Robert L. Leggett; Ex-Lawmaker a Target of ‘Koreagate’ Probe
Robert L. Leggett, a former Democratic congressman from Vallejo, Calif., who left political office amid scandal, died Wednesday of cardiac arrest in the pool of his Orange home. He was 71.
Leggett retired from Congress in 1979 after eight terms in office, engulfed in what he called at the time “garbage and gossip” about his affair with an aide to then-House Speaker Carl Albert.
In 1981 Leggett married the former aide, Suzi Park Thomson. He later bought Kaplan’s Deli in Costa Mesa.
Leggett, a lawyer, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962.
A liberal, he helped lead the fight against the Vietnam War and served on the House Armed Services and Budget committees and as co-chairman of the National Security Task Force.
But Thomson’s introductions of Leggett to her friends at the South Korean Embassy, including three diplomats later identified as members of the Korean intelligence service, led to a scandal dubbed “Koreagate.”
The Department of Justice investigated allegations that Leggett received money from the Koreans for political favors, but Leggett was never indicted.
In addition to his wife, Leggett is survived by three children and three grandchildren.
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