About
Community
Bad Ideas
Drugs
Ego
Erotica
Fringe
Society
Politics
Anarchism
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Corporatarchy - Rule by the Corporations
Economic Documents
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Foreign Military & Intelligence Agencies
Green Planet
International Banking / Money Laundering
Libertarianism
National Security Agency (NSA)
Police State
Political Documents
Political Spew
Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Terrorists and Freedom Fighters
The Nixon Project
The World Beyond the U.S.A.
U.S. Military
Technology
register | bbs | search | rss | faq | about
meet up | add to del.icio.us | digg it

South Central CIA Transcript

by Charles Overbeck

Rep. Juanita McDonald: I conceived of this town meeting soon after my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and I sat with the Director of Central Intelligence in September. I felt that it was important that my constituents and the broader community have an opportunity to hear the director and what he has to say about these allegations. I further wanted him to have the opportunity to respond to your questions, feel the depth of your concerns, and understand the need for a thorough and comprehensive investigation of these allegations. I am committed to seeing that his happens.

We live in an information age, and information is power. Without it, we are powerless. With it, and its effective application, our potential is unlimited. Thus, town hall meetings like this one will provide knowledge and leadership so that events such as drug trafficking will not happen in the future in our community.

I hope you will engage the director in a respectful exchange of views. Use the time wisely by posing concise, thoughtful and provocative questions. Lastly, let me say that these are challenging times, and I am charged with the challenge of bringing my community back. I in turn challenge each of you to help me, as we turn the corner on this issue and begin to rejuvenate our community. As I outlined in my congressional hearing, I plan to bring job training and jobs to our community, to increase child care for our teen mothers to help them gain jobs and self-esteem, to counsel those who have fallen to drugs and gang violence, to give special medical attention to our babies who have been affected by the drug use of their mothers, to address the disparity in drug sentencing, and to build an enormous base of support for each of us in our communities. I have sought the assistance of federal officials, such as the drug czar, upon whom I have called to convene a community-based task force, in which select members of the community can try to address the pressing issues caused by crack cocaine and this crisis, and to get first hand information on the investigations as they unfold. I ask that we all keep an open mind until all the investigations are completed and the evidence is in, as we are all aware that the integrity of our justice system is at stake.

Also, it is not up to us to prove that the CIA was involved in drug trafficking in South Central Los Angeles. Whether, or rather, it is up to them to prove that they were not. Thank you.

[Applause.]

I would like to now ask my colleagues who have been with me through these two congressional inquiries and town hall meetings, to come and extend greetings and say a few words. First, the senior member on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Congressman Julian Dixon.

[Applause.]

Rep. Julian Dixon: Thank you very much, Congresswoman McDonald. I have a very few remarks to make today, because I feel that the opportunity is for us to dialogue with the director here. Mr. Director, I would like to thank you for coming to the community to hear first hand from constituents from all over Southern California, as their concerns about the activities of CIA. I think it goes without question that drugs, particularly in the minority community, have been devastating. The question is whether the United States government has been involved in any direct or indirect way. You certainly know that some of the activities of the CIA in the past, for which you were not responsible nor in the agency at the time, you must bear the burden of the chore of overcoming those past bad deeds. And so I congratulate you on having the courage to come, but most important I think you should address the citizens here as to what your intentions are as it relates to an independent investigation. Thank you, Juanita, for inviting Congresswoman Harman and myself, and we look forward to working with you. And secondly, no matter what the Justice Department finds, or what the independent Inspector General of the CIA, I think it is the responsibility of Congress collectively, and the House Intelligence Committee singularly, to come forth with an open report that all of you will be able to challenge and criticize. So I look forward to working with you in that endeavor, Juanita, and thank you once again, Director Deutch, for being here today.

[Applause.]

McDonald: And now a strong supporter and colleague of mine who also serves on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Congresswoman Jane Harman.

[Applause.]

Rep. Jane Harman: Thank you very much, Juanita, and welcome everyone. I am very pleased to join my Congressional neighbor, friend and mentor Julian Dixon, and our rising star, your representative Juanita McDonald, at this precedent-setting hearing. As you know it is the second such hearing that has been convened in this district, I was proud to attend the first one as well. Let me point out how extraordinary it is to have the CIA director here. I doubt that any of John Deutch's predecessors would have come to such a meeting, but I am not at all surprised that he is here. He is a man I have known over twenty years, since our days in the Carter administration in Washington, and who means what he says, and who delivers what he says he will deliver. So I suggest to you that while there are good reasons for a bad history between this community and the CIA, there are good reasons to place your trust in the members of Congress who are here who you know well, and in this CIA director, who has a long history of concern about the inner cities as a member, as a trustee of the Urban League, and also as a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Economic Development Council, and who has a long history of doing precedent-setting things and delivering what he says he'll deliver. So I'm honored to be here, I salute Juanita for her leadership, and I salute John Deutch for his. Thank you very much.

McDonald: Before we introduce the Director of Central Intelligence, let me just do a few housekeeping matters. There will be the 37th Congressional District staff that will be using the mics to roam the audience, randomly selecting participants with questions. Please wait until I call on you to ask your question or make a brief statement; that statement must be brief as the time is short, the Director will be leaving to go overseas. Following the 37th Congressional District's town hall meeting, please remain in your seats until the Director and members of Congress have left the stage. If you must leave the auditorium before we are finished, there is a possibility that you cannot return back or be re-admitted. Finally, Ted Koppel of ABC Nightline will be moderating a segment of this show after a brief intermission. You are welcome to remain for this additional opportunity to share your views to a national televised audience. And so we do ask that you remain seated, though, until the Director has left. It is without a doubt, this is unprecedented. When I called the Director of Central Intelligence, I just knew from talking to him that he would make every effort to come and hear you and listen to you and to try to answer your questions. I am very pleased that he accepted to come. I am with Jane Harman that perhaps others would not have come. He chose to come. The Director of Central Intelligence was sworn in as Director of Central Intelligence on the tenth of May, 1995, eighteen months ago, following a unanimous vote in the Senate. In this position, he heads the intelligence community, all foreign intelligence agencies and the United States, and directs the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Deutch previously served as the Deputy Secretary of Defense since March 1994, and earlier served as Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology. He graduated from Amherst College with a B.A. degree in history and economics, as well as earned both a B.S. degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from M.I.T. I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have you have the opportunity to talk to the Director of Central Intelligence. Please join me in welcoming Mr. John Deutch.

[Deutch approaches podium; boos mixed with applause burst from the audience. McDonald takes the podium instead.]

McDonald: Oft times, I have been in audiences where I did not like the speaker, but the one thing I did to was give him or her respect.

[Applause.]

McDonald: This has been a long haul... wait just a minute...

