In 1991, Peggy Adler, author of Trilogy: Three True Stories of Scoundrels and Schemers, was retained by self-proclaimed CIA agent, arms dealer and money launderer, Richard Brenneke, to co-author his autobiography. She soon discovered evidence in his files contradicting claims regarding his presence at October Surprise conspiracy meetings and went on to out Brenneke as a con artist in a February 1992 article in the Village Voice. Adler then researched a series of additional articles for the “Voice,” which went on to prove that the so-called “October Surprise” was a hoax.
In mid-1992, upon learning that the United States House of Representatives had created a Task Force to Investigate Certain Allegations Concerning the Holding of American Hostages by Iran in 1980, which would be investigating whether or not there actually had been an “October Surprise,” she turned over to them the seventy cartons of documents she’d hauled east from Brenneke’s home in Portland, Oregon, in order to write his memoirs. Subsequently, she worked as a consultant to the Task Force and assisted in drafting and editing the Brenneke section of their final report.
Chapter one of this book recounts the Brenneke story, from 1973 forward, including her own odyssey with this scoundrel. Chapter two reveals how Oliver North and Richard Secord’s Iran-Contra pal, Albert Hakim, was well aware that it was possible to get money out of a Swiss bank account without ever being a signatory—for he’d facilitated just that, years before. And Chapter three traces Roger Ailes’ relationship to the Willie Horton commercial that helped sink George Dukakis’ hope for the presidency. Additionally, the book is laden with all the necessary documentation to back up what Adler has written.
