Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 6, 1992 TAG: 9202060364
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
TAPE ROLE REPORTEDLY SCRUTINIZED
Federal authorities are trying to learn more about the role of Christine Bridge, a top aide to U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, in the leak of a taped conversation of Gov. Douglas Wilder, according to a published report.Investigators are interested in memorandums written by Bridge about possible uses of the tape by Robb's office, an unidentified source close to the investigation told The Richmond News Leader.
They also want to know whether Bridge had a role in giving the news media a transcript of the taped conversation, the newspaper said.
Bridge, state director for Robb, told the News Leader that she never saw the transcript of the tape.
Moreover, she said, she has not been notified by federal authorities that she is a target of an investigation.
She pointed out that she met last year with U.S. attorney's office and FBI officials and the federal grand jury investigating the handling of the tape.
"I gave them the facts as I knew them, and I was told I was not a target of the investigation," she said.
Bridge wrote at least two memos that dealt with how the tape might be used, sources familiar with the case told the newspaper.
During U.S. District Court proceedings in Norfolk last month, one memorandum by Bridge was mentioned in a summary of facts agreed to by prosecutors and former Robb aide Steven Johnson.
Johnson was fined $5,000 for his role in leaking the tape's contents to the press.
Robert Watson, another former Robb aide involved in leaking the tape's contents, is to plead guilty next week to two infractions and will be fined $10,000, his attorney said last week.
David McCloud, Robb's former chief of staff, Johnson and Watson resigned from the senator's staff last summer.
Wilder, lieutenant governor at the time, told a political supporter on the tape that published reports linking Robb to drug parties in Virginia Beach while he was governor had finished Robb politically. Robb has denied attending any such parties.
The senator has said he and McCloud ordered that the tape, of a car-phone conversation, not be used. It was made by a hobbyist in the Hampton Roads area and passed on to Robb's staff.
The hobbyist, Virginia Beach restaurateur Robert W. Dunnington, 44, has pleaded guilty to the taping. He was sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house, the minimum penalty for the offense.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.