Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
McSweeney called the staff's activities "an obvious, flagrant abuse of the public trust."
"The question that cries out for an answer is the extent of Chuck Robb's own involvement," he said.
Robb chuckled when asked to comment on the ethics complaint, calling it an obvious partisan ploy timed four weeks before Election Day.
"I don't think you'll find anyone who takes that seriously, particularly in this time frame," Robb said during a campaign stop in Suffolk. "He's flat wrong on the facts, and he is clearly suspect on his motives."
McSweeney, angered by what he described as the media's preoccupation with gaffes by GOP Senate candidate Oliver North, urged reporters at a Richmond press conference to give Robb equal treatment.
He singled out The Virginian-Pilot, saying it would go all-out to check the accuracy of North's story about his grandfather, while ignoring court papers about Robb's former aides that are on file in a Norfolk courthouse.
"I don't want the campaign to devolve to the point where all we talk about is character," he said. "But if we are, this is an obvious omission."
McSweeney, who tried to raise the same issue this summer, handed out previously released documents that accompanied pleas entered by three of Robb's former aides.
The trio - David McCloud, Robert Watson and Steven Johnson - pleaded guilty to minor infractions stemming from the release in June 1991 of the transcript of an illegally recorded cellular telephone conversation between then-Lt. Gov. Douglas Wilder and a supporter. Robb also was named as a target of a federal grand jury, which declined to indict the senator in January 1993.
The documents described a staff that used illegally recorded telephone calls, intimidation and press leaks in an effort to silence political enemies and control the release of damaging information about Robb's after-hours socializing during his term as governor from 1982 to 1986.
The staff efforts were aimed at finding out who was bankrolling private investigator Billy Franklin's inquiry into Robb's social life and, later, at learning what reporters from The Washington Post and NBC had uncovered.
In April 1991, the NBC television show "Expose" featured a former beauty queen who claimed she had an affair with Robb, along with allegations that Robb attended parties at Virginia Beach where cocaine was used.
Robb conceded he got a nude massage from the beauty queen, Tai Collins of Roanoke, but denied having an affair with her. He also has admitted to socializing in situations "not appropriate for a married man." But Robb has flatly denied knowingly being in the company of drug users.
The court documents do not make it clear whether McCloud, Robb's chief of staff, acted under Robb's orders when he undertook the internal investigation.
Robb drove away from a speech in Suffolk before a reporter could talk with him at length about McSweeney's allegations.
"If there was any legitimacy to it, I would take it seriously," Robb said in a brief interview.
Robert Little of the Landmark News Service contributed to this story.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB