Thread by @AliAdair22

🧵THREAD—William Barr: How many crimes did he commit as the 'Cover-up General' for Presidents since the 1980s?

A Look at Pan Am 103, the Lockerbie bombing 1/

AG William Barr is under fire right now as over 2,400 former prosecutors & officials who served for both Dem & GOP presidents signed an open letter calling for him to resign for overruling the DOJ's sentencing recommendation for Donald Trump's former campaign mgr, Roger Stone. 2/

These prosecutors and officials also emphasized the importance of current government employees to act as whistleblowers and report any signs of unethical behavior at the Department of Justice. 3/

medium.com/@dojalumni/doj…

If the past gives us an indication of how Barr is acting under Trump, things will get a lot worse.

As Barr's loyalty to Trump could prove to be his undoing, Barr was equally loyal to George H.W. Bush during his presidency (1988-1992). 4/

Photo: Marcy Nighswander/AP

Barr was Bush's Attorney General from May 1990 until the end of November 1991, but he was working in his Department of Justice all along, most notably as Deputy Attorney General. 5/

But Barr's relationship with Bush started at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where Barr worked while attending graduate school and law school. From 1973-75, Barr was an analyst in the Intelligence Directorate division. 6/

Barr worked at the CIA until 1977; Bush was appointed CIA Director in January of 1976. Barr’s father, Donald Barr, also worked in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), during World War II. The OSS was the precursor to the CIA. 7/

On Bush’s inauguration day, January 20, 1989, Barr started working at the Office of Legal Counsel, then became Deputy Attorney General about a year later. 8/

If one tended to be corrupt, the amalgamation of learning legal covert action & clandestine activities in the CIA (& possibly from their father at a very young age) combined with knowing the law—or more importantly how to circumvent it—could yield potentially calamitous results.9

During Bush’s tenure at the White House, Barr was nicknamed the “Cover-up General” by iconic New York Times journalist William Safire. He allegedly covered up for at least five scandals during that time period: Iran/Contra, Iraqgate or the BNL scandal, BCCI and Inslaw. 10/

But there’s one scandal that has been overlooked: the Pan Am 103 bombing.

And the evidence is pointing to crimes more egregious than just a cover-up. 11/

[That screenshot is of Barr, announcing indictments for the Pan Am 103 bombing.]

From the beginning: four days before Christmas in 1988, a Boeing 747 en route from London to New York, exploded. All 243 passengers & 16 crew members were killed & when the plane plunged to the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland...12/

...11 more were killed when a wing section hit a house & exploded, creating a crater 154 feet long.

In total, 270 were killed in the explosions. 13/

The plane was believed to be blown up by bomb placed in a Toshiba radio cassette player, placed in a Samsonite suitcase with items of baby clothing. 14/

Who really did it?

Were two Libyans used as scapegoats by then-Deputy Attorney General William Barr to hide crimes by a Palestinian militant organization, based in Syria and hired by Iranians bent on revenge? And to advance the Bush agenda that Libya was an evil force? 15/

One Libyan was acquitted; the other, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, convicted for the death of 270 souls, spent the rest of his life imprisoned until his compassionate release due to terminal prostate cancer in 2009—which the Unites States strongly opposed. 16/

(Then FBI Director Robert Mueller penned a letter to the Scottish justice minister saying, "I am outraged at your decision," & ending with "Where, I ask, is the justice?") 17/

But more information has been uncovered since the trial which ended with Abdel Basset al-Megrahi's conviction in on January 31, 2001. 18/

Al-Megrahi died in 2012.

But even on his death bed, al-Megrahi maintained his innocence. 19/

After a lengthy judicial review, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) gave a statement in 2007, granting al-Megrahi the right to file a fresh appeal. 20/

Via @chicagotribune

"The commission is of the view, based on our lengthy investigations, the new evidence we have found and other evidence which was not before the trial court, that the applicant may have suffered a miscarriage of justice. 21/

At that time, al-Megrahi also issued a statement: "I am confident that when the full picture is put before the ultimate arbiters [the Scottish High Court], I shall finally be recognized as an innocent man." 22/

Via @chicagotribune

@chicagotribune But when al-Megrahi got his release from prison in 2009 he gave up his second appeal, some speculating because it helped his compassionate release case. 23/

🖼️ Photo: AFP

However, his family has applied for a fresh appeal & in May 2018 the SCCRC agreed to review his case again. 24/

bbc.com/news/uk-scotla…

George Thomson, a former police detective for the Scottish police and private investigator for al-Megrahi's legal team, who visited him almost daily for 2 years straight, summed it up. "I can't possibly sit here and say that Basset Megrahi is not guilty; I don't know that. 25/

George Thomson (cont'd): But what I can say is that after a very careful examination of the evidence which convicted him: there's massive holes in it. There's something far wrong with it. 26/

George Thomson (cont'd): And I think had the appeal had been allowed to go ahead, all that kind of evidence would have come out and I think he would have gone home anyway on appeal.” 27/

A plethora of evidence points to a Syrian-based terrorist group PFLP-GC, led by Ahmed Jabril, and approved by the Ayatollah Khomeini (and his successor Hashemi Rafsanjani) was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. 28/

The Iranians wanted to avenge the downing of the Iranian Airbus A300 with a missile from the Navy missile cruiser the USS Vincennes, in July 1988, which caused 290 Iranians to die. 29/

cnn.com/2020/01/10/mid…

The theory is that the Iranians hired the Syrian-based group PFLP-GC to hide their culpability. 30/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_F…