[Commotion from audience.]

McDonald: Wait just a minute... wait just a minute... wait just a minute... wait just a minute... wait just a minute... wait just a minute... I have not asked you anything. But I have only asked you to have respect. Wait a minute... wait a minute. Thank you, he was not there when this was going on anyway.

[Applause.]

McDonald: I have asked you to please give the respect of this Congresswoman. You must recognize that we do not have to do this. Wait a minute, wait a minute... We did not have to do this. We could have continued to allow you to not see the face of the person who is going to launch this investigation, not knowing what he's going to do, how he's going to do it, but I felt the need for him to come so that you could raise those questions. We have just gotten over a very difficult election. I have to take a red-eye out tonight to Washington to start your work. Thank you very much. So please, for the sake of our community, if you do not want to give the respect, then you might want to exit at this time.

[Applause.]

McDonald: Let us now receive Mr. Deutch.

[Applause.]

John Deutch: [Pauses, gazing over the audience.] Thank you Congresswoman McDonald, for holding this public meeting, and for giving me the opportunity to talk with members of this community about charges that the CIA introduced crack cocaine into South Central Los Angeles in the mid-1980s. Thank you, Principal Webb, for allowing us to use this high school. I'm going to be brief. I want to make four points, and only four points.

First, the people of the Central Intelligence Agency and I understand the tremendous horror that drugs do to Americans, that drugs do to families and communities, and the way drugs kill babies. We understand how ravaging drugs are to this country. CIA employees and I share your anger at the injustice and lack of compassion that drug victims encounter.

The second point I want to make to you is the following. The CIA is fighting to stop drug lords from bringing drugs into this country. For example, in the mid-eighties, at the same time the allegations are being made here about the CIA bringing drugs into Los Angeles, the CIA was helping bring down the drug lords in the Medellin cocaine cartel in Columbia. During the past two years while I have been Director of Central Intelligence, our case officers' intelligence operations have directly worked to capture all -- all -- of the Cali cartel drug lords. We have seriously disrupted the movement of coca paste from the growing areas of Peru and Bolivia to the cocaine processing facilities in Columbia. And we have seized huge amounts of heroin grown in the poppy fields of Southwest Asia. Our purpose is to stop drugs from coming into the United States. My second point to you is that the CIA is fighting against drugs.

Now, our activities are secret, and accordingly there is not a lot of public understanding of what we do. I understand that people are suspicious of the CIA. In the course of recruiting agents to penetrate drug cartels to break up those groups that bring drugs to the United States, our case officers, our men and women, deal with bad people, very bad people, sometimes at great risk to their lives. These are criminals with which we must deal if we are going to stop drugs from coming into the country. They frequently lie about their relationships with us for their own purposes, so it is hard for members of the public to know what is true and what is not true. Now, we all know that the U.S. government and the CIA supported the Contras in their efforts to overthrow the Sandanista government in Nicaragua in the mid-1980s. Now it is alleged that the CIA also helped the contras raise money for arms by introducing crack cocaine into California. It is an appalling charge. It is an appalling charge that goes to the heart of this country, but it is a charge that cannot go unanswered. It says that the CIA, an agency of the United States government founded to protect Americans, helped introduce drugs and poison into our children and helped kill their future. No one who heads a government agency, not myself or anyone else, could let such an allegation stand. I will get to the bottom of it, and I will let you know the results of what I've found. I've ordered an independent investigation of these charges; the third point I want to make to you is to explain the nature of the investigation.

I've asked the CIA Inspector General to undertake a full investigation. He is the right official to do so for the following reasons: first, the Inspector General is established by law, by law of Congress, to be independent, to carry out activities to look for fraud and crime within the CIA. Second, the Inspector General has access to all CIA records and documents, no matter how secret. Third, the Inspector General has the authority to interview the right people. Fourth, he is able to cooperate with other government departments, for example the Department of Justice, the DEA, the Department of Defense, all of which had operations ongoing in Nicaragua at the time. And finally, the Inspector General has a good track record of being a whistleblower on past misdeeds in the CIA. For example, just last month he uncovered CIA employees who were misusing credit cards, and they are now in jail. In carrying out this investigation, I have asked the Inspector General to consult with several groups: the House and Senate Intelligence Committee, two members of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Harman and Congresswoman Dixon are here today, the Congressional Black Caucus and others to build public confidence that this inquiry is fair and thorough. Your elected representatives will be kept informed. Most importantly, when this investigation is complete, I intend to make the results public so that any person can judge the adequacy of the investigation. This investigation report of the Inspector General will be reviewed by myself, both Intelligence Committees in the House and Senate, the President's Intelligence Oversight Board, anyone in the public who has a wish to look at the report will be able to do so. And throughout this period of time, we will be cooperating with the ongoing investigations that are underway in the House and in the Senate. I want to stress that I am not the only person in the CIA who wants a complete and independent investigation of these charges. Our employees do not want any Americans to believe that the CIA is responsible for this kind of disgusting charge.

Finally, I want to say to you that as of today, we have no evidence of a conspiracy by the CIA to engage in encouraging drug traffickers in Nicaragua or elsewhere in Latin America during this and any other period. However, I am going to wait and see what the results are of this investigation. Let me once again thank you for the courtesy of listening to me. My message is simple: the men and women of the CIA must obey the law, and we are committed to protecting American families from the drug lords that poison our children. The CIA fights drugs, the CIA does not encourage drugs. The independent Inspector General investigation that is underway will be thorough, and the results will be made public. And finally, if any wrongdoing is discovered, we will pursue it, and those responsible will be brought to justice. Thank you for your courtesy in listening to me, and I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much.

[Applause.]

McDonald: Okay, thank you so much, director Deutch. The lady in the black and white sweater was the first hand that I saw to go up, and then I will do the roving as I have seen others, I will... if you will just be seated and raise your hands, then we will see you. This lady here... okay fine, and then this one next.

Lady in the Black and White Sweater: Sir, I'd like to know how this incident differs from my school, what happened at my school at Tuskegee University, where for twenty years the government denied inflicting syphilis among African-American men, until [after] they died, and then they agreed that yes, they had something to do with it. So for twenty years, we were told the same thing, and these were able-bodied men who had families, and the government injected syphilis into them as a test to see what would happen. And they denied this for twenty years. [Applause from audience.] So I want to know how this differs, and I'm just deeply touched by this, because I attended Tuskegee, and it affected a lot of that community, and it brought them down. So I want to know from you how what you're saying now differs from when the government said that for twenty years to the men who are dead. Because we're alive now.

McDonald: Let me ask you to state your name, and perhaps, um...

Lady in the Black and White Sweater: No, I'm not going to do that, because I don't want to automatically get an audit.

