CHILD PROSTITUTION RING INVOLVING GEORGE BUSH SR.
ARCHIVE OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES OF YET ANOTHER OF MASSIVELY SUPPRESSED STORY INVOLVING THE FAMILY WHO IS ABOVE ALL LAWS - THE BUSHES
In the high stakes world of global politics, it is common practice to procure sexual favors in the hopes to gain leverage or to gain power through blackmail. It's done all the time. The Soviets did it. The Americans do it, and many other countries as well. This following is the bizarre and very real child sexual prostitution ring involving the Republican elite of Washington. And the trail leads right up to George H. W. Bush. Read the chilling story.
SEX AND THE CAPITAL
KARLYN BARKER, WASHINGTON POST, JULY 24, 1990: The alleged leader of what authorities have called the largest male prostitution operation in the Washington area surrendered to federal agents yesterday and pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges that have been filed against him and three alleged accomplices. Henry W. Vinson, 29, of Williamson, W.Va., a coal miner's son accused of setting up the homosexual escort service, was arraigned in U.S. District Court here yesterday afternoon after turning himself in to Secret Service agents . . . At a news conference after the arraignment, [U.S. Attorney Jay] Stephens said the investigation into the alleged prostitution ring "is concluded" and that the indictment, which was unsealed yesterday, focused on those who allegedly set up the ring rather than on clients who reportedly patronized it. Asked about earlier reports that some of those clients included high-level officials in the Reagan and Bush administrations, Stephens said the investigation had not revealed "additional conduct which suggests criminal conduct on behalf of other people." . . . The Vinson case provoked additional notice after The Washington Times published reports last summer suggesting that the alleged prostitution ring had been patronized by government officials. The Times named as clients several low-level government employees and Craig J. Spence, a Washington lobbyist and party-giver who, the paper said, took friends and prostitutes on late-night tours of the White House. Spence was found dead in a Boston hotel room last fall, and authorities ruled his death a suicide . . . To date, however, investigators have disclosed no evidence linking any high-level government official to the escort service.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE ARTICLES BELOW CHRONICLE THE VERY REAL BEHAVIOR OF THE POWER ELITE IN AMERICA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"MINGO MESS BAFFLING TANGLE" The Charleston Gazette, Editorial; Pg. P4A, July 03, 1997.
In which we hear of the appointment of a coroner who had been convicted of bribery and who supposedly had been married to a Henry Vinson, a mortician who had operated a "call boy" service utilized by White House officials
This is the hook into a long story.
We now turn to some news stories that appeared in the Washington Times more than a decade ago, but apart from a few having to do with Barney Frank, these stories have never generated much attention. We then recover as full a story as can be constructed from accounts in the press, in chronological order.
"'CALL-BOY' SERVICE PROSPERS USING HIGH FINANCE, HIGH TECH," Paul M. Rodriguez and George Archibald , The Washington Times, June 20, 1989
In which we see Henry Vinson's name first surface, along with Robert Chambers, a funeral director, who operated a call boy network that laundered money through umbrella organizations in the District of Columbia area, Florida, Kentucky and West Virginia.
"POWER BROKER SERVED DRUGS, SEX AT PARTIES BUGGED FOR BLACKMAIL," Michael Hedges and Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, June 30, 1989
In which we learn of Craig J. Spence, who arranged midnight tours of the White House, threw lavish parties for the famous and powerful where cocaine was generously served, spent $20,000 a month on male prostitutes from a D.C. prostitution ring, and bragged of connections to the CIA, whom he worried might kill him and then make it look like a suicide.
"RNC CALLS SCANDAL A 'TRAGIC SITUATION,'" George Archibald and Paul M. Rodriguez, The Washington Times, Friday, June 30, 1989
In which we learn of the resignation of an aide to Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole, and of the reaction of Rep. Barney Frank, who is "not surprised" by the revelations.
"White House mute on 'call boy' probe," Frank J. Murray, The Washington Times, July 7, 1989
In which we learn that President Bush followed the story, and that a Uniformed Division officer of the Special Service, Reginald deGueldre, arranged the midnight White House tours for Craig Spence and two male prostitutes, and was moonlighting as Spence's bodyguard.
"Spence was target before raid on ring," Jerry Seper, and Michael Hedges The Washington Times, July 10, 1989
In which we learn that Craig Spence brought a 15-year old boy on at least one of his midnight tours of the White House, that Spence asked detailed questions about the Delta Force operations, that he partied with former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing, and that he bragged of having blackmailed a high-ranking Japanese politician, Motoo Shiina.
"Spence ma[y] be Shiina's downfall," Edward Neilan, The Washington Times, July 18, 1989
In which we hear of the connections between Motoo Shiina, groomed to be a future prime minister of Japan, and Craig Spence: how Spence had made more than $700,000 from Shiina's Policy Study Group, and how Spence had refused to pay back a loan made by Shiina for the purchase of Spence's house.
"First lady not worried about hookers' tour of White House," Paul Bedard, The Washington Times, July 10, 1989
In which we learn that First Lady Barbara Bush was not concerned about the security questions raised by midnight White House tours, but did think it good that the Washington Post had not followed the Times' story.
"Secret Service furloughs third White House guard ," Jerry Seper, and Michael Hedges, The Washington Times , July 26, 1989
In which we hear that, contrary to earlier White House claims, 1 a.m. tours were "totally out of the ordinary." We also learn that Spence introduced a 15-year old boy to Ted Koppel in the Nightline studio right before one of the tours.
"SEX PARTY HELD AT AUSSIE EMBASSY 'WE'RE NOT TALKING CROCODILE DUNDEE HERE,'" Michael Hedges and Jerry Seper, Washington Times, July 28, 1989
In which a woman who worked for one of the prostitution rings linked to Spence claimed she worked a party held at the Australian embassy. She also claimed that one of her military clients told her Spence was blackmailing him.
"SPENCE ELUSIVE, SAID TO BE EVERYWHERE BUT ISN'T," Jerry Seper and Michael Hedges, Washington Times, Thursday, August 3, 1989
In which we learn that Spence has disappeared, but has told his friends not to take any account of his death at face value. We also discover that Ted Koppel is a longtime friend, and that the Special Service is not as interested in credit card fraud as they are in Spence's military and political connections.
"SPENCE ARRESTED IN N.Y., RELEASED BIZARRE INTERVIEW IS NO NIGHT ON THE TOWN," Jerry Seper and Michael Hedges, Washington Times; August 9, 1989
In which Craig Spence is interviewed and speaks of his own death and of the connections he had to powerful people who will pretend never to have known him.
Spence arrested in N.Y., released; Once-host to powerful reduced to begging, sleeping in park, Michael Hedges, and Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, August 9, 1989.
More from Craig Spence's interview. Highlights include his hint that Donald Gregg arranged the late-night White House tours. Spence also speaks of more significant secrets that he plans to take to the grave.
"Sex sold from congressman's apartment: Frank's lover was 'call boy,'" Paul M. Rodriguez and George Archibald, The Washington Times , August 25, 1989.
The only story that received much attention. A male prostitute, identified by the alias Greg Davis, entertained clients in the apartment of Rep. Barney Frank. Frank admitted having a relationship with the prostitute, but denied knowledge of the use of his apartment for illicit purposes.
"Sex sold from congressman's apartment: School used as base for sex ring," George Archibald and Paul M. Rodriguez, The Washington Times, August 25, 1989.
In which we learn that Barney Frank's call boy also did business in a local public school.
"THE GOBIE STORY: Frank's 'call boy' tells all," George Archibald, and Paul M. Rodriguez, The Washington Times, September 1, 1989.
In which Stephen L. Gobie, whose professional name in the underground prostitute trade is "Greg Davis," insists that Rep. Barney Frank knew of the use of his apartment as a base for prostitution. Gobie also reveals that one of his clients was Craig Spence.
"IN DEATH, SPENCE STAYED TRUE TO FORM," Michael Hedges, and Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, Monday, November 13, 1989.