This motive was confirmed by Abulhassan Bani Sadr, who was the President of Iran from 1979-81. "Iran ordered the attack and Ahmed Jabril carried it out," Bani Sadr said in The Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie, a documentary produced, written and directed by Allan Francovich. 31/

The film was never widely released because of legal challenges. It was prevented from being shown on television or cinemas in the United States, but eventually played in at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California in July of 1998. 32/

imdb.com/title/tt017276…

Francovich suffered a fatal heart attack in a Customs area at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas in April 1997 at age 56. 33/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Fra…

In a column in January 1990, Pulitzer Prize winner Jack Anderson reported that both British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President George H.W. Bush had reports that the Iranians were responsible [for the Pan Am 103 bombing], but agreed... 34/

Jack Anderson (cont'd): that "neither could stand the political heat of making the evidence public because both were impotent to retaliate." Anderson points out that "Khomeini proved the undoing of Jimmy Carter and nearly proved the undoing of Ronald Reagan." 35/

Anderson also pointed out that "Iranian-sponsored terrorists quickly claimed credit, but the British and American governments put out the story that there were several suspects." 36/

In New York Festivals TV & Film Awards winner 2009 documentary called Lockerbie Revisited, Director/Author Gideon Levy interviews former CIA case officer and author Robert Baer, who points out some glaring faults of the Libyan guilt theory. 37/

Most importantly, if you were planting a bomb on an airplane, would you plant it in Malta, hoping for it to be transferred to two different flights, from Malta to Frankfurt, Germany, and then from Frankfurt to London, England? 38/

Baer deducted that the bomb was planted in London or it was a suicide bomber aboard the ill-fated plane. 39/

The prosecution argued strongly that the bomb that destroyed Pan Am 103 did not have an altitude-sensitive barometric trigger; it had a more simple timer. If the bomb had a barometric trigger, it would have gone off on a flight before it reached Heathrow Airport. 40/

There was testimony at the trial that the altitude exceeded 30,000 feet on the flight KM 180 from Malta to Frankfurt, Germany. 41/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Fl…

What would be the motive to blame the Libyans? Baer asserts the most plausible theory which corroborates Anderson's column. "It was political," he said, "no one wanted to do anything about Iran." 42/

🖼️ Photo: Jim Cooper/AP

Why? Because Iran has "70 million people and can take out the Straight of Hormuz in 3 minutes. They can take out 17 million export barrels in 3 minutes; gas will be $12 a gallon and the U.S. would go into a depression in 3 months. It would be the end of the U.S. economy." 43/

Baer made these comments in the 2009 documentary Lockerbie Revisited. 44/

An interview with Martin Cadman was made public for the first time at a screening at the British House of Commons in November 1994 of The Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie where he ominously said 👇 45/

However, William Barr, at the time Acting U.S. Attorney General, blamed two Libyans at a press conference on November 14, 1991, announcing the indictments. 46/

justice.gov/sites/default/…

A month after the Lockerbie bombing occurred, George H.W. Bush became President. 47/

And just short of three years later, Barr announced at the press conference, "For three years, the United States and Scotland have been conducting one of the most exhaustive and complex investigations in history. Today we are announcing an indictment in the case. 48/

William Barr (cont'd): We charge that two Libyan officials, acting as operatives of the Libyan intelligence service, along with other co-conspirators, planted and detonated the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103. 49/

William Barr (cont'd): At this moment, Lord Fraser, Chief Prosecutor for Scotland, is announcing parallel charges. I've just telephoned some of the families of those murdered on Pan Am 103 to inform them & the organizations of survivors that this indictment has been returned. 50/

William Barr (cont'd): Their loss has been ever present on our minds." 51/

Two days prior to this press conference—November 12-13, 1991—William Barr was questioned in confirmation hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee after being appointed to the post in mid-October. 52/

He was approved by a voice vote of the full Senate on November 2139 and sworn into the office of Attorney General on November 26, 1991. (Note: his predecessor, Richard Thornburgh, had resigned to run for the Senate in Pennsylvania. He lost.) 53/

timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1…

The indictments of the two Libyan intelligence officers: Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, 39 and 35 at the time, were shocking to many...54/

The indictments of the two Libyan intelligence officers: Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, 39 and 35 at the time, were shocking to many because experts such as...55/

...Geoffrey Kemp, former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs,who speculated right after the crash that the blame would "most likely" belong to 1. A European-based group; 56/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_…

2. Abu Nidal (in order to sabotage Yasser Arafat's negotiations with the U.S., but Kemp noted that it was likely Nidal did not have time to plan this attack) or 57/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Nidal

3. Iranians, seeking to avenge the U.S. Navy shooting down their Airbus A300 with a missile in July 1988, killing 290 people.

In other words, Kemp suspected the Iranians and the motive was revenge. 58/

At the time, Libya denied all involvement in the attack.

Both Al-Megrahi and Fhimah, who both worked for Libyan Arab Airlines, strongly denied the allegations.

Eventually, Fhimah was acquitted of all charges in a trial. 59/

Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison. He was released in 2009 on humanitarian grounds when he was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. He had received a letter of support for his release by Nelson Mandela's foundation. 59/

Al-Megrahi died three years later at age 60.

60/

nytimes.com/2012/05/21/wor…

Both Al-Megrahi and Fhimah were accused by the prosecution of being Libyan intelligence officers.

U.S. intelligence officers said that al-Megrahi used aliases and false passports to travel widely. Via @nytimes 60/

@nytimes Abdel Basset al-Megrahi died at age 60 on in 2012.

