Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America by Craig Shirley Page B
Authors: Craig Shirley
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Seigenthaler, Bill Schulz, and others. Corbin, at various times, admitted directly or at least hinted that he'd stolen the briefing books. Vice President Cheney recalled that his former aide the late Tim Wyngaard had said that Corbin had told him of passing the briefing books to Bill Casey; Wyngaard himself told this to the congressional investigating committee headed by Democratic congressman Don Albosta. Casey gave up Corbin's name to the Albosta committee in early July 1983, but said that Corbin had given him only “some material,” not the actual briefing books. Corbin denied having given Casey the books, natch.
Jim Baker told the Albosta committee in 1983 that Bill Casey had “indicated to me” that Corbin “might have been a source” for the books. When I interviewed Baker, he said Dick Cheney had told him that Corbin had taken the briefing books, and we joked about the statute of limitations.
Plus, I knew Paul Corbin. Paul Corbin was a friend of mine. For years, we played together in a weekly poker game, and while he never came right out and told us that he'd stolen the debate books, none of us doubted for a moment that he did it and did it willingly, happy to stick it to Carter. Diogenes' lamp would have never shone on Corbin.
Corbin did deny in a sworn statement to the Albosta committee that he'd given the briefing books to the Reagan campaign. But lying to federal officials wasold-hat for Corbin. As Time magazine politely said, his “reputation for veracity is uneven.”
How Corbin got the briefing books out of a sensitive area of the Carter White House is less clear.
In 1983, when the story of the stolen books broke out, the Reagan White House reviewed the guest logs for the Carter White House for the fall of 1980. They did not show a “Paul Corbin” signing in, but security in those days was extremely lax.
Laurie Lucey has been the subject of quiet rumors of involvement for years because of her friendship with Corbin and because she worked in the Carter White House. When I interviewed her in 2008, Lucey repeatedly and emphatically denied playing a role in the briefing-books escapade. She actually left the Carter White House in the fall of 1979, almost a year before the debate books were stolen, and it seems improbable that she would have been able to get back inside the White House complex, given the bad blood between her father, Pat Lucey, and Jimmy Carter.
However, John Seigenthaler told me that he felt Laurie Lucey might have been some sort of “go-between,” saying, “There is no other way.” The courtly, elderly man also believed that Carter aide Bob Dunn had a role. Seigenthaler is not alone in thinking this. Dunn knew Corbin. He was also a protégé of Pat Lucey. Indeed, he had worked for Lucey in Mexico and in Madison, Wisconsin. But surprisingly, Dunn went to work in the Carter White House just as Lucey was resigning as ambassador to Mexico to join Ted Kennedy's campaign in the fall of 1979.
The FBI tracked Dunn down in San Francisco in 1983, but according to Dunn, the agent never even asked him about his relationship of long standing with Corbin. Dunn expressed amusement to the Washington Post that the FBI agent knew so little about the case.
When I finally interviewed Dunn after trying repeatedly over three years to speak with him, he denied any role in the heist.
In the exhaustive search for the full story, I attempted to interview Wilma Hall, a secretary in the Carter White House and later the Reagan White House. She refused to talk. Her daughter later worked as an aide to Colonel Oliver North, author of the Iran-Contra scandal. Name of her daughter? Fawn Hall.
The receptionist at the Reagan campaign, Justine Marks, told investigators in 1983 that she recalled a “young, clean-cut man” delivering to the headquarters a package of materials that resembled the Carter briefing books. She said that she did not remember much about the incident or the person. When asked
Jim Baker told the Albosta committee in 1983 that Bill Casey had “indicated to me” that Corbin “might have been a source” for the books. When I interviewed Baker, he said Dick Cheney had told him that Corbin had taken the briefing books, and we joked about the statute of limitations.
Plus, I knew Paul Corbin. Paul Corbin was a friend of mine. For years, we played together in a weekly poker game, and while he never came right out and told us that he'd stolen the debate books, none of us doubted for a moment that he did it and did it willingly, happy to stick it to Carter. Diogenes' lamp would have never shone on Corbin.
Corbin did deny in a sworn statement to the Albosta committee that he'd given the briefing books to the Reagan campaign. But lying to federal officials wasold-hat for Corbin. As Time magazine politely said, his “reputation for veracity is uneven.”
How Corbin got the briefing books out of a sensitive area of the Carter White House is less clear.
In 1983, when the story of the stolen books broke out, the Reagan White House reviewed the guest logs for the Carter White House for the fall of 1980. They did not show a “Paul Corbin” signing in, but security in those days was extremely lax.
Laurie Lucey has been the subject of quiet rumors of involvement for years because of her friendship with Corbin and because she worked in the Carter White House. When I interviewed her in 2008, Lucey repeatedly and emphatically denied playing a role in the briefing-books escapade. She actually left the Carter White House in the fall of 1979, almost a year before the debate books were stolen, and it seems improbable that she would have been able to get back inside the White House complex, given the bad blood between her father, Pat Lucey, and Jimmy Carter.
However, John Seigenthaler told me that he felt Laurie Lucey might have been some sort of “go-between,” saying, “There is no other way.” The courtly, elderly man also believed that Carter aide Bob Dunn had a role. Seigenthaler is not alone in thinking this. Dunn knew Corbin. He was also a protégé of Pat Lucey. Indeed, he had worked for Lucey in Mexico and in Madison, Wisconsin. But surprisingly, Dunn went to work in the Carter White House just as Lucey was resigning as ambassador to Mexico to join Ted Kennedy's campaign in the fall of 1979.
The FBI tracked Dunn down in San Francisco in 1983, but according to Dunn, the agent never even asked him about his relationship of long standing with Corbin. Dunn expressed amusement to the Washington Post that the FBI agent knew so little about the case.
When I finally interviewed Dunn after trying repeatedly over three years to speak with him, he denied any role in the heist.
In the exhaustive search for the full story, I attempted to interview Wilma Hall, a secretary in the Carter White House and later the Reagan White House. She refused to talk. Her daughter later worked as an aide to Colonel Oliver North, author of the Iran-Contra scandal. Name of her daughter? Fawn Hall.
The receptionist at the Reagan campaign, Justine Marks, told investigators in 1983 that she recalled a “young, clean-cut man” delivering to the headquarters a package of materials that resembled the Carter briefing books. She said that she did not remember much about the incident or the person. When asked
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