[Audience roars, applauding.]

McDonald: You know what, I respect... pardon me, I respect your right, and you're right, but let us all respect each others' rights. Would you like to answer that, sir?

Deutch: I'd like to say two things. First of all, twenty years ago those horrors took place, and I share the revulsion about them. I hate it as much as you hate it. But let me say something else: there was nobody who came forward twenty years ago and said they were going to investigate it.

[Inaudible comment from audience member.]

McDonald: Just a minute, please. Now, the lady in the black and white there.

Second Black and White Sweater Lady: I would like to know since South Central L.A. is destroyed -- literally destroyed -- the people are coming up with cuts after cuts after cuts. How can we repair that? What can we do to make our city like your city?

McDonald: The one thing that we can do, may I please answer you. I am charged with bringing this community back. It will take you and I to do that. We must first... wait a minute... we must first seek funding from the federal government to help us restore this community. We must charge them with the restoration of the community and the renewal of the family. That is what we must begin to do.

Second Black and White Sweater Lady: What we need is a solution today. We don't need to talk about money, we need a solution. And nobody has spoken about a solution. We need jobs, look around. We've got all these...

McDonald: Wait just a minute, we can all, we cannot all speak together. Let me just say this: the minute this story broke, I first sent the appropriate letters to all of the agencies demanding an investigation. But then after that, having been in the seat just five months, I began to develop a plan. The plan is what you're talking about. Because we cannot wait on an investigation to restore the community, we must begin to restore the community right now. And that's what I'm talking about.

[Applause.]

McDonald: The gentleman there in the back that's by you, sir, and then next will be you sir.

Audience Member: Mr. Deutch, could you please define for us the difference between an operative and an asset, and do you have any of these individuals working in the press corps domestically, and can you please tell us do you know who Walter Pincus is?

Deutch: I don't know, but I can give you the difference between operative and asset. I don't know what you're referring to. We have a policy... [Commotion from audience.]

McDonald: Wait a minute. Only ask the question, because we're trying to get as many people as possible, so let him answer that please.

Deutch: He might want to clarify...

McDonald: Please, please. I am conducting this meeting. I recognize that he wants to clarify, please, sir, clarify.

Audience Member: Is there a difference between a CIA paid operative and a CIA paid asset.

Deutch: No.

Audience Member: Do you know who Walter Pincus is?

Deutch: I believe he's a reporter for the Washington Post.

McDonald: Sir, you're not entitled to but one, and you've already gotten two.

Audience Member: Is he an asset of the CIA?

Deutch: No.

McDonald: He said no to that question. The gentleman in the white, and then the gentleman in the tan hat over here.

Matthew Dylan (Gentleman in White): My question is you, Juanita, and that is the following. What is going to happen next? Are we going to be at [inaudible] church with Julio Butler chairing the meeting? Is that what's going to happen next, Juanita? This man coming into this community at this time, as far as we are concerned, most of us in this audience, is a mandate to close the investigation and to prepare us for him to say six months down the line that the CIA didn't do anything. [Continues angrily:] How in, my God, who did you, in your constituency, Juanita, did you consult with to bring this man into our community at this time? What is going to happen next? Anything that happens next is terribly anti-climatic, and you know it. My other question is, does Maxine Waters endorse this meeting, because I want to tell you right now, I'm a KJLX listening fan, we have been supporting everything you've done up until today! I can't understand why you'd bring this man into this community! My name is Matthew Dylan.

[Applause and cheers from audience.]

McDonald: Thank you so much, Maxy. I represent six hundred thousand people. I can't attempt to ask everyone what my next step should be.

Dylan: Did you ask anybody?

McDonald: I did ask some of my constituents. And I think there are some constituents here who appreciate this director coming to this community.

[Applause and commotion.]

McDonald: Ma'am, if you will just allow...

Man in the Tan Hat: Excuse me, sister, excuse me. Yeah, I want to know if you think that black folks are just tippin' over to Columbia in lowriders, talkin' about gettin' me a hundred keys, you know. All this is, you know... You sit up here sippin' coffee, your son probably goes to Duke, you know, and y'all killin' babies, bro, with that bullshit, you know? You sit up there talking about "I'm gonna do an investigation," you know, white folks sailed across the Pacific Ocean with millions of slaves, rapin', torture, kidnap, this is some bullshit, buddy!

McDonald: Let me just say this: while I do know your anger and your outrage, please refrain from using words such as what you've used. Fine. The next person will be Joe Walker down here, the lady next to him, and then the lady in the black and white.

Joe Walker: Yes, there are a lot of coincidences in this investigation, this CIA deal. I've read things in the paper prior to this article coming out, and afterwards. But have you looked into why, at the time that the cocaine and the drug smuggling came over here, Reagan eliminated most of the air traffic controllers, okay? And put Bush over the CIA and other things there. Now, the drugs is coming in, and we figure that the CIA helped by allowing them to bring cocaine over here, free transportation. And when they took supplies over to the Contras, they brought drugs back over without going through radar or the inspection. But we are stopping at the CIA, but it looks like Reagan and Bush had something to do with it by messing with the air traffic controllers and allowing this to happen.

[Applause.]

McDonald: Please try to make your questions as brief as possible, so we can get to the people.

[Members of audience call out for an answer.]

McDonald: Director?

Deutch: The purpose of the investigation that I described to you was exactly to find out whether CIA officers allowed that kind of traffic to take place knowingly or conspired to do so. That is the purpose of the investigation. If we find anybody who did it, we will bring them to justice.

McDonald: The lady, um... [Commotion from audience.] Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold it. Hold it, hold it, hold it. And yet the question was raised to me why I did I bring him here. Had I not brought him here, the questions of all the people whose hands are up would have been denied their questions. So please allow us to proceed with this question and answer, make your questions very brief. The lady in the gray?

Lady in Gray: I thank you so much for being here, because we've needed this. The drugs have been coming in this country, and they have been sanctioned by our government, because when you talk to those basketpushers that are black and white Americans who have served the United States of America, they were drug-induced back then. They passed it on to their families. In Baldwin Village where I live, there are no jobs for the children, and our kids are commodities. They are being cycled through the prisons, they come back to the street and they're marked and scarred for the rest of their life. [Applause from the audience. Deutch coughs.] That's the pain of it. I know, because I'm a mother of three kids at 30, 32 and 34. And I went through hell working to try to raise these children and bring them up. Two of them have been in the military. After serving in nuclear submarines, my son came back to the street and had no way to get a job in this country that he has served because he is black. And our children are being cycled. It has to stop, Mr. Deutch, and I hope that you will help to bring an end to it, because we are tired. And we are hurt. And we are angry. Thank you.

[Applause.]