61/

nytimes.com/2012/05/21/wor…

@nytimes At first in 1991, Libya refused to extradite Al-Magrahi and he lived under guard in Libya, working as a teacher, while Libya endured eight years of sanctions by the United Nations. 62/

Nelson Mandela led a negotiation resulting in a compromise in 1999: Al-Magrahi was to surrender and face a trial by Scottish judges and the UN sanctions would be lifted. 63/

nytimes.com/1999/04/06/wor…

Investigators claimed that the bag containing the bomb was put onto a plane in Malta, flown to Frankfurt, Germany where it was transferred to a Boeing 727 feeder flight that connected to Pan Am 103 in London’s Heathrow Airport. 64/

However, most airline security experts argued that the bag was much more likely slipped under the radar at Heathrow airport. Later, it was reported that the Pan Am baggage area had been broken into the day of the Lockerbie bombing. 65/

telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/13…

In addition, a staff member, John Bedford, saw one of eight aluminum containers (to house the baggage), AVE4041, in the loading area before the flight. 64/

Photo: Still from FBI video

fbi.gov/video-reposito…

In a statement in January 1989, Bedford told police that he noticed a hard-shell Samonsite suitcase had already been loaded into the bottom of the “tin” container before the feeder flight from Frankfurt, Germany had even landed. 65/

independent.co.uk/news/world/pol…

In The Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie, the late Tom Dayall, a Scottish Labour party politician observed, “swarms of Americans fiddling with bodies—and shall we say tampering with those things that the police were carefully checking themselves. 66/

🖼️ Photo: Still from Maltese

Tom Dayall (cont'd): I am not pretending that they said they are from the FBI or the CIA. They were just Americans who seemed to arrive extremely quickly on the scene.” 67/

A local Lockerbie police surgeon also noticed that the Americans redid the labels that he had put on the bodies. 68/

Also in the film, David Ben Aryeah, one of the first journalists on the scene also commented, “Very strange people popped out of the woodwork very early on—within a matter of three hours—there were American accents heard in the town. 69/

🖼️ Photo: Still from Maltese

Aryeah (cont'd): Over that night, there were large numbers by which I mean 20-25-30 people arrived. The next day, somebody commented at the time ‘that’s subtle’: there was a whole bay of people walked down the main street with blue windcheaters and baseball hats with FBI on them.

Aryeah (cont'd): But there were a lot of other Americans in the town over the first 12 hours that weren’t wearing FBI windcheaters. I don’t know who they are. I knew who some of them were. And they certainly weren’t tourists.” 71/

Other witnesses reported seeing a plethora of helicopters—some unmarked —dropping off people to search. What were they looking for? 72/

In the Francovich doc, Lester Coleman, a former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) who reported on the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)’s activities in Cyprus, said that a compromised American covert drug-operation allowed Iranian-backed terrorists (PFLP-GC) to plant the bomb. 73/

In 1993, he wrote a book on the subject, Trail of the Octopus From Beirut to Lockerbie — Inside the DIA, which was banned in the U.S. until 2009. 74/

[Note: Coleman is not a great witness because of arrests, incarceration, etc.]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Co…

amazon.com/Trail-Octopus-…

According to Coleman, drugs were routinely flown to the United States from London and Frankfurt, in marked suitcases which were purposely overlooked by three governments. 75/

🖼️ Photo: via @amazon

Coleman (cont'd): “They could not eradicate the drugs in Lebanon so they only could do two things. That is to monitor what was being produced and how it was being shipped out. 76/

Coleman (cont'd): And two, use DEA informants from Lebanon in drug sting operations back in the United States to set up drug buys and catch drug buyers in the U.S. And that was a big part of what they were doing. 77/

Coleman (cont'd): The DEA informants would fly in to Los Angeles, for example, or Detroit, and they would be loaned out to the local DEA office and used in a drug sting operation. 78/

Coleman (cont'd): Many times they would haul in heroin with them—in a controlled delivery—sometimes they would take in cash and act as a buyer.” 79/

Coleman (cont'd): A controlled delivery is when a courier carries a predetermined amount of heroin through security checkpoints, with the knowledge and consent of the local law enforcement people, for example the Germans in Frankfurt, the British Customs...80/

Coleman (cont'd): and Excise service in London, to pass the heroin through on the way to New York and then onto Detroit or Houston or Los Angeles.” 81/

Via: The Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie

Commentary: Even though Lester Coleman has been incarcerated, his story is extremely detailed and credible.

That's where William Barr's corrupt CIA/Law Enforcement skills could have thrived: discrediting witnesses who are no longer needed.

⚰️ Or a fate far worse (Epstein).

82/

Juval Aviv, an investigator hired by Pan Am, added that the American, German & British gov'ts were all aware of these controlled deliveries & they would always use a brown Samsonite suitcase & switch the suitcase with the drugs with an identical suitcase filled with clothes. 83/

The Francovich documentary alleges that the bomb was actually taken on board Pan Am 103 by an unwitting drug mule named Khalid “Nazzi” Jafaar, a Lebanese American, and...84/

(con'td): the suitcase was not searched by airport officials because it was believed to be part of a “controlled” delivery and protected by the three governments involved. Coleman recalled seeing Jafaar multiple times and confirmed that he was a drug mule. 85/

The film crew traced Jafaar’s steps from several points in Germany to Upsalla, Sweden.

They also traced a one-way student ticket to Detroit on Pam Am 103 purchased for Khalid Jaafar, with the form of payment listed as “not shown.” 86/

Did the U.S. government have to cover-up their involvement with this drug operation to protect their law enforcement and intelligence agencies and those of other countries?