Craig Spence is found dead in a Boston hotel room. Near his body is a newspaper clipping that details legislative efforts to protect CIA agents called to testify before government bodies. Friends of Spence reported that he had claimed the CIA used the call boy service to compromise other federal intelligence officials and foreign diplomats. One friend quoted Spence as saying, "Casey's boys are out to get me,"
"SPENCE AS MUCH AN ENIGMA IN DEATH AS HE WAS IN LIFE," Jerry Seper, and Michael Hedges, The Washington Times, November 13, 1989.
In which we learn how slow had been the federal investigation into the allegations swirling around Craig Spence. Spence himself had been handed a subpoena more than two months before his death, but was never called to testify. Officials of the Reagan and Bush administrations, identified in The Times as having used the call-boy service, had not even been contacted by law enforcement officials. One witness reported: "They asked me what I thought Spence wanted to know about the Delta project."
"Prostitutes corroborate Frank stories," Paul M. Rodriguez, The Washington Times, February 2, 1990.
In which other prostitutes corroborate Gobies' claims that Rep. Barney Frank knew of his use of the congressman's apartment for use as a bordello. Gobie also claims that Craig Spence was one of his clients and had tried to recruit him to help "in a sordid scheme to blackmail the powerful politicians invited to his lavish parties." Gobie claimed that Mr. Spence said to him, "Do you know what kind of power you can have over people if you've got something on them? . . . I need boys and girls for people in government and high-level businessmen for my parties, for individuals, for whatever comes up."
MINGO HIRES CONTROVERSIAL DOCTOR, Maryclaire Dale, The Charleston Gazette; News, July 01, 1997.
Returning full circle to the Mingo case, we find the newly appointed medical examiner of Mingo County arguing that the fact that she is a physician argues in favor of her having the position over the previous nominee, a funeral home owner. Shafer argues: "A physician has nothing to gain from a suicide. A mortician does. He would probably process the body for burial," she said. "I don't think it's [the funeral industry] a charity business." Ironically, Shafer's "husband" is Henry Vinson, a former mortician and coroner who is linked, as we saw above, to the child sex ring scandals. We also learn that his lawyer is the legal commentator Greta van Susteren.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MINGO MESS BAFFLING TANGLE
The Charleston Gazette Editorial; Pg. P4A July 03, 1997, Thursday
PERHAPS world chess champion Garry Kasparov (or his nemesis, the Deep Blue computer) would have the mental capacity to keep track of the amazing complexities involving Mingo County public officials.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vinson vowed that he'd never be convicted, because he said his "call boy" service had been utilized by officials of the Moore administration in Charleston and by officials of the Reagan-Bush White House in Washington.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Consider:
State Sen. Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, was indicted on federal wiretap charges in his messy divorce, but was found innocent.
Former Mingo Sheriff Gerald Chafin - no relation to Truman, and part of a rival Democratic faction - likewise was indicted on federal wiretap charges, supposedly stemming from an attempt to blackmail a "whistleblower" deputy, but likewise was found innocent.
Ex-Sheriff Chafin, a mortuary owner, was appointed coroner by Mingo County's commissioners - but state rules require that coroners be physicians, so he couldn't take the post.
Next the commissioners gave the job to Dr. Diane Shafer of Mingo County, who previously was convicted of bribery in nearby Kentucky. (She had been under investigation in Kentucky for suspected overbilling, but she married the overbilling investigator and gave him $ 42,500. They both were convicted of bribery, and he of bigamy, but the convictions were set aside. West Virginia's Board of Medicine has set August hearings on whether to revoke her license.)
Meanwhile, Dr. Shafer may - or may not - have married a former Mingo coroner, Henry Vinson, who was convicted of running a male prostitution ring in Washington, D.C.
Vinson, also a mortician, had been ousted as Mingo coroner after he was convicted of making harassing phone calls to a rival funeral home director. Then he was accused in a paternity suit. Next he moved to Washington, where he was charged with operating "Dream Boy," a male escort service.
While the Washington investigation was in progress, Vinson "died" and his obituary was printed by newspapers around West Virginia - but his sister in Mingo County said the obit had been phoned to papers as a hoax.
In 1990, Vinson vowed that he'd never be convicted, because he said his "call boy" service had been utilized by officials of the Moore administration in Charleston and by officials of the Reagan-Bush White House in Washington. But the next year, he pleaded guilty and got a five-year prison term.
Now Vinson's sister says she thinks he's married to Dr. Shafer. Reporter Maryclaire Dale (who is white) called Dr. Shafer's office Monday and talked to a man who called himself "Henry Shafer." When she asked if his name is Henry Vinson, he screamed: "Would you like to come and have sex with me, you [racial obscenity]?" Is this another count of phone harassment?
Well, that's just this week's developments in murky Mingo, where public officials have always been bizarre.
Matewan Police Chief Sid Hatfield led strikers in a historic shootout with Baldwin-Felts detectives; Sheriff Johnie Owens "sold" his elected office to another politician for $ 100,000; Kermit Fire Chief "Wig" Preece and his relatives sold drugs from the firehouse - that's public life in the Deep South coal county.
Mingo residents must wonder if they're living in a zoo.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'CALL-BOY' SERVICE PROSPERS USING HIGH FINANCE, HIGH TECH
Paul M. Rodriguez and George Archibald The Washington Times; Final Section: NATION Page: A7 Thursday, June 29, 1989
Elaborate telephone switching equipment and out-of-town check cashing and credit card processing centers make it possible for Washington's homosexual escort services to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from clients.
Professional Services Inc., the dry name that appears on customers' American Express, Visa and MasterCard bills when they charge their sexual liaisons with male prostitutes, is a cover for half a dozen different call services linked in a gigantic regional sex-for-hire network, according to an investigation by The Washington Times.
The upscale Northwest Washington residence that served as a switchboard center for dispatching male prostitutes to local hotels, clients' homes and other meeting places was raided Feb. 28 by federal and local police authorities investigating interstate prostitution and credit card fraud.
The escort firm has relocated and - using a 50-line Merlin computerized call-forwarding system - is still in operation while local authorities try to track down individual call boys with information gathered from seized documents.
In want ads placed in local tabloid newspapers and Yellow Pages telephone directories, Professional Services hawks its wares under such names as Man-to-Man, Dream Boys, Ultimate First Class, Metrodate and Jovan.
In its own investigation of the male escort service raided in February and again May 18, The Times has obtained extensive financial records that reveal how the homosexual network handled its credit card and check cashing needs by using legitimate umbrella organizations in the Washington area, Florida, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Members of the law enforcement team investigating Professional Services, which includes the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police, said a special federal grand jury is expected to hand up indictments based on violations of federal credit card statutes, mail fraud laws and banking regulations that bar illegal activities, such as prostitution.
Operators of the male escort service under investigation denied in dozens of interviews that they have broken any federal laws.
But credit card vouchers obtained by The Times reveal many instances of apparent double billing and what appear to be forged signatures.
As one law enforcement official explained, customers of such services are highly unlikely to call up credit card companies to complain that they had only one $150 session - not two - with one of Professional Services' prostitutes.
Call boys interviewed by The Times admitted that in the course of their work as "escorts" they regularly engaged in sex for hire with male clients.
After paying "membership" fees in the $150 range, clients paid additional amounts for so-called "referrals" billed on an hourly basis. The vouchers reflected fees ranging from $60 to $1,100 for individual referrals. Most charges were in the $150 to $225 range.
Clients and prostitutes said the amounts charged depend on the number of escorts procured ( some clients hire several for big parties), the length of time prostitute services are used and the type of sexual service provided.
Robert Chambers, who handled Professional Services' credit card processing, is a 35-year-old funeral director whose family owns and operates the Chambers Funeral Homes throughout the Washington area.
Mr. Chambers used his family's funeral business to set up Professional Services' "sub-merchant" account with a Sovran Bank branch in Silver Spring. Credit card charges and checks were deposited in the Sovran account, while cash paid for escort services usually was deposited at other area banks, including Riggs, National Bank of Washington and First American.