McDonald: I hope you can understand as I am, if nothing else, this is the beginning of the healing process. The lady in the black and white, then the gentleman in the jean jacket, and then we're going over to this side.

Lady in Black and White: Thank you very much. You said we only, yeah, I'll try to cut it down, because I do have a million and one things to say. But one of the things I would be concerned about if I was the Director, with the Cold War, we've held Russia at bay for forty years at least. Don't you feel kind of strange that we can't hold a third world country at bay? That they have infiltrated South Central LA? This is a community with really no money, no power, and all of the sudden, not only drugs but arms... I was in the police academy. All the police officers here should be upset. Because all the sudden, we had little guns like toy guns to play with, and these guys were coming out with things that you know they were having war over there. Forget the drug part -- how did the guns get here? Give us explanations! You, the president and everybody else should be highly upset, and say how did this cancer get here? How did it happen? I've been coming here giving lectures to these kids, I left these kids today, they are a bundle of nerves. I look at them, I know that their moms and dads have been on crack cocaine. They can not even sit in their seats.

McDonald: So make sure your statements are brief. Mr. Director? Please allow the Director to respond.

Deutch: You see, you're quite right. If we want to interdict drugs, stop drugs from getting to these shores, then you're going to have to rely on all the skill that we can mount in government, whether it's from the Central Intelligence Agency, or the Drug Enforcement Agency...

Lady in Black and White: [Inaudible statement away from microphone; applause from audience.] I mean, we have held... Russia could not even get here! Third world countries are just walking in and just doing whatever they want? Are you guys that incompetent? Then we're all in trouble!

[Robust applause and cheering from the audience.]

McDonald: Excuse me, wait just a minute. Excuse me, please. The more you applaud, the more we will use up the time here. Please allow all of these folks who want their questions asked, or answered rather, please allow that to happen. Sir, in the jean jacket.

Man in the Jean Jacket: Yes. Have you looked into a John Hall, who has been named as a CIA asset, whose Costa Rican ranch was used to run cocaine and drugs on behalf of the contras? He was indicted by the Costa Rican government along with Oliver North just for this. So this man, I believe, is a CIA asset. Have you ever heard of this person, John Hall, and will you look into this person if you haven't?

Deutch: Yes. I know that, ah, John Hall, John Hall was listed in Senator Kerry's Senate Foreign Relations Report in 1989, he was a farmer in Costa Rica, an American farmer in Costa Rica who had an air strip on his property that was used for drug trafficking, and yes it will be looked into.

McDonald: Okay, the lady in the purple, and then...

Deutch: He was not a CIA asset.

Lady in Purple: Thank you so much, Mr. CIA Official, for being here, but I would just like to ask you: how are we supposed to trust the CIA officials to investigate themselves? I mean, we are having a problem with that! [Applause from audience.] Because we was told about "So-Damn-Insane" [Saddam Hussein]. Now, we wouldn't ask "So-Damn-Insane" to investigate his army to see if they was making bombs. If we did, we would be in a hell of a fix. Thank you.

Deutch: The Inspector General is established by law to look independently about wrongdoing in the CIA. That is what it is established to do, to look at wrongdoing in the CIA.

McDonald: Okay, the gentleman in the navy blue jacket, Steve over here, and then the gentleman in the burgandy after that.

Leroy Brown (Gentleman in the Blue Jacket): [Inaudible] I'm Ricky Ross' co-defendant, and you guys wrote a declaration to my judge saying there wasn't no involvement. How can you say there's no involvement when the investigation ain't over? Me and Ricky Ross is waiting to get sentenced Tuesday. What's the judge going to say to us come Tuesday? You wrote a letter saying there's no involvement. Now you're up here saying, hey, nothing else to go to? So I want to know, you know, everybody in here, I don't know if they're here for political reasons or what, but I know me and Ricky Ross Tuesday will be getting sentenced. I don't know what the other people in here are doing, but I know why I'm here. And I know what happened to me.

Deutch: May I just say that the question which was asked of us by the judge was, was Ricky Ross ever an agent or a contract employee...

[Commotion from audience; cries of "No, no, no no."]

McDonald: Wait just a minute please, let him answer the gentleman who has the mic right now.

Brown: Well, I was in court, I've been in court every there's a ruling and everything, because I'm a part of it. And the judge asked the prosecutor to get a written statement from you saying there was no involvement. You guys write a letter saying there's no involvement. Then you come up in here and say [the investigation] is still going on! So, come Tuesday, the judge is going to tell me, there was no involvement! You get twenty years, Rick gets life! So what are we supposed to do?

Deutch: Let me just, I want to be very clear...

[Commotion.]

McDonald: Please allow him to answer so that you can hear his answer, perhaps you might have a question once his answer has been stated.

Deutch: I want to be very clear. The judge asked for an affidavit from the Central Intelligence Agency whether any one of five individuals, by name, had ever had any association with the Central Intelligence Agency. Please let me finish. First of all, we answered that question. The public available answer, the record of that affidavit, is available for anyone who wants to see it, and we found that none of the five named individuals had never been, had ever had, any association with the Central Intelligence Agency. How come we were able to do that? I will tell you how come we were able to do that. Because we keep very close records on the people...

[Commotion.]

McDonald: Just a minute, I am going to have to ask that we dismiss those who are unwilling and unable to listen to the others who want questions answered.

Deutch: Because we keep very close records of those people with which we've ever done business or who we're interested in developing as assets. And so the case of the question from this judge was completely and thoroughly answered, and I want to stress that we answered in the public record.

Brown: On that declaration, it said Norwin Manessa was, and you guys knew that he was involved twenty years ago, and the declaration said he was Nicaraguan mafia, and you guys knew he was selling drugs, but you didn't arrest him. You guys arrested him for one kilo in coke. And then go say me and Rick had a hundred kilos, and didn't even have no cocaine. And he get five years. Rick's looking at life. My first offense, I'm looking at twenty. And he's on his way out! Ed Blandon is out of jail, AND you paid him $166,000!

[Robust applause and shouts from the audience. Deutch takes notes on his notepad.]

McDonald: Again we're trying to get questions answered for your benefit and for my benefit. I'm sorry. I'm sorry now. I have got to represent you in Washington. I have got to know the answers if you don't know the answers. So please, let us have your undivided attention. The gentleman in the burgandy jacket.

[Commotion from audience; shouts of "Let him answer!" and "Hello, you never answered the question!"]

McDonald: Mr. Deutch, are you finished with your answer of the question that was raised?

Deutch: The question that the judge put to the CIA was whether Blandon or any one of four other individuals were ever associated with the CIA. That question was answered, the answer is a matter of public record. It is absolutely the case that Blandon was a informant for the DEA. That is a question, though, which the DEA is answering, not a question which was asked of the CIA.