In this case, the British and German governments would have equal incentives to cover this up. 87/

The main pieces of evidence

The case revolved around the brown Samsonite hard suitcase, the origin of the clothing in the suitcase and the bomb's timer. 88/

A replica of the Samsonite hard suitcase

Photo: Via

fbi.gov/news/stories/r…

A replica of the Toshiba "Bombeat" cassette radio with explosives inside. /89

Photo: Via FBI

A tiny fragment of the bomb's timer, extracted from a grey "Slalom" shirt. This piece of evidence with the shirt collar was dubbed PI 995 and the timer fragment that was extracted from the collar was named PT/35(b).

90/

Photo: via pt35b.wordpress.com

Documentarian Allan Francovich interviewed one of the local volunteers who search the forest area in Lockerbie for evidence. 91/

Bobby Ingram told Francovich that he was approached two years after the search and asked by authorities to sign for three pieces of evidence: a piece of cloth, a brown piece which looked like part of a suitcase and a third item he couldn’t remember. 92/

These two items were critical in in the trial. 93/

The trial was held at a specially constructed courthouse for the Scottish High Court of Justiciary at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, thought of as "neutral territory."

The site was a former U.S. Air Force base in Utrecht. 94/

🖼️ Photo: Getty Images

The trial took 18 months.

The most important piece of evidence was labeled PT/35(b) at the trial. It was a part of a circuit board made by a Swiss company called Mebo.

It was critical to the case that convicted al-Megrahi. 95/

“I don’t think we would have ever had an indictment” if it weren’t for PT/35(b), according to Richard Marquise, the FBI special agent (now retired) who led the U.S. side of the Lockerbie investigation. 96/

Video: clip from Lockerbie Revisited

vimeo.com/41131094

During the trial, the actual timer fragment, PT-35(b) was compared to samples from the original batch Mebo produced in an outsourced deal with a company called Thuring—which were supposed to be identical.

So-called experts at the trial testified to this. 97/

However, while preparing al-Megrahi’s second appeal, tests showed that the PT/35(b) fragment was manufactured with a pure tin coating, and the Thuring sample was covered with a standard alloy of tin and lead. 98/

independent.co.uk/news/world/pol…

According to Ludwig De Braeckeleer, who has a PhD in Nuclear Sciences and teaches Physics and International Law and has been studying the Lockerbie case for many years and written numerous articles about it, the fragment used in the trial PT/35(b) was a forgery for 3 reasons: 99/

De Braeckeleer (cont'd): 1. The fragment was pure tin while the MEBO boards had copper tracks covered with a lead-tin alloy and Alan Feraday, the alleged forensic expert had committed perjury at the trial; 100/

De Braeckeleer (cont'd): 2. The resin used as an epoxy by MEBO did not match that on PT/35(b); 101/

De Braeckeleer (cont'd): 3. The board from which PT/35(b) originated had copper (from one of the tracks) that was produced at the earliest in late 1989—after the Lockerbie tragedy. 102/

The fragment was allegedly found embedded in a piece of charred material, but there were differing accounts of where and when it was found and by whom. 103/

However, Thom Thurman, who worked at the FBI from 1977-1998, said in the Maltese film that he identified the circuit board fragment on June 15, 1990. “I knew at that point what it meant because if you will I’m an investigator as well as a forensic examiner.

Photo: Still from doc

Thurman (cont'd): I knew where that would go. At that point, we had no conclusive proof of the type of timing mechanism that was used in the bombing of 103. When the identification was made of the timer, I knew we had it.” 105/

Photo: @AP via @latimes

@AP @latimes But later in 1997, Thurman was outed by an FBI chemist whistleblower, Fred Whitehurst (see clip above), which prompted the inspector general, Michael R. Bromwich, to write a report implicating Thurman in falsifications regarding...106/

...the Oklahoma City bombing case and other high-profile cases during the 1980s and 1990s. 107/

🖼️ Photo: FBI

Thurman was transferred as a result of the report and left the FBI a year later, although he claimed in Lockerbie Revisited that he “retired” of his “own free will.”

He also denied manipulating evidence. 108/

Whistleblower Whitehurst also said in Lockerbie Revisited that Thurman was not a scientist nor an electronics expert. 109/

Whitehurst sued the FBI and won a $1.1 million judgment. As a result, the FBI agreed to 40 reforms to improve the forensic reliability of its testing. 110/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_…

Much of the “evidence” and testimony presented at the trial was later deemed to be unreliable.

At the trial, Mebo’s owner, Edwin Bollier testified that twenty MST-13 timer devices such as the one allegedly found at the crash site in Lockerbie had been sold to Libya. 111/

Another Mebo employee, Ulrich Lumpert, also testified, and identified the fragment.

It was alleged that a Mebo MST-13 timing device was attached to Semtex plastic explosives and inserted inside a Toshiba RT SF 16 “BomBeat” radio. 112/

Mebo employee Lumpert also admitted he lied at the trial, stole a timer and gave it to a Lockerbie investigator.

The fragment he identified was never tested for explosives residue and this was the only physical evidence implicating the Libyans. 113/

theguardian.com/business/2007/…

In the Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie documentary, Bollier asked the FBI if he could see the actual fragment of the timer piece when he spent an week with the FBI in 1990 or 1991, and they told him the Scottish police had it. 111/

Later, Bollier also spent a week with the Scottish police and they would only show him a photograph, not the actual fragment. The FBI told Bollier that three FBI agents had signed statements that the piece had been found in a piece of coat. 112/

Later, Bollier heard that the Scottish police found it in a shirt purchased in Malta. 113/

Bollier, whose company Mebo went bankrupt, told The Guardian he was uneasy with the photograph he had been shown by authorities and asked to see the fragments.

