Reagan-Era Time Bomb Explodes: Court throws out ex-CIA man's conviction***

[BurtWorm]

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/10/29/cia/index.html

Oct. 29, 2003 | HOUSTON (AP) -- A federal judge threw out the conviction of a former CIA operative who has spent 20 years in prison for selling arms to Libya, saying the government knowingly used false evidence against him.

...

At his 1983 trial in Texas, prosecutors introduced a sworn statement from a top-ranking official that Wilson didn't do anything for the CIA after his retirement in 1971.

"It was just a flat-out lie. He did a lot," Adler said Tuesday.

Adler said the Reagan-era officials who pushed the case had been embarrassed by revelations they were trading arms for information and made Wilson a scapegoat.

"For over 20 years he's been claiming he was not some kind of rogue CIA officer and he did not get a fair trial and, of course, it turns out he was right," Adler said.

...

[Minstrel Boy]

1. wow!

This is big news. Or rather, it ought to be. Hope this gets the attention it deserves.

[BurtWorm]

2. Reagan was a dress rehearsal

for Snippy.

[tom_paine]

4. Haven't you noticed? In Imperial Amerika NOTHING gets

the attention it desrves.

And things which deserve no attention at all consume us.

Welcome to Orwell's Vision, not yet fully fufilled but the "light is at the ned of the tunnel" on it...

[bryant69]

3. This is certainly good news for Adler

But I don't know if it will do much. It has two defects.

1). It's old old old news, and Reagan is currently a pityable figure.

2). Even when this was going on, Reagan wasn't blamed. It was always assumed that it was advisors pulling this crap, not him personally. Whether you believe that or not, that perception, plus defect #1 makes this less than a win.

But it does point to an important lesson--President Bush is not a pityable figure but he might weasle himself into a situation where he is assumed to be innocent by reason that his advisors did it. We can't let that happen this time around.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[BurtWorm]

5. Actually, the agent's name is Wilson, and his case was HUGE in 1983

More from salon.com:

Edwin P. Wilson, 75, was convicted in 1983 of shipping 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to Libya -- something he said he did to ingratiate himself with the Libyan government at the CIA's request.

In a scathing opinion released Tuesday, U.S. Judge Lynn N. Hughes said the federal government failed to correct information about Wilson's service to the CIA that it admitted internally was false.

"Confronted with its own internal memoranda, the government now says that, well, it might have misstated the truth, but that it was Wilson's fault, it did not really matter, and it did not know what it was doing," the judge wrote in a 24-page ruling.



(Adler is Wilson's attorney. Sorry for the confusion.)

[bryant69]

8. My fault

for not reading closely enough.

[On the Road]

6. "If You or Any Member of Your IMF Force are Caught or Killed...

the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions."

Looks like they take that sentiment seriously.

[Cha]

7. Jaysus! 20 Freakin' years of your life in

Prison. Those responsible should be boiled in oil.

[loudnclear]

9. Calling Ollie North, calling Ollie North....

the least they could have done was to pardon Wilson. these scabs make me sick. Meanwhile, drug running Ollie gets to host his own show...the lying bastard.

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

10. Houston Chron - Reagan-CIA lies kept agent in jail for 20 yrs

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2188683

Oct. 29, 2003, 12:34PM

Judge tosses ex-CIA agent's Houston conviction
By KIM COBB
2003 Houston Chronicle

A federal judge in Houston has thrown out the 20-year-old arms smuggling conviction of a former CIA agent, outlining in scathing terms how federal officials knowingly used a false affidavit at his trial and concealed the act through years of appeals.

Edwin Wilson was convicted in Houston in 1983 of smuggling arms to Libya at a time when the threat of Libyan terrorism was major news. Congress was mounting investigations into controversial CIA activities around the globe, and CIA administrators were actively trying to deflect criticism.

Wilson, now 75, has been in prison ever since, serving a 52-year sentence. His conviction was vacated in a decision made Monday and announced Tuesday.

