Clair George

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Clair E. George (born 1930–) was a former U.S. government official who served as Deputy Director for Operations in the Central Intelligence Agency under Robert Gates during the Reagan Administration. George was convicted of lying to two congressional committees that were investigating the Iran-Contra Affair.

[edit] Iran-Contra Affair

On September 6, 1991, George, who was previously third in command at the CIA and in charge of the agency's global covert operations, was indicted on ten counts of perjury, false statements and obstruction in connection with investigations of the Iran-Contra Affair that were being conducted by the Congress, and by a Grand Jury.

George's trial on nine counts ended in a mistrial on August 26, 1992. Following a second trial on seven counts, George was found guilty December 9, 1992 of two felony charges of false statements and perjury before Congress.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth set George's sentencing for February 18, 1993. The maximum penalty George faced for each count was five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, but on December 24, 1992, he was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush, before sentencing occurred.

[edit] Ringling Brothers

Clair George has testified in court that he worked as a consultant in the early 1990s for Kenneth Feld and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus where he was involved in the surveillance of Jan Pottker (a journalist who was writing about the Feld family) and of various animal rights groups such as PETA.^[1]