JudicialWatch.org
11-30-2001
from
Rense Website
Former President Bush
Works for International Investment
Firm With Ties To Saudi Arabia
Company Had Previously Worked with Bin Laden Family Conglomerate
(Washington, DC)
Judicial Watch, the public interest law
firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today
announced that it would be filing a Freedom of Information Act
lawsuit against the State and Defense Departments in order to obtain
documents concerning the Carlyle Group, an international consulting
and investment firm which retains former President George H.W. Bush.
The Wall Street Journal reported in September that the former
president, the father of President Bush, worked for the bin Laden
family business in Saudi Arabia through the Carlyle Group. The
senior Bush had met with the bin Laden family at least twice. (Other
top Republicans are also associated with the Carlyle group, such as
former Secretary of State James A. Baker.) The terrorist leader
Osama bin Laden had supposedly been "disowned" by his family, which
runs a multi-billion dollar business in Saudi Arabia and was a major
investor in the senior Bush's firm. Other reports have questioned
whether members of his Saudi family have truly cut off Osama bin
Laden. Osama's sister-in-law, in a recent interview with ABC News,
said that she believed that members of her family still supported
bin Laden.
In the wake of Judicial Watch and other criticism of its ties to the
bin Laden family business, the Carlyle Group reportedly no longer
does business with the bin Laden conglomerate. Yet it has also been
reported that the Group has had significant business contacts with
the Saudi Arabian government, which many have criticized for its
lack of diligence in reigning in bin Laden and its tepid support for
America's war against terrorism.
And documents recently uncovered through Judicial Watch's FOIA to
the Department of Defense shows that the Carlyle Group has
high-level access to the U.S. government. The documents include a
February 15, 2001 letter on Carlyle Group letterhead to Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from former Defense Secretaries Frank
Carlucci and William Perry, both now with Carlyle Group.
The documents also include Secretary
Rumsfeld's April 3 response to Messrs. Carlucci and Perry. The
letters seemingly discuss the restructuring of the Defense
Department. The Carlyle Group is listed in the documents as Defense
Department contractor. Copies of the letters will be available on
the Judicial Watch Internet site at
www.judicialwatch.org.
"It is time for former President
Bush to leave the Carlyle Group. The questions raised by his and
others involvement with the Saudi-connected firm can only cause
problems for the U.S. war effort," stated Judicial Watch
Chairman Larry Klayman.
Documents
Letter from Frank Carlucci
and William Perry of the Carlyle Group to Donald
Rumsfeld |
Letter from Donald Rumsfeld
to Frank Carlucci and William Perry of the Carlyle Group
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