BUSH STAFF KNEW FIRST OF PLANE DOWNING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000200970002-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 21, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 16, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/21: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200970002-4
NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE 16 December 1986
Bush StaffKnewFirst ofPlane Down ing'
By GERALD M. BOYD
Spmal to The New York Time,
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - Vice
President Bush's staff received the
private American cargo plane
Nicaragua in October, Mr. Bush's
rice announced tonight.
The episode shows a much closer
relationship than previously acknowl-
edged between the Vice President's
staff and the secret private network
that was supplying arms to the rebels,
known as contras.
The information about the plane was
passed on to high-ranking officials of
the National Security Council, Mr.
Bush's office said. Three crew mem-
hers were killed when their C-123 went
down on Oct. 5. A fourth, Eugene Ha-
senfus, was captured by Nicaraguan
Government forces and was convicted
of terrorism and other crimes.
The disclosures by the Vice Presi-
dent's office were contained in a chro-
a activities in El Salvador,
C the Vice President's national
son, Mr. Gregg's deputy.
Clarification of Relationship
The chronology was released tonight
to explain and clarify the relationship
between Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Bush
and his aides. It provides the most sig-
nificant indication to date that the Ad-
ministration was aware of the clandes-
tine network that provided supplies to
the Nicaraguan insurgents.
It suggests that the Administration
knew more about the supply effort than
it has said publicly.
Spokesmen for the Administration.
In Perspective:
Some New Developments
Frank C. Carlucci, the new director of the National Security Coun-
cil, plans a thorough overhaul of his organization and has begun by
pit king aides who are specialists on the Soviet Union and Latin Amer-
IcA.
William J. Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence, who was
mheduled to testify before a Congressional committee today, collapsed
in his office with a seizure and was taken to the hospital, where he suf-
`^red I second seizure. A doctor said he was "resting comfortably," but
hr, :eslrniony was put off.
M, head of a political action group that campaigned aggressively
a a.tto~t members of Congress opposed to arming the Nicaraguan
ely. is had links with others in the White House besides Lieut. Col. Oli-
cr L. North, the former National Security Council aide. But there was
no evidence to corroborate reports over the weekend that the lobbyist,
C rrl R. Channell, received diverted profits from United States arms
sales to Iran.
The United States periodically supplied its intelligence reports on
lrania.n military operations to Iraq, despite a policy of neutrality in the
Iran-Iraq war.
The Sandinista Government in Nicaragua plans to try the brother
of a United States Congressman on espionage charges before the same.
people's tribunal that last month sentenced another captured Amer-
ivan, Eugene Hasenfus, to 30 years in jail.
ittg contacts between
WL.Whili has been involved in
the State Department, the Central In-
telligence Agency and the Pentagon
have emphatically denied. that the
fight was in any way connected with
the United States Government.
Mr. Bush's office said Mr. Rodriguez
called Colonel Watson twice on Oct. 5
and 6 to say he had received informa-
tion that one of the aircraft supplying
the rebels was missing and possibly
downed in Nicaragua. It said Colonel
Watson then informed the White House
Situation Room and the staff of the Na-
tional Security Council.
In addition, the chronology said Mr.
Rodriguez met with Mr. Gregg and
Colonel Watson almost two months
earlier, on Aug. 8, "to express his con-
cerns" about the secret supply net-
work, including the difficulty in main-
taining it and the poor quality of air-
craft being used.
C terns Relayed to Aides
Those concerns where then relayed
by the two Bush aides at a meeting four
days later, which included Edwin G.
Corr, the Ambassador to El Salvador;
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
William Walker, and two National Se-
curity Council officials, Raymond
Burghardt and Bob Earl. Also present
was an unidentified C.I.A. official, the
chronology said.
Mr. Hasenfus, 45 years old, was a
cargo handler on the C-123. He said im-
mediately after his capture that he was
working for the Central Intelligence
Agency. But later, in public appear-
ances before a tribunal in Managua, hel
said he was not sure whether two co-
workers, whom he named as Max
Gomez and Ramon Medina, were in,
fact C.I.A. operatives.
The agency has denied any connec-
tion with the two men, Cuban exiles,
whose real names are Felix Rodriguez
and Luis Posada Carriles. They
worked with the C.I.A. during and long
after the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961.
After his capture, Mr. Hasenfus said
he believed that Mr. Gomez was a
friend of Mr. Bush.
Mr. Hasenfus's capture set off sev
era) Congressional and Federal inves-
tigations into whether the supply
operation, run from ilopango Air Base
in El Salvador, had links to the Reagan
Administration. Mr. Hasenfus was paid
by Corporate Air Services, a Pennsyl-
vania-based company that he said was
a front for Southern Air Transport.
Southern Air Transport, a Miami-
based concern that was owned by the
C.I.A. until 1973, has acknowledged
holding a contract to service the planes
used in the supply operation, but has
denied any closer ties.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/21: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200970002-4