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by Harry V. Martin
Copyright FreeAmerica
and Harry V. Martin, 1995
EXCLUSIVE TO THE NAPA SENTINEL
Navy flier testifies he
flew Bush to Paris for deal to block release of hostages
A BAC 111 aircraft,
which had been reconfigured to carry a sufficient amount of fuel to travel
3,600 miles, left Andrews Air Force Base in the late afternoon of October
19, 1980. The aircraft's destination: Paris, France. The Passengers aboard
the aircraft included the command pilot U.S. Navy Captain Gunther
Russbacher, Richard Brenneke and Heinrick Rupp, on the flight deck; and in
the cabin was William Casey, soon to be the Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency; Donald Greggs, soon to be the ambassador to South
Korea; and George Bush, the future Vice President and President of the
United States and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
There were also Secret Service agents aboard the aircraft.
This is the weekend -
three weeks before the November 1980 Presidential Election, that Bush has
claimed he spent at Andrews Air Force Base.
Testifying to this
flight is Russbacher, the pilot. The Navy pilot is currently at Terminal
Island, a federal prison, awaiting an appeal on a charge of misuse and
misappropriation of government properties, misuse of government jets, and
misuse of government purchase orders for purchase of fuel. He was also a
member of the Office of Naval Intelligence and worked with the Central
Intelligence Agency. Russbacher's alias is Robert A. Walker. Russbacher
now becomes the second crew member of that flight to testify to this
clandestine episode that may have changed the politics of this nation and
which has been labeled the "October Surprise". Brenneke was upheld by a
Federal jury when he testified about the flight. After his testimony he
was charged by the Federal Government with perjury, but a Federal jury
acquitted him upholding his testimony that the flight actually took place.
The trial was held in Portland, Oregon last year.
Russbacher, in an
exclusive interview, states that Bush stayed at the Hotel Crillion in
Paris. Russbacher has stated that more than one flight was involved, but
that this was the initial flight at which time an agreement was made
between Bush and Casey and the Government of Iran to delay the release of
American hostages in Iran until after the November 1980 election. Former
President Jimmy Carter and several Congressmen are now asking for an
investigation into the "October Surprise".
According to Russbacher
statements, Bush stayed only a couple of hours. He attended a meeting at
the Hotel Crillion and at the Hotel George V. Russbacher, Brenneke, and
Rupp stayed at the Hotel Florida. Bush did not return on the same BAC 111
aircraft or return with some of the people he had flown with to Paris, but
instead Russbacher flew him back in the SR71. The aircraft was refueled
about 1800 to 1900 nautical miles into the Atlantic by a KCl35.
The returning flight
with Bush landed at McGuire Air Force base at approximately 2 a.m. on
October 20. Russbacher states that Bush, while in Paris, met with Hashemi
Rafsanjani, the second in command to the Ayatollah and now the president
of Iran, and Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian businessman who was
extremely powerful. Arrangements were apparently made to pay Iran $40
million to delay the release of hostages in order to thwart President
Jimmy Carter's re-election bid. The $40 million was the beginning of terms
that created the Iran-Contra scandal that is now being reopened by
Congress.
Russbacher is concerned
for his life, but feels that the other pilots will now come forward in a
new Congressional investigation. He indicates that there is a growing
division within the Central Intelligence Agency. There is no one higher
than the CIA, but there are groups within the company (term used by
insiders for the CIA) that are very, very strong. And the group or clique
that I belonged to, in my opinion, was probably the strongest but there
are other factions that are at war with themselves, Russbacher states."
You have these groups that are answerable to no one. Well, they are
answerable to one man, on top, and he doesn't seem to care how the
problems are resolved, just as long as they are taken care of." The man
Russbacher is referring to is President Bush.
On the eve of an
announcement of a Congressional investigation into the October Surprise,
Russbacher was to have taken a helicopter trip with Navy Intelligence
officers, but he did not take the trip. The helicopter carrying several
Naval Intelligence officers was reported to have crashed near or on Fort
Ord in California. Russbacher, who was willing to tape this interview,
states that had he been on the helicopter he would be dead right now. In
fact, because of that crash, Russbacher wanted this interview taped for
safety reasons.
He believes that the
other aircrew members are in danger, as well, but feels that they are
ready to come forward and testify, as did Brenneke last year.
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