Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 2 Num. 30

("Quid coniuratio est?")

SHERMAN SKOLNICK INTERVIEW

Sherman Skolnick was interviewed on Radio Free America (Shortwave, 5.810 mHz, mon-fri, 9 pm cst) on September 2, 1994. Mr. Skolnick is a veteran investigative reporter from Chicago and founder of the "Citizens' Committee to Clean Up the Courts" in that city. Following is my transcription of that interview. Host/Interviewer is Tom Valentine.

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VALENTINE

Well Elliott Richardson is one of the few Washington insiders that I would want to have and would actually listen to and would believe 90 percent of what he says.

SKOLNICK

Uh now he has been, he and his law associates, lawyer associates, have been the attorneys for the Hamiltons -- the Inslaw company.

VALENTINE

All right. He represents the people who were wronged by the Justice Department.

SKOLNICK

Right.

VALENTINE

All right. Now when Judge Bua was called upon (we'll get back to Bua and your years of experience with him later), when Judge Bua was called upon to whitewash the...

SKOLNICK

But he resigned as a federal district judge and he was appointed by the Bush administration to, for the Justice Department to investigate themselves. And he was the special counsel to a special Inslaw federal grand jury in Chicago.

VALENTINE

Yeah. The "fix" was in. O.K.

SKOLNICK

We became very knowledgeable about it, because I and my associates volunteered as paralegals to assist one of the grand jury witnesses who was in Chicago in jail!

VALENTINE

He was also a rather well-known fella and he'd been a guest on this show. His name was Michael Riconosciuto.

SKOLNICK

Right. Who claims that because he "fingered" the Justice Department, they "framed" him.

We had four-and-a-half months debriefing him. And we found out so much, that we were, we were supposed to be, ourselves, witnesses before the grand jury.

And when the grand jury met, I and an associate of mine were outside the grand jury's unmarked door while the forelady of the jury was coming in. And this is not too well known, but every U.S. citizen has the right to approach the foreperson of a grand jury and offer testimony. You can't ask what they're doing behind the unmarked door! But you can offer testimony.

And I did that, and Bua was there and blocked us, but then sat us down and tried to "sweet talk" us for half an hour that we should withdraw our charges that 41 witnesses had been murdered. He promised us that between that point, which was November '92, and the inauguration of the new President, Clinton, that he didn't think there'd be any more witnesses that were "done in".

VALENTINE

Now, you know, you've told this story on the show before, and I always find it fascinating. I would guess that Nicholas J. Bua is the kind of guy that loves a good challenge and a word game. And he sat down there, face to face with you guys, knowing you're worthy adversaries, and I bet he enjoyed it!

SKOLNICK

For a half hour, outside the grand jury door, he sat there and talked to us. Uh, saying... He made us a "social bet". He says, "Not a business bet. A social bet." He says, "I bet you a luncheon that between this date" (which was November 18th, I believe. '92) "and inauguration day" (which was to be January 20th in '93) "that there would be no... there wouldn't be a 42nd witness murdered."

And we held up a copy of the London paper and said, "Look at this. Ian Stewart Sparrow has just been murdered. He was one of your witnesses." And I says, "We have..." And you know a funny thing?! We already had a lawsuit pending against Bua as a defendant! And there's the defendant, sitting, talking with us, trying to "sweet talk" us. And he says... I says, "Well the ones I accused you in court of being involved in the murdering of the witnesses is part of your FBI team, a Chicago FBI agent."

He says, "Yes. He's part of our team."

I said, "WELL WHAT ARE YOU DOIN' ABOUT IT!!" We have charged in court that he's goin' around murdering the witnesses!"

He said, "I betcha that by January 20th there won't be any witnesses."

VALENTINE

There won't be any other murders? Or they're gonna "get" all the witnesses?

SKOLNICK

The point is, he issued his report stating that there was nothing wrong with the Justice Department's use of Inslaw. That a key witness that was murdered was actually a suicide -- Danny Casolaro. And, in other words, he whitewashed the entire thing. He entered an extensive report saying that, "There was no fraud. There was no deceit." And that the Justice Department, in investigating themselves, didn't find anything. [laughs] Well...

VALENTINE

All right. What did you expect when it was sent to Chicago...

SKOLNICK

Well wait a minute!

VALENTINE

I've gotta take a break. But you remember what we're gonna wait a minute on. We'll be right back.

My guest is Sherman Skolnick. I'm Tom Valentine. This is Radio Free America.

[...commercial break...]

O.K.! We are back, live, and Sherman Skolnick is my guest!

And Sherman, you said, "Wait a minute," and so we did. We're waiting a minute. What were you going to say?

SKOLNICK

Well, in response to Bua's grand jury report, which he publicized through the press -- he befriended some of the "news fakers" as we call 'em, in Washington and a few other places.

VALENTINE

Yes. The "news fakers" of Chicago didn't even cover that grand jury hearing, by the way.

SKOLNICK

Right. [laughs] We were the only journalists that were talking about it, on our television show, during the whole time! The [Chicago] Tribune and the rest of 'em pretended that nothing was happening.

Elliott Richardson, the Inslaw attorney, filed a rebuttal to Bua's report early in July of '93. Then a strange event occurred, a week after the rebuttal: White House aide Vincent Foster, jr. was found dead. Now, because of what happened thereafter, we realize that there was a connection. Elliott Richardson then filed, in addition to his rebuttal to Bua's grand jury report in February of '94. And there is outlined that they have witnesses whose names they're fearful of mentioning to the Justice Department, because the witnesses would be murdered, like others.

And, Elliott Richardson contends that there is a secret unit in the Justice Department, in a very... heavily secure section, in with O.S.I., the Office of, uh... Strict, of uh...

VALENTINE

Special Investigations.

SKOLNICK

Right! Who are supposed to be "Nazi hunters".

VALENTINE

Yes.

SKOLNICK

But that these other ones are in that same section, and that they go around murdering witnesses!

VALENTINE

Now that's a hell of a thing! You've alleged that on this show, and we have had Mike Fuller of Virginia and Washington, D.C. allege it on that show, and a couple of others! But now Elliott Richardson has alleged it in this...

SKOLNICK

Yeah! And he said that he has witnesses in key positions that confirm that. And that among others, that this, that the special murder team, in the Justice Department, among those that they murdered was Danny Casolaro, who was looking into the Inslaw thing. And Casolaro, a journalist, was working on a book in which he claimed the Inslaw thing was "The Octopus", that it was tied in to the October Surprise, Iran-Contra, and numerous other diabolical...

VALENTINE

But especially BCCI! [Bank of Credit and Commerce International]

[...to be continued...]

I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."

Brian Francis Redman bigxc@prairienet.org "The Big C"

"Justice" = "Just us" = "History is written by the assassins."