of combat catharsis. He used to do the same thing in Vietnam. He would come back from an
operation in which some people had been lost and he would tell me about it. '' Now, is it still yourtestimony that Rodriguez never mentioned his deep involvement in Contra supply activities during (^)
any of these phone conversations?
Gregg: That is my testimony.
Sen. Cranston: Is it still your testimony that prior to Aug. 8th, 1986, Rodriguez never mentioned the
status of his Contra resupply efforts during his numerous face-to-face meetings with you in
Washington?
Gregg: Never.
Sen. Cranston: Is it still your testimony that Rodriguez did not mention the status of his Contra
resupply efforts in the very meetings that were convened according to two memos bearing your
name, for Rodriguez to brief the Vice President on the status of the war in El Salvador and efforts to resupply the Contras ''? Gregg: There was no intention to discuss resupply of the Contras and everyone at that meeting, including former Senator Nick Brady have testified that it was not discussed. Sen. Cranston: As you knowmeeting with the statement and memos from you that the agenda was ... two things, one of them, it is difficult to reconcile those statements about what happened in the being efforts to resupply the Contras.... Gregg: Those memos first surfaced to my attention in December of 1986, when we undertook our first document search of the Vice President's office. They hit me rather hard because by that time Ihad put the pieces together of what had been going on and I realized the implications of that agenda (^) item. I did not shred the documents. I did not hide it.... [T]his is the worst thing I have found and here it is, and I cannot really explain it.... I have a speculative explanation which I would like to put forward if you would be interested. Sen. Cranston: Fine. Gregg: Again, turning to Felix [Rodriguez]'s book ... Felix makes the following quote.... [By the way the book] is going to be published in October of this year. The text has been cleared by CIA and it is now with the publishers. I was given an advance copy.... Tqualms about calling [Sam Watson] or Don [Gregg] when I thought they could help run interferencehis is the quote, sir: ... I had no (^)
with the Pentagon to speed up deliveries of spare chopper parts. '' That means helicopters. I must have made many such calls during the spring of 1986. Without operating Hughes 500 helicopters it was impossible to carry out my strategy against the [El Salvadoran] insurgents.... '' [There are] then documented steps that Colonel Watson had taken with the Pentagon to try to get spare partsexpedited for El Salvador.... So my construction is this, sir. I recall that in the meeting with the Vice (^) President the question of spare parts for the helicopters in El Salvador was discussed and so that I think what the agenda item on the two memos is, is a garbled reference to something like resupply of the copters, instead of resupply of the Contras [emphasis added]. [At this point there was laughter and whistling in the hearing roomwent over, but it was the best I could do. '']. Afterwards, Gregg told reporters, I don't know how it
Sen. Sarbanes: How did the scheduling proposal of April 16, 1986 and the briefing memorandum of
April 30th take place?