The
crash of the Challenger 600 in New Jersey on Feb 2 2005 has exposed
a criminal organization which
was engaged in drug trafficking nine years ago in close proximity to Mohamed
Atta's terrorist hijackers, and which continues to operate today.
The Challenger, which
overran the runway during takeoff from Teterboro Airport and ploughed across a
six-lane highway before diving nose-first into a warehouse, was owned by
Platinum Jet Management, and run by former
Guyanese military pilot Michael Brassington.
Brassington had also
been the co-pilot nine years ago on the Lear jet belonging to 75-year old Wally
Hilliard, owner of Huffman Aviation, seized by federal agents at Orlando
Executive Airport carrying 43 lbs. of heroin.
On July 3, 2000,
hijackers Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi began flying lessons at Huffman Aviation.
Less than three weeks
later, on July 25, Brassington co-piloted Huffman
owner Wally Hilliard's Lear jet as it was busted with 43 lbs. of heroin.
The vast majority of
the world's heroin comes from Afghanistan.
So did Mohamed Atta
and Marwan al-Shehhi, according to early interviews with Rudi Dekkers.
Demands from "The Man Behind Loophole Air"
Fort
Lauderdale attorney Michael Moulis, described in an article in this space
yesterday as “The Man behind Loophole Air,” is
threatening to sue your present correspondent, Daniel Hopsicker on behalf of
Michael Brassington, the pilot arrested two weeks ago in a 23-count federal
indictment for the crash of a corporate jet in New Jersey.
Brassington is also linked to a massive corruption scandal roiling South
Florida, over the sale during the past few years of as many as one hundred
American-registered planes to Mexico’s dominant Sinaloa Cartel.
According to a high-ranking DEA official in Miami, a corrupt U.S. Customs
operation is to blame.
The fact that more
people are not aware of these facts owes something to the many forms of
intimidation practiced against independent journalists. Such intimidation takes
many forms.
Some would say
lawsuits, and threats of lawsuits, are one of its milder manifestations. Such
people probably haven't been sued for libel recently.
But attorney Michael Moulis didn’t stop with just offering to sue for libel...
He
threatened criminal prosecution in Federal Court.
"Slap the chains on him. He's a writer."
“Fraudulent representation/ Libel/ Defamati0n/ Cease and Desist/ Our client
Michael Brassington.
“We hereby demand that Mr. Daniel Hopsicker
desist in any further defamation of our client. We are aware of several
specific blatant fraudulent misrepresentations including, but not limited
to:
False representations concerning our client’s
involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the world Trade Center in New
York.
Statements that our client is a known CIA
agent.
Statements that our client has a current
financial relationship with Wally Hilliard.
Statements that my client operates with a wink
and a nod from corrupt Government officials.”
How or why you assert any of the above is
beyond comprehension.
Moreover, the general nature of your articles
can be described as, at best, sporadically professional, somewhat dimwitted,
and completely imagined nonsense.”
An attorney with a vivid imagination.
Moulis neglects to cite where he wishes to allege we stated that his client "was
a CIA agent, or “was involved in the terrorist attack on the World
Trade Center"
The reason is simple: He can't. We never did. Several of his other 'points" are
made up as well.
But we did—and do!—assert that Brassington had, and may still
have, a financial arrangement with Wally Hilliard.
And we did—and do!—assert that Michael Francis Brassington
operated with a wink and a nod from corrupt Government officials.
Wally Hilliard & the "Alfonso Bowe Smuggling
Group"
"Brassington flew in while I was working at the General Aviation Facility in Ft.
Lauderdale,” former Customs Agent James Sanders told us. “The charter company
Brassington was flying for is controlled by a family suspected of running an
organized drug ring.”
“And without a doubt he had some kind of financial relationship with Wally
Hilliard. I was given a manifest for his flight labeled “Executive Flight
Support,” which was owned by Wally Hilliard, and managed by Alfonso Bowe.
“According to the terminology used in our Customs computer systems, Bowe heads
up a criminal organization the computer labeled “The Alfonso Bowe
Smuggling Group.”
In
fact, an unusual relationship between Brassington and certain U.S. officials is
openly hinted at a key Government document in the case.
In
the NTSB decision affirming an emergency order of revocation of his pilot’s
license, NTSB administrator Debbie Hersman found Brassington's punishment by the
FAA to be so remarkably light that she voiced her suspicions:
“My expectation of the Administrator in pursuing egregious safety violations of
this nature is that she would pursue every violation demonstrated by the
evidence. (Yet) for reasons not explained in the record, (italics ours) the
Administrator chose to allege a violation of the safety check requirement for
only the flight on January 2, 2005.”
"A formal request for your head."
Fort Lauderdale attorney Moulis saved his best thuggish threat for last…
“Because you made assertions concerning illegal
activities of the United States Government, we are considering filing a
formal request to the U.S. Justice Department to open an investigation
concerning the matter.”
“If you continue your bizarre assertions to the
Justice department, you will no longer be liable for civil defamation, your
liability will likely rise to the level that would sanction criminal
obstruction of justice charges against you personally.”
Be advised that if you do not retract the
libelous statements against my client within five days, we will have no
alternative but to file suit in Federal court in the Southern District of
Florida.”
We refuse his offer
to retract.
Being sued is always
a daunting prospect. But we believe in a better future, and refuse to be cowed.
There are very real
costs involved in what we are attempting to do, which is nothing less than to
help bring real journalism back to the United States of America.
And although its
usually also a back-handed compliment, as well as a sure sign of deepening
scandal, the threat of being sued (again) has clearly affected our reporting of
this story, in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
If
you’ve read this far—and support what we’re doing—I urge you to make a
significant donation today.
Without a sizeable infusion of money and professional assistance, we may not be
able to continue to hold out against continuing attempts to silence honest
inquiry.
A
sincere thanks for your support and encouragement.