MR. ALEXANDER: My name is William Alexander,THE ORAL DEPOSITION OF RICHARD J. BRENNEKE, a witness
produced at the request of the Attorney General’s Office,
taken in the above-styled and numbered cause on the 21st day of
June, 1991, before Jeff Bennett, C. C. R., Certificate #19,
of BUSHMAN COURT REPORTING, INC., Notary Public in and for
White County, Arkansas at the Office of the Attorney General, 323
Center Street, Little Rock, Arkansas at 10:10 a.m.
the witness hereinbefore named, having been previously cautioned and sworn, or affirmed, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth testified as follows:
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1 MR. ALEXANDER: My name is William Alexander,
2 Jr., and I’m an attorney and a member of the United States
3 Congress. I’m a member of the Bar of the State of Arkansas as
4 well as the District of Columbia and other states. And I’m
5 taking this deposition today as a member of the United States
6 Congress in my investigative authority under the Constitution,
7 and as a member of the Appropriations Committee having
8 jurisdiction over all agencies of the federal government,
9 specifically those agencies for the Departments of Justice, State
10 Commerce and the Federal Judiciary. For some time I have been
11 involved in investigating the subject of inquiry today with full
12 authority as a member of the United States Congress. In
13 addition, I’m acting as a Special Assistant to the Attorney
14 General of the State of Arkansas who is represented here today.
15 And, Chad, would you state who are you, and what you’re doing
16 here?
17 MR. FARRIS: My name is Chad Farris. I’m the
18 Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Arkansas. And
19 Representative Alexander is right, that he has been so
20 designated, and I am attending as a representative of the
21 Attorney General’s Office and will participate in this
22 investigation.
23 MR. ALEXANDER: I’ll state further for the
24 record, that the nature of this inquiry is confidential. And
25 that it is -- the evidence is intended to be used to produce for
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1 the benefit of the Special Prosecutor in the Iran-Contra case
2 now pending in Washington and for other purposes. And I’d now
3 like to ask the reporter if he would swear the witness.
4 (The witness was sworn.)
5 EXAMINATION
6 BY MR. ALEXANDER:
7 Q. Would you state your name, age and residence?
8 A. Okay, The name is Richard J. Brenneke, B-R-E-N-N-E-K-E.
9 My home address is XXX XXXXXXXXX XXX Street in XXXXXX, and
10 that’s X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X, XXXXX, XXXXX.
11 Q. Mr. Brenneke, would you state briefly your educational
12 background prior to the time when you began full-time work;
13 what’s your education?
14 A. I have -- I graduated from Jesuit High School in Portland
15 Oregon. I went to Seattle University, and graduated from
16 Seattle University in 19?4. In 19?6, I got my master’s degree
17 at the University of Toronto, and subsequent to that became a
18 teacher at St. John’s University in New York.
19 Q. And when were you a teacher in New York?
20 A. I was in New York from ‘66 -- I taught the years ‘66
21 through ‘68.
22 Q. And following 1968, would you describe your work history
23 and the jobs that you had?
24 A. Sure. I went to work for an offshore mutual fund company
25 in 19 -- in the fall of 1968, and became a -- their resident
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1 specialist in handling financial transfers and moving the money
2 from one point to another. The funds were sold worldwide, not
3 in the United States. I stayed with them for two years. In --
4 Q. What was the name of the company?
5 A. The company was United Growth Fund, United Investment Fund.
6 Q. And how long were you with them?
7 A. I was with them approximately two years.
8 Q. And what did you do following the association with the
9 Growth Fund?
10 A. I did two things; first of all, I realized that what was
11 being done was not in the best interest of the investors in the
12 mutual fund, and some of the smaller people who had money in it,
13 and I gave a full disclosure. I requested a full disclosure
14 conference with the SEC in Seattle, Washington. That was
15 granted, and that was the first briefing I ever gave to
16 government officials on how money is handled offshore.
17 Q. Okay. Was the money being handled for the government?
18 A. Some of that money was government money yes, sir.
19 Q. And what agency of the government was it being handled for?
20 A. Central Intelligence Agency.
21 Q. And so you had contact with the Central Intelligence Agency
22 at --
23 A. In 1968, late 1968, I was contracted by the Central
24 Intelligence Agency to furnish them with information relating to
25 the financial movements, the money movement that we dealt with,
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1 and who the investors in our mutual fund were.
2 Q. Did that later lead to a more -- did that later lead to a
3 relationship of employment with the Central Intelligence Agency?
4 A. No, sir. I was never an employee of theirs. I was always
5 a sole contractor.
6 Q. So you were an independent contractor with the Central
7 Intelligence Agency?
8 A. That's correct.
9 Q. Beginning when and through what years?
10 A. 1968 through about 1986, somewhere in 1985, '86 is when I
11 called it off.
12 Q. So what services did you perform for the Central
13 Intelligence Agency?
14 A. Specialized in two activities; I handled money for them, I
15 handled East Bloc weapons purchases primarily made in Yugoslavia
16 and Czechoslovakia.
17 Q. And what compensation did you receive for your service to
18 the Central Intelligence Agency?
19 A. Compensation varied by the job, it could go anywhere from
20 100 bucks for a piece of paper to several thousand dollars for a
21 a variety of activities.
22 Q. In general, what would you say on the average would be your
23 annual income from the CIA for the performance of these
24 services.?
25 A. In the early days, probably $10,000. It grew as time went
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1 by.
2 Q. Up to how much?
3 A. I can’t tell you, because I don’t know.
4 Q. Well, you have income tax returns that you could provide if
5 we ask for them?
6 A. I have filed income tax returns in the past. And I have to
7 -- I’m sorry if I have to digress for a minute, but I do. The
8 Internal Revenue Service contacted me recently and said they
9 can’t find seven years of my tax returns, which I find to be
10 very, very strange. And we -- I am in the process of
11 reconstructing those returns. The reason I can’t produce copies
12 of them is that my home has been burglarized twice, both matters
13 of police record, both time reports were made to the cops.
14 Q. Well, we won’t dwell on that. I just wanted to establish
15 the fact that you were --
16 A. Okay. It’s gone to 20 or $30,000 easily in a six month
17 period.
18 Q. And you said you perform other services, other than mutual
19 fund consultant for the CIA, what were those services?
20 A. I was a pilot for the CIA at several times.
21 Q. Where did you receive your pilot training?
22 A. Initially in Portland, Oregon and British Columbia.
23 Q. And you were a pilot for the CIA?
24 A. That's correct.
25 Q. During what period?