Wilson claimed he shipped 20 tons of plastic explosives out of Houston Intercontinental Airport at the request of the CIA. The federal government denied this, and at the heart of the case against him was a CIA affidavit submitted by prosecutors stating Wilson had not done any work for the CIA since his retirement in February 1971.

MORE............

[BurtWorm]

11. I'll bet he worked closely with James R. Bath

Bush's drug--I mean Guard buddy.

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

13. good point. Read this about Bath CIA Bin Laden and Bush

Bath was in BCCI too

read this ...

http://www.columbusalive.com/2002/20020829/082902/08290208.html

Bush’s family ties to shady bank BCCI help explain his “success.” in the oil biz

by Bob Fitrakis

Trying to make sense of George W. Bush’s days in the oil business and his bizarre Harken Energy stock transactions? Well, if you dig deep enough, you’ll find a core group of people surrounding the notorious Bank of Credit and Commerce International (aka Bank of Crooks and Criminals International).

BCCI was, among other nefarious things, the bank of choice for al Qaeda, the CIA, Saddam Hussein and Manuel Noriega. This spooky collection of opium warlords, Arab sheiks, Pakistani financiers and organized crime perpetrated perhaps the greatest banking fraud in world history. BCCI’s global criminal conspiracy was aided by connections to Washington insiders like the Bush family, former secretary of defense and CIA co-founder Clark Clifford, Senator Orrin Hatch and President Jimmy Carter.

Award-winning journalists Peter Truell and Larry Gurwin document Dubya’s ties to al Qaeda’s favorite bank in their authoritative tome, False Profits: The Inside Story of BCCI, the World’s Most Corrupt Financial Empire.

Truell, a Wall Street Journal reporter, and Gurwin, who broke the infamous Banco Ambrosiano scandal in the early 1980s, point out that both Bush political brothers Jeb and Dubya had close links to BCCI. Jeb socialized with Abdur Sakhia, BCCI’s Miami branch manager and later the bank’s top U.S. official. Jeb’s real estate company, Bush Klein Realty, managed the Grove Island complex of luxury condominiums where Sakhia lived. BCCI financed various real estate deals at the complex.

MORE.........

[MoonAndSun]

12. Notice that this is in Salon,

none of the major news media will probably run with this. There is too much of "poor Ronnie" right now and they certainly do not want the wingers ranting and raving about the liberal media bias saying bad things about "Saint Ron".

This man lost 20 years of his life for these thugs, may they all rot in hell.

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

14. Newsday, Houston Chronicle, WashPost, UKGuardian

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&q=Adler+CIA



Ex-CIA agent's conviction tossed
Houston Chronicle, TX - 11 hours ago
... policy the scapegoats. But the problem in the Wilson case, Adler said,
was the Justice Department -- not the CIA. The CIA informed ...
Court Throws Out Ex-CIA Man's Conviction - Newsday
Arms Merchant May Be Freed - Washington Post
Court Throws Out Ex-CIA Man's Conviction - Guardian
Wired News - and more »

[MoonAndSun]

15. That's great info, thanks for the link to google!!

Maybe this will spread far and wide, I can only hope!

[BurtWorm]

16. If Reagan dies tomorrow

this story is probably vapor.

But does it really have to be that way?

[Cat Atomic]

17. Reagan-era officials?

Like who? There are alot of Reagan-era officials with top posts in the current Bush administration.

[Braden]

18. c4 to Lybia?

"Edwin P. Wilson, 75, was convicted in 1983 of shipping 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to Libya -- something he said he did to ingratiate himself with the Libyan government at the CIA's request"

I don't suppose that was used to blow up Pan Am 103?

[BurtWorm]

19. This story is now on NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/national/29CND-INTE.html?hp

It's big. There are Reagan-era foreign policy people in the Bush regime. Poindexter was one. Negroponte was another. And I wouldn't be in the least surprised if James R. Bath, Bush II's James Baker, is involved.

[BurtWorm]

20. kick