BATTLING BOBBY BAKER

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP75-00149R000100250003-4
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
November 16, 2016
Document Release Date: 
April 4, 2000
Sequence Number: 
3
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
March 26, 1966
Content Type: 
NSPR
File: 
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PDF icon CIA-RDP75-00149R000100250003-4.pdf91.6 KB
Body: 
Approved For Release 2~0.5g066CIA-RDP75 FOIAb3b Affairs of State, by Stewart A9sop Bobby CP ,RGHT1DN: one of those people who seem to thrive on ad- it l i hi l O t 30' h i l l vers n y n y. s a e s, e s c ose y threatened by baldness. But his face is pink and healthy, he is as nattily dressed as ever, and his eyes, at once shrewd and humorous, dart con- stantly about as he surveys the scene around him with wary curiosity. When he was Majority Leader Lyndon John- son's principal assistant, Bobby Baker was a friend of mine, as he was of a great many Wash- ington reporters. I liked him then, and I like him now, even though he is under indictment for crimes and misdemeanors which could the- oretically send him to jail for 48 years. Whether he is guilty of those crimes and mis- demeanors is a decision for the courts. But guilty or not guilty, Bobby. Baker is rather look- ing forward to his forthcoming ordeal, to judge from a luncheon conversation I had with him soiiie"tifte before.lie'ivas indi cCCT"'"--'"M- -Moreover, if he is going to have to go to jail, -he-has no-intention of going quietly and deco- rously. I-Ie intendstp?fjgl,it, kick and scream ev- '>;ry-inch of-tile 'way, and''during the course of his fighting, kicking and screaming, a good.. many important persons-are likely to get Bane fully sideswiped: '.Baker.-and iiig counsel, the redoubtable Ed- ward Bennett Williams. both point out that Baker's position in a court of law will be totally . different from his position before the Jordan committee of the Senate, which first investi- gated his alleged wrongdoings. Williams will have the right to cross-examine hostile wit- nesses, and the court, unlike the committee, will operate under the rules of evidence. Baker has no intention of resorting to the Fifth Amendment in court, as he did before the Jordan committee. It is no secret that the prospect of Bobby Baker's trial has induced a certain queasiness in the stomachs of a number of important politicians. The queasiness has been accentu- ated by the news that Bobby Baker also plans to write a book. "I know what Lyndon Johnson is saying to himself right now," Bobby Baker remarked at lunch, his eyes both more shrewd and more humorous than ever. "He's saying to himself, < c ., , in' about nee?' " I f Lyndon Johnson is not saying somethin of the sort to himself, a lot of other people are. "or if there ever was a man who knew preci ely which skeleton was in which closet, it is 13o by Baker. In this respect, indeed, Bobby Bak r is in the happy position of the Hon. Gala ad Threepwood, younger brother of Lord E s- worth of Blandings Castle. The lion. Galal ad. a creation of P. G. Wodehouse, kept bus in his old age by writing his "recollections of his colorful career as a young man-about-tow in the 'nineties." As a result, "all over the coun ry. decorous Dukes and steady Viscounts, who ad sown their wild oats in the society of the yo ng Galahad, sat quivering in their slippers... it was as if the Recording Angel had sudd ly decided to rush into print." The Mon. Gala! ad repeatedly used the 1 ar- gaining power conferred on him by his memoirs to smooth the course of young love, or for of rer useful purposes. It is not impossible that it ias also occurred to Bobby Baker that his mem( rs, aside from their monetary value (his ages is said to be asking a price on the order of 85 0.- 000), may give him a certain bargaining poi er. -.,Ha asalreacly started ~v~xk-~r-l~js l~p,glc. ? lid lli5 first several thousand. titialds arc dc~gtec to the he, ic~d.beforc.,and..after Lyndon Johnson was nominated for Vice Prc;ien't on the 15ei io - clalic ticket: Thin first draft of the Baker m m- -'oirs describes a tiff'between the (uturQ.Presid nit and his'youn _ prote,e. According to the Ba cr account'Alie till- ended after several days in which neither spoke to the other, when he President magnanimously apologized. Also in- cluded is a description of candidate Johnson's side trip during the campaign, to Pickens. S. ., hometown of Bobby Baker, where the fut re President spoke many kind words about Pickens's most successful hometown boy, All this is seemingly harmless stuff. But I. it so harmless? talker's. trial is scherl.tJcd for Oc o- ber 17 ,just before the election. Sen. I Iugli Scc t, one of Baker's Republican inquisitors bef re the Jordan committee, is willing to "bet a the u- sand toone that the trial will be put off Lill of er the election." The bet may be a good one. Even so, the inevitable talk about the All- Approved For Release 2000/05/05: CIA-RDP75-00149R000100250003-4