These accounts were usually in the names of the escort operators - principally Henry W. Vinson, a 28-year-old owner-dispatcher for the services, and Jimmy Mako, 27, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug charge stemming from the February police raid on the switchboard headquarters, 6004 34th Place NW.
Sovran canceled Professional Services' account after the comptroller of Chambers Funeral Home discovered the secret sex-for-hire card processing scheme. Mr. Chambers now funnels charge slips through another licensed credit card processing company, Executive Services, in Suitland.
Part of the regional escort network is directly linked to employees at dozens of hotels in the area, those interviewed said. Besides helping to arrange "special" rooms for clients, these hotel employees also help to expedite guest requests for male and female sex.
There also are special phone banks located in each of the hotels - some public pay phones and other private lines - reserved for the homosexual network. Telephone pagers are used extensively to send call boys from one liaison to another.
Operators of the homosexual escort ring confirmed that female prostitutes were occasionally provided if clients requested such services.
Among hundreds of charge vouchers obtained by The Times were those of about a half-dozen women who availed themselves of the male escorts.
Gay clubs throughout the Washington area are used by call boys to pick up clients. Many call boys also work at these clubs - some of them "strip" joints - and typically are recruited there by the escort services.
Bars and clubs catering to a homosexual clientele include The Chesapeake House, Brass Rail, Knob Hill, The Follies, Lost and Found, Tracks, and La Cage Aux Follies.
Photo, This house, at 6004 34th Place NW in Washington, was the switchboard center for a male-prostitution ring until it was raided Feb. 28., By Gary M. Hopkins/The Washington Times
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
POWER BROKER SERVED DRUGS, SEX AT PARTIES BUGGED FOR BLACKMAIL
Michael Hedges and Jerry Seper The Washington Times; Final Section: A Page: A1 Friday, June 30, 1989
Craig J. Spence, an enigmatic figure who threw glittery parties for key officials of the Reagan and Bush administrations, media stars and top military officers, bugged the gatherings to compromise guests, provided cocaine, blackmailed some associates and spent up to $20,000 a month on male prostitutes, according to friends, acquaintances and records.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How a man whom even his closest friends describe as a flawed, malevolent personality managed to court Washington's biggest names is a quintessential Washington story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 48-year-old D.C. power broker has been linked to a homosexual prostitution ring currently under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Its clients included several top government and business officials from Washington and abroad.
Among the clients identified in hundreds of credit-card vouchers obtained by The Washington Times - and identified by male prostitutes and escort operators - are government officials, locally based U.S. military officers, businessmen, lawyers, bankers, congressional aides, media representatives and other professionals.
Mr. Spence's influence appeared unlimited, aptly demonstrated by his ability to arrange midnight tours of the White House, according to three persons who said they took part in those tours.
"It was a show-the-flag time for Craig Spence," said one person who went on a July 3, 1988, tour that included two male prostitutes. "He just wanted everyone to know just how damned powerful he was," said the person. "And when we were strolling through the White House at 1 o'clock in the morning, we were believers."
One man who was on the tour but asked not to be named for fear it would damage his business said it was cleared by a uniformed Secret Service guard whom the man had seen attending Mr. Spence's parties as a bodyguard.
"For once in his life, Craig was doing something nice. We just thought, neat, we get a free midnight tour of the White House," the man said. Another person on the tour said the group walked through all the public areas of the White House and "even took pictures of ourselves in the barber's chair."
After arriving in Washington in the late 1970s, Mr. Spence was hosting parties during the early Reagan years attended by, among others, journalists Eric Sevareid, Ted Koppel and William Safire; former CIA Director William Casey; the late John Mitchell, attorney general in the Nixon administration; conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly; Ambassador James Lilley; and Gen. Alfred M. Gray, the commandant of the Marine Corps.
Arnaud de Borchgrave, editor-in-chief of The Times, went to dinner once at Mr. Spence's home to honor Mr. Lilley.
Efforts to reach Mr. Spence in the past week were unsuccessful. He contacted The Washington Times yesterday in response to a telefaxed message but hung up when queried about his activities.
According to many current and former friends, Mr. Spence was a dangerous friend to cultivate. Several former associates said his house on Wyoming Avenue was bugged and had a secret two-way mirror, and that he attempted to ensnare visitors into compromising sexual encounters that he could then use as leverage.
One man described having a limousine sent to his home by Mr. Spence and being brought to a gathering at which several young men tried to become friendly with him. "I didn't bite; it's not my inclination," the man said. "But he used his homosexual network for all it was worth."
The man, a business associate of Mr. Spence who was on the White House tour, said: "He was blackmailing people. He was taping people and blackmailing them."
One former friend said he saw an 8-foot-long, two-way mirror overlooking the library of Mr. Spence's home which, he said, he was later told was used for "spying on guests."
Georgetown University law professor Richard Gordon said he was a close friend of Mr. Spence's until his "behavior began deteriorating quite markedly."
Mr. Gordon recalled being at a gathering at Mr. Spence's home and having a conversation with veteran NBC and CBS correspondent Liz Trotta.
"We were sitting in a corner, talking about our mutual concern about Craig's physical condition. He came down later and said he had been listening to us and didn't appreciate it at all," Mr. Gordon said.
Ms. Trotta, contacted in New York City, yesterday confirmed Mr. Gordon's comments and said it was "one in a series of incidents" in which she began to question Mr. Spence's emotional and physical stability.
"He was fragmenting right before our eyes," she said. "I was very concerned about him."
One former Reagan administration official who worked at the U.S. Information Agency and is an open homosexual said he went to private parties at Mr. Spence's home and saw a great deal of recording and taping equipment.
"It was my clear impression that the house was bugged," he said. Another man, an Air Force sergeant who worked for Mr. Spence as a bodyguard, said: "The house was definitely bugged. I can't say what he was doing with the information. I don't know that. But he was recording what occurred there."
Several others confirmed that Mr. Spence had bragged on several occasions that he had his house bugged and that conversations between guests often had been overheard. They said Mr. Spence often would come down late to parties he hosted and told close associates that he had been listening to what was being said about him.
Several people also said Mr. Spence boasted about getting control of the million-dollar home on Wyoming Avenue by blackmailing clients in Japan.
William Harbin, a former U.S. Foreign Service official who worked for Mr. Spence in the mid-1980s, said: "He pretty much blackmailed a Japanese client. He had represented this firm in Washington, the Policy Study Group.
"The Japanese put up the money for Spence to buy a big house on Wyoming Avenue," Mr. Harbin said. "I heard he later had a quarrel with this Japanese because he was really using this house to advance his own purposes, not for the Japanese. But he threatened to expose that they had transferred the money illegally, so it made the Japanese back down."
Another longtime friend confirmed that Mr. Spence bragged about the Wyoming Avenue deal, saying he had beaten "a very rich, old-line Japanese family."
Secret Service spokesman Bob Snow, when asked yesterday for records about Mr. Spence's visits to the White House, said only the White House counsel could authorize release of the material.
C. Boyden Gray, the White House counsel, said he did not know why Mr. Snow referred The Times to him, adding that he was unaware that his office was required to release such information. "I just don't know anything about that," Mr. Gray said. "But maybe there's something I don't know about." Federal law enforcement authorities, including the Secret Service, involved in the probe of the homosexual prostitution ring have told prostitutes and their clients that a grand jury will deliberate over evidence gathered in the ongoing investigation throughout the summer.
Hundreds of credit-card vouchers, drawn on both corporate and personal accounts and made payable to the Washington-based escort service operated by the homosexual ring, have been examined by The Washington Times.
Mr. Spence, a former ABC-TV correspondent who covered the war in Vietnam, was one of the biggest spending clients of the homosexual prostitution network, according to credit-card vouchers obtained by The Times. For example, on Oct. 5, 1988, he made four separate payments totaling $1,525 with his American Express card for male escorts from Professional Services Inc.
On. Oct. 8, he paid $600 for male escorts, and another $600 payment Oct. 20, the documents show. There were some months when Mr. Spence spent as much as $20,000 for male escorts hired to provide him sexual services, according to documents and interviews with prostitutes who served him.
