prolong the captivity of the hostages and contributed to Carter's defeat in the 1980
election. "I'm not prepared to name names," Carter had told Robert Morris, "but there
were some-- there was one particular, key member of my National Security Council who
stayed on and worked full-time for Vice-President Bush." Did Carter have in mind the
man who "happens to be the current ambassador to South Korea?" asked Morris. "That's
correct," replied Carter. [fn 5] These remarks by Carter, together with articles and an
upcoming book by Gary Sick, had added to the clamor for a formal investigation of the
October surprise by Congressional committees with subpoena power. At the same time,
the Washington rumor mill reported that perjury indictments were imminent against
Gregg for his blatant perjury in the context of the Iran-contra investigations.
Rumor also had it that Carter's intended running-mate was Virginia Governor Douglas
Wilder. But the spring of 1991 also brought scandal to Wilder. He became embroiled in
an ancrimonious public feud with his fellow Demoract, Virginia Senator Charles Robb.
The issue was a transcript of a telephone conversation by Wilder from the cellular
telephone of his limousine which had turned up in Robb's office. This led to the
empaneling of a federal grand jury to investigate electronic eavesdropping against
Wilder, with Robb being called to testify. The uncorking of this scandal can be attributed
to a Republican political operative and campaign provocateur. The damage to Wilder was
serious, but the damage to Robb was devastating. Robb also had to contend with charges
of cocaine use. In September, Tai Collins, a lingerie model who had won the Miss
Virginia beauty contest, appeared in a seven page spread in Playboy magazine entitled
"The Woman Senator Charles Robb Couldn't Resist," and went on a nationwide tour to
publicize her story that she had an 18-month affair with Robb during 1983-84. Robb's
response was the most that he had received was a back massage. As former governor of
Virginia, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, fund-raising
powerhouse and husband of the late Lyndon B. Johnson's daughter Lynda Bird, Robb
was an central figure of the Anti-Defamation League-Democratic party establishment. He
had strongly supported the genocide of the Gulf war.
It was also during this season that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and House
Democratic Whip William Gray, the highest black officers of the judicial and legislative
branches of government, resigned their posts. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh had
announced an investigation of Gray just before the November, 1988 elections, and the
FBI had been probing the Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia where Gray is a
minister. According to a well-informed source, Gray's departure was the CIA-Bush
exemplary punishment of the Congressional Black Caucus, which had been a center of
resistance to the Gulf war policy.
Bush also had every intention of keeping his principled political adversary Lyndon
LaRouche in federal prison through the 1992 elections and beyond; Bush continued to
refuse to release thousands of pages of exculpatory evidence in the form of government
documents bearing on LaRouche's case.
During November, 1991, Bush was frequently compared to Herbert Hoover. The
comparison came from the usually meek Democratic Senate Majority leader, Senator