"Walter Raymond is a member of the National Security Council staff. In the past he has worked for Defense, CIA and State. It is true that in the formative stages of the effort, Walt Raymond contributed many useful ideas. It is ironic that he was one of those who was most insistent that there be no CIA involvement in this program in any way."Indeed, it is a credit to the Agency that it has stressed throughout that the United States ought to be completely open about the programs it puts in place to assist in the development of democratic institutions and that none of these programs should come under the aegis of the CIA. They do not want to be involved in managing these programs and will not be. We have nothing to hide here."
If a reporter pressed regarding where Raymond last worked, the response was to be: "He retired from CIA. He is a permanent member of the National Security Council." And, if pressed about Raymond's duties, the scripted answer was: "His duties there are classified." (Raymond's last job at the CIA was Director of the Covert Action Staff with a specialty in propaganda and disinformation.)
Beyond how Raymond's "classified duties" contradict the assertion that "we have nothing to hide here," there was a more deceptive element of the press guidance: it didn't mention the key role of CIA Director Casey in both organizing and directing the project -- and it suggested that Raymond's role had been limited to offering "many useful ideas" when he was the hands-on, day-to-day manager of the operation.
Casey's Hidden Hand
Casey's secret role in the propaganda scheme continued well into 1986, as Raymond continued to send progress reports to his old boss, even as Raymond fretted in one memo about the need "to get [Casey] out of the loop."
The "public diplomacy" operation was "the kind of thing which [Casey] had a broad catholic interest in," Raymond shrugged during his Iran-Contra deposition. He then offered the excuse that Casey undertook this apparently illegal interference in domestic politics "not so much in his CIA hat, but in his adviser to the president hat."
Though the Casey-Raymond teamwork ended with the exposure of the Iran-Contra scandal in late 1986 and with Casey's death on May 6, 1987, its legacy continued with Scaife and other rich right-wingers funding ideological media that protected the flanks of President Reagan, his successor President George H.W. Bush and other Republicans of that era.
For instance, Scaife helped fund the work of Steven Emerson, who played a key role in "discrediting" investigations into whether Reagan's 1980 campaign had sabotaged President Jimmy Carter's hostage negotiations with Iran to gain an edge in that pivotal election. [See Consortiumnews.com's "Unmasking October Surprise Debunker."]
Scaife also helped finance the so-called "Arkansas Project" that pushed hyped and bogus scandals to damage the presidency of Bill Clinton. [See Consortiumnews.com's "Starr-gate: Cracks on the Right."]
Walter Raymond Jr. died on April 16, 2003. Richard Mellon Scaife died on July 4, 2014. But Rupert Murdoch, now 83, remains one of the most powerful media figures on earth, continuing to wield unparalleled influence through his control of Fox News and his vast media empire that stretches around the globe.
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