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Documents Reveal Collusion Between Administration and Cuba June 9, 2000 A Senate Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department on June 8 for documents on the seizure of Elian Gonzalez in an attempt to determine whether the Clinton administration worked with the communist Cuban government to return the boy to his father. The move by the Senate Judiciary Committee followed the release of documents by the public-interest group Judicial Watch showing numerous contacts between the administration and the communist government of Fidel Castro concerning the fate of the 6-year-old child. "Given the importance of this issue and the history of the administration concerning the production of e-mails, campaign finance and Waco documents, I believe it is prudent to vote for this subpoena," said committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican. Hatch was voicing frustration over the White House's pattern of losing, deleting or withholding material sought in congressional investigations of multiple administration scandals. He said the Justice Department's failure to provide material requested earlier on the Elian case triggered Thursday's subpoena. Federal agents armed with submachine guns and tear gas seized Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives before dawn on Saturday, April 22, and flew the 6-year-old to Washington to the custody of his father. Immediately after the raid, Hatch scheduled a hearing, but later called it off, saying he wanted to look at Justice Department documents first. Hatch said Thursday it is possible he would not call a hearing at all, but that the burden is on the Justice Department to show, through the documents, that it is unnecessary. He also said the committee is considering a similar subpoena for State Department documents. "I believe this modification is warranted so as to inform the Congress and the public of any involvement by the State Department and the Cuban government in the raid," Hatch said. "If there was no such involvement, let's establish that. We will all be better served by getting the facts out." A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, was livid over a report in the June 7th edition of The Washington Times, which quoted a Jan. 19 e-mail message from an INS official. The message, titled: "Re: Daily conference calls re: Elian," says "[State Department] wants to have a daily conference call to coordinate press guidance and communications with the Cubans." The message shows regular contact between Washington and Havana prior to a January visit by Elian's two grandmothers to the United States. To opponents of Cuba's communist government, the White House effort to send Elian back --after his dramatic rescue at sea from an ill-fated voyage that killed his mother and 10 other refugees --marked the ultimate sellout to Fidel Castro. The passions ignited by the Elian saga flared again June 8th after the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) returned Cuban baseball star Andy Morales, who along with 30 other Cubans was picked up by the Coast Guard off Key West, Fla., on May 31. INS agents returned the 25-year-old third baseman -- known in the United States for once hitting a home run in an exhibition game with the Baltimore Orioles -- on Wednesday after claiming that he did not qualify for political asylum. Many Cubans returned by the United States have been branded as traitors, made outcasts, and lost their jobs, but such hardships do not meet INS requirements for asylum. Meanwhile, Judicial Watch released another batch of documents June 8th, one of which detailed an attempt by the INS to arrange a secret meeting between U.S. officials and Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, in Cuba. A December 29th memo on a meeting of INS officials says: "The meeting concluded with discussion of re-scripting questions; calling on the [State Department] to discuss whether further signals could be sent to the Cuban government that they should cooperate with the interview." At the time, U.S. officials had already interviewed Juan Gonzalez at his home in Cardenas, Cuba, and determined that he was a fit parent for Elian. The INS then sought a second interview after Elian's Miami relatives had charged Cuban authorities with pressuring Juan Miguel Gonzalez to seek custody of his son. The memo discusses an optimal "litigation" strategy and proposes that the Cuban government "be advised that the U.S. government would not disclose to anyone that an additional interview would take place." Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said, "These documents clearly prove that the INS was closely collaborating with Cuba in developing a litigation strategy to get custody of Elian from the Miami family. "They went so far as seeking help from the Cuban government to arrange a secret meeting with Juan Miguel." In addition to coordinating strategy with the communist government of Cuba, the administration loaned Gregory Craig, President Clinton's impeachment lawyer, to Juan Gonzalez as his personal attorney and spokesman in his attempts to regain custody of Elian. In addition, the administration has provided Juan Gonzalez the use of the Wye Plantation in Maryland at taxpayer expense.
© 2000 TruthNews. All Rights Reserved. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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