1997 Congressional Hearings
Intelligence and Security
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 17, 1997
Witness: Sheila Heslin
- Former National Security Council official Sheila Heslin met with businessman Roger Tamraz on June 2, 1995 to discuss his proposal to build an oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea
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- At the meeting, Heslin outlined US policy and questioned whether Tamraz was seeking exclusive rights over pipeline routes because such arrangements earlier had destabilized governments in the region
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- Heslin told Tamraz that the Administration could not endorse his seeking rights over the pipeline route
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- Information derived from checks made at Heslin's request revealed that Tamraz's representations were not correct
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- Heslin was thereafter contacted by Bob *** of the CIA, whom Heslin knew from earlier interactions
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- Bob *** of the CIA indicated that his boss had asked him to reiterate Tamraz's history to Heslin, who found it strange that Bob *** knew of the substance of Heslin's discussion with Tamraz
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- Heslin later received reports that Tamraz was representing that the White House supported his pipeline proposal
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- Heslin recommended to the Vice President's staff that the Vice President not meet with Tamraz
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- Despite her recommendation, Tamraz attended an October 1995 fundraiser and sat at the Vice President's table
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- Heslin later learned that in September 1995 a presidential aide had kept Tamraz on a list so he would be invited to meet with the President
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- On October 5, 1995, Bob *** of the CIA called Heslin to lobby on behalf of Tamraz's proposal, and the call worried Heslin who feared that the pipeline would go through
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- Heslin did not know that DNC Co-chairman Don Fowler had called Bob *** at the CIA prior to Bob's call to her
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- In December 1995, Fowler called Heslin and left message
- When Fowler and Heslin ultimately spoke, he told her that Bob *** of the CIA would send her a report on Tamraz so she would have no further concerns about Tamraz or his proposal
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- Heslin was shocked by Fowler's call, as was senior NSC official Nancy Soderberg, because political influence was being brought to bear on a sensitive foreign policy matter
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- Heslin was opposed to allowing Tamraz to having any meetings at the White House
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- The CIA later supplied Heslin with a copy of a report about Tamraz that Heslin did not request and that she found she did not need
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- Heslin also received a call from Energy Department official Jack Carter, who informed her that Tamraz had already contributed $200,000 to the DNC and would contribute an additional $400,000 if he could meet with the President
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- Carter requested that Heslin drop her opposition to a meeting between Tamraz and President Clinton
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- Carter indicated that he made the call to Heslin at the behest of senior White House aide Mac McLarty, President Clinton's first chief of staff
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- Carter told Heslin that there would be negative career repercussions for her if McLarty became the Secretary of Energy unless she cooperated
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- McLarty sent the President a note indicating that he was pursuing the Tamraz matter
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- Heslin took steps to have the White House staff keep Tamraz from attending White House social events
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- Despite her warnings against Tamraz's attendance at White House events, Tamraz was subsequently invited to attend four events at the White House, which he did in fact attend
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- Heslin does not know how Tamraz managed to get invited to these four White House events over the NSC's objections
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- Tamraz tried to obtain a meeting with Ruth Harkin, President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a government agency, and claimed that Heslin had recommended the meeting
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- OPIC official Dan Riordan contacted Heslin and indicated that Harkin was getting significant political pressure to meet with Tamraz, but Heslin urged Riordan not to allow Harkin to meet with him
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