Filename: Harry5.Art Type : Article Author : Harry Martin Date : 04/02/91 Desc : Federal Corruption Series Part V ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Watergate Iran--Contra Savings & Loan Scandal INSLAW Theft Federal Bankruptcy Scandal CIA Covert Operations Did you ever wonder what the fathers of our country would think about it if they came back to visit today? KEY WITNESS IN INSLAW CASE ARRESTED BY JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AS PREDICTED By Harry V. Martin Fifth in a NEW SERIES (c) Copyright Napa Sentinel April 2, 1991 Reprinted with permission of the Napa Sentinel Within eight days of signing a damaging statement against the U.S. Justice Department in the INSLAW software case, a key witness against the government has been arrested and held without bail. Michael J. Riconoscuito was arrested Friday night and is being held without bail at Snohomish County jail in Everett, Washington. Riconoscuito is being held without bail and no charges have been filed against him. He was arrested with two local men who had just sold him computer equipment for $1000. The two were known drug users. Riconoscuito, according to jail officials, is being held for the U.S. Marshal's Office--not on any alleged local criminal violation. Riconoscuito, and the two other persons, were arrested Friday night by more than a dozen U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents. On March 21, Riconoscuito, a computer software technician, filed an affidavit in the INSLAW case. In February, Riconoscuito was called by a former Justice Department official and warned against cooperating with an investigation into the case by the House Judiciary Committee. The former Justice Department official is reported to have threatened Riconoscuito with criminal prosecution if he talked about the INSLAW case. The Justice Department has been accused by a Federal bankruptcy Judge of stealing INSLAW's PROMIS software which has the capability of tracking criminal and military movements. According to sworn affidavits, Riconoscuito was allegedly told by U.S. Justice Department officials that if he did testify in the INSLAW case he would be criminally prosecuted in an unrelated savings and loan case and would suffer an unfavorable outcome in a child custody dispute. The threat was made by telephone and a recording was made of the conversation, according to Riconoscuito. He indicated that two copies of the recorded telephone conversation were confiscated by federal agents when he was arrested. Riconoscuito told the "St. Louis Post- Dispatch" that at least one other copy remained in a secured location. Riconoscuito's testimony, along with others, claims that the U.S. Justice Department illegally distributed INSLAW's software to military and intelligence agencies in Iraq, Libya, South Korea, Singapore, Israel, Canada and other nations. A Federal Judge ruled last week in Washington, D.C., that the INSLAW case be transferred from the Bankruptcy Court to the U.S. District Court. During the early 1980s, Riconoscuito served as the Director of Research for a joint venture between the Wackenhut Corporation of Coral Gables, Florida and the Cabazon Band of Indians of Indio, California. The joint venture was located on the Cabazon reservation. The joint venture sought to develop and manufacture certain materials that are used in military and national security operations, and biological and chemical warfare weapons. The Cabazon Band of Indians are a sovereign nation and thus have immunity from U.S. regulations and stringent government controls. The Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture was intended to support the needs of a number of foreign governments and forces, including forces and governments in Central America and the Middle East. The Contras in Nicaragua represented one of the most important priorities for the joint venture. The joint venture maintained close liaison with certain elements of the U.S. Government, including representatives of intelligence, military and law enforcement agencies. Among the frequent visitors to the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture were Peter Videnicks of the U.S. Department of Justice and a close associate of Videnicks, Dr. Earl W. Brian--who served in the California cabinet of Governor Ronald Reagan and who has very close ties and business dealings with Meese. In connection with Riconoscuito's work, he engaged in some software work in 1983 and 1984 on the PROMIS computer software product, developed by INSLAW but being used--without payment--by the U.S. Department of Justice. A federal court has awarded INSLAW $6.8 million against the U.S. Department of Justice. According to Riconoscuito's court affidavit, Brian was spearheading the plan for the worldwide use of the PROMIS computer software--which was licensed and patented to INSLAW. "The purpose of the PROMIS software modifications that I made in 1983 and 1984 was to support a plan for the implementation of PROMIS in law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide." He said that some of the modifications that he made were specifically designed to facilitate the implementation of PROMIS within two agencies of the Government of Canada: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service. "Earl W. Brian would check with me from time to time to make certain that the work would be completed in time to satisfy the schedule for the RCMP and CSIS implementations of PROMIS." Brian, without permission from INSLAW, but acting with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, reportedly sold this version of PROMIS to the Government of Canada, according to Riconoscuito." Riconoscuito predicted his own arrest eight days later. In his affidavit filed with the court on March 21, 1991, he states, "In February 1991, I had a telephone conversation with Peter Videnicks, then still employed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Videnicks attempted during this telephone conversation to persuade me not to cooperate with an independent investigation of the government's piracy of INSLAW's proprietary PROMIS software being conducted by the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives. "Videnicks stated that I would be rewarded for a decision not to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee investigation. Videnicks forecasted an immediate and favorable resolution of a protracted child custody dispute being prosecuted against my wife by her former husband, if I were to decide not to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee investigation. "One punishment that Videnicks outlined was the future inclusion of me and my father in a criminal prosecution of certain business associates of mine in Orange County, California, in connection with the operation of a savings and loan institution in Orange County. By way of underscoring his power to influence such decisions at the U.S. Department of Justice, Videnicks informed me of the indictment of those business associates prior to the time when that indictment was unsealed and made public. "Another punishment that Videnicks threatened should I cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee, is prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice for perjury. Videnicks warned me that credible witnesses would come forward to contradict any damaging claims that I made in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, and that I would subsequently be prosecuted for perjury by the U.S. Department of Justice for my testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. As predicted, after Riconoscuito's affidavit was filed with the court and reported in the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" and "Washington Post," he was arrested and is now being held without bail and with no charges. The INSLAW case is becoming another Watergate and involves former Attorney General Edwin Meese, a federal judge, several high officials of the U.S. Department of Justice and even former White House aide Robert C. McFarlane, who transferred INSLAW software to Israel. There are many affidavits being filed in the case to verify wrongdoing on the part of the Justice Department. Yet the Justice Department continues to refuse to supply the House Judiciary Committee with any documents in the case. The Committee is now threatening to cut U.S. Department of Justice funding if they don't cooperate in supplying these documents.