This is Part 4 of the mini-series that covers the story of Bobby Baker. This mini-series is part of a larger series covering Billy Sol Estes, Mac Wallace, Bobby Baker and other members of Johnson's Texas inner circle. All of these men were quite intertwined around Johnson at the time of the assassination. They were involved in circumstances that were closing in on Johnson too and that provided him great motive in the killing of the President. The story is extraordinary. Today's episode covers the civil lawsuit filed by Capitol Vending against Serv-U corporation. A lawsuit whose allegations revealed a kickback scheme involving Baker, his law partner Ernest Tucker and lobbyist Fred Black. The civil suit touched off a firestorm of press investigation that led to other allegations which surfaced. This led Senator John J. Williams of Delaware to begin his own review, requesting that Baker address the matter with the Senate leadership. Today we tell the story around this event as Baker himself told it, reading directly from his book Wheeling and Dealing. From Lyndon Johnson's vantage point, here was Bobby Baker who was known as Little Lyndon and was perhaps the second most powerful man in the senate. He was Bobby Baker the Secretary to the Majority, the right hand man of Lyndon Johnson in the senate....and just months before the assassination, allegations of wrong doing by Baker begin to surface. Baker declined to meet with Senators, and alternatively chose to resign his position as majority secretary of the Senate. The abrupt resignation did not stave off the inevitable,as Williams and other republican senators called for a formal Senate investigation into the affairs of Bobby Baker. They got it. And thus began an eighteen month internal Senate investigation conducted by the Senate Rules and Administration Committee along with investigations by the FBI, the IRS and a grand jury investigation as well. Investigations that eventually became a prelude to Baker's ultimate prosecution by federal authorities and a conviction and jail sentence. Baker's resignation from one of the most powerful positions in the country happened just prior to the President's assassination and created a growing rumor that the scandal would lead back to Johnson and result in his political demise or more... The Republicans smelled blood in the water. Join us in this fourth episode of what is sure to be a fascinating series on another incredible story that envelopes around Lyndon Johnson at the time of the Kennedy assassination. Rumors of Johnson's involvement began to swirl almost immediately after the President's assassination and there is a defined school of thought within the JFK assassination research community that staunchly believes in Johnson's involvement. His involvement in both the assassination and its cover up. Join us in one of the most fascinating story tells of the Kennedy assassination and stick around as we will be returning to the Mexico City series right after we complete this min-series that was spawned by the recent release of the Billy Sol Estes and Cliff Carter tape that the two recorded in 1971. Folks, you just can't write this stuff. Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it, were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This real-life story is more fascinating than fiction. No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.
