The Rapeutation of Congressman Mike Barnes

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The Rapeutation of Congressman Mike Barnes

Postby admin » Mon Jun 05, 2017 3:28 am

The Rapeutation of Congressman Mike Barnes
Excerpt from an unpublished draft chapter of the congressional Iran-Contra investigation, that was suppressed as part of the deal to get three moderate Republican senators to sign on to the final report and give the inquiry a patina of bipartisanship.

H. The Barnes Campaign

Congressman Mike Barnes, whose Congressional district adjoins Washington, D.C. and who was Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, came in for special treatment. Barnes, along with Congressman Lee Hamilton, led the fight in the House of Representatives to halt military assistance to the Contras in 1986. Heavy television advertising was directed against Barnes even though the sponsors knew that there was no chance they could change his mind or his vote. They felt, however, that since these ads were scheduled to run in the Washington media market, they would be seen by all Members of Congress and serve as a warning. [Littledale Dep., 9/8/87, at 21-23; D. Kuykendall Dep., 8/12/87, at 112-113]. The Washington television campaign was supplemented by ad campaigns in selective targeted Congressional districts.

Barnes was also a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the Democratic primary in Maryland in 1986 and was an inviting target for his opponents. The Channell fundraising operation used Barnes as the excuse for a concerted fundraising effort in the summer of 1986. Notes taken by Channell's key fundraisers from a briefing by Channell were illustrative of the message that was being used on the clients and contributors:

"Barnes -- wants indict Ollie.

"Watergate babies -- want to get at the President through Ollie.

"Want another Watergate.

"Put Barnes out of politics.

"If we get rid of Barnes we get rid of the ringleader and rid of the problem.

"Special PAC to do only one thing: Only to rid Congress of Congressmen that are trying to undermine President in his anti-terrorist policies.

"Barnes trying to indict Ollie -- wants to get at RR -- trying to use R to elevate his Senate campaign -- if we can beat him he's out of Congress.

"Giddens re CIA, NIC, Embassy Security, destroy Barnes -- use him as abject lesson to others.

"RR informed on his return."


[Littledale Dep., 9/8/87, at 87-91; Shultz Exhibit No. 81].

Channell's operatives were so determined to defeat Mike Barnes in the democratic primary that they ran "independent" television ads on behalf of Linda Chavez that were supposedly designed to help Linda Chavez in the Maryland general election. They were directed against Barbara Mikulski, one of Barnes' principal opponents in the Maryland Democratic primary and the eventual winner. [Littledate Dep., 9/8/87, at 22].

Krishna Littledale, one of Channell's main fundraisers, told the Committees that these ads were primarily aimed at harming Mike Barnes' chances in the Democratic primary. [Littledale Dep., 9/8/87, at 22].

On September 9, 1986, the night of the Democratic primary in Maryland, Spitz Channell, Kris Littledale and Cliff Smith sent a telegram to Lt. Col. Oliver North exulting in the defeat of Mike Barnes. The telegram stated:

"Dear Colonel North:

We have the honor to inform you that Congressman Michael Barnes, foe of the freedom fighter movement, adversary of President Reagan's foreign policy goals and opponent of the President's vision for American security in the future has been soundly defeated in his big to become the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Maryland.

His defeat signals an end to much of the disinformation and unwise effort directed at crippling your foreign policy goals.

We, at the Anti-terrorism American Committee (ATAC), feel proud to have participated in a campaign to ensure Congressman Barnes' defeat."

Signed by
Spitz Channell
Cliff Smith
Kris Littledale


[Channell Document A0036004].

Nearly all of these activities -- television ads, lobbying, grassroots pressure and newspaper ads were funded by the same contributors who had been invited to the White House for Oliver North's briefings and who had met with the President.

***

D. Dan Kuykendall

Former Congressman Dan Kuykendall, along with Rich Miller and Frank Gomez, was one of the central figures in the private network which worked with Oliver North and Walt Raymond at the NSC, and Otto Reich, Jonathan Miller and Robert Kagan at the Department of State. In the early days of IBC, until the Spitz Channell fundraising efforts flowered, Rich Miller and Frank Gomez were paid a small retainer by Dan Kuykendall. Later, however, the funds began to flow the other way with Kuykendall being the beneficiary of funds emanating from Channell through IBC and I.C., Inc. in the Cayman Islands. He appeared to be the main legislative operator, working with the NSC and, along with Penn Kemble of PRODEMCA and Bruce Cameron, a lobbyist paid by Channell, advising Rich Miller and Spitz Channell on tactics and strategy during the efforts to influence the 1986 votes on Contra aid in the U.S. House of Representatives. [Schedule of Dan Kuykendall Payments; CH 05255; Channell Dep., 9/1/87, at 72-73; Kuykendall Dep., 8/12/87, at 35-37, 42-45, 103-110].

In both 1985 and 1986, Kuykendall presided over regular meetings at his townhouse office on Capitol Hill. These meetings were regularly attended by a group of conservative Reagan supporters including Lynn Bouchey, Sam Dickens, Jim Denton and Peter Flaherty. North, Johnathan Miller, Rich Miller and Frank Gomez also attended on a regular basis and, on at least one occasion, a strategy session was attended by Otto Reich and Walt Raymond. Kuykendall has claimed credit for the strategy of targeting Mike Barnes for the 1986 television ads as a convenient way to reach the whole Congress and hit Mike Barnes at the same time. [Kuykendall Dep., 8/12/87, 35-37, 42-45, supra]. Kuykendall was also Spitz Channell's principal legislative advisor for the 1986 Contra aid effort. In his testimony, Channell said: "In 1986, I nearly lived with Dan Kuykendall because he is such a vast resource on the history of the House of Representatives and the way it works and you just don't take a list of uncommitted Congressmen and say here is an ad, let's go after him." [North's appointment calendar; Channell Dep., 9/1/87, at 72-73; CH 79238].

