Letters

THIRION’S TALE - PART I

Some stories are only told under certain circumstances; when certain events lead to the telling. Otherwise those stories would never be told and would, of course, then never be heard. This is one of those stories.

My ten year prison sentence began in the fall of 1986 at Lompoc Federal Prison Camp in Lompoc, California. New surroundings always lead to new acquaintances. As true for prison as it is for other locales, only the types you meet there are different.

Dr. Norman Bernard Thirion and I would never have met on the outside. Thirion had served as international banker to Howard Hughes and had been the financial director and project planner for Archisystems, Hughes’s personal holding company. Later, he was to work with Adnan Kashoggi, the flamboyant Saudi oil wheeler-dealer through whom he was to develop close ties with the Saudi royal family. My life instead had included countless phone booths from which calls could not be easily traced and to me words like acid and coke had completely different meanings from those like Thirion thought them to have.

What we did share was an interest in business and money, and countless walks on the prison grounds were spent in discussing projects Thirion intended to pursue once he was released. Unlike myself, Thirion believed himself innocent and thought when his appeal was heard he would be freed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to happen. But because it didn’t, Thirion was to tell me a story I am sure he never intended to tell anyone.

It was March 1987 when Thirion learned his appeal had been denied. That evening he took me to his room where he showed me various documents and told me of events he believed were the reason he had been sent to prison. He then asked if I would write down his story and keep copies of certain documents for safekeeping. Thirion had a plan and said he needed the story in the hands of a third party to ensure his safety.

The first document Thirion showed me was a letter of introduction from a New York movie production company, Transglobal Productions Ltd. The letter, written in 1983, was from Transglobal vice-president, Perry Morgan to Lord Cranbourne, a British Viscount.

The letter to Lord Cranbourne introduced Thirion as former international banker to Howard Hughes and stated Thirion was representing Transglobal Productions in securing financing. The letter was copied to two persons, Dr. [Norman] Bernard Thirion and General Robert E. Cushman Jr. Thirion informed me General Cushman was not only Transglobal’s Chairman of the Board, but was also retired Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corp and past Deputy Director of the CIA.

What was a former Deputy Director of the CIA doing as chairman of a movie production company? The answer was not to produce movies. Transglobal Productions never made a movie during its short existence. It did, however, successfully solicit hundreds of millions of dollars from the Saudi royal family for an Afghan government-in-exile that never received the money.

Thirion said in 1982 he had been approached by Transglobal’s two vice presidents, Perry Morgan and Dr. Jon Speller. Morgan and Speller knew of Thirion’s close ties to the Saudis and wanted his help in soliciting the royal family to support the Afghan resistance against Soviet invaders. They also said some of the money was to produce a movie Morgan had written.

Thirion said he was dubious about such an odd proposition, but, as a banker, he had heard many unlikely proposals. He told them he would approach the Saudi royal family for a fee of 2% of the moneys raised. Speller and Morgan agreed and, soon thereafter, Thirion said, events began to move forward quickly.

He was soon introduced to Dr. Nake Kamrany, a professor at the University of Southern California. Dr. Kamrany, a supporter of the Afghan cause, believed a government-in-exile should be created prior to asking the Saudis for money. He also believed former King Zahir Shah could provide the rallying point for the new government. To this end, Dr. Miskanyar, a former Afghan ambassador, flew to Italy to ask Zahir Shah if he would head the new organization. There, he reported the king agreed to do so provided it received official U.S. recognition.

To Thirion, this presented a problem, how was this newly proposed organization to get official U.S. recognition? Transglobal vice-president Perry Morgan told him not to worry, stating General Cushman was directly wired into the National Security Council, the guys at the NSC work for Cushman.

The National Security Council is the forum where the highest national security concerns are discussed for the benefit of the President of the United States. Thirion was about to discover just how close Transglobal Productions was to the Presidency itself.

In the fall of 1982, Perry Morgan asked Thirion to meet him for lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel. There, Morgan introduced him to William Wilson, the wealthy personal confidant of President Reagan, and Personal Envoy of the President to the Vatican in Rome.

Thirion remembered wondering what William Wilson and Perry Morgan were doing together. Morgan was an entrepreneur, a hustler type, and had little in common with Wilson, an older man of substantial wealth with a direct line to the President, and, yet, they were having a casual lunch at the exclusive Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills. Thirion did not have long to wonder. Within weeks, Thirion said he was to discover Wilson’s true role in the unfolding series of events involving Transglobal Productions and the Saudi money.

Morgan’s admonition not to worry about U.S. recognition was soon justified. William Clark, head of the National Security Council, informed Thirion and Dr. Kamrany the Afghan government-in-exile would officially receive U.S. recognition. Clark told Thirion and Dr. Kamrany to fly to Rome where they would meet William Wilson. There, they would receive Wilson’s assurances on behalf of President Reagan and would be given further instructions on how to proceed.

