Corbin first visited the Reagan-Bush headquarters in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 29, meeting with senior campaign adviser Jim Baker and then with Casey. He would make at least three more visits, signing in on Oct. 11, Oct. 25, and Nov. 3.

On Oct. 25, Corbin signed in at 9:35 a.m., gave his destination as "Casey" and picked up a check for $1,500. It was just three days before the big debate between Reagan and Carter.

On Nov. 3, the day before the election, Corbin picked up a second and final check from the Reagan campaign, this time in the amount of $1,360. He also spent nearly two hours meeting with Casey.

Carter's debate briefing books had been assembled and copied in the White House starting the night of Oct. 23 and finishing around 11 o'clock the next morning. Copies of the briefing books arrived at the Reagan campaign's headquarters not long thereafter. Reagan adviser David Gergen later recalled a package arriving at the Reagan-Bush campaign on a rainy Saturday, "probably Oct. 25" -- the same day that Corbin met with Casey.

The "debategate" scandal didn't explode until 1983, when Laurence Barrett of Time reported in his book "Gambling With History" that someone in the Reagan camp had "filched" Carter's briefing material. A number of figures came under suspicion in the resulting investigations but were never charged. Paul Corbin was one. Congressman Albosta's committee was unable to pin Corbin down. Frustrated, Albosta told The New York Times, "He denies everything, ... doesn't even know his own name. This leads people to suspect he had some effort and involvement."

At the height of the Albosta investigation, Baker received a call from Congressman Dick Cheney (R-Wyo.). Cheney told Baker that a member of his staff who had long known Corbin, Tim Wyngaard, confided that Corbin had privately acknowledged orchestrating the theft of the Carter briefing books and giving them to Casey. Wyngaard, the executive director of the House Republican Policy Committee, confirmed to Albosta committee investigators and to The New York Times that Corbin had claimed credit for lifting the briefing books.

At various other times, Corbin admitted directly or at least hinted that he'd stolen the briefing books. A number of sources have confirmed various aspects of Corbin's role in the caper, including Cheney, John Seigenthaler and Bill Schulz. What's more, Gerald Rafshoon, who was in charge of Carter's media, recalled seeing Corbin around the Carter White House late in the 1980 campaign and thought it odd that this Kennedy man and Carter hater would be there. He had no idea at the time that Corbin was covertly working for Reagan.

Corbin did deny in a sworn statement to the Albosta committee that he'd given the briefing books to the Reagan campaign. But lying to federal officials was old-hat for Corbin. As Time magazine politely said, his "reputation for veracity is uneven." Likewise, the FBI observed in one of its many reports on Corbin that he seemed to be a "prevaricator."

Regardless, Corbin, the old master, left no fingerprints -- in this case, literally. Although the FBI found both Jim Baker's and David Gergen's fingerprints on the briefing books, they found none of Corbin's.

Paul Corbin, a campaign worker in the Democratic National Committee was also a whistle blower. In late 1963, he collected evidence of the skimming of campaign funds by JFK's friend and appointments secretary Kenny O'Donnell. This eventually reached the president who took no action. It might have been that at least some of the skimming was going for payoffs or to pay bribes for JFK.

House Committee on Un-American Activities - Paul Corbin