Report: Keatings took drug at financier's suggestion

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A retired Wall Street financier who sought Gov. Frank Keating's help in expanding the medical uses for an anti-convulsant drug said the governor took the drug at his suggestion.

Jack Dreyfus told the Tulsa World for a story in Tuesday's editions that Keating began taking Dilantin because of his lack of patience and that drug helped him with that problem.

"He felt better," said Dreyfus, who it was revealed Sunday had been giving Keating's children $10,000 a year for the past 10 years because the governor's help.

"Frank Keating was the only one who really saw what I was talking about and tried to cooperate," Dreyfus said Monday by telephone from his foundation's office. "I knew appreciated it. I knew Frank wasn't rich, so I gave his children $10,000 because . .

. the purpose of my money is not to put it in a box after I'm in a grave. I'm 87 now."

On Monday, Newsweek magazine reported that Dreyfus' gifts to Keating's children may have helped scuttle his chances of being named to a position in President-elect Bush's administration.

The story also said Keating flunked three litmus tests administered by the Bush camp, including a skeleton-free closet, tight lips and unswerving loyalty.

Keating had been thought to be a top choice for U.S. attorney general, but Bush nominated defeated Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft instead.

Dreyfus said he and Keating spoke by telephone following the story's release.

"We apologized to each other," he told the Tulsa World's Washington bureau.

Keating told reporters on Monday that Dreyfus' gifts had been cleared by ethics panels in Washington and said Dreyfus "was like a Godfather to me and a Godfather to my children."

Dreyfus explained that his motivation for giving the Keatings cash stemmed from his own involvement with Dilantin. He said he first took the drug years ago because he was suffering from depression that lasted several years "It worked overnight," he said, adding that his doctor also was surprised by his response. "Neither he nor I thought it could be the medicine."

After six other people had similar results, Dreyfus said he felt obligated to retire from the Dreyfus mutual funds and spread the word on Dilantin.

Dreyfus sponsored a "double-blind" study of 11 jail inmates who were given the drug.

"The results were exceptional," the report stated. It also included statements from the inmates describing how they improved after taking the drug.

Because Keating was willing to listen and help, he should be viewed as a hero, Dreyfus said.

Dan Mahoney, a spokesman for Keating, confirmed that Keating and his wife, Cathy, briefly used Dilantin about 10 years ago at Dreyfus' suggestion. Mahoney said the drug was used for a few days because of a sore neck.

Dreyfus also has claimed to have supplied Dilantin to former President Nixon while Nixon was in the White House.

In "The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon," former BBC journalist Anthony Summers wrote that after Nixon's election to the presidency in 1968, Dreyfus introduced him to Dilantin.

Dreyfus told Summers that he had given large amounts of the drug to the president twice to help Nixon cope with mood swings.

Nixon's family and former aides disputed the report.