Ex-Aide Says Robb Knew of Wilder Tape

Sen. Charles S. Robb (D-Va.) was informed from the beginning about how his staff obtained and later leaked to the media a secretly made tape of a conversation by Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, Robb’s onetime top aide said in court papers Wednesday.

The assertion by David K. McCloud, who pleaded guilty to one count of campaign fraud and two counts of wiretapping, is at odds with Robb’s public statements that he was only generally aware of the tape and that he specifically told his staff not to distribute it.

Robb was notified two weeks ago by the Justice Department that he is a target of the yearlong probe focusing on the tape. Robb said in a statement Wednesday that he felt pain for his former colleague and outrage over how the Justice Department has handled the case, attempting “to indict, try and convict me in the media by rumor and innuendo. . . .”