Robb Aide to Plead Guilty in Wilder Tape Case, Reports Say
A former press secretary to Sen. Charles S. Robb (D-Va.) will plead guilty to a charge involving a taped telephone conversation of Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, it was reported Monday.
WRC-TV in Washington and the Washington Post quoted unidentified sources as saying Steve Johnson will admit conspiring to disclose contents of the tape to reporters in violation of a telephone privacy law.
The Post said Johnson, 31, will pay the maximum fine of $5,000 for the offense when he appears in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Va., on Jan. 23.
Johnson, who lives in Charlottesville, Va., did not return a telephone call, and his wife said: “I’m not sure he wants to comment about that.”
A federal grand jury in Norfolk has been investigating since last summer how Robb’s office obtained and handled the Wilder tape, in which the governor was critical of the senator. The two Democrats have often disagreed.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert W. Wiechering, the prosecutor who has handled the grand jury investigation, could not be reached for comment. His office referred calls to the U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria, Va., and those calls were not answered.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
