High Crimes

“Well, Mr. La Pierre, the defense made a discovery request for the order assigning these individuals to El Salvador. And the strange thing was, we never got any. And I’m thinking, you know, bureaucracies and everything, the way things fall between the cracks... Did you happen to see any order assigning the members of Detachment 27 to El Salvador in June 1985?”

“No, I did not.”

“No record of any order?”

“That’s correct.”

“None at all.”

Warily, he said, “Uh, that’s right.”

“That’s a relief,” Claire said, “because I didn’t either.” Scattered laughter in the courtroom. “It’s good to hear I’m not the only one who hasn’t had an easy time dealing with the Pentagon’s paper-shufflers. And presumably you went to the supervisory headquarters for this particular Special Forces detachment.”

“I believe we did, yes.”

“Yet you got no records of any order assigning them to El Salvador?”

“Right.”

She turned suddenly to the witness as if another thought had just occurred to her. “Did you attempt to locate in archived records copies of the temporary duty orders that every single military unit has to get before they’re sent anywhere?”

“Uh, no.”

“You didn’t? What about travel claims? Did you attempt to locate in archived records the travel claims for Detachment 27’s alleged incursion into El Salvador in June 1985?”

“Well, no, but—”

“You know, Mr. La Pierre, I’m not a member of the military—”

“I wouldn’t have guessed,” he said flatly.

Hearty laughter broke out among the spectators. Claire laughed along, sharing the joke at her own expense. “And, well, you know, I really don’t know much about your world here, but it’s my understanding — and correct me if I’m wrong — that any time any U.S. soldier goes anywhere where there’s travel involved, there’s got to be a travel claim submitted. Am I right?”

“I believe so,” La Pierre said, seemingly bored.

“You believe so. Hmm. Yet you didn’t find any travel claim for this alleged operation in El Salvador in June 1985.”

“Well, no, but—”

“So there’s really no corroboration these individuals went anywhere.”

La Pierre worked his open mouth a few times, and at last began, “I—”

“Presumably you’ve made some efforts,” Claire interrupted, “to corroborate whether or not this operation ever actually occurred.”

With narrowed eyes, La Pierre shot back, “You’re not denying this operation took place, are you?”

“Let me ask the questions, Mr. La Pierre. You’ve made some efforts to determine whether or not this operation actually occurred, haven’t you?”

“It’s obvious it occurred—”

“It’s obvious? To whom? To you and Major Waldron over there? Or to me and Mr. Grimes and Ronald Kubik over here? Who is it obvious to?”

“The operation occurred,” La Pierre hissed.

“But you have no records of any orders to corroborate that, do you?” She didn’t wait for his reply. “Now, Mr. La Pierre, it’s my understanding — and again, correct me if I’m wrong — that before the U.S. government, including the military, engages in a covert operation, there must be a presidential finding authorizing that covert operation. A classified order signed personally by the President of the United States. Is that right?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“A presidential finding authorizing covert action is called an NSDD — a National Security Decision Directive — is that right?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Which may be classified, right?”

“It can be.”

“Sometimes an NSDD can have a classified and an unclassified version, correct?”

“I think so.”

“And this operation was a covert operation, isn’t that true?”

“Yes, it was.”

“So there must exist an NSDD, presumably a classified one, authorizing Detachment 27’s mission to El Salvador in June 1985. Right?”

He attempted to sidestep the jaw trap. “I wouldn’t know.”

“But you just said that every covert action must be authorized by an NSDD. And this was a covert action, you said yourself. So there must be an NSDD, right?”

“I suppose so.”

“Yet you didn’t obtain the presidential finding authorizing the June 1985 covert operation and signed by the President of the United States?”

“No, I did not.”

“Well, gosh, Mr. La Pierre, as the chief investigator in this case, don’t you think it’s important to know whether this operation was authorized by the president?”

“In my job,” he said ringingly, “I don’t get into foreign affairs. I do personal crimes, including homicides.”

“You don’t get into foreign affairs,” she repeated.

“No, I do not.”

“Mr. La Pierre, if a full-bird colonel in the Special Forces, who’s now the chief of staff of the army, ran an operation in El Salvador in June 1985 that was illegal — because it wasn’t authorized by a presidential finding — don’t you think you’d want to advise him of his rights?”

Frank La Pierre looked over at the judge. “I don’t know how to answer that,” he said.

“Just answer the question,” Farrell said with annoyance. “Did you read General Marks his rights?”

“No, I most certainly did not.”

“Why not?” Claire asked.

“I had no reason to believe this was an illegal operation.”