[More commotion.]

McDonald: Let me say this, please, let me say this. The Director of Central Intelligence has said this is a matter of public record. If you want this record, call my office and I will see to it that you have a copy of what the gentleman is asking about.

Gentleman in the Burgandy Jacket: Dr. Deutch, ah, Hector Gabrione [sp?], Impata 2000. Gary Webb, the staff writer for the San Jose Mercury News, he published a search warrant on the Internet. This warrant was issued to a special narcotics squad of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs, and it was issued to search the home of a Lassiter, a Mr. Lassiter, who was a former police officer from San Diego. When the sheriffs went to the home, and went in and presented the search warrant, there's Mr. Lassiter saying, "Hold it, hold it. You better call CIA headquarters in Washington, because they're going to clear me. You better talk to Special Agent Alexander, because I'm working with him." Okay? Now, there are affidavits, four documents that say that some of the sheriffs had said that the evidence they took from that home were put in the evidence room, and that the CIA went to that evidence room and confiscated that evidence and made it disappear. The CIA took that evidence. Where is that evidence, and who is this Mr. Alexander? Special Agent Alexander of the CIA, who cleared that Mr. Lassiter, who was dealing with Mr. Blandon?

Deutch: Mr. Lassiter was never associated with the Central Intelligence Agency. He did not tell the truth.

McDonald: All right, the gentleman in the pink shirt, and then Cal Burke, and then this gentleman over here. Yes, you can be next after I've gotten these people here, please. Please. [Commotion.] Wait a minute, if you wish to raise a question, I will be coming back across and I will get those of you, so please sit down, and then as I come back across raise your hands, I see some of you, and I will already point you out as I come back across, please. Sir?

Gentleman in the Pink Shirt: This question is for the Director. My name is Clinton Bailey, I'm an attorney, I'm also a member of BAYPAC. An Inspector General was not adequate to investigate a suicide of a White House official, it was not adequate to investigate the White House Travel Office, neither was the FBI. Why is this investigation adequate to be handled by an independent Inspector General? Why shouldn't an Independent Counsel be appointed by the president to investigate these charges?

Deutch: There are two reasons. First of all, we have a set here of allegations, none of which are specific enough to lead to a criminal referral to the Department of Justice on any particular investigation matter. Were that the case, there should be a second investigation. Secondly, as I tried to describe, there are several reasons why the Inspector General is the right place to begin. And all I'm saying is wait until you see the Inspector General report, it's going to be made public, so you can see whether it's adequate or not. The Inspector General has access, the Inspector General has people, the Inspector General has the knowledge about how to do these investigations, the Inspector General has a good track record. Those are all reasons for starting there.

Gentleman in the Pink Shirt: My question is, sir, the problem with investigating the White House on a simple matter like the Travel Office was the problem of public perception. There was a woman who asked the question before about public perception. Acknowledging all these resources, these resources of the Inspector General could be used by an Independent Counsel in an investigation. Why didn't you turn it over to an Independent Counsel?

[Applause from audience.]

McDonald: Mr. Deutch, do you wish to answer...?

Deutch: As I said before, the reason for not using an Independent Counsel is, there has been no criminal complaint filed yet.

[Commotion.]

McDonald: Okay, fine... Just a minute, just a minute. Cal Burton, and then the gentleman next to him, and then I will come back across. Now you have had an opportunity to raise your question, sir.

Cal Burton: I'm Cal Burton from BAYPAC, one of the chairpersons. I have a question, Mr. Deutch. You're a specialist in chemistry and a Ph.D. in chemistry. I'd like to ask you this question. First of all, the CIA as has been mentioned earlier, is investigating itself through the Inspector General. Back in the '70s and the '80s, Charlie Rheingold, a Congressman out of New York, was the chairman of the oversight committee of drug enforcement as well as the CIA operations. Yet we find ourselves in dire straits here in the '90s. I am asking, and I think the community is asking today, who are the black elected officials that will be sitting on the committees and have access to any knowledge of drug sales, or other illicit activities undertaken by the Contras and the CIA so that we can have specific input and so that our people, when they want to divulge some information, won't go to the CIA, they'll go to our people, who will then pass it on to you. But we want to know today, who from the black elected officials, is it Congressman Julian Dixon, is it going to be our beloved Juanita McDonald? We want a specific answer.

[Applause.]

McDonald: Congressman Dixon will answer that.

Dixon: Thank you, Cal, for answering the question that you know the answer to. There was a meeting prior to this one of elected and community leaders, there's no secret about that. And I think Juanita McDonald did a very good job for BAYPAC and others in spelling out that she would take the lead for this community. She feels that responsibility in spelling out that the Congressional Black Caucus has started its own investigation. I spelled out that I was a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, and I pledged to you, and the other people in that room, that there would be a thorough investigation, but not only that, that we would make public disclosure of all the supporting evidence that would support our conclusion. So I thank you for asking that question for the rest of the people in the room.

McDonald: Let me just follow up on what Congressman Dixon has said. In addition to his being the senior member from six on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and will be doing the independent investigation outside of the CIA Inspector General, outside of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, the Congressional Black Caucus has appointed Congresswoman Maxine Waters as the chair, vice-chair Juanita McDonald, to launch our own investigation, with Congressman Louis Stokes heading up that investigation and going back and look into the records. So there are more than just two agencies launching an investigation, there are numerous other investigations going on. When we get them all together, we will be able to discern who has really done an in-depth investigation, and who has just really done an esoteric type of investigation. Sir, the man in the leather jacket? I will be coming back, I'll get to you.

Mike Ruppert [The man in the leather jacket]: Hi, I am a former Los Angeles police narcotics detective, and I worked South Central Los Angeles. And I will tell you, Director Deutch, emphatically and without equivocation, that the agency has dealt drugs throughout this country for a long time.

[Crowd roars in applause and shouts of approval.]

McDonald: All right, all right, now, if you please, wait a minute... wait a minute... wait a minute here. Wait a minute, if you don't like what's going on here, please leave now. No no no, leave now because there are others who do want to hear what's going on in this room. Will you please take your seats, I will come back to you as we roll back across to the center section.

Ruppert: Director Deutch, I will refer you to three specific agency operations known as Amadeus, Pegasus and Watchtower. I have Watchtower documents, heavily redacted by the agency. I was personally exposed to CIA operations and recruited by CIA personnel who attempted to recruit me in the late '70s to become involved in protecting agency drug operations in this country. I have been trying to get this out for eighteen years, and I have the evidence. My question for you is very specific, sir. If in the course of the IG's investigations, and Fred Hinson's work, you come across evidence of severely criminal activity, and it's classified, will you use that classification to hide the criminal activity, or will you tell the American people the truth?