In 1998, he was given permission and traveled to Dumfries to see the evidence. 114/

theguardian.com/business/2007/…

“I was shown fragments of a brown circuit board which matched our prototype. But when the MST-13 went into production, the timers contained green boards. I knew that the timers sold to Libya had green boards. I told the investigators this,” Bollier told The Guardian in 2007. 115/

The Francovich documentary points out documents from “The Stasi,” the secret police agency of East Germany, that show Mebo also sold the same series of timers to people in the Germany Democratic Republic (GDR) or East Germany, including terrorists. 116/

The West Germany intelligence (BfV) observed PFLP-GC members Marwan Khreesat & Hafez Dalkamoni, whom they described as a “known bombmaker” buying batteries, switches and blue in a busy shopping mall in Neuss, then later they bought mechanical and digital clocks. More later. 117/

George Thomson, private investigator for al-Megrahi's legal team, noticed many irregularities in the evidence collected for the trial. 118/

In the Samsonite suitcase that was blown up, there was allegedly a melange of clothing which was alleged to have been purchased at "Mary's House," a clothing shop in Malta, owned by Tony Gauci. 119/

Thomson found that contrary to Gauci's statement where he says the grey Slalom shirt was a size 16 1/2 (or 42), an adult man's size, the shirt in the police photographs is in fact a boy's shirt. 120/

Thomson interviewed the shirt manufacturer and store supplier and both testified that the pocket on the shirt was much smaller (not large enough to fit a pack of cigarettes in, for example) and...121/

Photo: Via @AJEnglish

...the placket (the double layers of fabric that hold the buttons and button holes) was much thinner than an adult male's shirt: an adult male's is 33mm and a boy's shirt is only 25mm wide.

Neither the manufacturer nor the supplier was asked to testify at the trial. 122/

Astonishingly, there was also fragment missing from the shirt in the Scottish police pictures. Thomson compared the Scottish police pictures to the ones assembled by the German police. The German photograph shows a larger fragment. 123/

Photos: @AJEnglish

@AJEnglish Another photo showing the area that the German police photo is different. 124/

Photo: @AJEnglish

@AJEnglish In addition, someone changed the wording on the evidence tag for PI 995 from “cloth (charred)” to “debris (charred).” Thomson said that the judge at the trial did not think this was “sinister” in any way. 125/

However, Thomson also points out that the signature in the middle on the left looks like it was written after the bottom signature.

However, an expert hired by the SCCRC did not agree with this assertion. 126/

In the course of the Lockerbie inquiry, police officers asked 193 witnesses to sign 873 evidence tags after the actual date they were found. Michael Mansfield QC, Barrister of Law noted that there are “too many of those. 127/

Via @AJEnglish

Mansfield (cont'd): It either shows an extraordinary lack of care—in fact, more extraordinary than normal and that shouldn’t be in a case of this gravity. Or—there’s something else going on.” 128/

Via @AJEnglish

@AJEnglish Dr. John Cameron, physicist and former minister Church of Scotland, was asked by Nelson Mandela, who was a lawyer, to write a 4,000 word report on Pan Am 103, focusing on the science. 129/

Dr. Cameron (cont'd): "The report said that the accident investigators had pretty much cracked the case within the first few months. 130/

Dr. Cameron (cont'd): They knew pretty early on that there was a bomb had been placed in the forward luggage hold. They were able to find the remains of a brown Samsonite case in which the bomb was contained. 131/

Dr. Cameron (cont'd): They even found fragments of the Toshiba cassette recorder in which the bomb had been housed." 132/

In 1989, the FBI and the FAA conducted a series of tests to replicate the explosion to see if the vital piece of evidence: the fragment of the Mebo timer, could survive an explosion exactly like the one that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103. 133/

Via @AJEnglish

Forensic scientist Dr. Thomas Hayes testified at the trial and his evidence log book was part of the prosecution's documentation. 134/

Dr. Cameron noticed the irregularities in Dr. Hayes’ log book. Most importantly, Hayes recorded that he had performed these tests in May of 1989. However, most of the records showed that the fragment was found on January 22, 1990. An FBI letter agrees with the January 1990 date.

The German police were also told that the fragment was found January 22, 1990.

How could Hayes test this piece of evidence before it was found? 136/

In addition, Dr. Cameron noticed that Hayes’ evidence log book was altered and page 51 appeared to be added. After page 51, all the subsequent pages are renumbered. Dr. Cameron “This is, from a scientific point of view, highly unsatisfactory. 137/

Dr. Cameron (cont'd): An evidence log is supposed to be an evidence log that’s supposed to go straight through. You can’t go adding pages when he thinks it might be helpful. 138/

Dr. Cameron (cont'd): And this is what Hayes had done.”

Cameron also noted that Hayes hadn’t tested the timer fragment to see if it had explosive residue on it. 139/

In Francovich's film, Vincent Cannistraro was brought onto the case later & named head of the Lockerbie investigation for the CIA. Cannistraro said that Bollier had given 2 circuit boards to the East Germans, but they were brown. 140/

The Mebo circuit boards that went to Libya were green.

Cannistraro was labeled the "Libyan dirty tricks expert" by an alleged CIA operative, but the CIA managed to discredit this witness. 141/

However, Cannistraro worked for Oliver North's National Security Council task force on the Nicaraguan Contras.

