James Logan Jones, under penalty of perjury, hereby deposes and says that the following is true to the best of my knowledge,
information and belief:
I am the former United States National Security Advisor and a retired United States Marine Corps general. I was in private life at all times relevant to the matters discussed below.
I make this affidavit in response to a request from Pakistani counsel for former Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani. It is my understanding that the affidavit may be used on his behalf with respect to an investigation currently under way in Pakistan.
A few days before May 9, 2011, I received a phone call from Mr. Mansoor Ijaz. I have known Mr. Ijaz in a personal capacity since 2006. During the call Mr. Ijaz mentioned that he had a message from the “highest authority” in the Pakistan government which he asked me to relay to then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen.
At no time during the call do I remember Mr. Ijaz mentioned Ambassador Haqqani, and he gave me no reason to believe that he was acting at the direction of Ambassador Haqqani, with his participation, or that Ambassador Haqqani had knowledge of the call or the contents of the message. I informed Mr. Ijaz that I would not forward an oral message of this type to Admiral Mullen and that if he wanted anything forwarded it would have to be in writing.
On May 9th I received an email from Mr. Ijaz attaching an unsigned memo.
The e-mail was sent to my personal e-mail address by Mr. Ijaz.
The memo was not marked classified or restricted. It is my understanding that this memo is related to the ongoing investigation.
The substance of the memo was similar in nature to the phone call I had with Mr. Ijaz a day or two earlier. Mr. Ijaz again stated that the memo was authorized by the “highest authority” within the Pakistani government. Mr. Ijaz asked that I deliver the memo to Admiral Mullen.
It was my assumption that the memo was not written by Mr. Ijaz, since the memo essentially put into writing the language he had used in our telephone conversation earlier.
I do not recall whether Mr. Ijaz claimed that Ambassador Haqqani had anything to do with the creation of the memo.
I have no reason to believe that Ambassador Haqqani had any role in the creation of the memo, nor that he had any prior knowledge of the memo.
Upon my reading of the memo that I was asked to forward to Admiral Mullen, it struck me as highly unusual that the “highest authority” in the Pakistan government would use Mr. Ijaz, a private citizen and part-time journalist living in Europe, as a conduit for this communication. My personal opinion was that the memo was probably not credible.
As I was in the private sector, and not working for the U.S. government in any capacity at the time I received the memo, I felt obliged to forward it, as requested, to Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Mullen, in his official capacity was better able to make a judgment as to the memo’s credibility and determine any future course of action with regard to the memo.
Accordingly on May 10th, I emailed the memo to Admiral Mullen. It is my understanding from Admiral Mullen’s public statement on the matter that he reviewed the memo, did not find it credible, and did not take any action.
Dated: December 12, 2011
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James Logan Jones
General, United States Marine Corps (Ret.)