Many of Mr. Spence's guests soured on his hospitality when his darker behavior emerged. A case in point is his relationship with former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova.
According to Mr. diGenova, he attended a few of Mr. Spence's parties both as U.S. attorney and after he left the government to enter private practice. He eventually traveled to Japan last December on a business trip with Mr. Spence and Wayne Bishop, chairman of the Washington law firm of Bishop, Cook, Purcell & Reynolds, where Mr. diGenova works.
"When I got back from Japan, some anonymous person suggested that he (Mr. Spence) might be using cocaine. Well, of course my antennae went up right away and I checked those rumors out . . . and found much to my surprise that people suspected the worst," Mr. diGenova said.
At that point, Mr. diGenova said, he severed his relationship with Mr. Spence. "When you compared it to his other eccentric behavior, it made sense. But I had no evidence whatsoever," he said.
Mr. diGenova said he never took his concern that Mr. Spence might be using drugs to authorities.
Others interviewed said they witnessed drug use and other crimes at parties thrown by Mr. Spence but also never shared their observations with law enforcement officials.
The saga of Mr. Spence, described by one friend as "Washington's Jay Gatsby," began unraveling when federal and D.C. police raided a male prostitution ring in Northwest Washington and discovered credit-card vouchers signed by Mr. Spence and others.
But for several years - even as publications such as The New York Times were describing Mr. Spence as Washington's ultimate power broker -acquaintences noticed bizarre behavior.
Mr. Spence was generous with cocaine at his parties, according to several people who said they witnessed drug use at the exclusive Kalorama house.
"I know he was a coke freak," said the business associate who was on the White House tour. "A lot of people saw it. His behavior spoke for itself."
Several friends said Mr. Spence bragged that U.S. military personnel, for whom he had built a gymnasium in El Salvador, had smuggled cocaine back to him when they returned to the United States.
"I heard he was selling drugs, or smuggling drugs into the country from El Salvador," said a friend who worked closely with Mr. Spence. "He went down there two or three times or maybe more. He was trying to interest a Japanese firm with buying a fishery in El Salvador.
"I found out the United Nations had rejected a similar scheme; they found if you put more boats in there the fish would just get smaller. So I told him that it was no good," the former associate said.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials said this week they had no evidence of any such operation.
Others said the drugs came from a more mundane source - midlevel dealers in Northwest Washington.
How a man whom even his closest friends describe as a flawed, malevolent personality managed to court Washington's biggest names is a quintessential Washington story.
Mr. Spence arrived in Washington in the late 1970s. Even intimate friends said his depiction of his background was as shifting as his guest list. What can be confirmed is that he attended Syracuse University and worked as a journalist with ABC in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
One former friend, who became acquainted with Mr. Spence in Tokyo, said that the latter had a "falling out" with ABC News because of his political views. The former friend said Mr. Spence was a hard-line conservative and was opposed to what he described as "the liberal treatment of the news by the network."
Mr. Spence made good contacts in Japan and among Chinese expatriates, often bragging of his close association with former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and appearing in public with a Chinese businessman who once served as an unofficial representative of Communist China in Washington, sources said.
The businessman said this week that he did not know exactly what work Mr. Spence did, but that he often bragged about his contacts with Japanese businessmen and political leaders, particularly Mr. Nakasone.
He described Mr. Spence as "strange," saying that he often boasted that he was working for the CIA and on one occasion said he was going to disappear for awhile "because he had an important CIA assignment."
According to the businessman, Mr. Spence told him that the CIA might "doublecross him," however, and kill him instead "and then to make it look like a suicide."
The businessman also said he attended a birthday bash for Roy Cohn at Mr. Spence's house. He said Mr. Casey was at the party. "One time he stormed into another party with a big, white hat and an entourage of security guards," the businessman said. "It was all rather bizarre."
Mr. Spence's trump card in courting the rich and famous apparently was his access to high-ranking orientals at a moment when Japan was flowering as an economic giant and relations with China were thawing.
"Craig had an interest in the Japanese economy," said Mr. Gordon. "He was very interested in breaking through the bureaucratic level and getting people to come to seminars.
"He developed a kind of genuine and effective influence among important doers and thinkers in Washington and from New York," Mr. Gordon said. "I met some interesting senators and representatives at his parties."
He was doing extensive business with Japan in the early 1980s, some of which former Reagan administration officials said appeared to violate trade laws.
Mr. Gordon said he warned Mr. Spence of the need to be registered as a lobbyist, and documents show that in January 1985 he became a registered agent lobbying for Japanese businesses.
A January 1982 New York Times profile of Mr. Spence was headlined "Have Names, Will Open Right Doors." The article quoted a Washington Post columnist in 1980 saying of Mr. Spence: "Not since Ethel(D-) Kennedy used to give her famous Hickory Hill seminars for great minds of our times during the days of Camelot has anyone staged seminars successfully on a continuing social basis in Washington. That's what Craig Spence has been doing."
Mr. Spence was described in the New York Times as "something of a mystery man who dresses in Edwardian dandy style, a former television correspondent who now wears many hats, including international business consultant, party host, registered foreign agent and something called 'research journalist.' "
Those who knew Mr. Spence best were astonished by his ability to court the rich and powerful.
"He conned people into going to parties - big people, Cabinet members and personalities and so forth," said Mr. Harbin, who wrote research papers that Mr. Spence peddled to Japanese clients.
"Everybody likes to go to a free party around here. He'd have a photographer there, get his photo taken with a great man, and use that," he said.
"He was quite secretive, but from what I could see these things had little or no substance," Mr. Harbin said. "Usually a grain of truth, but he'd build a pile of lies on top of it. Usually he'd start with a photograph of himself with some guy and build a lie around it that he was his top adviser. Nakasone was one."
Mr. Spence also bragged about social companions, telling friends that he had hosted Mr. Cohn, Rock Hudson and others at his Wyoming Avenue home.
The former Reagan administration aide said he decided to sever a friendship with Mr. Spence when he witnessed him trying to force his off-duty military bodyguards into homosexual acts.
"I'm openly gay myself," he said. "Most gays find that type of behavior reprehensible."
Several people who attended Mr. Spence's parties remarked at what one guest called "his personal honor guard." "I don't know where he got them, but he liked to surround himself with tall, handsome, stalwart young men. He liked to surround himself with decorations," one frequent guest said.
Mr. Spence has been living on Massachusetts Avenue in recent months, friends said. His legitimate business contacts have "one by one dropped away," said one close friend.
He has told a number of his friends that he plans to leave the country by Aug. 15. Mr. Spence also has said his health is failing.
"I can unhappily confirm that. He has been in ill health. I am not truly aware of what it is that is wrong with him," said Mr. Gordon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Paul M. Rodriguez contributed to this report.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photo, Power broker Craig J. Spence demonstrated his influence by providing late night strolls through the White House for groups of selected friends., By Richard Kozak/The Washington Times
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
RNC CALLS SCANDAL A 'TRAGIC SITUATION'
George Archibald and Paul M. Rodriguez The Washington Times; Final Section: A Page: A1 Friday, June 30, 1989
Republican and conservative political leaders reacted cautiously yesterday to a report in The Washington Times that key Reagan and Bush administration officials are ensnared in a federal probe of homosexual prostitution.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat and a self-proclaimed homosexual who several weeks ago threatened to reveal a list of Republican homosexuals in Congress, said he was "not surprised" by the revelations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There's no reason for cleaning anybody out (of office because they used homosexual prostitutes)," said Leslie Goodman, a spokeswoman for Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater.
"It's a personal situation. It's a tragic situation if people have to resort to prostitutes," the GOP spokeswoman said. "But there's no standard for people in the federal government that's different than for the average Joe on the street."
However, a top Labor Department adviser to Secretary Elizabeth Dole resigned yesterday after acknowledging to The Times that he had procured male prostitutes and was subjected to blackmail threats by one of the call boys.