[Applause.]

McDonald: All right, you want to hear the response? First, from Congressman Julian Dixon, and then from the Director. [Shouts of protest from the audience.] Wait a minute, I'm sorry sir, I will allow the Director to speak first, and then Congressman Julian Dixon.

Deutch: If you have information about CIA illegal activity in drugs, you should immediately bring that information to wherever you want, but let me suggest three places, the Los Angeles Police Department...

[Crowd roars with shouts and jeers.]

McDonald: Please, I'm sorry, others want to hear this answer. I am sorry, others want to hear this answer.

Deutch: It is your choice, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Inspector General, or a office of one of your Congresspersons...

[Shouts from the crowd.]

Ruppert: That's what I did eighteen years ago, sir, and I got shot at for it.

McDonald: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Sir, wait a minute, sir, sir, you have not gotten the mic yet, wait a minute, do not speak out of turn.

Deutch: Let me say something else, if this information turns up wrongdoing, if it turns up wrongdoing, we will bring the people to justice and make them accountable.

McDonald: All right, Congressman Dixon. [Shouts from the audience.] Wait, wait, wait a minute here. I thought you did not want to be here, but now that you are here, please let us hear and listen. Thank you very much.

Dixon: Sir, I thank you for coming, you were at the last meeting. The staff probably had the spelling of your name wrong, but we would like to talk to you, we have been looking for a couple of days for you. [Skeptical hisses and shouts of "What?!" and "They're gonna kill you" from the audience.] We want to make sure that you contact the committee, because obviously you have some valuable information. If you want to give it to me privately, if you want to hand it to that aide where I can contact you this evening, please do it. Don't let us get away without getting in contact with you. If you want to pass it up to me now, so that everyone can see that I got it, that would be fine.

Ruppert: Thank you, sir. And for the record, my name is Mike Ruppert, R-U-P-P-E-R-T. I did bring this information out eighteen years ago and I got shot at and forced out of the LAPD because of that. [Applause from the audience.] I've been on the record for eighteen years non-stop, and I'll be happy to give you, Congressman, anything that I have.

[Robust applause.]

McDonald: The gentleman in the beige shirt back there in the back, you sir, who's looking around. Will you please get a mic to the gentleman in the back right away?

James Otis [The gentleman in the beige shirt]: Thank you, Congresswoman. Can you hear me?

McDonald: Yes, just talk into the mic please.

Otis: Okay, is that better? My name is James Otis, I'm currently making a documentary on the CIA, and we're interviewing seven former agents. One was sent down to murder the head of Cuba, Fidel Castro. Another gentleman, Colonel Philip Rettinger, was sent down to Guatemala to overthrow the government of Guatemala in 1954. The third agent was actually a spy on Iowa State University campus, where he spied on students, dark-skinned students, foreigners and people from other countries. He was then sent down to Cuba to poison the food supply in Havana, to poison the children of Cuba for whatever reason. So we all, I believe, already know this information, Mr. Deutch. My question to you is, if we know all of this stuff that the agency has done historically, then why certainly should we believe you today when you say certainly this could never have happen in Los Angeles when it's happened all over the world?

McDonald: Mr. Deutch?

Deutch: I did not come here thinking that everybody here was going to believe me. I came here for a much simpler task. I came here to stand up on my legs and tell you what I was doing to investigate horrible allegations. All you can do is listen to what I have to say, and wait and read the results. But I did not expect to come here and find everybody applauding the remarks that I've made. But I want you to know I've come here and told you, unlike the other cases that you've mentioned, where there was nobody who came here and told you, there was no Director of Central Intelligence who came out and told you there's going to be an investigation. That's something!

McDonald: All right, fine. This gentleman here in this jacket, here, Steve, in the white hat.

Man in the White Hat: Mr. Deutch, you and the DEA's former director had a conflict, and he resigned. What happened to that ton of cocaine that you were supposed to be watching coming from Bogota, Columbia?

Deutch: I don't know what you're referring to, sir.

Man in the White Hat: There was a conflict between the DEA and the CIA, whereas you were watching a ton of cocaine flying out of Bogota, Columbia for a sting operation. The director of the [DEA] didn't agree on your tactics, and you superseded him and went over and he resigned. I don't know his name. But the former DEA director, the one that just resigned, because you wouldn't give him the information on the ton of cocaine that you were supposed to be watching coming from Bogota, Columbia. What ever happened to the ton of cocaine?

Deutch: I don't know the case you're referring to. I just don't know the case.

McDonald: Okay, fine. The young man there, the one, that's right.

Audience Member: Excuse me, can I just say something?

McDonald: No no no, you have to wait your turn, I'll come back to you. I'll come back to you. I'll come to you after this. Sir, this young man is waiting to be heard through the mic.

Young Man: I have a question for you guys. You talk about South Central, you come down here with your cameras, and your media, and all this, the police department, and you just destroyed our neighborhood. You killed our kids, our brothers... a lot of other kids. I put together a proposal for anybody who wants to come and help our kids. We need the media, we need cameras right in South Central. Let these kids know that they are loved, and they've got somebody that wants to take care of them. [Applause.] We have a lot of talent here, we have a lot of hardworking people in this community that have worked with these kids that's on drugs that you guys never talk to. Okay? It's time for y'all to bring the cameras back to our community and let everybody in the other part of the world know that we are all not on drugs, we are not all gangbangers, and we are not all murderers. Give the kids that's trying to make a difference a chance. [Applause; he holds a black binder in the air.] And anybody that wants to challenge this, I have put together a budget and a proposal -- very, very, cheap, okay -- for a national televised TV show. Key in on this.

[Applause.]

McDonald: Thank you, thank you so much. If for nothing else, we have brought the cameras in for this young man to state what he just said. Do you want to give me that proposal, young man? Please, to my staff. All right, I'm coming back over to the young man in the striped shirt, I told him he would be next, [protests from the audience] then we're coming back, we're coming back, as soon as I get him I'll come to you.

Malik Spellman (Man in the Striped Shirt): Good evening, Mr. Douche. Could you cut the mic on? Douche, Mr. Douche -- Deutch -- I'm Malik Spellman, I'm formerly a news reporter for FOX racist news, first of all, second of all, I'd like to say this. As a former street chemist, you know and I know that there are certain derivative chemicals that's required to break down the derivatives in cocaine. Will Mobil gasoline be brought up on charges with supplying these chemicals to the Nicaraguans, for their access to the cocaine and breaking it down? And second of all, how fair does this here particular story, or should I say, how does this story that you're bringing us square with Illuminati society that we have here today? And third of all, can I ask you in the name of God to please take your hands of the Minister Farrakhan so he can raise us up?

[Robust applause; Deutch nods.]

McDonald: Any comments?

