-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- A Newsweek spokesman would only say the magazine is working on a Turque excerpt to run "in the coming weeks." New York Post-January 24, 2000 JOINT DECLARATION: AL TRIED TO COVER ‘POT' By MAGGIE HABERMAN A longtime friend who says he supplied pot "regularly" to Al Gore now charges that the Democratic presidential hopeful leaned on him to "stonewall" the press about their alleged dope-smoking sessions. John Wernecke, who worked with Gore at the Nashville Tennessean newspaper, charges that during Gore's failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, the candidate pressured him to cover up how much he'd smoked pot in the past -- and how much he enjoyed it. "He put the pressure on me to stonewall," Wernecke, 53, told the online magazine Salon. "Al asked me not to tell the truth [to reporters]." And the former reporter and recovering alcoholic -- who says he's now in a 12-step program -- hinted he can prove his story if the Gore camp brands him a liar. "If they make this a war of who is telling the truth, then I've got things ... and I'll keep coming back with more and more information," he said. "He called me three times in one morning [during the 1988 race] and he said, ‘Don't talk to the press at all about this,'" Wernecke said. "That's a stonewall, and it's another form of lying. "The story I said was the opposite of truth. Because he and I smoked pot every day for I don't know how long," Wernecke said. "And he loved it." In an earlier interview with the Web site stopthedrugwar.org, Wernecke said, "I was [Gore's] regular supplier. I didn't deal dope, I just gave it to him." Gore spokesman Chris Lehane told The Post the veep "doesn't remember ever having a conversation like that." Lehane also repeated Gore's statement that "since he made the decision to enter public office, he's never used [marijuana]." Wernecke -- the son of John Carl Wernecke, who designed President Kennedy's grave site -- now says he toked up with Gore until 1976, the year the veep first ran for Congress. "I smoked with him right before he ran, and if my memory is correct I smoked with him one time during the campaign," Wernecke said. Wernecke told Salon he's not speaking out because of a "vendetta" against Gore. "I've been living with this for years, and feeling horrible about it," said Wernecke, who added, "I like Al. I'm going to vote for him ... I think he's the best candidate of them all." The dope imbroglio heated up on the eve of today's Iowa presidential caucuses. In 1987, Gore -- then a senator from Tennessee -- admitted smoking pot on "infrequent and rare" occasions in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and said he last smoked around 1972. Wernecke's allegations surfaced in relation to a book about Gore written by Newsweek reporter Bill Turque that reportedly features the new pot claims. The magazine reportedly killed an excerpt about the pot use. A Newsweek spokesman would only say the magazine is working on a Turque excerpt to run "in the coming weeks." ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
