The publication is reproduced in full below:
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING DANIEL KANDALAFT
______
HON. MICHAEL F. DOYLE
of pennsylvania
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I seek to correct an injustice to Mr. Daniel Kandalaft, a Lebanese citizen with three American children. At a hearing examining Hezbollah's financial network before the Committee on Foreign Affairs on June 8, 2017, a private citizen provided a prepared statement--now printed in the Hearing Record--that identifies certain individuals as arrested in France for financing terrorism under Operation Cedar, a January 2016 coordinated, multinational law enforcement action undertaken by authorities in France and other European countries. U.S. law enforcement, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), assisted French authorities.
The statement entered into the Hearing Record incorrectly includes Mr. Kandalaft as having been arrested in France. A detailed examination of the complete and official French Operation Cedar case file reveals that Mr. Kandalaft was not investigated, charged, or even asked to serve as a witness. Indeed, there is no mention of Daniel Kandalaft in the law enforcement investigative reports or court filings for Operation Cedar in France. The DEA, having no authority in France, could not (and had no reason to) arrest Daniel Kandalaft and confirmed that it ``does not have authority to perform arrests or detainments'' in France.
It is incumbent upon this great institution, the U.S. House of Representatives, to correct the false statement in a Congressional hearing from so many years ago which has unfairly and unjustly tarnished Mr. Kandalaft's good name and reputation.
I include in the Record the sworn affidavit of William Julie--a licensed attorney at law in France (avocat a la cour) who has reviewed the entire Operation Cedar case file (registered in France under prosecution number 15037000675), and who obtained authorization from French authorities to release information contained in the case file--
as part of my statement and insertion in the Congressional Record. Names other than Mr. Kandalaft and the affiant (Mr. Julie)--including any agent of the DEA or Hezbollah--are redacted from the below Affidavit for privacy reasons (and marked as ``[REDACTED]''), as are the exhibits to the Affidavit and any internal references to same
(which are simply deleted).
Affidavit of William Julie
I, William Julie, subscribe and swear as follows:
1. I am a dual national and hold passports issued by both France and the United Kingdom.
2. I am bilingual and speak fluent French and English.
3. I am a resident of Paris, France.
4. I am a duly licensed attorney at law in France (avocat a la cour), and I have held this position since being admitted to the Paris Bar in 2000. I established my own law offices in 2002.
5. I earned my undergraduate degree in international law
(BA), my masters (MA) in public law, and my doctoral certification (Doctorat d'Etudes Approfondies) in European criminal justice policy from the University of Paris-Sorbonne
(Paris I), where my studies focused on criminal law and criminology.
6. Among other things, I am a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), the Criminal Lawyers Association
(ADAP), the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA), the Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum (DELF), the FrancoBritish Lawyers Society (FBLS), and serve as Chair of the Criminal Commission of the Corporate Firm Lawyers Association (ACE).
7. This affidavit sets forth my views on whether Daniel KANDALAFT was arrested in France as part of Operation Cedar.
8. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated in this affidavit, and if called as a witness, I could and would testify competently thereto.
9. On September 5, 2016, I was retained by [REDACTED], who was arrested during Operation Cedar, as his defense attorney.
10. I represented [REDACTED] as his defense counsel from my appointment during the investigation stage in September 2016 through trial and ultimately the rendering of judgement by the Paris correctional court on November 28, 2018. In this role, I was provided and remain in possession of a complete copy of the case file, as required by French law, which is registered under the prosecution number 15037000675. In preparing this affidavit, I reviewed the case file in its entirety and obtained authorization from the French prosecutor to release the information from the case file that is included here in the Exhibits.
11. Operation Cedar was a coordinated, multinational law enforcement action in January 2016 undertaken by authorities in France and other European countries targeting criminal operations in Europe related to the organization known as Hezbollah (also known as--or ``aka''--Hizballah). United States law enforcement, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), assisted French authorities in executing Operation Cedar.