Deutch: No, I don't have any comment.

[Security agent standing behind Deutch looks nervous and fidgets.]

McDonald: All right. I think yours was more of a statement, young man, than a question. No, no. [Protests from the audience.] You were given the mic, I thought, to raise a question, you guys are going to have to raise questions if you want answers, because your time is going. What is your question, sir? Be quiet so we can hear his question!

Man in White Shirt: My question is, Mr. John, you, the person you are, as the traveler that you are, will you be able to stand here on the square and tell us that you wholeheartedly support the rebirth of South Central?

Deutch: [Dramatic pause.] Yes.

[Laughs from the audience.]

McDonald: Thank you. This gentleman right here in the blue shirt?

Gentleman in the Blue Shirt: Director Deutch, I have a very simple way that you can prove to us that you intend to get to the bottom of these allegations. And that is... the CIA, in '81, was overrided under the Reagan administration, when President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order #12333, he set up a parallel government headed by George Bush, for which Ollie North also worked, and they privatized U.S. intelligence. For example, the gentleman that he brought up Weekly [sp?] -- not Alexander, but Weekly, Scott Weekly -- who was said by the government to not be involved with the government, it turns up he WAS involved in a private operation, as part of what's called the "Bush asteroids"... But you have a private network run by George Bush and Ollie North, not the CIA. You won't find these records in the CIA. They're not there. They're in these private, privatized intelligence agencies. Will you pursue that? Will you pursue Ollie North and George Bush, and the massive documentation... All these gentlemen, like this gentleman here, the co-defendant of Ricky Ross. Ricky Ross is doing George Bush's time.

[Robust applause and shouts from the audience.]

McDonald: Okay, all right, fine. I will have to tell you, because I cannot get some type of leverage here, and some time of quietness here, I'm going to have to just take four more questions, so that I can then... [Protests from the audience.] You are not responding to me, you are not responding to me at all, therefore I cannot respond to you. The gentleman in the back, back there, the one who...

[Protests from audience; shouts of "Answer the question."]

Deutch: I will instruct our Inspector General to investigate any allegation in this matter that is brought forward. If you bring forward an allegation to me, I will see that it's investigated.

Gentleman in the Blue Shirt: I have it right here, sir. [Holds up a manila envelope.]

[Shouts of support and applause from the audience.]

Deutch: Give it to the staff here. [Gentleman in the Blue Shirt passes the manila envelope to one of McDonald's staffers.]

Man in the Dark Blue Shirt: Okay, hey... one second, one second please.

McDonald: Sir, sir, that was intended for the guy in the khaki jacket, and then you are next, the one who has the mic at this time.

Man in the Dark Blue Shirt: Okay, can I go? I have the mic now.

McDonald: All right, fine. If you've agreed to that, fine.

Man in the Dark Blue Shirt: Thank you very much. Please, quiet one second. First of all, I have to let everybody know in here, the only reason that we're getting this information is that we live in an information age, and we're getting it through the Internet. Is Gary Webb in the house? That's the first thing I want to ask. Is Gary Webb in here? Gary Webb is the reporter for the San Jose Mercury News who broke this story wide open. And my suggestion is simple: allow Gary Webb to have full access to the Investigator General's full documentation, and as he goes through the process of investigating them, allow Gary Webb to be there along with him to investigate along with him with his documentation, and comparatively go through it as the investigation goes on. That's it. That will solve this, point blank, we won't here yelling, and we'll have actually have a representative of us who actually broke the story there on top of it from the beginning to the end.

McDonald: Thank you.

Deutch: The report will be made available to all members of the media when it is completed. [Coughs.]

[Audience member makes inaudible comment.]

McDonald: Sir, once the report has been established, you will not have a meeting behind closed doors, you'll have a public meeting on that. All right, please... [Inaudible comment from audience member, followed by applause.] Yes, yes. Sir? [Audience member makes an inaudible comment regarding affirmative action.] You, and then the lady that's been over here.

Joey Johnson [the man in the khaki jacket]: This is what I want to say. My name is Joey Johnson, I'm a revolutionary activist against police brutality in Los Angeles. The first thing I want to say is I don't know why Dixon is saluting Deutch's courage for coming here today when everybody knows, this building's got hundreds of pigs in it, there's people behind those curtains, there's people on top of the roof, there's trained assassins, so what courage are you talking about? This whole thing is orchestrated, this whole thing is orchestrated, then they're going to say, "Oh, the public got to say their mind." Deutch's first point was that he understood the terrible pain that these drugs had inflicted. They also understood the terrible pain that the Contras were inflicting on the villages in Nicaragua, where they were bombing the harbors, murdering peasants, and they used the Contras to destabilize Nicaragua, and they used the crack that they brought back on those planes to destabilize South Central and destabilize the youth here. Because ever since, and especially since the LA rebellion in 1992, they know what these youth can do if they go in a revolutionary direction against the system, instead of being beaten up and beaten down and brutalized. You sold them drugs, and then you turned around and incarcerated these youth. When are the doors going to open, and all the kids that were convicted on these racist crack laws, when are they going to walk out of the prisons? When is that going to happen? We're not going to get no justice here today! We're going to need a revolution to sweep all this away, and really get some justice! And that day, then these things like the CIA's crimes will be...

[Shouts from the audience.]

McDonald: Just a second, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute, you cannot just hog that mic like that, sir, you're going to have to ask your question, make your statement, or whatever.

[Audience member makes inaudible comment regarding crack babies.]

McDonald: Now I gave you an opportunity to speak, and now you're yelling out. You know better than that. You know better than that. All right, just a minute. I would like to have Ricky Ross' brother to speak, please. Here he is, right here.

David Ross (Ricky Ross' Brother): Yes, thank you sir, Mr. Deutch, I'd like to ask you a question. On national TV, on [CSPAN], you made a statement to the senators who were asking you certain questions about the CIA. In return, these are the words that came out your mouth. The senators asked you, how long do you think it will take you to do your investigation? And you replied, sir?

Deutch: Sixty days.

David Ross: Sixty days. How can you do an evaluation of an investigation of cocaine in sixty days, when you can't even stand here and tell these people that the United States government turned their head and let this cocaine come into the United States of America? We are sick and tired of your excuses. That's an excuse. That's a cop-out. Because if you can go over to Kuwait, if you can go over to Vietnam, if you can go all these places and start a war, you can control this dope war.

[Applause.]

McDonald: All right, I promised the lady over here who's been standing for a long time, give her a mic over there.

Lady in the Audience: First of all, I have a very sad commentary to make. I lost a wonderful grandson who was perfectly innocent -- I want to preface this -- perfectly innocent through drug dealing, gang wars, fighting over territory and whatnot. My grandson was totally innocent, but he was slayed. And I'll take that pain to my grave, the pain that this kind of stuff has brought about. But mainly, I want to know, how can we know how many viable documents have been shredded, and how can we be certain that more documents won't be shredded?

