Le Cercle/Exposure

Le Cercle/Exposure (Exposure)

The Cercle has been exposed significantly, but far less than many deep state milieux, such as the Bilderberg. As of June 2018, neither Spartacus nor History Commons had a page on this group. A research proposal by Adrian Hänni noted that "the Cercle is virtually nonexistent in academic research to this day... There are, as of yet, very few studies of the Cercle that are based on primary sources and meet basic academic standards."

First Leak

The first known print reference to Le Cercle was probably in Time Out magazine's 1975 leaked documents from the Institute for the Study of Conflict, which referenced the "Pinay Committee". No American commercially-controlled media sources are known to have mentioned the group. Le Cercle was mentioned in 1980 in Der Spiegel (which also published the first article on the Bilderberg group) as a result of the controversy surrounding Franz Josef Strauss, a regular attendant. In the late 1990s, Le Cercle received more attention after a scandal broke out involving Jonathan Aitken, who was then European chairman. Members who were contacted by newspapers refused to answer any questions about the group.

The Lobster

In 1986, Lobster Magazine wrote that “The Pinay Circle was set up in 1969 around the former Prime Minister of France, Antoine Pinay. Pinay was very old and seems to have been little more than a figurehead. Its chief fundraiser and leading light is the former lawyer, Jean Violet. A senior figure in the French equivalent of the CBI, Violet has also been a member of SDECE, the French equivalent of the CIA and MI6. (Faligot, 1985 p 194). According to reports from West German intelligence (in Intelligence/Parapolitics (Paris) December 1984) Violet had links with South African, American, British, Swiss and West German intelligence. The West German BND is said to be one of his sources of finance.”

Corporate media

The Cercle receives very little attention from the commercially-controlled media and continues to do so. One important exception to this was a 1997 article by The Independent about Jonathan Aitken's dismissal as Chairman of Le Cercle. This revealed some members' names, but did not provide documentary evidence.

Langemann Papers

Full article: Langemann Papers

The Langemann Papers, a leak via a BND officer exposed the subversion activities of the group - most clearly, the campaign to get Margaret Thatcher elected in 1979.

Internet

The first systematic exposure of Le Cercle online was carried out by ISGP researcher, Joël van der Reijden, who began writing about the group in 2005. He published the first Cercle documents online after uncovering them in the papers of Monique Garnier-Lançon. These included guest lists from meetings in the early 1980s.

Van der Reijden's work prompted David Teacher to pursue his study of the group and republish an update his work on the group Rogue Agents.

UK MP's self-disclosure

UK parliamentary rules require disclosure of monies received by MP's, which lead to some publishing their attendeance at meetings of Le Cercle. This practice appears to have stopped.

Wikileaks

Among the cables published by Wikileaks are some references to Le Cercle.

South African documents

After a discovery in the Department of International Relations and Co-operation archive in Pretoria, some South African diplomatic documents relating to the Cercle emerged on the internet in 2017.

Academic Research

A couple of researchers, including Adrian Hänni have published Ph.D. theses on the group which deserve wider publication. None were known to be available online as of January 2018.

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Cercle Exposure	book extract		David Teacher	David Rockefeller's involvement with Le Cercle.

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