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The real facts about PM Bruce covert action
How conspiracy to obstruct extradition was hatched
Article Published: Sunday, June 6th, 2010
BY DURRANT PATE
The latest disclosure that Prime Minister Bruce Golding was briefed about the pending extradition of fugitive gunrunner Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke in October 2007 has sharpened widely held views that the Government was guilty of a conspiracy to stall the US request for Coke’s extradition.
The briefing was done within a month of the Jamaica Labour Party Government (JLP) taking power by then US Ambassador to Jamaica, Brenda LaGrange Johnson and the top Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) operative in Jamaica.
During that meeting Golding was told that an indictment was about to be prepared for Coke and that there would be a subsequent extradition request for him to stand trial in the United States on drug and gunrunning charges.
This was the first of three indictments prepared for Coke, but the extradition request, now the subject of much controversy, was prepared for the third indictment that was placed before for a US Grand Jury back in 2009.
Making the disclosure during a censure motion brought by the Opposition People’s National Party, former national security minister, Dr Peter Phillips, noted that the investigations into the alleged activities of Mr. Coke were under way for some time, “at least from the mid-nineties and with the cooperation of Jamaican law enforcement authorities.”
Prime Minister Bruce Golding — not fulsome with the truth when he apologised to the nation… Opposition spokesman Peter Phillips — “Within 24 days of the receipt of the request for extradition, the initiative had already been conceived and sanctioned by the Prime Minister.” Former US Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson — reported to have briefed the Jamaica Labour Party Government within a month of it taking office.
FILE PHOTOS
Prime Minister aware
Dr. Phillips, who was the man that brought the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips affair to public light, surprised the Prime Minister when he told Parliament that the Government, in particular the Prime Minister, was aware of a pending indictment against Coke.
Apparently stunned, Golding shouted, “Not so,” which prompted Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, Andrew Holness, to rush to the PM’s defence by asking Phillips to divulge the source of his information.
Dr. Phillips acceded to the request explaining that he was contacted by the then US Ambassador in October 2007 and was told that the US wanted to brief the Prime Minister about a pending indictment against Coke.
What is clear from the facts before the public, Phillips told the house, that rather than consulting with his appropriate law enforcement and other officials as to how to give effect to Jamaica’s obligations under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, the Extradition Treaty and the various bilateral agreements that Jamaica has entered into with the United States, members of the government, including and sanctioned by the Prime Minister, engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct the extradition request.
“Indeed, the sordid Manatt Phelps & Phillips saga was just one element of the conspiracy of obstruction. And, it was because it did not have an honourable objective that it had to be handled in the surreptitious and underhand way that it was,” Dr Phillips noted.
Timeline
Based on the timeline, the extradition request was received by the Government of Jamaica on August 25, 2009. On September 18, 2009 monies were paid to US lobby firm Manatt Phelps & Phillips. The contract was signed later on October 1, 2009.
On Monday May 18, 2010, in an address to the nation in which he apologized for his actions in this whole affair, the Prime Minister said, “The engagement of Manatt Phelps & Phillips by Mr. Harold Brady was an effort to secure assistance in resolving the stalemate because the party was concerned about the negative effect it was having on relations between Jamaica and the United States.”
“Within 24 days of the receipt of the request for extradition, the initiative had already been conceived and sanctioned by the Prime Minister,” Dr Phillips submitted.
“Harold Brady instructed the law firm contacted; negotiations were held with them and the first retainer fee paid. How much of this three weeks had passed between the receipt of the extradition request and the decision by the JLP to seek the law firm’s assistance?” Dr Phillips asked.
Continuing, Dr Phillips suggested that the Prime Minister was not fulsome with the truth when he apologized to the nation and the Parliament for not being fulsome with the truth.
According to Dr Phillips, a more plausible conclusion to be drawn is that from day one when the extradition request was received, the Prime Minister and his other co-conspirators set out to see how they could “prevent” the request from going forward.
That was the purpose of the Manatt Phelps & Phillips engagement by the JLP and that was why the engagement of Manatt Phelps & Phillips was done in the convoluted way that it was, the former minister argued.