"I worked next to Ollie for about two years. And uh...he was a man that would do anything to achieve the objective he was working on. 142/

Cannistraro (cont'd): First, he considered it the most important thing in the world. And secondly, he would use any means: whether that meant lying even to his friends, manipulating people, he would do anything to achieve the goal." 143/

Cannistraro also admitted that North manipulated the press regarding the bombing of Tripoli in April 1986 and "had no compunctions about providing false information." 144/

Bob Woodward reported on October 5, 1986 about "the Reagan administration's plan of deception and disinformation" advocated "a coup or assassination attempt" against Moammar Gaddafi. 145/

Via @washingtonpost 10/5/86, Bob Woodward

In an interview in 2001 for Frontline, Cannistraro claimed that the motive for Libya in the Pan Am 103 case: "In the case of Libya, my own feeling is that when we bombed Tripoli in 1986 as a response to the Libyan bombing of the discothèque in Berlin...

pbs.org/wgbh/pages/fro…

...that provided the motivation for Qaddafi to authorize the sabotage of Pan Am 103 almost two years later, in 1988, and the deaths of some 270 people." 147/

⚰️ Cannistraro died on May 21, 2019. 148/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_C…

⚰️ Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci, who died at age 75 in 2016, was a star witness who testified that he had sold clothing to Al-Magrahi in Malta that matched the clothing found in the suitcase in the Pan Am 103 wreckage.

🖼️ Photo: @AJEnglish

@AJEnglish But private detective Thomson found that Gauci was “clearly coached” in his opinion & noted that he had been invited to all-expense paid trips to Scotland on several occasions, staying in expensive hotels and treated to perks such as a salmon fishing expedition. 150/

@AJEnglish

@AJEnglish Gauci gave 18 statements to the police and his brother, Paul, gave 4 statements. The Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie narrator describes the differing statements from Gauci about the “suspect” who purchased the clothing:

151/

Maltese doc (cont'd): “50 years old, 6 feet, hefty, full hair, had been there before, had been there again, had been there once, had seen him in a bar several months later…the baby clothes and a sheep’s head…no! an entire lamb embroidered…” 152/

Eventually, Gauci identified al-Megrahi from a Sunday Times photograph.

Private detective Thomson noticed many discrepancies in the police reports given by Gauci. 153/

Indeed, in his first statement to Malta police, he lists: trousers, pajamas, an umbrella, baby grow and a woolen cardigan.

No Slalom shirt.

Not a man’s shirt nor a boy’s shirt. 154/

In January 1990, Gauci was questioned again by Scottish police. In this statement, Gauci says, “that time when the man came, I am sure that did not sell him a shirt.”

He repeats the phrase at the end of the statement as well, “That man did not buy any shirts for sure.” 155/

On September 10, 1990, Gauci made another statement to the Lockerbie police. In that statement, Gauci remembered that he did sell shirts to al-Megrahi. 156/

Via @AJEnglish

The typewritten version of the police report omits the word “beige” in describing the Slalom shirt while the handwritten version, kept by the Maltese police, retains the word “beige.” 157/

Via @AJEnglish

@AJEnglish Private detective Thomson also points out that in another statement taken on September 1, 1989, the phrase “He was speaking ‘Libyan to me. He was clearly from Libya.” looks like it was added later in smaller writing and with a darker ink. 158/

Via @AJEnglish

@AJEnglish In addition, Gauci had repeatedly failed to identify Al-Megrahi before the trial and earlier identified other people in photo displays. The sketch made from his description of al-Megrahi was noticeably different from a photograph of al-Megrahi at that age. 159/

And Gauci only selected al-Megrahi after seeing his picture in a magazine and being shown the same picture in court. 160/

The date Gauci allegedly sold the clothing also came into question. The SCCRC report determined that the only day al-Megrahi could have possibly visited the store "Mary's House" in Malta was on December 7, 1988. 161/

However, Gauci's testimony said that he sold al-Megrahi an umbrella and that he used it when he left the store.

Thomson interviewed a meteorologist who asserted that it definitely did not rain on December 7, 1988 in Malta. 162/

In addition, Gauci said that when al-Megrahi had visited the store that the Christmas lights in Malta were not yet on, yet they were started on December 6, 1988, according to the diary of the person in charge of the Christmas lighting in Malta. 163/

Via @AJEnglish

@AJEnglish Gauci also claimed that he encountered al-Megrahi on the day he had a row with his girlfriend which was determined to be in late November 1988 when it was impossible for al-Megrahi to have been at the store. 164/

@AJEnglish And in October 2007, it was reported that Gauci received a $2 million award for testifying against al-Megrahi at the trial. The defense team also believed that he may have received a larger sum from the U.S. authorities. 165/

theguardian.com/uk/2007/oct/03…

In March 1995, the FBI offered a $4 million award for information leading to the bombing suspects.

In addition, the two men were added to its 10 Most Wanted List. 166/

Gauci's testimony was very important to al-Megrahi's conviction.

⚰️ He died October 29, 2016.

167/

Alan/Allen Feraday, a so-called "expert witness" called by the prosecution was also discredited. He was a self-professed forensic expert in electronics who referred to himself as a doctor, but in truth...168/

Feraday (cont'd):...he was not a doctor or a scientist and only had a technician's certificate that was out of date. He had no credentials as a scientist.

In addition, he had also had a history of giving false testimony in other trials which had been successfully appealed. 169/

Hans Koechler, a UN observer, called the trial "a spectacular miscarriage of justice."

170/

Several witnesses that could have helped the defense were not called.

As mentioned above, the manufacturer and the supplier of the Slalom shirt to "Mary's House" were not called to give exculpatory evidence even though they were interviewed. 171/

In Lamin Khalifah Fhimah's trial, judges disallowed testimony from a CIA informant who testified that he saw Fhimah and al-Megrahi carry baggage onto a plane in Malta because it was deemed unreliable.

