Ben-Menashe claims to have seen George Bush enter a Paris hotel room in October 1980 for a secret meeting with representatives of the Iranian government-an allegation which, if true, would constitute prima facie evidence that the Reagan-Bush presidential campaign conspired to prevent the release of 52 U.S. hostages until after the 1980 election.
As usual, Ben-Menashe paints a vivid, detailed picture of secret dealings at the highest levels. But his account of this alleged event is marred by inconsistencies, and it is flatly contradicted by the U.S. Secret Service's contemporaneous logs of candidate Bush's whereabouts on the days in question. As Ben-Menashe tells it, he was a member of a secret Israeli advance team that, in conjunction with the French government, arranged a crucial meeting between Bush and the Iranians. He says he and others on the Israeli team stayed at the Paris Hilton, and that they passed the time before the meeting by chumming around Paris with various members of the Iranian delegation.
About 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19, or Monday, Oct. 20, Ben-Menashe says, the Ayatollah Mehdi Karrubi and his bodyguards appeared at a room on an upper floor of the Hotel Ritz where the Israelis and French were waiting. Two minutes later, he claims, George Bush and William Casey arrived at the same room. Their meeting, behind closed doors, lasted about 90 minutes, he says, and Ben-Menashe said he was told that it established a tacit understanding between the Iranians and the Reagan-Bush campaign. The terms, he says, were that the United States would provide money and arms to Iran if the hostage release was delayed until after Reagan won the 1980 election and took office.
At best, Ben-Menashe's story is flawed. For one thing, Segev says Ben-Menashe repeatedly and emphatically said that Bush and Casey met the Iranians at the Hotel George V, not the Ritz. Ben-Menashe also insisted to NEWSWEEK that he was sure about the dates-Oct. 19 and 20-because the meeting took place the day before the Jewish festival of Sukkot. But Sukkot is a movable feast-and in 1980, it fell on Sept. 25, almost a month before Ben-Menashe says he saw Bush in Paris.
Then there is the evidence provided by Secret Service logs. As a candidate for vice president, George Bush in October 1980 was subject to unrelenting Secret Service protection: there were no deviations and no exceptions. The Secret Service's records show that Bush returned to Washington at 9:25 p.m. on Oct. 18 after a campaign swing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On Oct. 19, the same logs show, he went to the Chevy Chase country club during the day and gave a speech before the Zionist Organization of America at the Capital Hilton that same night. He left the Hilton at 9:35 p.m. and was driven to his home. The next day, Oct. 20, candidate Bush was back on the campaign trail in New Haven, Conn. If the Secret Service records are accurate, it was impossible for Bush to have been in Paris on either day.
Viktor Chebrikov is a well-known figure in the world of international espionage--the former head, now retired, of the KGB. Ben-Menashe says he and Chebrikov were old adversaries in Iran, and that Chebrikov had agreed to write a foreword for a book Ben-Menashe plans to write about the international-arms trade. Contacted by NEWSWEEK, Chebrikov said he is "not writing anything" and had never heard of Ben-Menashe
