EX-CIA MAN AFFIRMS MERCENARY HIRE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100070009-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: December 26, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100070009-6
ARTICLE A f' Hh 4
ON FAG-__
Startling new evidence contradicts
statements made by former secretary of
state Henry Kissinger and the CIA to
Congress about the agency's role in re-
cruiting American mercenaries to fight
in Angola's civil war in 1976.
THE VIASHINGTON POST
-26 December 1980
their own, and had no connection with "acting on representations made to me"
the CIA. I by CIA agents," he assured Gearhart
In his affidavit, reviewed by my as- that his wife would be compensated if
scciate Indy Badhwar, Bufkn swears he were killed in Angola. But Gear-
that
the CIA sent him to .Kinshasa, hart's widow, Sheila, has gotten no-'I.
Zaire, in January 1976, "where I re- -. thing.
ceived orders from CIA agents to return ."I believe- the CIA really led these
recruiter, David Floyd Bufkin, reveals to the United'States and recruit Amer- guys down the garden path," says Bill
that at least two Americans Daniel ican citizens as mercenaries with the Wilson, a St. Louis attorney who repre-
Gearhart and:' Gary Acker were re- [U.S.-backed faction} in Angola" He. sented both Acker and Gearhart at
cruited by the CIA to fight for the U.S. = swears he was given $20,000 in fresh their trial in Angola, and still represents
hacked faction in Angola. Both were $100 bills by the CIA. ' . Mrs. Gearhart and 'Acker's parents.
captured by- the Soviet-supported e- Returning to California, Bufkin' re- Wilson spent four years tracking down
girne that eventually won the war. lates, he placed an ad in the Fresno Bee Bufkin, and persuaded him to make his
Gearhart . was -executed by a firing :soliciting mercenaries. Acker responded sworn statement for Acker's parents.
.squad and -r is serving a 16-year :to the ad, and Bufkin later met Gear- The CIA's"denials haven't impressed
sentence in a Luanda prison. 'hart through another man who had ~ one conservative congressman who's
Bufkin's, statement belies testimony , seen the ad. Butkin flew back to Kin- : been assisting the"Acker family and is
given by Kissinger and written State shasa with a list of potential recruits. familiar with the case. Rep. Robert
Department assurances to the Senate 'There be met with one Nick Hall, a' Doman (R-Calif.) said that the "official '
Foreign -Relations Committee, which - "General Garcia" and a CIA agent he 'denials and misrepresentations to the
investigated: U.S.: covert action in An '; knew only as Frank. They authorized victims' families and even members of
gola in 1976. "The CIA has not directly him to hire the recruits, according to. Congress ... have done little to inspire '
or indirectly recruited any Americans ' Bufkin's statement. confidence."
to serve as mercenaries in Angola," The recruiter flew back to the United "It's really frustrating," said Acker's
Kissinger testified. - States, rounded up his handful of mother, Joyce. "The affidavit shows'
"We have.consulted with the CIA mercenaries and escorted them to Kin- that the government recruited Gary to
and have been assured that no U.S...: - _shasa. There, he says, the recruits "met ' fight in Angola, but I couldn't even get
funds are being used directly or indi with United States CIA agents who - the State Department to deliver a f
rectly to recruit, train or deploy Amer- . briefed the individuals.... as to military Christmas package to him." - 1
ican mercenaries,'.' Robert J: matters pertaining to Angola." He Footnote: A CIA spokesman reiter-
McCloskey, then assistant secretary of ' ' adds: "At this time a CIA agent known ates the government's position that the
state for congressional relations, m as Frank paid Daniel Gearhart $2,900 agency "neither paid nor authorized
formed the committee. for expenses and compensation." funds to Mr. Acker or other Americans
Recruiting American citizens to fight The CIA then transported the engaged in armed combat in Angola';'
for a foreign power is a criminal viola-- mercenaries to Angola, Bufkin claims, and that none of them was flown there-
tion of the Neutrality Act When Gear- 'and they "participated in several mili- - "by or for the CIA." The State. Depart
hart and Acker were captured, U.S. of- taryoperations- under the direction and ment says it is trying to persuade the I
facials insisted that they were "soldiers orders of CIA personnel." Angolan government to release - Acker : l
of fortune'_who..went- to Angola: on ~ , . In his 'statement, Bufkin says that, ... or reduce his sentence. -
A sworn statement by a onetime CIA
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100070009-6