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threat. In fact, we had already taken certain steps to preclude any such possibility. In 1970, immediately after he became governor of Alabama again, the iRS and the Justice Department launched an investigation of Wallace and his brother Gerald for tax evasion and other forms of financial corruption. | don’ t fault Wallace for family loyalty, by the way. | have carried out similar filial responsibility to my own brother, Donald. This is only natural. In any event, John Mitchell, still attorney general at the time, came to me early in 1971 and said, “We’ ve got to stop George Wallace. He could force the election into the House of Representatives if he runs on a third party ticket again.” In May of that year, | was in Mobile and invited Wallace to fly with me on the presidential plane to Birmingham. En route, we shook hands on an agreement. | promised that Mitchell would call off the investigation of Wallace and his brother—although their underlings would still be subject to prosecution—and the governor in turn promised me that if he ran in ‘ 72 it would only be as a Democrat. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015110