III. The Channell/Miller Network -- The Operation
A. White House Briefings and Hay Adams GatheringsThe North briefing in June 1985 served as the blueprint for other similar briefings during the next year for NEPL contributors or potential contributors. These group briefings occurred on October 17, 1985; November 21, 1985; January 30, 1986; and March 27, 1986.
The White House briefings were meticulously planned by NEPL, IBC, North and White House personnel. Internal White House memoranda obtained by the Committees show that North was the switching point for arranging and coordinating the briefings with White House liaison, White House Counsel, and White House security.
NEPL prepared and sent invitations to persons selected by Channell and his associates. A typical invitation to a briefing stated in pertinent part:
"You are one of a small group of dedicated Americans who has stood by President Reagan … in support of his agenda … It will be a pleasure to meet you in Washington on [date] when you attend our special security briefing followed by a working dinner … Please be reminded that your accommodations at the Hay Adams Hotel are taken care of and there is no expense to you."
[CH 03541].
For those who attended, NEPL met them at the airport with a limousine and escorted them to the Hay Adams Hotel, where all expenses were paid by NEPL.
The group typically was taken from the Hay Adams to a reception room in the Old Executive Office Building, where they were introduced to North and other White House personnel. Other than North, among those who participated in these briefings were Patrick Buchanan, White House Communications Director; Mitch Daniels, Political Assistant to the President; Linas Kojelis, Special Assistant to the President for Public Liaison; Linda Chavez, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison; and Elliott Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. For the January 30 briefing, David Fischer -- a former Special Assistant to the President who became a highly paid consultant to NEPL and IBC -- even arranged for a Presidential "drop by."
North always delivered the principal speech and slide presentation along the lines of the June 1985 briefing. While he was a spellbinding speaker, North generally was careful not to ask for money, often telling the audience that he could not solicit funds because he was a federal employee. He did, however, suggest that persons interested in contributing funds for the Contras should speak with Channell. At least one attendee at these briefings recalled North stating that there were certain matters he could not discuss with them "on this side of Pennsylvania Avenue" but that Channell would raise later "on the other side of the street," a reference to the Hay Adams Hotel. [McLaughlin Dep. At 50-52].
An account of North's presentation was provided at the public hearings by an eventual contributor in attendance at the March 1986 briefing, William O'Boyle:
"[North] described the military and political situation in Nicaragua. He had photographs of an airport in Nicaragua that had been recently built; the purpose of the airport was ostensibly commercial, but it was in fact a disguised military airport. One of the uses for which the airport was intended was to recover the Russian Backfire bombers after they made a nuclear attack on the United States.
"Another possible use of this airport was to fly a certain kind of mission that was currently being flown out of Cuba, up and down the east coast of the United States. Apparently every day a Russian plane leaves Cuba, as I recall, and goes right up to the 12-mile limit, has some kind of large device on the outside of the plane … This Nicaraguan air base would allow the Russians to fly the same kind of mission up the west coast to the United States …
"He described the refugee problem … and we could look forward in the next few years to millions of refugees flooding across our borders as this happened.
"He indicated how our security services had intercepted the text of a speech which was delivered to the UN by the Nicaraguan representative to the UN, which was complaining about the United States in one respect or another, the point being it is really the Russians managing the diplomacy of the Nicaraguans before the United States.
"He showed photographs which indicated that the Nicaraguan government officials were indicted in smuggling dope … He also told an anecdote about some Nicaraguan agents that were recently caught with dope and money and so forth and disguised as American agents."
[5/21/87, at 20-22].
After the briefings, Channell, Miller and their associates hosted a cocktail party and dinner at the Hay Adams, often attended by Contra leaders and some U.S. government officials. During the reception and dinner, NEPL and IBC employees attempted to determine which attendees were the most likely contributors. The enticement of purchasing lethal supplies for the Contras was often used with potential contributors. Those persons who expressed a serious interest in contributing money for the Contras were offered the opportunity to meet one-on-one with North, and, if they gave enough, a meeting with the President. [5/21/87, at 26-27].
Large contributors to NEPL uniformly received thank you letters from North (and often from the President) for their support of the President's policies in Central America, although without specific reference to any contribution. [R. Miller Dep., 9/15/87, at 511-515].