), assisted French authorities in executing 
     Operation Cedar.
       12. On January 24, 2016, following telephone interceptions 
     revealing the planned arrival in France of Operation Cedar 
     targets [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], French police confirmed 
     the targets were on the passenger list for flight ME 205 from 
     Beirut to Paris, which was scheduled to land that day at 
     Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris. After the arrival of 
     the flight, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] were arrested 
     (``interpelle''), placed in custody (``en garde a vue'') and 
     questioned by French authorities. The French police officers 
     were assisted by DEA agent [REDACTED]. The minutes of their 
     arrest do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
       13. On January 24, 2016, French police officers instituted 
     a surveillance operation against [REDACTED]. He was in Paris, 
     located at the Hotel Prince de Galles, arrested, placed in 
     custody, and subsequently questioned. At the time of his 
     arrest, he was sitting with [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. 
     French police asked for the identification documents 
     (``controle d'identite'') of these two individuals but did 
     not arrest or question them (beyond a simple 
     identification control, such as confirming their 
     profession), and both were permitted to stay at the hotel. 
     The minutes of [REDACTED]'s arrest do not mention Daniel 
     KANDALAFT.
       14. On January 24, 2016, French police officers instituted 
     a surveillance operation against [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] was 
     in Paris, located at the Hotel Prince de Galles, arrested, 
     placed in custody, and subsequently questioned. The minutes 
     of his arrest do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
       15. On January 24, 2016, French police officers instituted 
     a surveillance operation against [REDACTED]. He was in Paris, 
     located at his home, arrested, placed in custody, and 
     subsequently questioned. The minutes of his arrest do not 
     mention the presence or arrest of Daniel KANDALAFT.
       16. On January 25, 2016, French police officers instituted 
     a search of the home of [REDACTED]. At the request of the 
     French police officers, he appeared voluntarily at a police 
     station and submitted himself for questioning (``audition 
     libre''). He was not arrested. The minutes of his interview 
     do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
       17. On January 28, 2016, after four days in custody, 
     [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and 
     [REDACTED] were brought before the investigating magistrate 
     (a judge). The minutes of the examination by the 
     investigating magistrate do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
       18. On January 20, 2016, the French investigating 
     magistrate issued an international arrest warrant against 
     [REDACTED]. On January 22, 2016, the French public prosecutor 
     issued an European arrest warrant against him. On May 15, 
     2016, he was arrested in Belgium and jailed until April 1, 
     2016, when he was surrendered to France. On April 1, 2016, 
     following his transfer from authorities in Belgium at the 
     Hensies/Saint-Aybert border, French police officers arrested 
     [REDACTED], placed him in custody, and brought him before the 
     judge of liberties and detention, who ordered his detention 
     until his first appearance before the investigating 
     magistrate. On April 4, 2016, he was brought before the 
     investigating magistrate and interrogated. The same day--
     April 4, 2016--the judge of liberties and detention placed 
     him under French judicial supervision and control (``sous 
     controle judiciaire'') and imposed, among other obligations, 
     a requirement not to leave French territory without prior 
     authorization from the investigating magistrate, to surrender 
     his passport to the Tribunal, and to visit a police station 
     in Paris weekly. On May 25, 2016, the investigating 
     magistrate issued an order authorizing the return of 
     [REDACTED]'s passport and granting permission to live in 
     Belgium, subject to continued weekly visits to a police 
     station in Paris. The investigating magistrate interrogated 
     [REDACTED] on May 3, 2016, and again on December 14, 2016. On 
     December 23, 2016, the investigating magistrate ended French 
     judicial supervision over [REDACTED]. On January 10, 2018, 
     the French investigating magistrate issued an order 
     confirming the charges against [REDACTED] and referring him 
     to the Paris correctional court for trial. With his legal' 
     counsel, he appeared voluntarily in Paris and attended the 
     judicial hearings between November 13 and 23 in 2018. The 
     minutes of the examination by the investigating magistrate 
     and other relevant portions of the case file do not mention 
     Daniel KANDALAFT.
       19. On January 10, 2018, following investigations by the 
     French police, including Operation Cedar, the investigating 
     magistrate issued an order confirming the charges against 
     fifteen (15) individuals and referring them to the Paris 
     correctional court for trial. 11 ( eleven) of those had 
     appeared before the investigating magistrate and been placed 
     under judicial examination (``mis en examen'') (namely, 
     [REDACTED] (born in [REDACTED]}, [REDACTED], [REDACTED], 
     [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], 
     [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]), while four (4) remained at-large 
     and so for whom arrest warrants were issued (namely, 
     [REDACTED] aka [REDACTED] (born in [REDACTED]), [REDACTED], 
     [REDACTED] aka [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]). The investigating 
     magistrate's order does not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
       20. On November 28, 2018, the Paris correctional court 
     rendered its judgement against the 15 accused individuals. 
     Except for [REDACTED], who was acquitted of all charges, all 
     others were convicted of one or more of the charges against 
     them. The judgement does not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
       21. In France, any arrest or official interrogation must be 
     recorded in a written document and presented ultimately to 
     defense counsel as part of the complete case file. If Mr. 
     Kandalaft was arrested or interrogated in relation to 
     Operation Cedar, his name should have appeared in the case 
     file. It did not. In this case, Daniel KANDALAFT was not 
     investigated, charged, or asked to serve as a witness, and 
     there is no mention of him at all in the case file.
       22. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of 
     France and the United States of America that the foregoing is 
     true and correct. Executed in Paris, France on October 15, 
     2020.
       /s/ William Julie

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