“Well, ladies and gentlemen, I do appreciate your willingness to meet on such short notice for the good of the country. Thank you. I would like to reconvene this meeting in forty-eight hours. I will have decision for you at that time.” President Starks started to get up to leave.
“Sir,” General Hatcher interrupted. “I don’t believe we have forty-eight hours to decide. Once those ships reach port, we haven’t any standing to stop and search them.”
“When did we start an embargo on someone in the Middle East except Iran? We don’t have any jurisdiction as it is,” Earnest Holmes, the director of the DOJ, stated as he walked by the general, allowing the president to continue on his way to somewhere else.
William Wyatt exchanged a knowing glance with the general and then with Anthony Tenants, the director of the FBI. Bascome nodded to John Massey and hurried to catch up with Starks. It had gone pretty much as Wyatt thought it would. Starks played the role of concerned leader but, in reality, he wasn’t planning on doing anything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Wyatt and Tenants met on neutral ground in a private study room at the Library of Congress. It had taken three days for Bascome to provide the supposed intelligence given by Hassam Saud. The information came in the form of a briefing paper rather than a foreign findings paper. This information was what Starks and Bascome had alluded to when they had met in the Oval Office.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Tenants. It’s nice to get out of the office for a change, isn’t it?” William Wyatt greeted Anthony Tenants as he entered the room on the third floor in the Reference section of the library, carrying a brown legal size envelope.
“Mr. Wyatt,” Tenants replied coolly as he looked around the small room with glass windows. Wyatt was seated at the modest table with a small pile of papers in front of him along with a pitcher of water and carafe of coffee.
“How’s the family? Well, I hope?” Wyatt asked.
“They’re fine. Tell me why we had to meet here again?” Tenants inquired with more than a touch of annoyance in his voice as he looked out the windows at the large open area filled with tables and chairs where people came and studied the library’s reference materials. Currently, he could see only four people, and none of them seemed to be paying them any attention.
“I thought you might be more comfortable meeting here, where neither of us was playing on the home field. I know we’re both supposed to be on the same side, but in the job I have, you find a lot of people who are into turf wars, and even more who are into backdoor dealings and looking for any advantage they can use to protect their turf and grab off chunks of other people’s turf,” Wyatt explained somewhat cryptically.
“Bill, I know you don’t know me well, but I’m a bit of a straight forward kind of guy. I was the state police commandant for the State for New Jersey for over fifteen years, and I won’t pretend to know what you just said. Having said that, I’m not concerned with turf wars. I’ve got a job to do, and I go where the evidence leads me,” Tenants stated bluntly, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
“I’ve heard that about you, and I know you may have heard things about me. Add to that, I lead the largest spy organization in the world, and you might not be comfortable meeting in my office. Add to that the information I have to share that you might not want someone in your office to pick up on just yet. I have the same concern about my office, and so we’re here.”
“Okay, I can understand that reasoning. I guess both of us have people surrounding us we aren’t sure we can trust. I am convinced that Bascome has people in my organization that feed him information on a regular basis. That about sum up your situation?” Tenants asked.
“Yeah, that sums it up nicely.”
“Okay, who goes first with what they’ve found?” Tenants asked.
“I’ll start, unless you think you’ve got something that shouldn’t wait,” Wyatt offered.
“All right, you first,” Tenants stated as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“I’ll start with Mr. Saud. He’s a member of the Saudi Royal Family. He’s the son of the king’s brother, Heyman Al-Ghaz Al-Fahd. He’s here in Washington as part of a sentence of exile for some youthful indiscretion, the nature of which I haven’t been able to find out, and I doubt it’s of any real importance. He works for a lobbying firm named Solution Brothers Trust. They represent President Starks for promotional purposes but also represent over fifteen Arab charities here in the States. They help arrange visas for students to come here to study, as well as help charities to raise funds for helping the poor back home. We, as in ‘we, the CIA,’ think it’s a front organization for laundering money for terrorists.” Wyatt paused to take a breath when Tenants interrupted.
“How do you know that?”
“It’s complicated, but the short version is we follow a lot of money overseas, and a huge amount of it comes and goes from accounts controlled by Solution Brothers Trust, in Switzerland, Cyprus, Crete, Brazil, Grand Cayman, Lesser Antilles and Belize. Solution Brothers became Starks’ PR firm right after he was nominated, and shortly thereafter, his campaign received a great deal of cash from what was reported as individual contributions and PAC money. At the same time, Solution Brothers was moving cash from overseas to a foreign bank here in D.C.—the Royal Saudi Trust Company.
“But what sealed the deal for me is the fact that every employee of Solution Brothers Trust is a Saudi national with diplomatic cover. They all are listed as members of their diplomatic mission and work out of the Saudi embassy.” Wyatt paused again to let that sink in, and as before, Tenants interrupted before he could continue.
“Shit! They’ve got diplomatic immunity, and they’re laundering money right in front of us, and we can’t do a damn thing but send them home,” Tenants surmised.
“Yeah, that’s the gist of it,” Wyatt confirmed.
