[ FINAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL FOR IRAN/CONTRA MATTERS // Lawrence E. Walsh, Independent Counsel // August 4, 1993, Washington, D.C. // Volume I: Investigations and Prosecutions ]

Chapter 28

George Bush



Footnotes

1 President Bush also pardoned former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane, former Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, former CIA Central American Task Force Chief Alan D. Fiers, Jr., former CIA Deputy Director for Operations Clair E. George, and former CIA Counter-Terrorism Chief Duane R. Clarridge. The Weinberger pardon marked the first time a President ever pardoned someone in whose trial he might have been called as a witness, because the President was knowledgeable of factual events underlying the case.
2 Bush, FBI 302, 12/12/86; Bush, OIC Deposition, 1/11/88. But Bush's recollection was very general and he did not recall specific details of meetings in which the Iran arms sales were discussed.
3 Bush, FBI 302, 12/12/86, p. 3; Bush, OIC Deposition, 1/11/88, p. 17. During his interview with the FBI, Bush said he would be willing to take a polygraph examination concerning his lack of prior knowledge of the diversion.
4 Bush, OIC Deposition, 1/11/88, p. 154.
5 The first entry in the diary reads: "This is November 4, 1986, the beginning of what I hope will be an accurate diary, with at least five and maybe 15 minutes a day on observations about my run for the presidency in 1988." (Bush Diary, 11/4/86.) Prior to November of 1986, Vice President Bush did, on occasion, dictate his thoughts in conjunction with a particular historical event, such as the hospitalization of President Reagan in July 1985.
6 During his vice presidency, Bush had six offices in the following locations: the West Wing of the White House; the Old Executive Office Building; the Dirksen Senate Office Building; the Capitol; the Vice Presidential Residence; and Houston, Texas. The primary function of the Houston Office was to respond to public correspondence. (Presock, FBI 302, 3/17/93, p. 1.)
7 Green, FBI 302, 2/18/93, p. 2.
8 Rhodes, FBI 302, 2/18/93, pp. 2-4.
9 Steel, FBI 302, 2/18/93, p. 2.
10 OVP Chief of Staff Craig L. Fuller recalled observing Bush occasionally dictating when he obviously was not working on correspondence. (Fuller, FBI 302, 2/19/93, p. 2.) Rose Zamaria, Special Assistant to President Bush, was aware that Bush made "sporadic" dictation of his thoughts, although she does not know when he began this practice. (Zamaria, FBI 302, 2/17/93, p. 2.) Another special assistant, Susie Peake, transcribed some Bush dictation in 1989 concerning his trip to China and again in 1991 concerning the Gulf War. (Peake, FBI 302, 2/18/93, p. 2.) Zamaria and Peake were not aware of Bush dictating a diary that dated back to November 1986.
11 Memorandum from Culvahouse to Assistants To The President, et al., 3/27/87, ARZ 003929-37. This document was generated, in part, in response to a letter from Independent Counsel to Culvahouse's predecessor, Peter J. Wallison, dated February 27, 1987. This letter forwarded the initial document request from the OIC to the Executive Branch.
12 Letter from Friedman to Wallison, 2/27/87, ARZ 004369-70.
13 Memorandum from Culvahouse to Assistants To The President, et al., 3/27/87, ARZ 003929-37.
14 Ibid.
15 Memorandum from Fuller to Gray, 4/1/87, ARZ 003928.
16 Ibid.
17 Memorandum from Gray/Schmitz to Heads of OVP Offices, 4/8/87, ARZ 003486-95.
18 Memorandum from Schmitz to Presock, 4/8/87, ARZ 004336.
19 Beach, FBI 302, 3/9/93, pp. 4-6. Beach's recollection of the conversation with Gray is memorialized in contemporaneous notes Beach made during the conversation on December 12, 1992. (Beach, "Notes of Interviews Re V.P. Diary Excerpts.") This conversation, and the corresponding notes, were the product of an "internal investigation" conducted by Beach following the discovery of the Bush diary.
