Christine Keeler

[John Simkin]

One of the most important sources of information that supports this view of events is a telephone call made by LBJ to George Smathers on 10th January, 1964. (18)

Lyndon Johnson: But it's a pure made-up deal, isn't it?

George Smathers: I don't know what it is. I never heard of the woman in my life... But she mentions President Kennedy in there.

Lyndon Johnson: Oh yeah, and the Attorney General (Robert Kennedy) and me and you and everybody. And I never heard of her.

Smathers (10th January, 1964)

I am unable to see how this phone conversation supports the story being peddled by Summers, Baker & Hersh.

LBJ is letting George Smathers know that Bobby Baker has tapes on his illegal activities. This is how LBJ operated. In this way he was able to blackmail politicians into doing as he wanted.

[John Simkin]

In the event that some may have missed the news, it should be mentioned that one of the subjects of this particular posting, former British Secretary of State of War, John Profumo died today at the age of 91. Proof positive that time waits on no one.

The death of Profumo has resulted in articles in newspapers speculating on what the scandal was all about. It has been pointed out that the death of Stephen Ward during his trial was very convenient. It was definitely greeted with great relief by those who attended his sex parties.

In her autobiography, The Truth at Last, Christine Keeler claims that Ward was a Soviet spy who had recruited her to get information from Profumo about the placing of nuclear warheads in West Germany. This suggests that there were indeed similarities between the Stephen Ward and Bobby Baker cases. We know that both used women to get information from politicians. I suspect their real purpose was to obtain information on these politicians in order to blackmail them into granting defence contracts to their clients.