DNC Chief Admits ‘Affectionate’ Liaison

Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, who is also general chairman of the Democratic National Committee, on Friday admitted having a 16-year “very affectionate relationship” with a former top aide who is now a Housing and Urban Development official in Washington.

The disclosure followed publication of an article in a conservative Washington magazine, Insight. The magazine claims to possess surveillance videotapes of Romer hugging and kissing B.J. Thornberry, 51, taken shortly after he arrived at Dulles International Airport on July 22, 1995.

With his wife of 45 years, Bea, standing nearby during a hastily called news conference at a local commuter airport, Romer’s voice cracked as he explained: “I have a relationship with B.J. that is affectionate. I was expressing that. I greeted her. There were hugs and kisses.”

Mrs. Romer’s face twitched as the popular 69-year-old governor, who is in his fourth term, went on to characterize the relationship in increasingly ambiguous phrases.

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“It is not a sexual relationship,” he said. “But it is a very affectionate relationship. I’m not trying to define where affection ends and sex begins.

“I also have a very workable and close relationship with my wife,” he said. “This family was sufficiently understanding that this was permitted.”

The controversy around Romer comes at an inopportune time for Democrats, who already are reeling from allegations of sexual misconduct by President Clinton. It also comes at a time when the DNC has been struggling to dig itself out of debt and put to rest allegations of fund-raising abuses in the 1996 campaign.

“We certainly don’t need any more controversy,” said Edward Marcus, chairman of the Connecticut Democratic Party. “But Gov. Romer has always appeared to me to be a straightforward human being.”

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Other Democrats, although stunned by the news, seemed ready to stand by their party chief.

“The DNC has been doing very well to get its house in order,” said Marc Abrams, chairman of the Democratic Party of Oregon. “I think he is a talented, dedicated public servant, and I have no hesitation asking him to stay on as DNC chairman.”

Another Democratic strategist said the flap may “tarnish” Romer’s image as a reformer dedicated to straightening out the party’s fund-raising apparatus. But the strategist said Romer may not come under pressure to step aside--if only because that could increase pressure on Clinton to follow suit.

The perception, the strategist said, might be: “Your own DNC chairman has stepped aside. Why shouldn’t you?”

At the news conference, Romer--the father of seven children and grandfather of 15--assured constituents that going public with the relationship, which he has yet to discuss with party officials, would not interfere with his usefulness as a champion of family values.

“My ability to communicate on whether children should have education and good health, or how families should communicate and relate with each other, is not diminished by this,” he said. “In fact, it’s probably enriched by it.”

Staring into the lenses of television cameras, he added: “You ought to stop holding political figures to a different standard and allow for the fact that all of us are human.”

Mrs. Romer did not address the media. But in a prepared statement released earlier, she said that Thornberry “is a close friend of Roy’s.”

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“He has been open with me and shared the facts about the relationship with me from the beginning,” she said. “It has not affected our marriage or our family.”

Rumors of a relationship between Romer and Thornberry had been circulating since his runs for reelection in 1990 and 1994. Romer has denied the relationship was anything but platonic.

Those denials, coupled with the furor surrounding former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky’s reported claims that she had a sexual relationship with Clinton, apparently figured in the magazine’s decision to publish the story.

“Inside the car, with Romer in the driver’s seat and the lady next to him,” the magazine said, “they . . . lock into an embrace and engage in kissing lasting about six minutes--from about 6 p.m. to about 6:06 p.m.”

Other videotapes appeared to show Romer spending the night with Thornberry at her home in Washington, according to Insight.

“Part of our role is to expose humbug when we find it,” Insight senior editor Jamie Dettmer said in a telephone interview. “Romer’s been very staunch in defense of President Clinton and in telling America, I’m taking the president at his word, and you can trust me. I’m a man of high ethical and moral standards.”

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Dettmer emphasized, however, that “this story came to us. The videotapes were supplied by Democrat and Republican foes of the governor.”

Among them was R.W. Peterson, a Denver private investigator who told the Rocky Mountain News that he conducted the surveillance and made the videotapes of Romer, in part, because “I tried to do some work to help out the governor in 1992. And the man lied to me.”

Peterson, who reportedly worked on the O.J. Simpson case and helped comedian Roseanne find her long-lost adopted daughter, declined to elaborate on his motivations.

Thornberry, who had served as Romer’s chief of staff for seven years, moved to Washington in 1993. She was named executive director of the DNC in 1996. She is currently senior advisor to HUD’s deputy secretary for project management.

Romer was named to the top party post in January 1997.

“I don’t think this means much for Romer--a lame duck governor who’ll be 71 when he leaves office in a state that’s in good shape,” said Colorado political pollster Paul Talmey. “In the end, all this has accomplished is a little embarrassment.”