In 1985, Kuykendall was called upon by the White House to be a key player in their legislative campaign. In a memo to Robert McFarlane from North, Raymond and Donald Fortier, McFarlane was being asked to call White House legislative director, Max Friedersdorf to:

"… ensure that Max is aboard on the use of former Congressman Dan Kuykendall as the focal point for those who wish to contact and schedule the resistance leaders. Cruz, Calero and Robelo have all agreed to this procedure and Kuykendall is setting up an Ops Center/Secretariat to handle their schedules, calls and staff work under the Gulf and Caribbean Foundation."


[March 15, 1985 Memorandum to Robert McFarlane from Oliver North, Walter Raymond and Donald Fortier, Control No. N40603].

In the same memo, Fortier, Raymond and North asked McFarlane to call Pat Buchanan to "help to ensure that those who are operating independently will be responsive to clear cut guidance (Talking Points are attached at Tab A)."

Tab A described a coordinated legislative strategy group which was "lean, serious and sharply focused." The group included Walt Raymond, Oliver North, Otto Reich and Jonathan Miller and five or six other White House, NSC and State Department officials.

Curiously, in December of 1986, Channell worked out an arrangement with Dan Kuykendall to increase his small retainer substantially just after the Iran/Contra scandal began to break. Over the next seven months, Channell paid Kuykendall approximately $110,000 for his services. The services included a strategy paper, apparently concocted by Kuykendall and Rich Miller, which was designed to guide Channell through the upcoming investigation. Included in the strategy paper was a list of assignments which related to the Congressional investigation of the Iran/Contra affair. [CH 05474; AOO33137; Channell Dep., 9/2/87, at 174-176; 124-128].

In briefing Channell, Rich Miller and Dan Kuykendall emphasized that the upcoming investigation was a "political struggle" and that he should think of his strategy in terms of military tactics. [Channell Dep., 9/2/87, at 174-176 supra]. A section of the report titled "Congressional Foes and Friends, January 5-23," stated:

"The Select Committees are not even convening until late January and early February. But, during this time, staff members will be picking their targets. We should move quickly to reassure our friends and to placate our new-found antagonists.

"We will use copies of checks until the Coopers and Lybrand audit is through, and only with trusted friends. The schedule of meetings and who will attend will be handled by Dan Kuykendall in conjunction with Lyn Nofziger and IBC. The present targets are broken out in three categories: our friends who can publicly support us now; reasonable members who have not supported us but are men of fair play; and our new antagonists who should be forced to see the truth. The list includes all the contact possibilities.

FRIENDS

Broomfield: Dan Kuykendall (DK)
Trent Lott: Dan Kuykendall
Dick Cheney: Dan Kuykendall
Bob Dole: DK, Dave Fischer, Lyn Nofinger
Bob Michel: Dan Kuykendall
Orrin Hatch: Dave Fischer, Dan Kuykendall

RESPONSIBLE MEMBERS

Dante Fascell: DK, Steve Schwartz, Penn Kemble
Sen. Boren: Bruce Cameron, Penn Kemble
Sen. Rudman: Dan Kuykendall
Sen. Trible: Dan Kuykendall
Bill Richardson: Frank Gomez
Kika de la Garza: Dan Kuykendall
Claude Pepper: Penn Kemble, Denise O'Leary
Dan Mica: Penn Kemble, Denise O'Leary, DK
Sen. Graham: Denise O'Leary, Steve Schwartz
Dave McCurdy: Penn Kemble, Bruce Cameron
Ike Skelton: Penn Kemble, Bruce Cameron
Bustamante: Dan Kukendall"


[A033137].

During the early stages of 1987, Channell also asked IBC to prepare a white paper on left wing organizations in the United States who were supporting the Sandinistas. The product was such that Miller advised Channell to consult a lawyer before making any use of it. [Miller Dep., 9/16/87, at 670-675].

Kuykendall was also involved in an effort to persuade Channell employee Kris Littledale to meet with a journalist to discredit former Channell employee Jane McLaughlin's public stories about the Channell operation by discussing "certain knowledge that we had regarding Ms. McLaughlin's private life." [Littledale Dep., 9/8/87, at 32-34]. Littledale declined to do so on the advice of his lawyer.

Sometime in the spring of 1987, shortly after Littledale had refused the independent counsel's offer of immunity in return for his testimony against Spitz Channell, Dan Conrad and Cliff Smith, he had lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Kuykendall, Spitz Channell and some others at which Spitz Channell said to him, after learning that he had rejected the prosecutor's offer, "I understand we have something to thank you for." [Littledale Dep., 9/8/87, at 32-34 supra].

In his testimony, Littledale told Committee lawyers that after discussions "with my attorney and my family at some length" he "came to the conclusion that we should tell Mr. Walsh's office to sit on a hot rod and rotate and we did so." [Littledale Dep., 9/8/87, at 32].
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