“So how does this affect our investigation of Bains, Clarett and Howard?” Tenants asked.
“Well, let’s talk about that. President Starks is telling us that the information that points to Bains, Clarett and Howard as domestic terrorists is from a Saudi national with diplomatic cover and who has been laundering money for terrorists. When we ask to see the evidence, at first they try to talk us out of seeing any; then Bascome says he’ll provide us with it, and when it arrives it’s in the form of an NSA briefing paper, not in the form that Saudi Intelligence would have presented to Mr. Saud. I believe the information that Bascome has provided is fake. I believe Bascome and Starks are trying to frame those three individuals for political reasons and nothing more. You might remember Bascome saying Howard has political ambitions. In fact, he called him a ‘political wanna-be.’”
“Yes, I remember you smacked him verbally pretty good when he said the man was ruthless and would stop at nothing to get ahead, saying that sounded like everyone in Washington,” Tenants replied. “So is that all?”
“No, I’ve got a great deal more, if you’re willing to listen. But what do you think so far?” Wyatt inquired, hoping to get a clear sense of where Tenants’ loyalties lay.
“Other than the overseas information, of which ours is not as complete as yours, we’re on the same trail, so yes, I’d like to hear the rest. But first, how long have you known Starks?” Tenants asked, catching Wyatt off guard a bit.
“Ah, well, I met him a few years ago when I was working for the NSA as department head, before I went to work with the CIA as a deputy director. I’d say about ten years, but we were never what I would call friends, more like acquaintances. How about you?” Wyatt asked.
“I first met Starks when he was elected to a state representative’s spot in New Jersey. That was about seventeen years ago, now. When I threw my hat into the ring for the state police commander’s spot, Starks went out of his way to push my nomination through the State House, then somehow got the governor to sign off on me.
“I wasn’t exactly the governor’s favorite state trooper, having ticketed his wife for driving eighty in a twenty
-five. She was late for her weekly exercise class, and I almost had to arrest her when she went ballistic over the fact I’d dares stop her and all the usual crap the self-important people always throw at you,” Tenants explained.
“When he promoted me, it got him a lot of good press and probably reelected. The media claimed he was a law and order type for not holding a grudge against me. In reality, he has never forgiven me for expecting someone like his wife to have to obey the everyday laws that are meant for the little people. Yeah, he really said that to me. I just told him to go get fucked! Too many of these pompous ass politicos think the laws don’t pertain to them, and if they happen to do the job they were elected to do, they expect favors and perks above and beyond their salaries and benefits, in return,” Tenants let rip.
“You’re a man after my own heart, Tony! It’s okay to call you Tony, isn’t it?” Wyatt asked.
“Sure. You like William or Bill?” Tenants replied.
“My friends call me either William or Bill,” Wyatt offered.
“Am I a friend?” Tony asked.
“I think we’re getting there,” William replied with the hint of a smile. “It’s just a matter of trust, and I think we’re learning a lot about each other and trust will take care of itself.”
“All right, Bill, what else have you got?” Tenants quipped.
“In investigating the money trails for the terrorists, we found some unusual transactions involving Bascome, Combs and Starks.” Bill paused for a moment, but this time Tenants didn’t interrupt, so he continued. “There were several transactions where money was deposited in some Grand Cayman accounts that looked funny. We had followed the money from a bank in Cyprus, a bank with known terrorist ties, to this bank in the Caymans. Then we followed the money through a wire transfer to a Washington bank account for Jason Combs and one for Roger Bascome. The amounts of the transfers were small, under ten grand, so the IRS wouldn’t take notice, and if we hadn’t been chasing the money from Europe, we wouldn’t have noticed either.” Bill took a quick breath and saw that Tony wasn’t going to interrupt, so he continued.
“So we dug deeper. We found that after the one transfer, they stopped using wire transfers in favor of Combs and Bascome taking day trips to the Caymans. Once there, they withdrew cash and then returned to the States. Now, in making the withdrawals, both Bascome and Combs took money out of three accounts. By monitoring their individual accounts here in the States, we found that the money from two accounts was for Bascome and Combs. That’s how Combs managed to buy a hundred thousand dollar plus car on his salary. Anyway, the third account’s withdrawal went into a retirement account under Starks wife’s name!” Bill paused here and poured himself a glass of water, taking a long drink.
Tenants responded with a one word comment. “Jesus!”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought when I was briefed,” Bill replied.
“Wait—how is it you were able to investigate domestic bank accounts?” Tenants asked.
“It’s in the Homeland Security Act. If we’re actively engaged in a foreign investigation and the trail leads onto American shores, we’re allowed to follow those leads; but we are not allowed to act unless (and until) we have fully briefed either the FBI or Homeland Security of our intentions,” Bill explained.
“Damn, and I thought I had read that pile of crap completely, but I didn’t catch that, and yet that sounds about right for that garbage,” Tony lamented.
“It’s in there, and this is the full briefing with the FBI that the law requires,” Will stated flatly.
“So have you shared this with John Massey?” Tony asked.