12. On January 24, 2016, following telephone interceptions revealing the planned arrival in France of Operation Cedar targets [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], French police confirmed the targets were on the passenger list for flight ME 205 from Beirut to Paris, which was scheduled to land that day at Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris. After the arrival of the flight, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] were arrested
(``interpelle''), placed in custody (``en garde a vue'') and questioned by French authorities. The French police officers were assisted by DEA agent [REDACTED]. The minutes of their arrest do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
13. On January 24, 2016, French police officers instituted a surveillance operation against [REDACTED]. He was in Paris, located at the Hotel Prince de Galles, arrested, placed in custody, and subsequently questioned. At the time of his arrest, he was sitting with [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. French police asked for the identification documents
(``controle d'identite'') of these two individuals but did not arrest or question them (beyond a simple identification control, such as confirming their profession), and both were permitted to stay at the hotel. The minutes of [REDACTED]'s arrest do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
14. On January 24, 2016, French police officers instituted a surveillance operation against [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] was in Paris, located at the Hotel Prince de Galles, arrested, placed in custody, and subsequently questioned. The minutes of his arrest do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
15. On January 24, 2016, French police officers instituted a surveillance operation against [REDACTED]. He was in Paris, located at his home, arrested, placed in custody, and subsequently questioned. The minutes of his arrest do not mention the presence or arrest of Daniel KANDALAFT.
16. On January 25, 2016, French police officers instituted a search of the home of [REDACTED]. At the request of the French police officers, he appeared voluntarily at a police station and submitted himself for questioning (``audition libre''). He was not arrested. The minutes of his interview do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
17. On January 28, 2016, after four days in custody,
[REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and
[REDACTED] were brought before the investigating magistrate
(a judge). The minutes of the examination by the investigating magistrate do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
18. On January 20, 2016, the French investigating magistrate issued an international arrest warrant against
[REDACTED]. On January 22, 2016, the French public prosecutor issued an European arrest warrant against him. On May 15, 2016, he was arrested in Belgium and jailed until April 1, 2016, when he was surrendered to France. On April 1, 2016, following his transfer from authorities in Belgium at the Hensies/Saint-Aybert border, French police officers arrested
[REDACTED], placed him in custody, and brought him before the judge of liberties and detention, who ordered his detention until his first appearance before the investigating magistrate. On April 4, 2016, he was brought before the investigating magistrate and interrogated. The same day-- April 4, 2016--the judge of liberties and detention placed him under French judicial supervision and control (``sous controle judiciaire'') and imposed, among other obligations, a requirement not to leave French territory without prior authorization from the investigating magistrate, to surrender his passport to the Tribunal, and to visit a police station in Paris weekly. On May 25, 2016, the investigating magistrate issued an order authorizing the return of
[REDACTED]'s passport and granting permission to live in Belgium, subject to continued weekly visits to a police station in Paris. The investigating magistrate interrogated
[REDACTED] on May 3, 2016, and again on December 14, 2016. On December 23, 2016, the investigating magistrate ended French judicial supervision over [REDACTED]. On January 10, 2018, the French investigating magistrate issued an order confirming the charges against [REDACTED] and referring him to the Paris correctional court for trial. With his legal' counsel, he appeared voluntarily in Paris and attended the judicial hearings between November 13 and 23 in 2018. The minutes of the examination by the investigating magistrate and other relevant portions of the case file do not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
19. On January 10, 2018, following investigations by the French police, including Operation Cedar, the investigating magistrate issued an order confirming the charges against fifteen (15) individuals and referring them to the Paris correctional court for trial. 11 ( eleven) of those had appeared before the investigating magistrate and been placed under judicial examination (``mis en examen'') (namely,
[REDACTED] (born in [REDACTED]}, [REDACTED], [REDACTED],
[REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED],
[REDACTED], and [REDACTED]), while four (4) remained at-large and so for whom arrest warrants were issued (namely,
[REDACTED] aka [REDACTED] (born in [REDACTED]), [REDACTED],
[REDACTED] aka [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]). The investigating magistrate's order does not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
20. On November 28, 2018, the Paris correctional court rendered its judgement against the 15 accused individuals. Except for [REDACTED], who was acquitted of all charges, all others were convicted of one or more of the charges against them. The judgement does not mention Daniel KANDALAFT.
21. In France, any arrest or official interrogation must be recorded in a written document and presented ultimately to defense counsel as part of the complete case file. If Mr. Kandalaft was arrested or interrogated in relation to Operation Cedar, his name should have appeared in the case file. It did not. In this case, Daniel KANDALAFT was not investigated, charged, or asked to serve as a witness, and there is no mention of him at all in the case file.
22. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of France and the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed in Paris, France on October 15, 2020.
/s/ William Julie
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 168(1), Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 168(2)
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