In a letter announcing his resignation as Mrs. Dole's political personnel liaison to the White House, Paul R. Balach wrote: "I hereby resign my position this date due to the public disclosure of activities concerning my personal life."
Mr. Balach said in an interview late yesterday he was told by the department's solicitor, Robert Davis, he must either resign or be fired. He said he was not allowed to talk to Mrs. Dole about the matter.
"They said they reached this decision with a great deal of pain because I was a valued employee. But they thought that the cloud surrounding me would not allow me to continue to hold a political job in the administration," he said.
"I think they are protecting Elizabeth, and frankly I would do the same thing," Mr. Balach said. "I live paycheck to paycheck. They promised me that they would try and find me another position somewhere in the government, but I just don't know. . . . Somebody else is going to clean out my office. They didn't want me to come back into the office."
According to documents obtained by The Times, the homosexual prostitution ring includes not only Reagan and Bush administration officials but military officers, congressional aides and U.S. and foreign businessmen with close social ties to Washington's political elite.
U.S. Attorney Jay B. Stephens confirmed in a statement yesterday that his office "has been investigating allegations involving credit card fraud" following a Feb. 28 raid on the call boy ring's Northwest Washington headquarters. But Mr. Stephens refused to discuss the matter further.
A Justice Department spokesman said the investigation was being led by the Secret Service.
But the spokesman denied that the government was investigating the possibility that homosexuals who held senior posts during the Reagan administration were compromised by blackmail or by Soviet agents who may have used young male prostitutes for espionage purposes.
The White House distanced itself yesterday from reports that top-level Republican officeholders and Pentagon brass were involved in the homosexual prostitution ring.
"I don't know anything about it," said White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater. "Nothing at all."
At the Pentagon, spokesman Pete Williams, commenting on The Times' article, said he was unaware of any Defense Department investigation into credit card fraud or homosexual conduct by members of the military.
Democratic National Committee officials declined to comment on GOP involvement with the call boy ring.
But Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat and a self-proclaimed homosexual who several weeks ago threatened to reveal a list of Republican homosexuals in Congress, said he was "not surprised" by the revelations.
Because almost all Republican homosexuals are "in the closet," Mr. Frank said, "there's an impression that there aren't any Republicans. . . . This is the proof of the prejudice in our community."
Bias that forces homosexuals to maintain secrecy about their sexual orientation is an "obvious waste of human talent," he said. "People ought to be judged by their work, not whether they are gay. The whole blackmail issue wouldn't exist if we didn't have this fear of homosexuals."
The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and the Human Rights Campaign Fund, a gay and lesbian civil rights group, echoed Mr. Frank's remarks.
"The Washington Times story is a rank attempt to sensationalize a fact that should come as no surprise to anybody: that there are gay people in the Republican Party and in this Republican administration," the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force said in a statement. "The story The Times does not tell is the story of the repression and fear that still mars the lives of gay individuals in politics."
The group also challenged the possibility raised in The Times' story of threats to national security from the blackmail of homosexuals in sensitive government positions, saying there has never been "even one single documented case of gay-related espionage" in the past 40 years.
In Republican political circles, there is a clear division between those who want to clean out homosexuals from government and "more pragmatic types" who are tolerant of their private behavior but hate any kind of scandal that will hurt the party, said one close adviser to Mr. Atwater.
"The pragmatists want it (disclosures of the homosexual prostitution ring) to go away. They hope there's no more to come," the adviser said.
"I had no idea such stuff was going on," said Morton Blackwell, president of The Leadership Institute, which gives political training to young Republicans.
"I think it is time to sit down and write a paper for young conservatives who are washed over by all of this propaganda saying some people are naturally, genetically irresistably inclined to this kind of (homosexual) behavior," Mr. Blackwell said.
"We Republicans stand for traditional values and cannot continue to stand if we fall significantly away from them," he said.
"If this (The Times' disclosures) proves to be true, then it would explain a certain resistance to pro-family policies on the part of the Reagan administration which were popular and in the interests of the administration," said Paul Weyrich, president of Coalitions for America.
"You can understand an administration's reluctance to get involved in something if they're going to have to pay dearly to be on the unpopular side of an issue," he said.
"But it is hard to understand why they would resist certain policy decisions which were popular with the public and which were in the national interest: for example, treating AIDS as a public health issue and requiring testing, which was vehemently opposed at the policy level of the administration,."
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
White House mute on 'call boy' probe
Frank J. Murray The Washington Times; Part A; Pg. A1
July 7, 1989, Friday, Final Edition
Administration officials continued yesterday to stonewall reporters on the growing federal "call boy" investigation, apparently hoping the scandal will fade before President Bush is asked his view of a late-night White House tour that reportedly included two male prostitutes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mr. Bush knows about the story. Yes he does. He's aware of the story," said one White House source who, like virtually all the others, insisted on anonymity.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady, who heads the Secret Service, reluctantly conceded yesterday at the White House that the agency is looking into the July 3, 1988, tour - one of several arranged by a Secret Service officer for lobbyist Craig J. Spence.
Meanwhile, White House sources confirmed that President Bush has followed the stories of the late-night visit and Mr. Spence's links to a homosexual prostitution ring under investigation by federal authorities since they were disclosed June 29 in The Washington Times. But top officials won't discuss the stories' substance, reportedly even among themselves.
"Mr. Bush knows about the story. Yes he does. He's aware of the story," said one White House source who, like virtually all the others, insisted on anonymity.
Press officers have rebuffed repeated requests to obtain Mr. Bush's reaction and decline to discuss investigations or fallout from the disclosures.
"I don't have anything on that," said Deputy Press Secretary B. Jay Cooper, the latest member of the press office to respond.
"There's no gain in talking about it," explained an official who declined to be quoted by name. "It only makes the story grow and helps keep it alive."
The president has not had "serious discussion" about the reports even with his most senior aides, including Chief of Staff John Sununu, according to another source.
Reports on the matter have been included in the Daily Press Summary, a comprehensive half-inch-thick digest of print and broadcast media stories and editorials prepared by a division of the White House press office for the president and aides throughout the complex.
Because the summary is an internal document, officials would not disclose its reports on the news stories. One official said, "I'm sure that the story was summarized, but the president also reads The Washington Times and The Washington Post."
Mr. Brady, the ranking administration official to speak publicly about the episode, appeared nonplussed when asked yesterday about Reginald A. deGueldre, a uniformed White House officer who moonlighted as Mr. Spence's bodyguard and arranged the late-night White House tours.
"Sir, were any Secret Service policies violated by Officer deGueldre's moonlighting relationship with Craig Spence, and, if so, what actions have you taken to correct that?" he was asked.
"Would you repeat that again?" Mr. Brady requested.
"Yes, sir, I'm talking about the UD [Uniformed Division] officer, Reginald deGueldre, who was working moonlighting for Craig Spence and who arranged the tours for him. I'm wondering if any Secret Service policies are violated by such moonlighting, and whether these visits to the White House are . . ."
Mr. Brady interrupted at that point and said, "I can't give you a precise answer on that now. We'll certainly look into it."
"You don't know if your own Secret Service is conducting an investigation into something that's been this prominent?" the secretary was then asked.
"I am sure they're looking into it," he said. "The nature of that investigation I cannot report to you at this time."
A Treasury Department spokeswoman said later, "The director of the Secret Service is looking into whether or not any policies have been violated" by the moonlighting or admission of outsiders to the White House compound.
She said neither Mr. Brady nor the Secret Service would comment on additional matters involved in a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the homosexual prostitution ring that Mr. Spence patronized.
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater and several of his deputies have said repeatedly that they do not know if Mr. Bush considered it appropriate for male prostitutes to be touring the White House at 1 a.m.
Yesterday, while talking informally to several reporters at the White House, Mr. Fitzwater parried one question this way: "What are they saying, that you should have sexual-preference checks on people that come into the White House?"
He also said, "We don't have any involvement that I know of."
Although he has talked repeatedly to individual reporters, including those for The Washington Times, Mr. Fitzwater has not held a general briefing since before the prostitution ring stories broke, largely because of the holiday weekend and because administration experts gave briefings on Mr. Bush's European trip, which begins Sunday.