20 Fuller, FBI 302, 2/19/93, pp. 3-4.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
23 The "chron files" consist of chronologically sorted daily files of various documents and were maintained by Susie Peake. Chron file documents include correspondence, memoranda, calendars, phone logs and personal notes written or typed by Vice President Bush.
24 Bush Note, 1/30/87, ARZ 000772.
25 Memorandum from Fuller to Regan, 2/2/87, ARZ 000787.
26 Collamore, FBI 302, 3/12/93, p. 2.
27 Culvahouse, FBI 302, 3/19/93, p. 4-5.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Steel, FBI 302, 2/18/93, pp. 3-4; Green, FBI 302, 2/18/93, p. 3.
31 Rhodes, FBI 302, 2/18/93, p. 5.
32 Peake, FBI 302, 2/18/93, p 3.
33 Prior to the discovery of the Bush diary, many of the members of Bush's staff referred to the chron files as a "diary." (Beach, FBI 302, 3/9/93, p. 7.) In fact, prior to the disclosure of the Bush diary, the White House Counsel had acknowledged that the chron file "diary" was responsive to OIC document requests calling for production of a "diary." (Memorandum from Rehnquist to File, 7/10/92, ARZ 003193-94.)
34 Letter from Barrett to Rehnquist, 6/30/92, ARZ 004164A-65.
35 Memorandum from Beach to Gray, 9/15/92, ARZ 003527-28.
36 Ibid.
37 Ibid. (emphasis in original). The White House counsel never interpreted the September 15th call extending the document-request response date to imply that the OIC had dropped its June 1992 request. To the contrary, the White House understood that the request was "deferred" until after the election, when the White House was expecting the OIC to call about it. (Beach, FBI 302, 3/9/93, p. 12.)
38 Memorandum from Rehnquist to file, 7/10/92, ARZ 003193-94.
39 Presock, FBI 302, 1/19/93, pp. 1-3.
40 Presock recalled a search for a Bush diary in July 1992 by the White House Counsel's office. She believed it was in response to the OIC request. Presock did not recall any diary being found at that time. (Presock, FBI 302, 1/19/93, pp. 4-5.)
41 Ibid., p. 6.
42 When interviewed by Beach in December 1992, Gray thought he recalled Presock saying she found the diaries in August, before the Republican Convention, and thought he might have learned of them prior to late September. (Beach, FBI 302, 3/9/93, p. 7.) However, Gray had no precise memory of the dates, and Presock had documentary evidence, along with Rose Zamaria's recollection, supporting the late-September date. (Ibid.)
43 Liberman, FBI 302, 3/16/93, p. 7.
44 Ibid., p. 6.
45 Ibid., p. 11. No discussion took place, to Beach's knowledge. Clearly uncomfortable with the question, Beach carefully stated that he and his colleagues "recognized that Boyden had made a difficult decision" regarding delayed notification.
46 Ibid., p. 4.
47 Ibid.
48 Ibid.
49 Letter from Sollers to Gillen, 1/27/93.
50 Bush Diary, 7/20/87.
51 The document request was limited to "personal and official documents and other materials that relate in any way to your service in the Executive Branch from 1986 through the present as it relates to any aspect of the Iran/contra matter, including document requests from this Office or any other Iran/Contra investigation." (Letters from Harleston to Gray/Schmitz, 1/11/93.)
52 The non-waiver agreement stated:
This review will not waive and will be without prejudice to any privilege against disclosure that may exist with respect to any of the documents, including the attorney-client privilege.
(Letter From Harleston to Willard, 2/10/93.)
53 Letter from Harleston to Willard, 3/23/93.
54 Ibid.
55 The OIC's concern over a potential conflict with Willard serving as Gray's and Schmitz's attorney stems primarily from a Janet Rehnquist note of a conversation she had with Willard. The note reads:
Richard Willard:
  • Right to be concerned
  • Obstructing
  • Covering up
  • process has been sloppy over the years
  • not atty client or work product materials
  • make this kind of material in a Special way
  • shakier

