Arkansas Committee
Encyclopedia
The Arkansas Committee was a political registered student organization at the University of Arkansas
at Fayetteville, Arkansas
, United States, from 1989 to 1992. The organization particularly investigated allegations of corruption in government such as the Iran-Contra scandal.
The records of the Arkansas Committee primarily consist of photocopies members made of public documents such as court records and depositions, along with newspaper and magazine clippings. Sound cassette interviews with various parties and video cassette tapes of Committee hearings and productions are also included.
In 1992, the Committee charged that former Governor Bill Clinton
did little to investigate the possibility that the Mena Airport
was used as part of a gun and drug smuggling operation in the mid 1980s. The Committee sought documentation that would support claims that the state of Arkansas was involved with money laundering
on a massive scale may have found the missing link in their three year search.
The Committee initiated an investigation by the United States House of Representatives
, headed at that time by James Leach of Iowa
. In 1995 James Leach
announced to the media that his subcommittee on banking services in the U.S. would carry out an investigation of charges that Mena, Arkansas
was used a base of illegal arms and drug smuggling for the benefit of the Contra
insurgency
in Nicaragua
, also known as Contras. The principal character in this story was Barry Seal
, convicted drug smuggler and informant of the U.S. Government. The report of the investigation was never made public by the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services. The Arkansas Committee is the source of the investigation and the former president of the Committee is the only person who was ever told by the author of the report of what is contained in the report that was written by the chief investigator but not released to the public.
Reference to the Arkansas Committee and/or Mark Swaney has been published in at least five books with regard to unexplained, unanswered questions regarding the activities in Arkansas from 1982 to 1986.
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
at Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
, United States, from 1989 to 1992. The organization particularly investigated allegations of corruption in government such as the Iran-Contra scandal.
The records of the Arkansas Committee primarily consist of photocopies members made of public documents such as court records and depositions, along with newspaper and magazine clippings. Sound cassette interviews with various parties and video cassette tapes of Committee hearings and productions are also included.
In 1992, the Committee charged that former Governor Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
did little to investigate the possibility that the Mena Airport
was used as part of a gun and drug smuggling operation in the mid 1980s. The Committee sought documentation that would support claims that the state of Arkansas was involved with money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
on a massive scale may have found the missing link in their three year search.
The Committee initiated an investigation by the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, headed at that time by James Leach of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. In 1995 James Leach
Jim Leach
James Albert Smith "Jim" Leach is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa. In August 2009, he became Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities ....
announced to the media that his subcommittee on banking services in the U.S. would carry out an investigation of charges that Mena, Arkansas
Mena, Arkansas
Mena is a city in Polk County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Polk County.It was founded by Arthur Edward Stilwell during the building of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad . It was Stilwell who decided Mena would be the name of this new town along the route to...
was used a base of illegal arms and drug smuggling for the benefit of the Contra
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
insurgency
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, also known as Contras. The principal character in this story was Barry Seal
Barry Seal
Adler Berriman Seal , better known as Barry Seal, was a United States drug smuggler and aircraft pilot who flew covert flights for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Medellín Cartel.-Early life:...
, convicted drug smuggler and informant of the U.S. Government. The report of the investigation was never made public by the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services. The Arkansas Committee is the source of the investigation and the former president of the Committee is the only person who was ever told by the author of the report of what is contained in the report that was written by the chief investigator but not released to the public.
Reference to the Arkansas Committee and/or Mark Swaney has been published in at least five books with regard to unexplained, unanswered questions regarding the activities in Arkansas from 1982 to 1986.