forces took place in Paris during the October 15-20 period, and there is little doubt that William
Casey was present for these meetings. According to the account furnished by Richard Brenneke,there was a meeting at the Hotel Raphael in Paris at about noon on October 19, attended by George (^)
Bush, William Casey, Don Gregg, Manucher Gorbanifar and two unnamed Iranian officials.
Brenneke says that there was a second meeting the same afternoon, with the same cast of characters,
minus George Bush. Then there was a third meeting at the Hotel Florida the next day, October 20,
this time attended by CaFrench intelligence services, and one or two other persons. sey, Gregg, Hashemi, Manucher Gorbanifar, Major Robert Benes of the
According to Bani-Sadr, his reports show that the meetings took polace, and were attended by
Reagan-Bush representatives, Iranians loyal to Behesthi and Rafsanjani, and arms merchants like
Cyrus Hashemi, Manucher Ghorbanifar, and Albert Hakim. Bani-Sadr's first reports from militaryofficials in Iran specified that "Bush had met with a representative of Beheshti." Bani-Sadr later
elaborated that his sources in Iran "inform me that Bush was in the discussions in Paris...that his
name had been on the document. I have it in writing." [fn 40]
According to Gary Sick's collation of fifteen sources claiming knowIranian side agreed not to release the hostages before the November 4 US election, and the Reagan-ledge of the Paris meeting, the
Bush side promised to deliver spare parts for military equipment through Israel.
Heinrich Rupp, a pilot who often worked for Casey, says that he flew a BAC-1-11 private jet from
Washington National Airport via Gander, Newfoundland, to Le Bourgenight of october 18-19, 1980, arriving in Paris at 10 AM in the morning of October 19, local time.t airport in Paris during the
He may also have stopped in one of the New York airports. Rupp has told journalists that although
he is not sure exactly who flew in his plane, he 's "100% certain" that he saw William Casey on the
tarmac of Le Bourget after his arrival. Rupp is also "98% certain" that he also saw George Bush at
the same time and place. At other times Rupp haBourget that day. s been "99.9%" certain that he saw Bush at Le
According to Gary Sick, "at least five of the sources who say they were in Paris in connection with
these meetings insist that George Bush was present for at least one meeting. Three of the sources
say that they saw him there." [fn 41]
Bush has heatedly denied that he was in Paris at this time, and has said that he personally did not
negotiate with Khomeini envoys. But he has generally avoided a blanket denial that the campaign of
which he was a principal engaged in surreptitious dealings with the Khomeini mullahs.
Bush's alibi for October 18-October 19, 1980 has always appeared dubious. There is in fact a period
of 21 or 22 hours in which his whereabouts cannot be conclusively proven. According to Bush's
campaign records, he was in Philadelphia on October 18, and his last event of the day was a speech
at Widener University in Delaware County that began at about 8:40 PM. After the speech, he was
scheduled to fly to Washington; the next event on his schedule was an address to the ZionistOrganization of America at the Capital Hilton Hotel in downtown Washington at 7 PM on October (^)
- In the meantime he would rest at his campaign residence at 4429 Lowell Street in Washington.
Bush staffer Peter Hart has claimed that Bush arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in the Maryland
suburbs of Washington on the night of October 19 and then proceeded to his campaign residence.Secret Service records say that Bush landed at Washington National Airport in northern Virginia at (^)
9:25 PM. The Secret Service records are themselves suspect in that they were filed 12 days later.
(One thinks of the undated combat report of Bush's mission from the San Jacinto.) This is the same
airport and about the same time mentioned by Rupp in his account of his departure for Paris.