Los Angeles, March 14, 1998
Vol. 10, No.1 Dear Reader: CBS's "60 Minutes" aired a February 22, 1998, piece critical of the International Olympic Committee. One of CBS's star witnesses was Robert Helmick, a former IOC member and past president of the United States Olympic Committee, who charged that the Nagano Olympic bid committee had lavished gifts upon IOC members during the bid process. The "60 Minutes" story acknowledged that Helmick resigned his IOC post amid conflict of interest allegations, and then reported, without comment, Helmick's claim that he had been "totally exonerated" of all charges. Had "60 Minutes" bothered to check, they would have found a somewhat more complicated story regarding Helmick. But then, reporting the full truth about Helmick would have diminished his credibility. Here are the facts. Helmick resigned as USOC president in September 1991 shortly after the conflict of interest charges were aired publicly. He resigned from the IOC in December of the same year. Between these two resignations, the special counsel engaged by the USOC to investigate charges against Helmick issued his report. It stated, "Mr. Helmick repeatedly violated the conflict of interest provisions of the USOC By-Laws, as well as the Statement of Principles, by virtue of his paid representation of clients having business with the USOC and that he did so without adequate disclosure or in some cases without any disclosure." | |
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