However, that same witness was allowed to testify in al-Megrahi's trial. 172/

In addition, a unnamed CIA agent later testified to the SRCC board that credible sources in Syria told him that the PFLP-GC had taken credit for the bombing. 173/

A number of CIA documents were shown to the prosecution but were not disclosed to the defense team.

174/

The first suspects in the case were from a militant organization founded by Ahmed Jabril and based in Syria called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—or PFLP-GC. 175/

The PFLP-GC was a splinter group founded in 1968 after separating from the PFLP, known for the Munich Olympic killings, the Dawson's Field hijackings and the Lod airport massacre. 176/

The PFLP-GC had also blown up planes before.

177/

On February 1970, the PFLP-GC used its first barometric triggers (bombs designed to detonate at certain altitudes) to almost simultaneously blow up two planes: a Swiss Air flight, killing 41 people & an Austrian Airlines flight which was able to make an emergency landing. 178/

The PFLP-GC had a cell in Germany. In October 1988, the West German police arrested 16 people believed to have been PFLP-GC members—fourteen of whom were Palestinian—suspected of planning a major terrorist operation. 179/

The police uncovered a small arsenal that included an anti-tank gun, mortars, rifle grenades and five kilos of plastic explosives. 180/

washingtonpost.com/archive/opinio…

The terrorist cell was being surveilled by the West German intelligence (BfV) with the codename Operation Autumn Leaves. In their raids, the police seized an altitude-sensitive bomb, obviously intended to destroy a civilian jetliner. 181/

More importantly, police found a Toshiba radio, similar to the one which was planted on Pan Am 103, which contained explosives in Kalkamoni and Khreesat's car, parked on a side street in Neuss. 182/

It also contained a barometric device designed to trigger a timer—to only work at a certain altitude—clearly calculated for use on an aircraft. 183/

🖼️Pictured in 179: Clockwise from top left—Marwan Khreesat, Hafez Dalkomoni, Abu Talb and Ahmed Jabril.

Earlier, BfV had intercepted a phone call Dalkamoni made, telling a man in Damascus named "Abed" that "everything will be ready in a few days."

Then Khreesat came on the line and said "I've made some changes to the medicine. It's better and stronger than before." 184/

Abed responded "Things are underway." BfV also intercepted information that the men were planning on leaving Germany soon and that a newcomer, Amer Dajani was to arrive from Cyprus. The Germans decided to take action and raided 12 apartments in six German states. 185/

But curiously, Khreesat was released on November 10, 1988, likely because he was found to be linked with Jordanian intelligence and had been assigned to penetrate PFLP-GC. 186/

All via @washingtonpost article posted above

Police had evidence that there were actually five bombs, one was discovered in Neuss in April of 1989—well after the Lockerbie bombing.

They found two radios which were forwarded to bomb experts in Mechenheim. 187/

Discredited FBI expert Thomas Thurman had reportedly been the only FBI investigator to interview Khreesat. 188/

A German bomb-disposal expert was killed and another maimed when one of the bombs exploded. Later, a third bomb was discovered in Neuss inside a television monitor. All three devices had the barometric devices that were meant for aircraft. 189/

In March 1989, British Transportation Minister Paul Channon had a private meeting at the Garrick Club in London with 5 journalists that was supposed to be off the record. Channon told them that the Pan Am 103 case had been solved and that arrests were imminent. 190/

Headlines ensued as more than one of the journalists broke ranks.

Channon denied that he was the source of the story, but a few months later he was fired. 191/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Chan…

🖼️ Photo: Still from Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie documentary

Nelson Mandela held a press conference at the Barlinnie Jail in Glasgow, after visiting al-Megrahi at the prison in June of 2002. 192/

telegraph.co.uk/news/1396819/M…

Mandela noted that a four-judge commission from the Organization of African United criticized the verdict, “They have criticized it fiercely, and it will be a pity if no court reviews the case itself.” 193/

Mandela continued, “From the point of view of fundamental principles of natural law, it would be fair if he is given a chance to appeal either to the Privy Council or the European Court of Human Rights.” 194/

Mandela also called for al-Megrahi to be moved to a Muslim country that was more neutral and noted that he was being harassed by the other prisoners. 195/

Col. Moammar Gadhafi still insisted that al-Magrahi was innocent after the verdicts were announced on January 31, 2001, although the American and British governments were pressing Libya to both accept responsibility for the bombing and to pay compensation. 196/

After the verdict, Robert Mueller, acting U.S. deputy attorney general said: “The investigation continues to determine who else may have been involved in this act of terrorism.” 197/

Francovich’s film was controversial and legal action (one by ex-DEA agent Michael Hurley) stopped its screening at several film festivals. Francovich also asserted that his London offices were tapped and his staff’s cars were sabotaged. 198/

He said five CIA agents had been sent to Europe to discredit his production. He asked, “if we are doing such a bulls**t movie, why are they putting all these resources into trying to stop us?” Press reports of the time did not provide any corroboration of Francovich’s claims.199/

On December 21, 2008, there was a memorial service at the Memorial Cairn at Arlington National Cemetery.

Director Gideon Levy interviewed several of the law enforcement officers who worked on the case. 200/

Via Lockerbie Revisited

Lord Fraser had told Levy previously that the circuit board had never been in the United States. And if it was in the United States, that he would have known.