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Article Published: Sunday, June 6th, 2010
BY DURRANT PATE
The latest disclosure that Prime Minister Bruce Golding was briefed about the pending extradition of fugitive gunrunner Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke in October 2007 has sharpened widely held views that the Government was guilty of a conspiracy to stall the US request for Coke’s extradition.
The briefing was done within a month of the Jamaica Labour Party Government (JLP) taking power by then US Ambassador to Jamaica, Brenda LaGrange Johnson and the top Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) operative in Jamaica.
During that meeting Golding was told that an indictment was about to be prepared for Coke and that there would be a subsequent extradition request for him to stand trial in the United States on drug and gunrunning charges.
This was the first of three indictments prepared for Coke, but the extradition request, now the subject of much controversy, was prepared for the third indictment that was placed before for a US Grand Jury back in 2009.
Making the disclosure during a censure motion brought by the Opposition People’s National Party, former national security minister, Dr Peter Phillips, noted that the investigations into the alleged activities of Mr. Coke were under way for some time, “at least from the mid-nineties and with the cooperation of Jamaican law enforcement authorities.”
Prime Minister Bruce Golding — not fulsome with the truth when he apologised to the nation… Opposition spokesman Peter Phillips — “Within 24 days of the receipt of the request for extradition, the initiative had already been conceived and sanctioned by the Prime Minister.” Former US Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson — reported to have briefed the Jamaica Labour Party Government within a month of it taking office.
FILE PHOTOS
Prime Minister aware
Dr. Phillips, who was the man that brought the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips affair to public light, surprised the Prime Minister when he told Parliament that the Government, in particular the Prime Minister, was aware of a pending indictment against Coke.
Apparently stunned, Golding shouted, “Not so,” which prompted Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, Andrew Holness, to rush to the PM’s defence by asking Phillips to divulge the source of his information.
Dr. Phillips acceded to the request explaining that he was contacted by the then US Ambassador in October 2007 and was told that the US wanted to brief the Prime Minister about a pending indictment against Coke.
What is clear from the facts before the public, Phillips told the house, that rather than consulting with his appropriate law enforcement and other officials as to how to give effect to Jamaica’s obligations under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, the Extradition Treaty and the various bilateral agreements that Jamaica has entered into with the United States, members of the government, including and sanctioned by the Prime Minister, engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct the extradition request.
“Indeed, the sordid Manatt Phelps & Phillips saga was just one element of the conspiracy of obstruction. And, it was because it did not have an honourable objective that it had to be handled in the surreptitious and underhand way that it was,” Dr Phillips noted.
Timeline
Based on the timeline, the extradition request was received by the Government of Jamaica on August 25, 2009. On September 18, 2009 monies were paid to US lobby firm Manatt Phelps & Phillips. The contract was signed later on October 1, 2009.
On Monday May 18, 2010, in an address to the nation in which he apologized for his actions in this whole affair, the Prime Minister said, “The engagement of Manatt Phelps & Phillips by Mr. Harold Brady was an effort to secure assistance in resolving the stalemate because the party was concerned about the negative effect it was having on relations between Jamaica and the United States.”
“Within 24 days of the receipt of the request for extradition, the initiative had already been conceived and sanctioned by the Prime Minister,” Dr Phillips submitted.
“Harold Brady instructed the law firm contacted; negotiations were held with them and the first retainer fee paid. How much of this three weeks had passed between the receipt of the extradition request and the decision by the JLP to seek the law firm’s assistance?” Dr Phillips asked.
Continuing, Dr Phillips suggested that the Prime Minister was not fulsome with the truth when he apologized to the nation and the Parliament for not being fulsome with the truth.
According to Dr Phillips, a more plausible conclusion to be drawn is that from day one when the extradition request was received, the Prime Minister and his other co-conspirators set out to see how they could “prevent” the request from going forward.
That was the purpose of the Manatt Phelps & Phillips engagement by the JLP and that was why the engagement of Manatt Phelps & Phillips was done in the convoluted way that it was, the former minister argued.
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