The last of those briefings was scheduled for today, but Mr. Fitzwater reportedly was considering holding a general briefing as well, his first in nine days.
Mr. Fitzwater and his staff have declined consistently to say if they would take the question to Mr. Bush, a practice done only rarely and generally only on matters they expect the president might be willing to discuss.
One senior official, who insisted on anonymity, said it was unlikely any staff member would ask Mr. Bush such a question, discounting any threats to security and portraying it as a sordid sex matter beneath presidential dignity.
Photo, Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady concedes a probe is under way., Photo by Kevin T. Gilbert/The Washington Times,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spence was target before raid on ring
Jerry Seper, and Michael Hedges The Washington Times; Part A; Pg. A1 July 10, 1989, Monday, Final Edition; Correction Appended
Craig J. Spence, the Washington lobbyist and power broker, was the subject of a Secret Service investigation even before a February raid on a homosexual prostitution ring to which he has been linked, The Washington Times has learned.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Spence arranged at least four midnight tours of the White House, including one June 29, 1988, on which he took with him a 15-year-old boy whom he falsely identified as his son.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Secret Service last week expanded its investigation with inquiries about friends and associates of Mr. Spence.
Two of those friends are former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing, a former deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division.
During interviews last week with friends and associates of Mr. Spence, the Secret Service made copies of photographs from a July 4, 1988, party showing him mugging for the camera with Mr. diGenova and Miss Toensing, who in one photo is draped in an American flag.
It was on that same weekend that Mr. Spence arranged a 1 a.m. tour of the White House, which one participant said included two male prostitutes.
The Secret Service also wants to talk to Mr. Spence, but has been unable to locate him, according to persons the agents have interviewed.
Mr. diGenova couldn't be reached yesterday for comment. He has been interviewed twice by The Times over the past two weeks. In the first conversation, he described a fleeting contact with Mr. Spence which, he said, was based solely on mutual business interests.
In a second conversation, he said he attended a few of Mr. Spence's parties, as U.S. attorney and later after he left the government to enter private law practice. He eventually traveled to Japan last December on a business trip with Mr. Spence and Wayne Bishop, chairman of the Washington law firm of Bishop, Cook, Purcell & Reynolds, where Mr. diGenova works. Business contacts made on the trip proved fruitful and are still being pursued, he said.
"When I got back from Japan, some anonymous person suggested that he [Mr. Spence] might be using cocaine. Well, of course my antennae went up right away, and I checked those rumors out . . . and found much to my surprise that people suspected the worst," Mr. diGenova said.
At that point, Mr. diGenova said, he severed his relationship with Mr. Spence. He said he didn't report his findings or concerns to authorities.
Although the Secret Service hasn't said what sparked its interest in Mr. Spence, one of the persons questioned by the Secret Service said investigators appeared to be "interested" in the connections the lobbyist had made.
The Secret Service was the lead agency in a Feb. 28 raid on a house on 34th Place NW used by a homosexual prostitution ring, a ring with which Mr. Spence spent up to $20,000 a month, according to call boys, his friends and documents obtained by The Times.
The federal investigation, headed by the office of U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens and conducted by Secret Service agents, appears to be aimed at determining whether Reagan and Bush administration officials and others were compromised by Mr. Spence, through the use of female and male prostitutes and with electronic audio and video eavesdropping at parties at his house in the fashionable Kalorama neighborhood in Northwest Washington.
Another focus of the probe, persons interviewed by the Secret Service have told this newspaper, is whether White House security was compromised by the late-night tours arranged by Mr. Spence.
Mr. Stephens has said only that his office is investigating "possible credit-card fraud" in connection with arrests made in the 34th Place raid. But numerous sources have told The Times that the Secret Service is asking about Mr. Spence's activities.
Secret Service agents on Friday also asked a former Spence colleague detailed questions about attempts by the lobbyist to obtain information about the Delta Force, an elite U.S. commando team involved in top-secret military operations.
The former friend said Mr. Spence had given a gold Rolex watch to a highly decorated Vietnam veteran who is now associated with Army anti-terrorist units. Later, according to the former friend, Mr. Spence alluded to the gift of the watch and asked the veteran detailed questions about the Delta Force operations.
The Vietnam veteran was one of six persons on the July 3 White House tour, arranged by Mr. Spence. A uniformed Secret Service guard, who admitted the group to the White House and served as an unofficial host, also told The Times that he had received a gold Rolex watch worth about $8,000 from Mr. Spence but said Mr. Spence had asked for nothing in return.
Mr. Spence collected key officials of the Reagan and Bush administrations, media celebrities and high-ranking military officers, among others, for his glittery dinner parties at his Kalorama home. According to friends, visitors to Mr. Spence's Wyoming Avenue NW house and records, the host eavesdropped on some gatherings to compromise guests and blackmailed some associates with threats to disclose their indiscretions.
Efforts to reach Mr. Spence during the past three weeks have been unsuccesful. He telephoned The Times on June 29 in response to a telefaxed message but hung up when asked about his activities. His fax machine number has since been disconnected.
Mr. diGenova was nominated by President Reagan to be U.S. attorney in 1983. Prior to that, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Washington office, chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Rules Committee and chief minority counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In 1981, as chief counsel for the Senate Rules Committee, Mr. diGenova was responsible for overseeing the Reagan transition after Republicans gained control of the Senate in the 1980 elections. From June 1975 to April 1976, Mr. diGenova was counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the so-called Church Committee that investigated allegations of CIA and FBI wrongdoing.
Mr. diGenova announced his resignation as U.S. attorney in January 1988, and he left office to begin his private practice on March 1.
Miss Toensing, who also is in private practice, was chief counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1981 to 1984 when she resigned to join the Justice Department as a deputy assistant attorney general.
At Justice, she headed the criminal division's procurement fraud unit and was instrumental in a number of high-profile indictments, including several involving General Dynamics. She also was responsible for the investigation and prosecution of terrorists.
A number of photographs, including more than a dozen from the 1 a.m. White House tour, were taken over the July Fourth weekend in 1988 by a participant in Mr. Spence's revelries. The photos, copies of which were obtained last week by The Times, have been reviewed by the Secret Service.
Of the several snapshots of the July 4, 1988, tour reviewed by the Secret Service, only two - both of which included Mr. diGenova and his wife - were copied.
Craig Spence was a registered lobbyist for several Japanese firms through 1987 and established close friendships with a number of leading Japanese politicians, including Motoo Shiina, considered by Tokyo analysts to be an inside favorite to replace scandal-plagued Sousuke Uno as prime minister.
Mr. Spence and Mr. Shiina were embroiled in a real estate deal involving the house in Kalorama, a two-story Victorian showpiece valued last year by real estate agents at $1.15 million.
By the time a lawsuit filed by Mr. Shiina over the property was settled, the Japanese official had admitted in court papers to giving Mr. Spence $345,000 in cash.
Mr. Spence has told several current and former friends that he obtained the money to buy the house by blackmailing Mr. Shiina. Mr. Shiina has denied he was blackmailed by Mr. Spence.
The lobbyist moved in November 1988 from the Kalorama house, on Wyoming Avenue, to an apartment on Massachusetts Avenue NW, but apparently his operations remained unchanged.
A female prostitute who worked for the escort service that supplied Mr. Spence with call boys, said he hired her to have sex with young military men in his part-time employ.
The prostitute, describing herself as retired, said Mr. Spence ordered her to engage in those assignations in certain specific locations in his Massachusetts Avenue apartment, enabling him to eavesdrop on the encounters. One of her clients, an enlisted man stationed at a local Army base, confirmed that he worked for Mr. Spence, and the prostitute's account.
"Some of the men were married," she said. "They told me he was using what I did with them against them."
Once, Mr. Spence's influence with the Washington power elite appeared almost limitless, demonstrated by his ability to arrange midnight tours of the White House. The Times has confirmed that Mr. Spence arranged at least four midnight tours of the White House, including one June 29, 1988, on which he took with him a 15-year-old boy whom he falsely identified as his son.