(Rehnquist Note, ALU 0141477.)

Rehnquist had a poor memory of this conversation; her note is not dated. She believed it related to the 1992 Request, but was essentially guessing when she tried to interpret the phrases. But Rehnquist clearly remembered that she did not learn of the Bush diaries until she read about them in the newspapers. This conversation with Willard, then, does not relate to the diaries. (Rehnquist, FBI 302, 3/17/93, pp. 12-13.)
56 Liberman, FBI 302, 3/16/92, p.11. In fact, Liberman stated that Gray put Willard in contact with Beach and her. (Ibid.) It was from Willard that Liberman first learned that the "stuff" Gray had discovered was in fact the Bush diary. (Ibid.)
57 Letter from Willard to Harleston, 3/29/93, 026101.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid.
60 Letter from Harleston to Willard, 4/8/93.
61 Letter from Willard to Harleston, 4/16/93, 026988.
62 Ibid.
63 Ibid.
64 Letter from Parsigian to Willard, 4/21/93, 027075.
65 This was not the OIC's first encounter with non-cooperation on the part of Gray. In a May 23, 1991, FBI interview regarding Donald Gregg, Gray asserted on behalf of President Bush attorney-client privilege to many of the questions asked involving conversations between Gray and other members of the OVP staff. (Gray, FBI 302, 5/23/91.)
66 The OIC did indicate that the questioning would probably be in the form of interrogatories. (Memorandum from Beach to Gray/Schmitz, 9/15/92, ARZ 003527-28.)
67 For example, in a September 11, 1992, Los Angeles Times article, Bush was quoted as stating: "I have nothing to explain. I've given every bit of evidence I have to these thousands of investigators. And nobody has suggested that I've done anything wrong at all." ("Iran-Contra Issue Haunts GOP Ticket," The Los Angeles Times, 9/11/92, p. A1.)
68 Rehnquist, FBI 302, 3/17/93, p. 9.
69 Ibid.
70 Memorandum from Beach to Gray/Schmitz, 11/4/92, ARZ 003525.
71 On December 14, 1992, Deputy Independent Counsel Craig A. Gillen informed Paul Beach, Associate Counsel to the President, that it would probably be necessary for the OIC to depose President Bush. (Letter from Gillen to Sollers, 2/23/93.) On January 5, 13 and 15 and February 9, 1993, Gillen informed King & Spalding, counsel for President Bush, of the outstanding request to depose the President. (Ibid.)
72 The six reasons for not agreeing to a deposition addressed the following: (1) who would conduct the deposition; (2) the scope of the deposition; (3) the imposition of a time limitation; (4) the use of interrogatories in lieu of a deposition; (5) the location; and (6) assurances concerning the purpose of the inquiry and Independent Counsel's intentions with regard to President Bush. (Letter from Sollers to Gillen, 2/24/93.)
73 Secord and Wurts, Honored and Betrayed (John Wiley & Sons 1992), p. 282.
74 For example, Bush on November 5, 1986, noted in his diary:
On the news at this time is the question of the hostages. . . . [[D]iscussion of Bud McFarlane having been held prisoner in Iran. . . . I'm one of the few people that know fully the details, and there is a lot of flack and misinformation out there. It is not a subject we can talk about.
(Bush Diary, 11/5/86, ALU 0140191)
75 Regan Notes, 11/12/86, ALU 0139132-49.
76 Bush, FBI 302, 12/12/86, p. 2.
77 Bush, OIC Deposition, 1/11/88, pp. 80-81. Bush also stated that the President was informed of the 1985 shipments.
78 Weinberger Meeting Notes, 11/24/86, ALZ 0040669MM (emphasis in original).
79 Address by the President to the Nation, 11/13/86, ALU 018811-14. News Conference by the President, 11/19/86, ALU 016817-27.
80 Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph (Chas. Scribner's Sons 1993), p. 809.
81 Ibid. (emphasis in original).
82 Bush Diary, 11/9/86, ALU 0140194.
83 Ibid., 11/14/86, ALU 0140198-99.
84 Ibid., 11/15/86, ALU 0140200.
85 Ibid., 11/16/86, ALU 0140201.
86 Ibid., 11/18/86, ALU 0140202.
87 Ibid., 11/19/86, ALU 0140203.
88 Ibid., 11/20/86, ALU 0140204-05.
89 Ibid., 11/21/86, ALU 0140206.


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