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[John] Roberts called slain congressman 'publicity hound'
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| Contributor | Servo |
| Last Edited | Servo Oct 19, 2007 04:07pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Thursday, September 1, 2005 10:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | As a young White House lawyer, U.S. Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. referred to a congressman murdered in 1978 while trying to rescue members of the Peoples Temple cult as a "publicity hound."
Roberts used that characterization in a Nov. 18, 1983, memo finding "no legal objection" to President Ronald Reagan signing legislation to honor the late Congressman Leo Ryan, a Democrat from San Mateo County, with a Congressional Gold Medal.
Ryan was ambushed and killed while trying to return home from Guyana with 18 members of the cult, which was led by the Rev. Jim Jones.
Jones then called for a mass suicide in which more than 900 people died drinking cyanide-laced punch. Jones was found dead with a bullet in his head.
"I am not certain I would have voted to give a gold medal to Ryan," Roberts wrote to Patrick Buchanan, then the White House communications director. "The distinction of his service in the House is certainly subject to debate, and his actions leading to his murder can be viewed as those of a publicity hound." |
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