Thom Thurman also told Levy that PT/35(b) was in the United States at the same memorial service. 201/

Richard Marquise, the FBI special agent who led the U.S. side of the Lockerbie allowed Levy one question on his way out of Arlington cemetery, “There was a circuit board of an MST-13 timer in the United States, but the fragment PT/35(b) was never in the United States. 202/

Photographs of it was [sic] in the United States. The fragment never came United States, but the circuit board was in the United States because we had the MST-13 timer which we turned over to the police in Scotland.” 203/

Standing next to Marquise was Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Henderson, now retired, who reiterated Marquise’s statement, saying PT/35(b) could never be under the United States’ control. “Couldn’t be...204/

Henderson (cont'd):Because it was such an important point of evidence. It wasn’t possible to release it. It had to be contained to be produced at the court. Therefore, you couldn’t afford to have it waived around for everybody to see it because it could have got interfered with.”

After the memorial service, Marquise followed up with an email to Levy correcting his interview. “I just want to clarify one thing—per your question to me re: PT-35. I cannot recall exactly what I said last summer when we spoke, but I recall I told you I would not lie to you. 206

Marquise (cont'd): PT-35 did come to Washington—in the possession of the Scottish police and in the actual position [sic] of Alan Feraday in June 1991. The timer was in Washington but was never in the control or possession of the FBI.” 207/

There were also several U.S. government officials—including some from the State Department—who perished on the plane. 208/

Charles McKee was a “counter terrorism expert”, Matthew Gannon and Ronald LaRiviere who were intelligence officers, Joseph Patrick Curry was a member of special forces who was said to die “in the line of duty” at his memorial,...209/

Cont'd: “but we never found out what that duty was,” according to journalist David Ben-Aryeah, interviewed by Allan Franovich. 210/

Via Maltese documentary

Right before getting on the plane, Gannon traveled from Lebanon to Cyprus via helicopter with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, John McCarthy.

McCarthy was also booked on the Pan Am 103 flight, but did not travel that day. 211/

Although Gannon was booked in first class, his body was found 100 yards from Khalid Jafaar’s body, who was located in seat 53K.

212/

Via Maltese documentary

Jaafar, Khalid Nazir, student, 20 years, born 01.05.68, Dearborn, Michigan, American, seat number 53K

victimsofpanamflight103.org/victims

McKee was originally booked on the Pan Am 103 flight on December 22, 1988, but was changed to December 21.

His itinerary was telexed by ex-DEA Agent Michael Hurley to the CIA Director of Operations in Washington, MI6 and SPAG, a CIA Special Action Group in Germany. 214/

McKee also contacted his mother before the flight—which was unusual—and notified her he was coming home and appeared to be in distress.

McKee reportedly did not like drugs or drug dealers. 215/

Via Maltese documentary

Gannon, Matthew Kevin, foreign service officer, 34 years, born 11.08.54, Los Angeles, California, American, seat number 14J

McKee, Charles Dennis, army major, 40 years, born 03.12.48 , Arlington, Virginia, American, seat number 15F

LaRiviere, Ronald Albert, 33 years, born 19.11.55, Alexandria, Virginia, American, seat number 20H

Curry, Joseph Patrick, army captain, 31 years, born 21.03.57, Fort Devens, Massachusetts, American, seat number 44K

These are only five of the Pan Am 103 aircraft victims.

There are many more and they are all important. 218/

In addition, the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki was warned by a caller of a terrorist plot against a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt. The tip was passed onto the FAA which informed the airline. 219/

Pan Am tightened security in Frankfurt and London and an alert was sent to all embassy security officials, but not the general public. 220/

And the warning was posted in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow—but not all U.S. embassies—resulting in the death of three State Department officials. 221/

Pik Botha, a South African politician and 22 other South African delegates were booked on Pan Am Flight 103, but either changed planes or declined to travel because of a warning that could not be ignored,...222/

Cont'd:...according to Tiny Rowland, a high-profile British businessman interviewed for the Francovich film. 223/

Then President George H.W. Bush agreed that the public should be notified if there “was hard evidence that a specific flight was going to be threatened. 224/

Bush (cont'd): If we have a specific information that a specific flight was going to be specifically targeted, and that information had any credibility to it, then I think widespread notices should be given, and people should well know that they were putting their lives at risk.”

Both Libyan men charged repeatedly said they were innocent. 226/

Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, who was acquitted of the Lockerbie bombing charges said in the The Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie film “Since I was young neither I nor any of my family have been involved in any political or security related matter in Libya. 227/

Fhimah (cont'd): Nor have I ever thought of being involved in anything but my work. I’ve always worked for the airline companies and I hope I’ll continue working for them.” 228/

Via Francovich documentary

al-Megrahi: “I do want a trial but I want it to be fair. Not in a country which is both an accuser and a judge at the same time. A neutral country which can take all the available facts and judge fairly. I am confident about my innocence and the innocence of my country. 229/

al Megrahi (cont'd): I want the truth revealed. I want everybody to know that I am innocent.” 230/

🎞️ Via The Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie

No idea how much longer this link will be active, but if you want to watch this film The Maltese Double Cross—Lockerbie (1994), you should do so as soon as possible. 231/

archive.org/details/The-Ma…

I believe the link for Lockerbie Revisited has already been taken down, unfortunately. But there is a clip above in 96/.

232/

newyorkfestivals.com/winners/2011/p…

I posted this earlier, but this is the link to Lockerbie: the Pan Am bomber by @AJEnglish and they have other films on the same subject. 233/

@AJEnglish End. 234/

@threadreaderapp Please unroll then whole thread!

Thank you so much!

💥 Note: this thread has 234 tweets, no idea how this got separated, but here is 114-234.

At least I hope it is.

https://twitter.com/AliAdair22/status/1230209965530456066?s=20