In an article published by Human Events [“Kappes Clearly Wrong Man to Put at CIA,” by Kenneth R. Timmerman, June 5, 2006], which I just read, I am falsely accused in print of having identified by name a source being used by Congressman Curt Weldon [R.-Pa.]. I categorically deny having revealed the identity of that person to the press, even though the person was and remains a fraud and a fabricator. Mr. Weldon has accused me of this on several occasions both verbally during various radio and television appearances and in various interviews he has given. It is not true.
I do not know why Mr. Weldon makes this statement just as I do not know why he insists that Mr. Kappes intended to travel to Paris with him—something that Mr. Kappes never said and never intended to do.
Finally, Mr. Weldon met his “source” publicly in hotels in Paris, offered to obtain a hotel stenographer to take notes of their conversation and then wrote letters to several different agencies in Washington providing the full name and identifying data on his source. The source was not a “composite,” as is now being claimed, and Mr. Weldon took no steps to protect the identity of that person. In fact, the “source” was encouraged to send faxes on a regular basis (and may still send them) to Mr. Weldon and another prominent but private individual in Washington, D.C. If they (Mr. Weldon, his associate Mr. Peter Pry and the other individual noted above) were worried about the source, then they should not have encouraged him to use overt faxes as a way to communicate. I did not and would never have exposed a real source to any danger.
If this source or his boss—one Manucher Ghorbanifar—had any real fears from the Iranians, they would not be running high profile public attempts to influence the U.S. government over the past 20-plus years. Both men—Ghorbanifar and the “source”—have been living in France since at least 1981.
I do not know what constitutes a “public person” or whether I now qualify for that attribute, but I do not like the fact that you have accused me in print of dereliction of my responsibilities and of risking the security of this person. I believe that as responsible media you should at least have made some attempt to contact me and seek a statement before printing my name.
—William D. Murray
Herndon, Va.
