Bob Dole: “imagine this: Ronald Reagan, as Governor of California, becomes a 50-50 partner in a real estate deal with the owner of…”

“imagine this: Ronald Reagan, as Governor of California, becomes a 50-50 partner in a real estate deal with the owner of a California savings and loan. The S&L goes under, is seized by Federal regulators, and a series of criminal and civil investigations is initiated by Federal regulators. Governor Reagan becomes President Reagan. He appoints a close personal friend and top campaign official, Jim Baker, to head the independent agency charged with overseeing the S&L industry and with bringing civil and criminal actions against S&L wrongdoers. Press reports suggest that the President may be indirectly implicated in a civil suit brought against the California S&L by the supposedly independent Federal agency. As the expiration date for the civil statute of limitations approaches, Mr. Baker meets at the White House with Ed Meese, Mike Deaver, and other White House political officials to discuss the status of the agency's investigation. The White House meeting is shrouded in secrecy, only to be revealed weeks later because of congressional prodding. Of course, Mr. President, this is all fiction. But, it is fair to say that if these events had indeed occurred during the Reagan administration, the expressions of outrage in the press, and on the floors of the Senate and House, the clamor for congressional hearings, would have shot off the political Richter Scale.…”