From: World Perspectives <worldpnews@igc.apc.org>
Subject: Pete Brewton on the S&L scandal
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 01:52:27 GMT

/* Written  6:47 pm  Oct  8, 1992 by worldpnews in cdp:worldp.samples */
/* ---------- "Pete Brewton on the S&L scandal" ---------- */
From WORLD PERSPECTIVES. Box 3074, Madison, WI 53704


USA/ S&L SCANDAL
 The following comes from R. havana:

Investigative reporter Pete Brewton first got involved with
tracking savings and loans when his editors at the Texas-based
Houston Post assigned him to try and figure out why one $100
billion deal at a failed S & L in Houston had gone bad.

As Brewton and other reporters were trying to determine how much
money was involved and how much was lost by the bank, they were
running into an incredible brick wall. Brewton says that other
reporters eventually gave up or went to other stories, but
according to him the important thing in tracking a failed S&L  is
to find out where the money went.

In a recent interview, published in the San Francisco Bay Guardian
newspaper, Brewton explains that when you really start tracking the
money, you find out that people like Charles Keating and other
personalities were just middle men. They get 1-2% of the money, but
the bulk goes to what Brewton calls "the power brokers of this
country."

Brewton eventually became a leading authority on the S&L scandal,
exposing ties between the CIA, organized crime and federally-
insured S&L's. Brewton linked powerful federal officials, leading
Houston businessmen and corporate executives to illegal activities,
organized crime, CIA covert operations and deals carried out under
the guise of national security.

When the Houston Post refused to continue publishing his work,
Brewton left and wrote a book, "The Mafia, the CIA and George
Bush," which will be published soon. One of his discoveries was
that George Bush personally intervened in the federal regulation of
an extremely dirty S&L in Florida, that was doing deals with mafia
people and the CIA. The bank eventually became one of the largest
failures in the country, costing tax payers $700 million.

The bank [Sunrise Savings? - name not clear. Ed] was apparently
making loans to ray Corona, a CIA and mafia-connected banker.
Brewton says that someone who had personal knowledge of Sunrise
operations has testified at the trial of its executive. He said
that George Bush, when he was vice-president, was approached by the
chief executive officer at Sunrise, who complained about federal
regulators cracking down on Sunrise.

Bush told federal regulators to lay off. The bank continued its
dirty dealings, failing later. In 1988, the federal officials
responsible for keeping track of the assets of failed S&L's said
4/5 of all the assets they were dealing with were out of Sunrise
Savings.

Brewton told the Bay Guardian that he first started looking at
Mayland(?) S&L in Houston, where he found mafia and strong CIA
involvement, including a major loan to Adnan Khashoogi at the same
time Khashoogi was funding the first publicized arms-for-hostage
deal to Iran.

There is also significant circumstantial evidence, says Brewton,
that shows James baker was somehow involved in Mayland or the lack
of prosecution of mayland Savings.

Brewton says he personally ran into trouble at the Houston Post
over his investigation, because of the Post attorneys. The lawyers
did not want him to run the stories, particularly those on Houston
power broker Walter Misher(?). According to Brewton, Misher and his
circle of powerful Houston businessmen and politicians are the key
middle men. Misher is also the fourth largest land-owner in Texas,
and with some partners owner of 12% of the nation of Belize. He has
extensive mafia and CIA dealings. The Post didn't run the Misher
story because its lawyers told it not to.

"Lawyers have entirely different ways of thinking about things,"
says Brewton, "entirely different motives and ends than journalists
do. Our function is to get information out to the public, lawyers
handle disputes."

Brewton goes on: "Our society has not delegated editing functions
to lawyers, but it has now come to that." (Reported by Sissy Jones
10/5)

===================================================================

      OTHER NEWS ON THE SUBSCRIBERS-ONLY WORLDP.NEWS TODAY:

Latin American children and hunger; Fighting continues in Cambodia.

                         SUBSCRIBE!
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive