what's this i hear about pat robertson owning a diamond mine somewhere?

[UpsideDownFlag]

any links to this?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Google Liberty Mining, Liberia =+Robertson

I don't have links bookmarked on this computer

[UpsideDownFlag]

2. k

[SayitAintSo]

3. Palast covers some of this in his Best Democracy Money Can Buy...

I believe ... I read it some time ago... the truth/story on Robertson was pretty damning if I remember. There is also a connection to Bush Sr. Check it out.

Edited for typos

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. Something like 50 miners were buried alive in one of Robertson's mines

during a strike...there are photos documenting this..Charles Taylor, the Liberian dictator was a close personal friend of Robertson's...Robertson even apparently lobbied congress to lay off Taylor

[Blue Gardener]

7. Yep...Palast has the goods

If you haven't read the book yet I highly recommend it.

[htuttle]

4. If you google 'pat robertson diamonds' about 12,000 hits come up

Here's a few:
http://bz.llano.net/baptist/patsdiamond.htm
(scroll down for story)

http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/pat_quotes/diamonds.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A42413-2001Nov30¬Found=true

He has been quite the fan of former dictators Mobuto Sese Seko and Charles Taylor as well. The connection? Diamonds and gold -- Pat's true god, of course.

[Fleshdancer]

6. Here you go:

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9906/02/scotland.robertson/#4

it starts out as a typical story of Robertson being a homophobic bigot, but this is what's at the end of the article:

Earlier this decade, Robertson lost up to $7 million in a failed diamond-mining venture in the former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Two years ago, The Virginian-Pilot reported that planes sent to Zaire by Robertson's tax-exempt humanitarian organization, Operation Blessing, were used almost exclusively to ferry equipment to the diamond venture, citing two pilots as its sources.

A Robertson spokesman said Operation Blessing was reimbursed by Robertson for use of the planes.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley, who received a $35,000 campaign contribution from Robertson in 1997, has been investigating the pilots' claims. The investigation should be completed in a few weeks, an Earley spokesman said.