One man Mr. Spence apparently cultivated was a uniformed Secret Service officer assigned to the midnight shift at the White House. The officer, Reginald A. deGueldre, was interrogated for more than 10 hours last week about his association with Mr. Spence. Five Secret Service agents, armed with search warrants, searched his house for nearly two hours Friday night, although they wouldn't say what they were looking for. The agents seized several photographs from Mr. deGueldre's home.
Mr. deGueldre said he has been told he will be called to testify before a federal grand jury. According to one law enforcement official, Mr. deGueldre failed the portion of a polygraph test involving favors he may have done for Mr. Spence.
Photo, In a snapshot copied by the Secret Service, Craig J. Spence (right) and former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova watch Mr. diGenova's wife, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Victoria Toensing, clown at a party.; Photo, Reginald A. deGauldre, a uniformed Secret Service officer, holds the door to the White House open for two of the six persons who were given a tour at 1 a.m. on July 3, 1988. The tour, arranged by Craig J. Spence, is the subject of a Secret Service probe. The photo was taken by another tour pa[rticipant.]
CORRECTION-DATE: July 14, 1989, Friday, Final Edition
CORRECTION:
Due to an editing error, a story Monday in The Washington Times incorrectly said that photographs of former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing, an ex-deputy assistant attorney general, were taken during a July 3, 1988, tour of the White House arranged by former Washington lobbyist Craig J. Spence.
Mr. diGenova and Ms. Toensing did not go on the July 3 tour, which, according to one participant included two male prositutes. However, the couple did attend a party at Mr. Spence's house on the same weekend, during which the photographs were taken.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spence ma[y] be Shiina's downfall
Edward Neilan The Washington Times, Part A; Pg. A1 July 18, 1989, Tuesday, Final Edition
TOKYO
apanese nuclear-physicist-turned-politician Motoo Shiina has been described here as "a good friend of the United States" - and as a shrewd businessman who may have passed U.S. aerospace secrets to the Soviet Union.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The magazine "Shukan Shincho," a popular weekly, raised past allegations that Mr. Shiina leaked sensitive U.S. information to the Soviet Union - allegations the magazine said have never been explained.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Shiina, 54, a member of Japan's lower House of Representatives, has been keeping an extremely low profile lately amid a swirling scandal involving his relationship with Craig J. Spence, a onetime U.S. lobbyist for Japan and business associate of Mr. Shiina's.
Mr. Shiina has declined to answer telephone inquiries on his dealings with Mr. Spence, but has responded cautiously to direct questions through a lawyer, Chikahiko Soda. The questions have dealt mainly with a loan by Mr. Shiina to Mr. Spence to purchase the Wyoming Avenue NW house where homosexual parties took place.
"If his [Mr. Shiina's] involvement in any of this is true, then it would create a serious political problem for Shiina and his political life will probably be damaged considerably," said Hisao Imai, a well-known Japanese political commentator.
Mr. Imai, head of the Japan Commentators Association and a former political editor of Sankei Shimbun newspaper, said yesterday that there is hope among younger ruling Liberal Democratic Party members that Mr. Shiina will be a future party leader or even prime minister.
"If we lose him, this is a great loss not only for the LDP [the ruling Liberal Democratic Party] but for the nation," Mr. Imai said.
"The reason that Mr. Shiina is touted as a rising star is that he has been previously untainted by any scandal and he is an internationalist," said another political commentator, Kan Ito.
With his own independent style of diplomacy he has established himself as a leading expert on U.S.-Japan relations, analysts said.
Although several Diet members speaking anonymously yesterday described Mr. Shiina as a "true internationalist" and "good friend of the United States," one Japanese magazine came close to calling him a spy for the Soviet Union.
The magazine "Shukan Shincho," a popular weekly, raised past allegations that Mr. Shiina leaked sensitive U.S. information to the Soviet Union - allegations the magazine said have never been explained.
The magazine quoted a newsman covering the Japan Defense Agency as saying that General Dynamics Corp. in 1979 allowed Mr. Shiina to photograph on microfilm specifications of the new F-16 fighter.
In exchange, the newsman was quoted as saying, Mr. Shiina agreed to lobby for the company's involvement in the joint U.S.-Japan production of the FSX jet fighter.
The magazine noted that stories surfaced in Japan that the technical data of the F-16 was leaked to the Soviet Union by "the son of an influential Japanese politician." No name was given, but the magazine followed with a description of Mr. Shiina's father, the late Etsusaburo Shiina, who was a former LDP kingmaker and holder of several key Cabinet posts.
But Mr. Ito said yesterday, "Any charges that he is soft on the Soviet Union doesn't add up in my opinion. He's always speaking out about the Soviet buildup in Northeast Asia."
Mr. Ito also said, "Mr. Shiina is regarded as well-informed on foreign affairs and defense matters and has been known to criticize both ruling and opposition members for talking nonsense on those subjects in the Diet."
Mr. Imai said political circles around Nagatacho - the Tokyo area akin to Washington's Capitol Hill - are talking more and more these days about stories in The Washington Times about Mr. Spence and Mr. Shiina.
He said some rumors hold that the Central Intelligence Agency cooked up the whole thing to discredit Mr. Shiina.
"I hope Mr. Shiina is not such a bad guy as was described in recent Japanese periodicals' reports," said Mr. Imai. "It has been believed that he will sooner or later become foreign minister. But because of this scandalous news, he may have some difficulties in reaching a Cabinet post or beyond.
"The news that Mr. Shiina was closely associated with Mr. Spence was quite a shock to LDP members and those in the Diet. But a possible examination into the matter will not come before the July 23 Upper House elections for which they are waging an unprecedentedly defensive campaign," he said.
An article profiling Mr. Shiina published 10 years ago in The Daily Yomiuri English-language newspaper began:
" 'What should I say about myself?' he asks smilingly, taking a slow, deep drag at his cigarette between sips of hot, steaming coffee which Hideko, his charming wife, had served. Meanwhile, outside, the gently falling snow had blanketed Shiina's quite ample garden, giving up an impression of serene quiet.
"In his well-modulated voice, Motoo talked of what he calls his 'humble' existence.
"Not so, for this diminutive (5 feet, 5 inches) man has been his father's active and devoted campaigner for a number of years. His father is Etsusaburo Shiina, former vice-president of the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, Diet member, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, ex-Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and ex-Minister of Finance."
The article said Mr. Shiina spent his campus days at Nagoya University, graduating in 1954 with a major in nuclear physics, a field in which he was awarded a scholarship by the U.S. State Department for one-year's study of nuclear reactors at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago.
Leaving his infant daughter behind with his mother, a friend was found to sponsor Hideko's stay in the United States. "It was quite tough for both of us, but somehow we managed," he told The Daily Yomiuri, crediting his success to his wife's devotion and care.
On his return to Japan in 1954, the younger Shiina set up his own company which manufactures precision instruments. He founded two other companies, one a joint venture with an American firm, according to newspaper reports that provided no additional details.
Mr. Shiina's lawyer said yesterday of his client's business affairs, only that he resigned as an officer of the Tokyo-registered company Samutaku Co. Ltd. on becoming a Diet member in 1979 but still holds a large number of shares in the company and remains an adviser.
In addition, Mr. Shiina in 1979 was a board member of two non-profit organizations - the World Economic Information Service and the Asian Club, the latter funded by MITI.
Mr. Shiina told a reporter at the time that World Economic Information Service collates and studies economic information from all over the world for the guidance of the Japanese government and business world."
The Asian Club, established in 1975, aimed at "promoting economic goals." Mr. Shiina told an interviewer prior to his first election that he devoted much time to a private organization called Participation which sent out Japanese artists and musicians to various Southeast Asian countries.
On July 5, The Washington Times published a story describing a business deal between Mr. Shiina and Mr. Spence in which the latter made more than $700,000 in four years working for Mr. Shiina's Policy Study Group.
