
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990                   TAG: 9005250704
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Laurence Hammack
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

LAROUCHE BACKERS CLAIM JUDGE BIASED

Almost a dozen supporters of Lyndon LaRouche gathered Thursday in front of the Roanoke Municipal Building to decry what they claim is corruption in the securities fraud trials of LaRouche's associates.

Some associates of LaRouche, a perennial losing candidate for president, are charged with violating the Virginia Securities Act by soliciting loans from people in an attempt to raise funds for the organization while knowing the group never would be able to repay the loans.

Some of the trials have been moved to Roanoke County Circuit Court, where Judge Clifford Weckstein is presiding over them.

LaRouche supporters claim that Weckstein is biased because he has been bribed by the Anti Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. They point to correspondence between Weckstein and ADL regional director Ira Gissen.

Such letters, according to LaRouche supporter Philip Valenti, show the ADL is attempting to carry out a vendetta against LaRouche by suggesting Weckstein might receive an appointment to the Virginia Supreme Court.

One of the letters from Gissen to Weckstein includes an ADL resolution calling for the appointment of a Jewish lawyer to the Supreme Court.

Valenti said the correspondence is a clear indication that the ADL is "trying to transfer its hatred of Lyndon LaRouche to the courts and other governmental agencies." Protesters who gathered in front of the municipal building carried U.S. flags and posters with slogans such as "ADL perverts Virginia Courts."

by CNB