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:
Attachment | Size |
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CIA-RDP75-00149R000100250003-4.pdf | 91.6 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
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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