Robertson Ally Sits On Report About Diamond Mining.

Virginia officials have concluded a year-long investigation into TV preacher Pat Robertson's diamond mining venture in Africa, but don't expect to read the results anytime soon: Attorney General Mark Earley, a Robertson ally, is keeping the report under lock and key.

The Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs launched the investigation in June of 1997 after state Sen. Janet Howell from Northern Virginia, a Democrat, raised questions about Robertson's venture. The Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported last year that airplanes belonging to Robertson's Operation Blessing, a charity, had been used almost exclusively to support a for-profit diamond mining operation in Zaire (now called the Republic of Congo). In light of the disclosures, Howell questioned whether the Robertson charity should be able to continue to claim exemption from Virginia's retail sales tax.

Although the attorney general's office requested the report, Earley now refuses to release it, citing state confidentiality laws. "Any kind of consumer investigation like this can lead to potential civil action, can lead to potential criminal action, or it can lead to no action at all," Earley said. "So to release the file when they're still ongoing would obviously not be in the best interest of the investigation."

But Robertson's cozy relationship with Earley and Virginia Gov. James Gilmore (R) may have something to do with it as well. Robertson has been a major donor to Republican causes in Virginia and contributed $35,000 to Earley's campaign in 1997 and $50,000 to Gilmore's.

Barnie K. Day, a Democratic member of the House of Delegates, recommended that Earley release the report to avoid the appearance of any favoritism toward Robertson. Day added that Earley's claimed need for secrecy is bogus.

"There's nothing that says you can't be open," Day told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. "It says you may not under certain circumstances. [The law] lets officials hide things if they want to, but people who want to be open can still do it."

Robertson's business venture in Zaire was ill fated from the start. Although he was personal friends with Mobutu Sese Seko, the late dictator of Zaire, Robertson found he could not overcome Zaire's corrupt regime. Operation Blessing planes were used to haul supplies and mining equipment to Zaire, but the venture never turned a profit. Robertson ultimately shut it down.

In other news about Robertson:

* Many evangelical Christians favor sanctions against China for its human rights abuses and violations of religious freedom, but Robertson disagrees. The Virginia televangelist traveled to China in September where he met with top government officials. During the visit he praised freedom of religion in China and said he believes the country respects religious freedom.

Robertson has good reasons to cozy up to the Chinese government. His U.S. Media Corporation has entered into a partnership with government-owned television to produce children's programming.

The evangelical magazine World reported that one anonymous leader of an underground Christian church in China said Robertson's approach leaves him "so open [to] being a propaganda tool. He should have stood up more publicly for the persecuted millions."

* Robertson and his fellow TV preachers may be causing health problems for their viewers, a new study indicates. Dr. Harold Koenig, a Duke University psychiatrist, said his study indicates that people who regularly watch religious programming have higher blood pressure than people who get their religion in a house of worship.

Koenig and his colleagues studied 4,000 older adults in a heavily Protestant area of North Carolina. He told Church & State that the results may have been affected because many of those who stayed away from services at church did so because they were sick, and high blood pressure was a common complaint.