YAHOO NEWS: Tue, Aug 05, 2003
Local NewYork Post
2 hours, 56 minutes ago
By HEIDI SINGER
The CIA (news - web sites) mystery man who once claimed Steven Seagal asked him about "whacking" someone may soon be dragged into federal court to help discredit the action star as a witness in a mob trial, the Post has learned.
Herbert F. Saunders, 71, a retired senior intelligence officer, who worked for Seagal a decade ago as a security consultant, recently came forward to reveal dirty deeds he says the actor wanted him to commit - like gaining access to confidential Drug Enforcement Administration files he believed were being collected to frame him.
Saunders - who only now has revealed his identity - caused a stir a decade ago when he confidentially told Spy magazine's John Connolly about Seagal's "whack" idea and a scheme to blackmail a journalist in a gay tryst.
Angered over comments Seagal, 52, made about him during a February court appearance - when the actor testified against reputed wiseguy Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone - Saunders decided to reveal his identity to filmmakers working on a documentary about the star.
"I don't think he's able to sort out fantasy from fact," Saunders told filmmakers. "I think he sees himself in roles he's played in movies, ranging from hard-nosed tough cop to guy who's saving mongooses in the woods of Oregon."
Saunders recalls that when he worked for Seagal, the "Above the Law" star badly wanted a permit to wear a concealed gun and carry a weapon on airplanes.
The ponytailed, black-belt star is a witness in the trial of his former producer, Julius Nasso, who is accused of trying to squeeze him for $150,000 a movie. After watching the Saunders interview, Nasso's defense believes the decorated former spook should testify in court, saying he could shed light on Seagal's credibility - or lack thereof.
But prosecutors say Saunders' allegations have nothing to do with the case and would only embarrass the movie star.
Seagal's lawyer, Martin Pollner, agreed, calling the allegations "pure and utter nonsense" timed to tarnish Seagal's reputation.
Reached by phone at his Florida home, Saunders said, "While I'm not anxious to go to court to testify against Mr. Seagal, and I would prefer to put all of this well behind me, when the time comes, I'll do the right thing."
Saunders said he met Seagal in 1991, when a mutual acquaintance told him about a celebrity movie star with security concerns. He flew to an estate on Staten Island and met with Seagal and a man he later learned was Nasso. Things got weird right from the start.
First, the actor suggested to the veteran CIA official that he had worked for the agency - a ludicrous notion, according to Saunders, who had already checked him out and found he'd never worked there.
"In his discussion, he sort of implied he was a CIA operative," Saunders recalled, looking amused. "He used little words like 'those of us familiar with the Company.' We almost never said 'the Company.' "
Seagal, sitting by the pool in Nasso's luxurious next-door estate, then began complaining about Alan Richman, a journalist who had written an unflattering story about him in GQ magazine. For some reason, Seagal was convinced he was a "fag" - although Richman later denied it.
"He said he'd like to give Mr. Richman a bit of payback" - and then concocted a scheme to photograph him in the back seat of a car in a tryst with another man, Saunders said.
After Saunders turned down the assignment, Seagal hit him with an even darker one. Seagal said he was about to open a restaurant in Chicago, according to Saunders, but had a mortal enemy from his days in Southeast Asia, and he worried the man would assassinate him during the ribbon cutting.
Seagal was unimpressed when Saunders suggested a security plan and, according to Saunders, "He said, 'You mean you wouldn't whack him?' "
Later, the private eye said Seagal dished out a bizarre assignment: to investigate Nasso.
"From time to time, he would call and ask me to do something," said Saunders. "And most of it was kind of crazy."
The final straw came about a year after their first meeting, when he said Seagal wanted him to gain access to DEA files to learn about the agency's alleged frame job on him.
"I sort of told him to take a hike," Saunders said.
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Local NewYork Post
2 hours, 56 minutes ago
By HEIDI SINGER
The CIA (news - web sites) mystery man who once claimed Steven Seagal asked him about "whacking" someone may soon be dragged into federal court to help discredit the action star as a witness in a mob trial, the Post has learned.
Herbert F. Saunders, 71, a retired senior intelligence officer, who worked for Seagal a decade ago as a security consultant, recently came forward to reveal dirty deeds he says the actor wanted him to commit - like gaining access to confidential Drug Enforcement Administration files he believed were being collected to frame him.
Saunders - who only now has revealed his identity - caused a stir a decade ago when he confidentially told Spy magazine's John Connolly about Seagal's "whack" idea and a scheme to blackmail a journalist in a gay tryst.
Angered over comments Seagal, 52, made about him during a February court appearance - when the actor testified against reputed wiseguy Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone - Saunders decided to reveal his identity to filmmakers working on a documentary about the star.
"I don't think he's able to sort out fantasy from fact," Saunders told filmmakers. "I think he sees himself in roles he's played in movies, ranging from hard-nosed tough cop to guy who's saving mongooses in the woods of Oregon."
Saunders recalls that when he worked for Seagal, the "Above the Law" star badly wanted a permit to wear a concealed gun and carry a weapon on airplanes.
The ponytailed, black-belt star is a witness in the trial of his former producer, Julius Nasso, who is accused of trying to squeeze him for $150,000 a movie. After watching the Saunders interview, Nasso's defense believes the decorated former spook should testify in court, saying he could shed light on Seagal's credibility - or lack thereof.
But prosecutors say Saunders' allegations have nothing to do with the case and would only embarrass the movie star.
Seagal's lawyer, Martin Pollner, agreed, calling the allegations "pure and utter nonsense" timed to tarnish Seagal's reputation.
Reached by phone at his Florida home, Saunders said, "While I'm not anxious to go to court to testify against Mr. Seagal, and I would prefer to put all of this well behind me, when the time comes, I'll do the right thing."
Saunders said he met Seagal in 1991, when a mutual acquaintance told him about a celebrity movie star with security concerns. He flew to an estate on Staten Island and met with Seagal and a man he later learned was Nasso. Things got weird right from the start.
First, the actor suggested to the veteran CIA official that he had worked for the agency - a ludicrous notion, according to Saunders, who had already checked him out and found he'd never worked there.
"In his discussion, he sort of implied he was a CIA operative," Saunders recalled, looking amused. "He used little words like 'those of us familiar with the Company.' We almost never said 'the Company.' "
Seagal, sitting by the pool in Nasso's luxurious next-door estate, then began complaining about Alan Richman, a journalist who had written an unflattering story about him in GQ magazine. For some reason, Seagal was convinced he was a "fag" - although Richman later denied it.
"He said he'd like to give Mr. Richman a bit of payback" - and then concocted a scheme to photograph him in the back seat of a car in a tryst with another man, Saunders said.
After Saunders turned down the assignment, Seagal hit him with an even darker one. Seagal said he was about to open a restaurant in Chicago, according to Saunders, but had a mortal enemy from his days in Southeast Asia, and he worried the man would assassinate him during the ribbon cutting.
Seagal was unimpressed when Saunders suggested a security plan and, according to Saunders, "He said, 'You mean you wouldn't whack him?' "
Later, the private eye said Seagal dished out a bizarre assignment: to investigate Nasso.
"From time to time, he would call and ask me to do something," said Saunders. "And most of it was kind of crazy."
The final straw came about a year after their first meeting, when he said Seagal wanted him to gain access to DEA files to learn about the agency's alleged frame job on him.
"I sort of told him to take a hike," Saunders said.
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