Citizens for America

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Citizens for America is a U.S. conservative grass-roots group founded by drugstore magnate Lewis E. Lehrman. While it was run in the 1980s by Jack Abramoff, it assisted Oliver North in garnering support for the Nicaraguan Contras. Citizens for America staged an unprecedented meeting of anti-Communist rebel leaders called the "Democratic International", including Nicaraguan, Laotian, Angolan and Afghan (Mujahideen) rebels in 1985 in Jamba, Angola. Future U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher aided in delivering an invitation to the Contras. The meeting was held in the UNITA headquarters of Angolan rebel Jonas Savimbi. The guerrilla leaders were presented with a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, and a letter from President Ronald Reagan supporting Citizens for America was read, although the Reagan administration refused to officially support all of the guerrilla groups. Afterward, Lehrman fired Abramoff amid a dispute about the handling of the group's $3 million budget. Grover Norquist also served as a national field director for CFA for several months in 1985 before also being fired by Lehrman.