“No, I don’t trust him. Didn’t you notice that he sat there in the Oval Office and said nothing the whole time? He’s in bed with Starks! Under the law, I can’t have my guys investigate Massey. That will have to be left up to you. I’m hoping you’ll follow through on that because the money that was transferred to the Caymans is still being sent every month, and it’s adding up to a very large amount of cash. There is over three million that has been transferred into Starks’ account and almost three million for Bascome and just over two million for Combs,” Bill continued.
“Now, Bascome has another account outside the country in Crete. We found the account thanks to a wire transfer from the Cayman’s account to the bank there. That account has over two million in it, and I doubt he has paid any taxes on that money or even declared he received it.” Bill stopped talking and took a deep breath, waiting for Tony to comment.
Tony sat in thought for a minute. “Right, I’ll get my guys on Massey right away—today—and I’ll also have them check into every other cabinet officer and staff member at the White House. Do you think I should start checking out the members of Congress?” he asked.
“I’d start with just the leadership on the Democratic side. That’s Starks’ power base,” Bill suggested.
“Okay, I can see that we have a big problem, and we need to do something about it, but what do we do with all this evidence? I mean, who I do give it to? Starks has appointed friends and people he thinks owe him, including all of the directorships of every major department of the government!” Tony again lamented.
“Let me work on that, but I have still more information to brief you on before we start worrying about who to tell or trust to help solve the problem,” Bill stated, and Tony just nodded.
“I paid a visit to General Clarett last week. I’ve known him for forty years. I served under him in Vietnam, and I have never met a better man in a fight than him. The idea of him being a domestic terrorist is too farfetched to even consider. If the general had a desire to destroy our relationships with Middle Eastern countries, he’d just start bombing them. His character is to take on problems head on and fight toe-to-toe. He’d never consider hurting a third party to get at a guy he had beef with. It’s not his style! He fights face-to-face, no holds barred. After speaking with him, I’m convinced that it is just a political witch hunt by Starks and his insiders to deflect public interest away from their policy of not vigorously prosecuting the war on terror.”
“Senator Bains,” Bill continued before Tony could comment, “is of the same cloth as the general. She’s an honest, straight forward woman, whom I have known personally for years. To say she would condone the use of domestic terror to try and drive a wedge between our country and the countries of the Middle East is again beyond the pale. This is the third unfounded accusation against the senator in the last six months. Again, I think this is just political in-fighting, and I want no part of it,” Bill finished.
“So you interviewed Senator Bains?” Tony asked.
“No, I don’t have that right or power under the law. That would be strictly your area, but I did talk with her off the record, as a friend, and I drew my conclusions from that conversation, plus what I know of her from past associations. I found out that Bascome is having her followed, too, which is strictly against the law. The NSA cannot investigate sitting senators or congress people, only the FBI can. This raised another red flag, telling me that something is very wrong at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” Bill explained.
“Damn, I was hoping to ride out my tenure as the director quietly and without scandals, and this has to be going on,” Tony complained out loud, before he opened the envelope that he had brought with him and started to share what he had found out.
“I’m just going to give you my file. It’s not as extensive as yours, since we don’t have as many overseas contacts as the CIA. I also contacted Senator Bains, and I sat down with her. I left believing she had nothing to do with any terrorist attacks or the planning of any such acts. I also believe that Bascome and Starks are trying to set her up for anything they can get to stick, because they are afraid of her and they don’t like how she is questioning their policies towards terrorism,” Tony shared.
“I also met with Steven Howard. Now, that guy is interesting and he, too, is a straight shooter. After my interview, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out
what he could possibly gain by helping fund or plan a terrorist attack. Now, don’t get me wrong. I think the guy could sell ice to Eskimos, but my gut is telling me he’d prefer to sell them an ice pick. He’s a straight arrow kind of guy. He doesn’t have to bribe anyone to get contracts. He’s that good at selling things and has the products to back it up. Funny, I always thought that any salesman I met would be trying to steal my money, but Howard left me feeling that he really cared about this country, and the money is strictly a secondary concern. In fact, when I left him, I felt like he had been trying to recruit me for something. Weird, huh?” Tony finished.
“Well, that’s not necessarily a good thing that he’s that smooth. He could easily be conning you,” Bill suggested.
“I didn’t mean he was smooth or slick, but rather he was genuine. Honest. He came across very trustworthy,” Tony clarified.
Bill checked his watch and looked at Tony to see if he was going to ask any further questions. Seeing that he wasn’t, he closed his file and stood up while reaching for Tony’s hand to shake. Seeing the gesture, Tony reciprocated and took his hand.
Then Bill leaned in close and whispered, “Let’s stall Starks. Tell him we’re still investigating while we continue to figure out just who else is involved with the traitorous asshole!” Then both men grinned and walked out to their cars together, agreeing to meet at one or the other’s office in a few days.
Bill decided he needed to talk with his old friend, Chip, again, because something was going on that he needed to know about. Both the senator and Steven Howard had something up their sleeves. Like Tony, he had felt that he, too, was being recruited for something.
Reprisal!- The Eagle's Challenge Page 19