Gruntal Probes Analyst’s ‘Conspiracy’ Report

The investment firm of Gruntal & Co. said it is investigating an unauthorized report by its transportation analyst that alleges the U.S. government is involved in a cover-up of the cause of the crash of TWA Flight 800 last month, among other conspiracies.

In a rambling 14-page document sent to the media this week, analyst Steve Lewins also suggests that the government could have prevented the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986 and says he sleeps with a samurai sword by his bed because of threats against his life.

Lewins didn’t return calls seeking comment on the report.

Randy Bradley, Gruntal’s executive assistant to the chairman, said the Chicago-based firm is reviewing the report, which he said does not reflect the views of the firm. Lewins has not been fired or suspended, he said.

“This was an attempt by Mr. Lewins to write an article or story, but whether it was fiction or nonfiction remains the big question,” Bradley said. “In any case, this mailing was done outside the firm and wasn’t officially sanctioned by Gruntal.”

The document, which is dated Aug. 11, was typed on plain white paper, with handwritten notes scrawled in the margins, and mailed in official Gruntal envelopes.

Lewins, who has been widely quoted in the media on transportation-related issues, follows airline, railroad and trucking companies for Gruntal.

His letter covers a number of topics.

In it, Lewins says the U.S. government is engaged in “a campaign of disinformation” to convince the American people that TWA Flight 800 exploded after jet kerosene fumes ignited.

Lewins says he wrote to officials at Trans World Airlines before the July 17 tragedy to tell them that their security at JFK International Airport was lax and left the airline open to terrorist attacks. He says TWA’s chief executive, Jeff Erickson, received his letter the morning after Flight 800 exploded, killing 230 people.

He also suggests that the Challenger space shuttle was launched at an improper angle with the knowledge of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which failed to abort the mission because President Reagan was set to deliver a major news conference on the launch.