Sen. Kerry: Now, when I began first investigating allegations of the gun-running that was taking
place out of Miami, one of the very first references that my staff, frankly, frequently heard, and I
think you and I have talked about this, that Miami was buzzing with the notion that the Vice
President's office was somehow involved in monitoring that, at least [emphasis added]. Now,
Jesus Garcia was a Miami corrections official who got into trouble and wound up going to jail on
weapons offenses. Through that connection, we came across telephone records. And those
telephone records demonstrate calls from Garcia's house to Contra camps in Honduras, to John
Hull in Costa Rica, and Douglas Minarczik in, not necessarily in your office, but directly to the
White House. However, there is incontrovertible evidence that he had in his possession the name
of Mr. Minarczik, a piece of paper in our possession, in Garcia's home in connection with
monitoring those paramilitary operations, in August of 1985. Now, how do you account for the
fact that Minarczik's--that the people involved with the Contra supply operations out of Miami ...
had Minarczik's name and telephone number, and that there is a record of calls to the White House
at that time?Gregg: I cannot account for it. Could it have anything to do with our old friend Mr. Brenicke
[sic]? Because Brenicke did have Minarczik's phone number....^Sen. Kerry: ... No. Totally separate.Gregg: This is all new. I do not have an explanation, sir....^Sen. Kerry: Do you recall the downing of a Cuban airliner in [1976] in which 72 people lost their
lives as a result; do you remember that?^Gregg: Yes.Sen. Kerry: A terrorist bomb. And a Cuban-American named Luis Posada [Carriles] was arrested
in Venezuela in connection with that. He then escaped in 1985 with assistance from Felix
Rodriguez-- I do not know if this is going to be in the [Rodriguez] book or not...^-Gregg: It is.Sen. Kerry: Okay, and he brought him to Central America to help the Contras under pseudonym of
Ramon Medina, correct? Gregg: Now, I know that; yes.Sen. Kerry: ... [Is] it appropriate for a Felix Rodriguez to help a man indicted in a terrorist
bombing to escape from prison, and then appropriate for him to take him to become involved in
supply operations, which we are supporting?^Gregg: I cannot justify that, sir. And I am not certain what role Felix played in getting him out.... I
thought that Orlando Boche [sic], or someone of that nature, had been responsible for that.^Sen. Kerry: When did you first learn that [i.e. about Posada's hiring for Contra resupply], Don?Gregg: When I learned who the various aliases were, which was some time in
November/December [1986], after the whole thing came out.COMMITTEE SESSION JUNE 15, 1989
Sen. Cranston: Before proceeding in this matter, I would like to state clearly for the record what
the central purpose of this investigation is about and in my view what it is not about. It is not about
who is for or against the Contras.... Similarly, this investigation is not about building up or tearing