Jack Wheeler: Last Saturday (8.18), a once enormously influential man in Washington died. He was eulogized in every important newspaper from the New York Times to the Wall St. Journal to the Washington Times. Let me tell you a completely unknown story about him.
Before his presidency, Ronald Reagan lived for many years in California. On a regular basis, he had his hair cut at his favorite barbershop in Beverly Hills. After his election and before he moved to Washington, a friend of mine was assigned to his transition team. Thus he accompanied Mr. Reagan to his barbershop appointment.
My friend was startled to see an elderly man who just happened to be getting a haircut in the very next chair to which Mr. Reagan was seated. The elderly man immediately began chatting up Mr. Reagan. My friend was startled because the man was a Communist, the son of the founder of the Communist Party USA, one of America's richest and most powerful men who had made his fortune doing business with the Soviet Union since the days of Lenin.
His name was Armand Hammer.
My friend looked upon Armand Hammer with suspicious disgust but held his tongue. He was just a lowly transition guy. A fortnight later, it was time for another Reagan haircut - and sure enough, there in the barbershop chair next to Mr. Reagan's was Armand Hammer.
Now my friend was seriously alarmed. The president-elect's personal schedule and whereabouts was a highly-kept secret. For someone in league with the Soviets to know it meant that someone - Armand Hammer - had a mole within Mr. Reagan's team on his payroll.
For clearly, Hammer had paid his mole handsomely - and the barbershop owner - to secure a haircut chat with the next President of the United States.
My friend spoke quietly to the owner, informing him that obviously he had been bribed by Hammer and warned him he was guilty of a serious and jailable breach of national security.
My friend went on to be a senior advisor to President Reagan throughout both terms of his presidency. He made every effort to prevent Armand Hammer from meeting Mr. Reagan again. Yet ever so often, someone - he could never figure out who - arranged it.
My friend knew that someone in the president's inner circle was in the pay of Armand Hammer. It was only some years after the Reagan Presidency that he finally, through diligent intelligence contacts, learned the identity of Hammer's Mole.
It was the lionized fellow who died last Saturday - Michael Deaver.
What’s the link for this? How did the friend later find out it was Deaver?
I am an old friend of a former close employee late in the life of Hammer. None of what you have related would surprise me. I’d would really like to have the nexus so as to have something solid with which to challenge him.