Mr. Spence also bought a Kalorama house using cash loaned to him by Mr. Shiina. When he refused to pay back the loan, Mr. Shiina sued.
* Special correspondent Hiroyasu Tomaru contributed to this report.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
First lady not worried about hookers' tour of White House
Paul Bedard The Washington Times; Part A; WORLD; Pg. A10 July 10, 1989, Monday, Final Edition
WARSAW, POLAND
First lady Barbara Bush said yesterday that the Secret Service investigation of a late night White House tour that reportedly included two male prostitutes has not raised security questions the first family is worried about.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mrs. Bush added that "I'm not into all of this" and said it was "good" that The Washington Post wasn't following The Times' story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking publicly for the first time about the July 3, 1988, tour arranged by former Washington lobbyist Craig J. Spence, Mrs. Bush said she and her husband have no fears of a security breach.
"Not at all," she told reporters on Air Force One shortly after it took off from Andrews Air Force Base en route here for the first leg of a 10-day European trip by President Bush.
Mrs. Bush, noting that she reads all of the stories printed in the Daily Press Summary, a half-inch thick digest of stories in the print and electronic media, said the reports about the scandal uncovered by The Washington Times haven't alarmed her.
"There haven't been a lot of stories in our house about it," she said.
Mrs. Bush added that "I'm not into all of this" and said it was "good" that The Washington Post wasn't following The Times' story.
Ever since The Times first reported the tour on June 29, the White House has avoided comment. Last week, Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady, who heads the Secret Service, reluctantly confirmed reports of a Secret Service investigation.
Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the service hasn't raised security concerns for the White House as a result of the probe.
White House officials have said that the midnight tours such as those arranged for Mr. Spence do not threaten the First Family's security because they are allowed only in office areas and not the residence.
The tours for Mr. Spence, who has been linked to a federal investigation of a Washington homosexual prostitution ring that catered to government, media and business officials, were set up by Reginald A. deGueldre, a uniformed White House officer who moonlighted as the lobbyist's bodyguard.
Mr. Fitzwater said the Secret Service is "looking into the action" of the officer.
White House officials have said any staff member with the proper credentials such as those held by Mr. deGueldre can give private tours, and after-hours tours are encouraged because they don't disturb those working during the day. The tours commonly include a view of the Oval Office.
"I think they've [The Times] overblown the White House angle. No one knows who these guys are," said one administration official, referring to the associates of Mr. Spence named so far in The Times.
But, he added, the White House continues to closely follow the story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Secret Service furloughs third White House guard
Jerry Seper, and Michael Hedges The Washington Times; Part A; NATION; Pg. A3 July 26, 1989, Wednesday, Final Edition
The Secret Service, looking into possible security breaches at the White House during late-night tours arranged by former Washington lobbyist Craig J. Spence, has placed a third White House guard on administrative leave.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The June 29 tour, according to several of Mr. Spence's friends, occurred after the Washington lobbyist visited the ABC television studios of Nightline and introduced a 15-year-old boy, identified as his son, Will, to anchorman Ted Koppel.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Secret Service officials also interviewed a captain on the White House security detail for more than seven hours over the weekend, although he remains on the job, according to law enforcement officials.
The reason for the lengthy questioning of Capt. Joseph Shober - four hours Saturday and three hours Sunday - was not immediately known, and Capt. Shober was not available yesterday for comment.
He was the supervisor of Officer Reginald A. deGueldre and the other suspended officers during the period when the late-night White House tours, including one July 3, 1988, that reportedly included two male prostitutes, occurred, officials said.
The uniformed Secret Service officer who was placed on administrative leave Monday night, whom Secret Service spokesman Rich Adams refused to identify, worked some of the same midnight shifts as Officer deGueldre and another uniformed guard placed on administrative leave last week.
Mr. Adams also declined to comment on why the third officer was relieved of his duties or why Capt. Shober was questioned. "This is an internal matter and beyond that I just can't comment," he said. "It is an ongoing investigation, and we are talking to a number of people. Just because we're talking to someone does not make them a subject of the investigation."
The Secret Service investigation, authorities said, is aimed at determining if White House security was breached during late-night tours arranged by Mr. Spence and attended by several of his friends.
One law enforcement official said that, while many Secret Service officers and others have taken relatives and friends through the White House on special tours, they usually occur between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., and that 1 a.m. tours - as arranged by Mr. Spence - are "totally out of the ordinary."
Officer deGueldre has acknowledged knowing Mr. Spence and attending parties the Washington lobbyist held at his Wyoming Avenue mansion. The officer also admitted during interrogation by the Secret Service, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, that he removed valuable china and other items from the White House, some of which ended up in Mr. Spence's house.
Officer deGueldre also told The Washington Times he had accepted an $8,000 gold Rolex watch from Mr. Spence. It is not clear what Mr. deGueldre did for Mr. Spence, if anything, or what favors might have been expected.
The officer has denied any wrongdoing.
Mr. Spence's name surfaced following a Feb. 28 raid by the Secret Service, Metropolitan Police and U.S. marshals on a house at 6004 34th Place NW, where a homosexual prostitution ring was operating. Credit card vouchers showed that the lobbyist, who has worked as a registered foreign agent for various Japanese organizations, spent as much as $20,000 a month on call boy services.
Mr. Spence has not been available for comment.
Alleged credit card fraud involving a number of escort services that sent male prostitutes to the 34th Place house is currently under investigation by the office of U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens. Mr. Stephens has declined to discuss the matter.
The Secret Service has jurisdiction over credit card crimes.
According to several people who were on the White House tours arranged by Mr. Spence, the Washington lobbyist put together at least four tours of the presidential mansion last year, two of which - June 29 and Nov. 22 - he attended personally.
The June 29 tour, according to several of Mr. Spence's friends, occurred after the Washington lobbyist visited the ABC television studios of Nightline and introduced a 15-year-old boy, identified as his son, Will, to anchorman Ted Koppel.
Several of the persons who went on the White House tours have been interviewed by the Secret Service about Mr. deGueldre and Mr. Spence. Those interviewed said investigators were concerned about possible security breaches and about Mr. Spence's connections to well-placed military and government officials, but that the agents did not elaborate.
One tour participant said some of the items allegedly taken out of the White House by Mr. deGueldre might have been smuggled out during at least one of the Spence-arranged tours. The participant said Mr. deGueldre handed over a sealed box containing "somethign that rolled around" and asked that it be hand-delivered to Mr. Spence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A portion of the editorial said: ''One child, who has been under psychiatric care, is said to believe that she saw George Bush at one of King's parties. This is the same person whose story of a severed head was looked into. Neither tale could be verified.''
That sounds familiar, Satanism, child abuse, and grave desecration is not new.... We hear about it in the news and we see some kid dressed in black with suicidal lyrics.. but where did they learn this behaviour?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEX PARTY HELD AT AUSSIE EMBASSY 'WE'RE NOT TALKING CROCODILE DUNDEE HERE'
Michael Hedges and Jerry Seper Washington Times; Final Section: A Page: A1 Friday, July 28, 1989
Three female prostitutes took part in a sex party at the Australian Embassy in November that included several members of the embassy staff, according to one of the women involved who worked for an escort service now under federal investigation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She said she had been to Mr. Spence's house on at least four occasions and that during each visit she had sex with young soldiers whom Mr. Spence bragged he was blackmailing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The prostitutes had sex with at least three men each during the party that lasted a little longer than three hours, said the woman. She said she was paid $800 in "crisp, new $100 bills" after the job.
The young blonde former prostitute, who asked that she not be identified, described the men she had sex with as middle-aged, adding, "We're not talking Crocodile Dundee here."
The escort service which employed the woman is one of several tied to a Washington area homosexual prostitution ring that serviced officials of the Reagan and Bush administrations, military officers, media representatives, lawyers, businessmen and others.
The former prostitute also said she had sexual encounters with U.S. military personnel at the behest of former Washington lobbyist Craig J. Spence, a major client of the male call-boy ring, and with a high-ranking Canadian diplomat at his waterfront Georgetown home.
She provided details
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment