Thornhill glanced at the witness table. He didn’t recognize the men
sitting there. “Perhaps we should just reschedule.”
Ward looked past Thornhill. The latter turned and followed his gaze.
The uniformed Capitol Hill police officer ceremoniously closed the door
to the hearing room and then stood with his broad back against it, as
though daring anyone to try to get past him.
Thornhill looked back around at Ward. “Am I missing something here?”
“If you are, it will be made crystal clear in a minute,” Ward replied
ominously. Then he looked over at one of his aides and nodded.
The aide disappeared through a small doorway behind the committee. He
was back in a few seconds. And then Thornhill received what amounted
to the greatest shock of his life, as Danny Buchanan walked through the
doorway and made his way to the witness table. He never even looked at
Thornhill, who just stood there in the middle of the aisle, his
briefcase now resting motionless against his leg. The men rose from
the witness table and took seats in the audience.
Buchanan stood in front of the witness table, raised his right hand,
was sworn in and then sat down.
Ward glanced over at Thornhill, who still hadn’t moved.
“Mr. Thornhill, will you please sit down so we can get started
here?”
Thornhill couldn’t take his eyes off Buchanan. He shuffled sideways
toward the one remaining empty seat in the front row. The large man
sitting at the end of the row moved aside so Thornhill could pass by.
As*Thornhill sat, he glanced over at the man and found himself staring
at Lee Adams. “Good to see you again,” Lee said in an undertone before
settling back in his chair and turning his attention toward the front
of the room. “Mr. Buchanan,” Ward began. “Can you tell us why you’re
here today, sir “To provide testimony regarding a shocking conspiracy
at the Central Intelligence Agency,” Buchanan replied in a calm,
assured tone. Overthe years he had testified before more committees
than all the Watergatefolk combined. He was on familiar ground, his
best friend in the world doing the questioning. This was his time.
Finally. “Then I guess you should start at the beginning, sir.”
Buchanan placed his hands neatly in front of him, leaned forward and
spoke into the microphone. “Approximately fifteen months ago I was
approached by a high-level official at the CIA. The gentleman was
quite familiar with my lobbying practice. He was aware that I knew
many of the members on the Hill intimately. He wanted me to help him
with a very special project. “”What sort of project?” Ward prompted.
“He wanted me to help him gather evidence against congressmen that
could be used to blackmail them.” “Blackmail? How?” “He knew of my
efforts to lobby on behalf of impoverished countries and world
humanitarian organizations. “”We all are aware of your efforts in that
regard,” Ward said magnanimously. “As you can imagine, it’s a tough
sell up here. I’ve used most of my own money in that crusade. The man
knew that too. He felt I was desperate. An easy mark, I believe is
what he said.” “Precisely how would this blackmail scheme work?” “I
would approach certain congressmen and bureaucrats who could help
influence foreign-aid dollars and other overseas relief. I would only
approach those who needed money. I would tell them that in return for
their help, they would be compensated after they left office. They
didn’tknow it, of course, but the CIA would finance these ‘retirement’
pack ages. If they agreed to help, then I would wear a wire provided
by the CIA and record incriminating conversations with these men and
women. They would also be placed under surveillance by the CIA. All
this ‘illegal’ activity would be captured and subsequently used against
them by the man at the CIA.”
“How so?”
“Many of the people I was supposed to bribe for foreign aid also serve
on committees overseeing the CIA. For example, two of the members of
this very committee, Senators Johnson and McNamara, also sit on the
appropriations committee for foreign operations. The gentleman from
the CIA gave me a list of names of all the people he wanted to target.