It was here Thirion again began to wonder again about William Wilson. Wilson had no official connection to Transglobal yet he seemed to be everywhere, interfacing at the White House, interacting with the National Security Council, even informing Thirion he was keeping President Reagan abreast on what was happening. He told Thirion President Reagan wanted to know more , that the President had requested Wilson to accompany him back to his ranch in Santa Barbara over Thanksgiving to fill him in on all the details .

It was then Thirion asked Perry Morgan, What exactly is Wilson’s angle in all of this?

Perry Morgan replied, Wilson? Hell, he’s getting $10 million for himself and $10 million for the President’s retirement.

Morgan’s memorable reply explained not only Wilson’s role, it also explained why official U.S recognition of the Afghan government-in-exile was so easily forthcoming from powerful bodies such as the National Security Council and the Reagan White House. William Wilson, General Robert E. Cushman, and others were apparently actively engaged in a conspiracy to solicit and embezzle Saudi funds using Transglobal Productions as a cover to do so.

The proposal to the Saudi royal family by General Cushman was to be specifically described as a private effort . This was important because there are laws prohibiting public servants from skimming public moneys. General Robert E. Cushman and others incorporated Transglobal Productions, a private corporation, as a part of a conspiracy to attempt to evade the intent of such laws.

As public officials, if William Wilson or General Cushman wanted to ask the Saudis to support the Afghan resistance, either could have done so with a single phone call. Diplomatically, they were members of America’s ruling elite. Instead, they created a private company through which they approached a private banker to privately solicit the Saudi funds. Believing, then, the Saudi money would be private, the conspirators thought they could legally divert the money to themselves, a creative though erroneous assumption.

The belief that private activity legitimizes illegal actions was not uncommon at the Reagan White House. General Richard Secord, a participant in the Iran-Contra scandal, testified before the U.S. Senate that White House Counsel had assured him that his activities, if private, were within the purview of the law.

White House Counsel’s advice notwithstanding, private actions are in no way a dispensation for legal culpability especially when there exists a prior criminal intent and conspiracy to act in violation of the law. In fact, giving such advice in itself can be construed as an overt act that qualifies as part of such a conspiracy.

Thirion and Dr. Kamrany next flew to Rome where they met Wilson in his offices at the Vatican. Wilson assured them the proposed Afghan government-in-exile had the support of President Reagan and would receive official U.S. recognition. He also informed Kamrany and Thirion he would personally convey this message to King Zahir Shah.

King Zahir Shah, then announced in Paris, on June, 1983, his intention to form a government-in-exile. With Zahir Shah’s announcement, Thirion was now prepared to formally present his proposal to the Saudis. Already, they had expressed interest in contributing $500 million. Thirion’s 2% $10 million fee from this initially improbable venture now appeared about to be realized.

Thirion phoned Prince Abdullah, the son of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to tell him of the proposal. He then had his partner, E.T. Barwick, Chairman of E.T. Barwick, a Fortune 500 Company, hand deliver it to the Prince in Atlanta. Prince Adullah, after examining the request, gave his approval and informed Barwick he would notify his father, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and brother of King Fahd, of Thirion’s proposal.

The response of the Saudis was decidedly positive and Barwick phoned Thirion to tell him the news. The Saudis then asked the financial proposal be presented to the Saudi Ambassador in Washington D.C. who would deliver it to King Fahd.

It was here events began to unravel. General Cushman called Thirion, informing him that Transglobal director Rabbi Morton Rosenthal had arranged for the purchase of captured Russian-made Syrian arms from the Israelis. The arms were to be resold to the Afghan resistance with Transglobal making a substantial profit in the middle. Cushman had expected Thirion, ever the banker, to approve but Thirion’s reaction was anything but approving.

You’re going to do what? Thirion replied, stunned at Cushman’s unexpected revelation. If the Saudis find out we bought arms from the Israelis with their money, all hell will break loose!

Thirion knew full well the Saudis’ negative feelings about Israel. Not wanting to betray the Saudis, Thirion demanded Cushman not purchase the weapons and Cushman assured Thirion he wouldn’t. But Cushman had lied. Cushman had decided to go ahead and instead cut Thirion out of the deal. This, Thirion would not discover until it was too late.

The Saudi proposal was to be presented on December 19, 1983 in Washington D.C. to Saudi Ambassador, Prince Bandar. Those scheduled to attend were William Wilson, General Cushman, and E.T. Barwick, Thirion’s partner.

The evening before the meeting, Wilson called Barwick and asked to meet him at the Watergate Hotel. There, Wilson told Barwick, due to a scheduling conflict, he, Wilson, would not be present at the meeting. He also told Barwick he had already met with Prince Bandar earlier that day.

The next day, General Cushman and Perry Morgan arrived at Barwick’s suite before the meeting. Cushman took the proposal and had Morgan retype pages four and five. The retyped proposal now emphasized (1) the project was private in nature, and (2), the group was headed by General Cushman.

After the proposal was formally presented to Prince Bandar, Barwick phoned Thirion who was in Europe to report that Wilson had met with Prince Bandar prior to the meeting and that Perry Morgan, at Cushman’s direction,