Deutch: I don't know that anybody has found any loss of documents in the operational files which involved directorate of operations activities in Latin America during this period of time. I know nobody has found any gaps in any sequences, any missing files, any missing papers from any of this period of time. That may come up, and if so will be pursued. Right now, the written record, there is absolutely no indication that anybody's fiddled with it.

McDonald: I will only take two more questions. It will be the lady over here in the beige blouse and the gentleman who has the white cap on. [Commotion and shouts from the audience.] Let me ask you, let me ask you, is Terry Watkins in the house? All right. This young woman here, and then the gentleman here.

Lady in the Beige Blouse: I think it's pretty evident that the sentiment in this room is that of pain, anger and especially that of mistrust. I must echo a lot of the statements that have been made in regards to the way that you're going to conduct this investigation. How can we feel comfortable with an investigation that's going to be conducted by someone who is on the government payroll to investigate the CIA and its wrongdoings? I think what we also need to consider is, if the Congressional Black Caucus is going to conduct an investigation, at the end, which one is going to be the one that's going to be accepted by the administration? It's going to be the one that's going to be the one favoring the CIA. And I believe that what we need to do is have a joint effort, as opposed to one investigation being conducted on one end, and another one being conducted on another. Because we're not going to have any justice prevail.

[Man in audience in beige shirt stands and begins angrily shouting a partially inaudible statement, pointing at Deutch: "...hypocrisy of the American dream. Where's the hundred million dollars ... drugs go? I've waited in line, I'm asking my question. YOU answer that fucking question!" Audience roars, scattered applause.]

McDonald: Sir, sir. Sir. Wait, wait, wait a minute. [Angrily:] You get out of here, if you have to use that language, you leave out of this auditorium, sir. [Staff members approach the man in the beige shirt, who is sitting.] I'm not going to allow you to use this language in my community. [Man in beige shirt says, "You still haven't answered the question."] I'm sorry, anyone who uses that type of language does not deserve an answer.

[Commotion from audience; the man in the beige shirt shouts, "You're covering up. How about that? You're covering up!"]

McDonald: That's fine, sir, that might be fine, sir. But you have... Wait a minute, wait a minute. I did not disrespect you for one time, and you are not going to disrespect me here today sir.

[Scattered applause.]

McDonald: Sir, over here in the white cap...

Tarik Ricard (Man in the White Cap): Yes, could you turn the mic up, please? Could you turn up the mic, please, so I can... okay.

McDonald: Please turn the mics up so this gentleman can get his question.

Ricard: With all due disrespect, sir, Mr. Deutch, who was the head of chemical weapons research before he got this job, is that not right? You were the head of chemical weapons research for the military, is that not correct?

Deutch: I was the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Ricard: And you were in charge of the chemical weapons that were used in the Gulf War? Is that correct?

Deutch: That's incorrect.

Ricard: Is that incorrect? Okay. That's incorrect, and is it also incorrect that the OSS, which was started by "Wild Bill" Donovan and Reinhard Gehlen in the 1940s when the Nazis were brought over here in Operation Paperclip? Excuse me, hey, could you let me finish please? You see, you coming into this community today in this way is nothing more than a public relations move for the white people of this country because you know, as well as everyone else, that the CIA has been dealing drugs throughout the world and bringing drugs into this country since the Vietnam war, you brought them in here in bodybags. You were in the Golden Triangle. So you're going to come in this community and insult us, and tell us that you're going to investigate yourself? You gotta be crazy.

[Scattered applause and commotion.]

McDonald: It is now time for me to call... Wait a minute. No, no, no, wait a minute. No, wait a minute. Wait a minute. No, no.

[Woman in pink sweater is standing on a chair shouting partially inaudible statements: "...I took care of a crack baby myself. I did not get medicare... I did not get child care, I did not get clothing... Now you're going to bring this man in here to pacify us!" Someone else shouts, "They told you to close the meeting!"]

McDonald: Wait a minute, I am sorry...

[Woman in pink sweater continues; staff member attempts to pull her down from the chair, but she shrugs him off. Her statements are partially inaudible: "...crack cocaine for thirteen years, and all the sudden..." Another audience member shouts a partially inaudible statement: "And the CIA just told you to close the meeting.

The following is a transcript of a Town Hall

McDonald: I would like to thank the Director of Central Intelligence, Mr. Deutch... [Commotion from audience.] You're right, you're right... [More commotion.] I would like to thank the Director of Central Intelligence for being here today. I would like to also thank my colleagues Congressman Julian Dixon and Congresswoman Jane Harman. I would like to thank the community for being here today. And hopefully, some of you got, if not all of you, got your questions answered.

Deutch: Can I say a word?

McDonald: I will now have the Director of Central Intelligence to make his last remarks.

Deutch: [Pauses, as audience members shout inaudible statements.]

McDonald: You know what, I hear your cry, I hear your cry. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I have just been... Wait a minute, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... WAIT A MINUTE! Wait a minute. Wait a minute. [Woman in pink sweater stands on her chair again, shouting inaudible statements.] I do hear your cry, I understand you are tired of crying. I've just gotten here five months, I will be willing to work with you, and with you, to...

[More commotion.]

McDonald: I will have, I will work with those of you who are willing to work with me. Now, may I have the Director of Central Intelligence to say the last words.

Deutch: [Pauses during commotion.] Thank you, thank you for letting me come here today. You know, I have learned something. I've learned how important it is for our government and for our agency to get on top of this problem and stop it. I just want to say that I came today to try to describe the approach that I'm taking to address these serious charges. But I go away with a better appreciation of what's on your mind, and I go away with a conviction that we're going to do more to stop drugs from coming into the United States, thank you very much.

[Scattered applause mixed with boos.]

[End of transcript.]

 
To the best of our knowledge, the text on this page may be freely reproduced and distributed.
If you have any questions about this, please check out our Copyright Policy.

 

totse.com certificate signatures
 
 
About | Advertise | Bad Ideas | Community | Contact Us | Copyright Policy | Drugs | Ego | Erotica
FAQ | Fringe | Link to totse.com | Search | Society | Submissions | Technology
Hot Topics
Ed & Elaine Brown * Shots Fired *
george galloway what do you think of him?
Hinchey Amendment
why UK accepts US subjugation and infiltration?
George galloway suspended from HP
Why Marxism IS Economically Exploitive...
Situation in Turkey
Putin not playing nicely
 
Sponsored Links
 
Ads presented by the
AdBrite Ad Network

 

TSHIRT HELL T-SHIRTS