“All the NewsrnUnfit to Print” ignsi of tlje tlimesirnVol. 2 No. 8 August 2000rnMost American conservatives arernaware of the close connection between AlrnGore’s family and the late, unlamentedrnArmand Hammer, one of the most appalhngrnfigures in the 20th-century Americanrnrogues’ gallery. But in order to readrnabout that connection in a major dailyrnnewspaper, they have to look abroad—tornEngland, where the Independent has publishedrna major expose of the Gore-Hammerrnconnection (May 21). The article firstrnrecounted how Al Gore’s claim to be anrnexpert on Russia:rnblew up in his face l a s t yearrnwhen c r i t i c s asked why, if hernknew so much about Russia, hernonly learnt from the newspapersrnabout the scandal over thernlaundering of $10 [billion] inrnRussian money through the Bankrnof New York.rnBut this criticism missed the real target;rnthere is a Russian connection that mayrnprove Gore’s undoing. According to thernIndependent, it concerns:rnthe extraordinary relationshiprnbetween his father. Senator AlrnGore Sr, and Armand Hammer, thernAmerican multi-millionaire,rnwho, after meeting Lenin, becamernthe Soviet Union’s f i r s trnforeign investor in 1921. Hammerrnalso served, according tornsecret Soviet documents sincernreleased, as the conduit forrnlaundering money to Soviet intrne l l i g e n c e operations and Communistrnp a r t i e s abroad.rnAccording to the Independent, Gorernhad access to the Soviet, and then the Russian,rnleadership long before he becamernVice President, thanks to his father’s linksrnto Hammer and his high-level Soviet contacts.rnFor his part. Hammer was quoted asrnsaying that he had Gore Senior in hisrn”back pocket.” As early as 1950, Hammerrnhad made Congressman Gore his businessrnpartner. He needed political protectionrnbecause J. Edgar Hoover suspected him ofrnbeing a Soviet agent. Hoover was right,rnalthough that only became clear in 1996rnwhen the Russians opened several secretrnarchives. While in Congress, Al Gore, Sr.,rnhelped to keep the FBI off Hammer’srnback. After his retirement, the baton wasrnpassed to the freshman senator for Tennessee,rnAl Gore, Jr. As the Independentrnpoints out, however, the Russian connectionrnremained concealed throughout:rnNot surprisingly Soviet andrnl a t e r Russian leaders-oftenrnthe same people-favour Mr Gorernfor the presidency as an assocrni a t e of their favourite capitrna l i s t . Andrei Kortunov,rnpresident of the Moscow SciencernFoundation, . . . says:rn”The t r a d i t i o n a l establishmentrnl i k e s the Gore family.” Onrnmeeting Al Gore J r in Washingtonrnin 1985, he r e c a l l s beingrnstruck by the senator’s knowledgernof the Soviet Union. MrrnGore was right in saying hernknows a lot about Russia, butrnhe is hardly l i k e l y to publicisernthe reason why.rnUnaware of the rattling of these oldrnskeletons, or unperturbed knowing thatrnthey won’t reach our own courtier press, inrnthe first week of June Vice President Gorernannounced the “second American revolution.”rn”The next Thomas Edison or MariernCurie may be a child waiting in a ghetto orrna rural hollow for the tools to learn and experiment,”rnGore rhapsodized. “Let’s getrnhim—or her—wired and online.” But accordingrnto the Washington Times (June 5):rnTenants of Mr. Gore, who rent arnhouse from Gore Realty withinrneyesight of the vice p r e s i ­drne n t ‘ s Carthage, Term., farm,rnl i v e in squalid conditionsrnthat his property managersrnhave allowed to fester for morernthan a year. Their t o i l e t srnroutinely overflow, raw sewagernleaks from the base of a commodernand foul-smelling mudrncomes up through their sink.rnThe Washington Times concludes thatrn”there seems to be no limit to Al Gore’srncompassion when it comes to spendingrntaxpayers’ money on the theoretical hightechrnneeds of poor children in general”:rnBut when i t comes to real childrenrnhe is actually obliged tornserve-by a rental agreement ifrnnot by his high-minded p r i n c i -rnples-suddenly he becomes muchrnmore stingy.rnLet’s take leave of Mr. Gore with anrnitem from Associated I^ess (June 6) that,rnat the time of this writing, was not pickedrnup by the Big Media:rnIn a memo kept secret for 2 1/2rnyears, FBI Director LouisrnFreeh warned that the JusticernDepartment was ignoring ” r e l i ­ablernevidence” that conflictedrnwith Al Gore’s accounts of hisrnfund-raising a c t i v i t i e s . . . .rn”In the face of compelling evidencernthat the vice presidentrnwas a very active, sophisticatedrnfund-raiser who knew exarnc t l y what he was doing, hisrnown exculpatory statementsrnmust not be given unduernweight,” the Freeh memo said.rnWhile Janet Reno’s Justice Departmentrndecides how to shield Mr. Gore from anyrnpossible unpleasantness, law enforcementrnagencies may soon be directed to focusrntheir efforts on foreign students in thernUnited States. According to the LondonrnTimes (June 5):rnTo tackle the threat of internationalrnterrorism, the USrnshould monitor every foreignrnstudent within i t s borders,rnencourage CIA agents to recrnr u i t more “unsavoury” informantsrnand impose sanctions onrnfriendly states who f a i l to actrnagainst t e r r o r i s t s . . . ThernAUGUST 2000/25rnrnrn