Hogan & Hartson: What Does Vinnie Cohen Know And When Did He Know It?

June 25, 1997
3801 Connecticut Avenue, NW
#136
Washington, DC 20008-4530

Vincent Cohen, Esq.
Hogan & Hartson
555 13th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004-1109

RE: Weapons Possession - Intent to Inflict Grievous Bodily Harm/Possible Intent to Commit Murder - D.C. Corporation Counsel Affirmation - Possible Concealment of State and/or Federal Weapons Law Violations

Dear Mr. Cohen:

During the period March 1988 to October 1991 I was employed as a legal assistant at the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld ("Akin Gump"). Attorney managers at Akin Gump terminated my employment effective October 29, 1991 upon determining, in consultation with a psychiatrist, that a complaint of harassment I had lodged against several co-workers was attributable to a psychiatric symptom ("ideas of reference") prominent in the psychotic disorders and typically associated with a risk of violent behavior. See Freedman v. D.C. Dept. of Human Rights, D.C. Superior Court no. MPA 95-14 (final order issued June 10, 1996). In the period immediately after my job termination senior Akin Gump managers determined that it was advisable to secure the office of my direct supervisor against a possible homicidal assault, which it was feared I might commit.

In pleadings filed in the District of Columbia Superior Court, the District of Columbia Office of Corporation Counsel (Charles F.C. Ruff, Esq.) affirmed that Akin Gump personnel had geniune concerns that I might have had plans to procure firearms for an unlawful purpose and possessed the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm or commit murder. Mr. Ruff currently serves as chief White House Counsel to President Clinton (telephone no. 202 456 1414).

During the period September 1985 until late February 1988 I worked at Hogan & Hartson in the capacity of an agency-supplied temporary employee, assigned to the Computer Applications Department supervised by Sheryl Ferguson. During the period 1986 to late summer 1987 Laura Mayo served as secretary to the Computer Applications Department under Sheryl Ferguson and, later, under Miriam Chilton and the department's data base administrator, Esperanza ("Espe") Rebollar. 1/ As you know Laura Mayo had been employed as your secretary for a number of years prior to her transfer to the Computer Applications Department.

I have been under investigation by the U.S. Secret Service as a potential security risk to President Clinton, and was interrogated at the Washington Field Office by Special Agent Philip C. Leadroot (202 435-5100) as recently as February 1996, about 16 months ago. Questioning by Mr. Leadroot centered on the issue of presidential assassination.

I request that, if it is at all feasible, you counsel Laura Mayo to disclose to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (David M. Bowie, Supervisory Special Agent, Washington Field Office, 202 252 7801) the content of any communications she may have had with any Akin Gump attorneys regarding me, or any rumor or innuendo of which she may have come to be apprised via any source concerning me. Attorneys who may have directed inquiries to Mrs. Mayo include Earl L. Segal, Malcolm Lassman, or Laurence J. Hoffman (managing partner), among others.

Enclosed are some additional documents that provide background to the matters discussed in this letter.

Be advised: President Clinton's own lawyer, chief White House Counsel Charles F.C. Ruff, is talking real guns, real bullets, real brain tissue.

Sincerely,

Gary Freedman
______________________________
1/ In about June 1987 Laura Mayo showed me a draft version of a letter addressed to Hogan's then legal assistant administrator, Freddie Rios, that detailed alleged incompetencies of Esperanza Rebollar, including an alleged chemical (alcohol) dependency that interfered with Rebollar's work performance. I do not know whether Mrs. Mayo subsequently delivered the letter to Freddie Rios.