| Printed from JudicialWatch.org Feb 12, 1998 |
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Move has tacit backing of Congressional Black Caucus, NAACP, and 75% of African-Americans Brown was key witness in Judicial Watch lawsuit which uncovered John Huang and likely defendant in Independent Counsel probe at time of his death in Croatia PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR 2:00 P.M. ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, ON D.C. FEDERAL COURTHOUSE STEPS Today, Thursday, February 12, 1998, Judicial Watch will file a petition with the three judge panel to continue the independent counsel investigation of Ron Brown, which had been underway at the time his death on April 3, 1996, in Croatia. At the time of his death, Ron Brown was a material witness, who had been noticed to testify, in Judicial Watch's lawsuit against the Clinton-Gore Commerce Department. It was this case which uncovered John Huang and is credited for sparking the campaign finance scandal. In addition, at the time of his death Ron Brown was under investigation by an independent counsel, and was likely to be indicted. According to his business partner and confidant, Nolanda Hill, Brown had told President Clinton days before he was asked unexpectedly to travel to Croatia that he would negotiate a plea agreement with the independent counsel, which would entail telling what he knew about alleged illegalities in the Clinton-Gore Administration. Clinton, according to Brown, responded badly. Following his death in Croatia, the Clinton-Gore Pentagon precipitously announced that the death was accidental, before a standard safety investigation was undertaken. Importantly, a safety investigation was never undertaken. In addition, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology was asked to examine the body. What the pathologists and photographers found was a hole in Secretary Brown's head, the size and shape of a .45 caliber bullet. Interviews on BET television with the chief military pathologist suggest that he wanted to conduct an autopsy to see if the hole was the result of a gunshot wound, but he was called off by The White House, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Clinton-Gore Commerce and Transportation Departments. However, a military photographer, sensing that something was "not right," photographed X-rays of Ron Brown's skull which hung on light boxes. These photographs show what may be metal fragments in his brain, consistent with a gunshot wound. Except for these photographs, other X-rays taken in the lab are now mysteriously missing. Pathologists in the lab wanted to conduct an autopsy, but were prevented from doing so. Dr. Cyril Wecht, a renowned physician and pathologist, and a Democrat, has said that the failure to conduct an autopsy was a gross deviation from accepted medical practice. It is also violative of the policy of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Strangely, neither the Brown family nor any of the families of the victims of the plane crash were ever notified of the circumstances of Secretary Brown's death, until after officers in the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Institute recently blew the whistle on the cover-up, despite groundless and coercive threats from military brass that they would be prosecuted for doing so. In its petition, Judicial Watch, which represents the military photographer and a pathologist of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology submits sworn affidavits from U.S. military officers attesting to the cover-up. Judicial Watch has learned that the independent counsel who had been investigating Secretary Brown at the time of his death never closed the inquiry. Accordingly, Judicial Watch will petition the three judge panel which oversees the independent counsel to direct his focus to the death of Ron Brown, and a government employee, Barbara Wise, who was found dead in the Clinton-Gore Commerce Department shortly after John Huang was deposed in Judicial Watch's lawsuit. Wise reportedly worked in the same section as Huang. Judicial Watch is taking this action because Janet Reno has refused to investigate. While Judicial Watch makes no accusations that Brown was murdered, his death raises questions about why an autopsy was not performed, particularly since he was a Cabinet Secretary and a material witness and putative defendant in legal proceedings at the time. The independent counsel clearly has jurisdiction to investigate Brown's death, since if his fate was not accidental, it could amount to criminal obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Clearly, Brown had deep knowledge of the inner workings of the Clinton-Gore Administration and its allegedly illegal campaign finance and other activities at the Commerce Department, White House, Democratic National Committee and elsewhere. He was also the target of the independent counsel's probe. AFTER THE FILING OF THE PETITION, A PRESS CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD ON THE STEPS OF THE U.S. COURTHOUSE IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AT 2:00 P.M. TOMORROW, FEBRUARY 12, 1998. | |