Burma OUT!!! Class Action Drug Suit

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Subject: Burma OUT!!! Class Action Drug Suit Against   CIA


Subject: Oakland City Council To Debate Class Action
Drug Suit Against CIA

(c) Copyright 1999, All Rights Reserved, Michael C. Ruppert and From The
Wilderness Publications at www.copvcia.com. Permission to reprint only if
the preceding appears.


City of Oakland Set for Public Debate on Merits of Class Action Suit
Charging CIA With Contra Drug Complicity

City Council Asked to Petition Washington for Early Settlement,
 and Possibly File Separate Lawsuit

Public Hearing Set for July 13, 1999 - Oakland City Hall

by

Michael C. Ruppert
July 5, 1999 2330 hrs.


In the wake of a favorable June 29, report from the City's Public Safety
Committee, the Oakland City Council has agreed to hold a public debate and
vote on a four item package in support of a class action suit filed by
Oakland residents against the Central Intelligence Agency this March. The
suit alleges that the Central Intelligence Agency was civilly and criminally
liable for failing to report drug trafficking by its agents and employees
during the Contra war years from 1982 through 1990 and that many of those
drugs entered the Oakland area. The Oakland suit and an identical suit
covering Los Angeles and Compton were filed in respective U.S. District
Courts on March 15.

Bay area activist and one of two lead attorneys in the suits , Bill Simpich,
advised From The Wilderness today that the Oakland City Council has agreed
to hold a public hearing at 7 P.M. on July 13, on the third floor of the
Oakland City Hall at to discuss four specific points.  Those points are that
the City of Oakland should:

1. Sign a letter to the CIA, DoJ and President Clinton asking them to
concede the main points in the lawsuit and discuss the methods of
compensation;
2. Write a letter to the Washington House Intelligence Committee requesting
public hearings regarding the release of the CIA Inspector general's
response to the allegations made in the "Dark Alliance" news series;
3. Sponsor a town hall meeting;
4. File a separate lawsuit against the CIA and DoJ [Department of Justice].

Oakland City Attorney Jayne Williams, in a prepared report from the Public
Safety Committee which has been obtained by FTW wrote, "If the council
desires to pursue option four (initiation of litigation) recommended by
plaintiffs, this office recommends that the City Attorney be directed to
provide a report to council in closed session regarding legal options and
strategies."

"This is an extremely positive sign," said Simpich. "Since starting these
efforts with the Public Safety Committee we have had the full and direct
attention of the City Attorney. It is obvious to everyone that our Oakland
suit and the identical suit in Los Angeles have strong merit and that there
are damages here that affected municipalities should vigorously pursue."

The lawsuits originated in late February, 1999 after this writer journeyed
to the Bay area and met with lead attorneys Simpich and Katya Komisaruk of
Oakland. The argument presented was that a recently disclosed (March, 1998)
memorandum between Reagan Attorney General William French-Smith and CIA
Director William Casey showed premeditation for CIA to not report drug
dealing by its employees and a subsequently released CIA Inspector General
report (admitting to involvement with traffickers) proved a case of
liability in failing to protect American citizens from the certain effects
of it. After reviewing materials presented by this writer, including
excerpts from the CIA report, the attorneys agreed that there was a strong
and simple case to be made which did not require excessive legal maneuvering
to obtain classified documents.

"For our basic purposes," said Simpich, "all the declassification we need
has already been done. We decided not to try to prove that CIA actually
dealt the drugs or that they targeted blacks. That may have been the case -
and some strongly believe that it is - but we don't have to prove it. This
is more like the tobacco model. They knew it was going to kill people and
they had an obligation to stop it. It is that simple. That's what our
government is supposed to do."

Asked his opinion of what might happen at the hearing on July 13, Simpich
observed, "We need all the public support we can get into that room. The
City Council could vote to approve any or all of the four proposed measures.
What I, as a lead attorney in the case, would like to see is Oakland
becoming the first of many cities to sue the CIA and the Justice Department.
On the merits, this case is unbelievably strong. That has never been the
problem.

"The problem," said Simpich, is that these facts have largely been ignored
when presented by individual citizens or members of Congress. But a series
of separate suits, filed in support of and connection with our suits in LA
and Oakland, by ten or fifteen municipalities would be unignorable."

Another priority for Simpich, and all connected with this issue, is that the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) be compelled to
hold open public hearings on this issue and specifically Volume II of the
CIA's Inspector General Report. That report was released, October 8, 1998,
one hour after the House Judiciary Committee started the Impeachment inquiry
of President Clinton, and in spite of heavy public pressure was not
discussed by HPSCI until May 25. The May 25 session was held behind closed
doors and several key witnesses were excluded. Maxine Waters (D), Los
Angeles, in spite of submitting a written request for admission was denied
access to the hearings which were also curiously and misleadingly mislabeled
on the Congressional scheduling web site.

HPSCI is currently attempting to quietly close out the issue and public
pressure from the city of Oakland might well forestall a final report and
compel the open hearings sought after for so long by so many people.

For further information contact Bill Simpich wmssf@xxxxxxx or call
510-444-0226.

For more detailed stories and background please visit the web site at
www.copvcia.com or subscribe to From The Wilderness.

-30-

(c) Copyright 1999, All Rights Reserved, Michael C. Ruppert and From The
Wilderness Publications at www.copvcia.com. Permission to reprint only if
the preceding appears.






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