Their points of interest, which have also been reflected in GayToday (See Archives, Top Story, April 29) include some of the evangelist's little known ventures such as failed diamond mines in what is now The Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire).

Until May, a brutal dictator, President Mobutu, had received significant assistance from Robertson, but when it appeared that angry revolutionaries would soon topple Mobutu, the TV evangelist, known to mix political activism with a stealthy business sense, wrote to Mobutu's challenger, Kabila, a Maoist and former kidnapper of U.S. citizens, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"I would like to extend to you my cordial invitation to visit the United States as my guest in any way your schedule would so permit," said Robertson's letter. Because of the Christian Coalition boss' longtime assistance to the toppled dictator, however, the successful revolutionaries laughed the evangelist to scorn.

One rebel official said, "To be honest, at first we thought it was a joke. After all his support for Mobutu, Pat Robertson was coming to befriend us. We don't want people like that giving us things or doing business with us."

According to Steve Benen, in Church and State, President Clinton had imposed sanctions on dictator Mobutu in 1993, after determining he was a tyrant. The dictator applied to Pat Robertson, whose African diamond mines investments were being threatened, and together they attempted to reverse the effects of the black eye the Clinton Administration had given the African "president."

Their attempts were unsuccessful, however, though their approaches are on record. Benen says, "The religious broadcaster and conservative lobbyists on Capital Hill hired by Mobutu sought to change government policy and public opinion in favor of the (Mobutu) regime"

On April 29 GayToday reported how two of Robertson's Operation Blessing pilots said that they hadn't been used to transport medical supplies as they'd supposed they would be, but to do business for Pat Robertson's African diamond mines. In the meantime, though they flew 40 flights, only two were for small catches of "Blessing" medical supplies.

One of the pilots, according to Bill Sizemore of The Virginian-Pilot, said he'd been so embarrassed at having "Operation Blessing" printed on Robertson's diamond-business plane, that he'd finally removed the words from the tail area.

Simultaneously Robertson was extolling--on the 700 Club-- the good works for which donations were needed to expand his reputed medical missions.

Though he himself declined to discuss the matter with the press, Robertson's press agent, Kapp, insisted that Robertson's Operation Blessing had behaved properly in leasing the "Blessing" planes for use in the "religious" evangelist's diamond mine business.

Apparently, Operation Blessing did not make mention of any income during the controversial period (fiscal 1995) other than that related to its "charitable" purposes. A report it made to the Internal Revenue Service states explicitly that "Blessing" did not engage in any "sale, exchange or leasing of property" or "furnishing of goods, services, or facilities" to any taxable organization with which any of its officers were affiliated.

According to The Washington Post, the religious leader has donated (in two installments) $100,000 to James S. Gilmore III, the Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia. When Gilmore, Virginia's Attorney General, was asked by state Senator Joseph V. Gartlan to rule (as a church-state issue) on the distribution of political Christian Coalition voting guides in churches, the Attorney General declined to do so. No doubt, many believe, he owed Pat Robertson and didn't want to cross him.