The Whistle-Blower

Editor's Letter

riter-at-large Marie Brenner made her initial contact with Jeffrey Wigand during what was probably the roughest week of Wigand's life. The former head of research and development at Brown & Williamson, the nation's third-largest tobacco company, had become the target of a blistering campaign designed to destroy his credibility. With the Justice Department and CBS's 60 Minutes knocking at Wigand's door, Brown & Williamson was working frantically to discredit his claims that the company was capable of making a safer cigarette and deliberately chose not to do so. "He sounded extremely frightened," Brenner recalls. "It was an organized campaign to put the emphasis on who Wigand was rather than what he knew, to turn him into a Mark Fuhrman so that the Justice Department could not use him as a witness."

Brenner's stunning article, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," on page 170, is one of the longest and most compelling reports in Vanity Fair's history. It combines an intimate portrait of Wigand with an in-depth look at the forces behind his long, tortured transition from tobacco executive (and smoker) to whistle-blower. Reporting the story was surprisingly tough, Brenner says, because of "the layers of corporate secrecy." But her article is full of revelations, including the story behind the attempt by CBS top management to kill Mike Wallace's 60 Minutes segment on Brown & Williamson.

"The campaign to discredit Jeffrey Wigand proves that we need a better way to deal with the health issues that tobacco raises," Brenner concludes. "The information that Wigand gathered while working for Brown & Williamson should be used to help solve the health crisis in which more than 400,000 Americans die every year from smoking-related illnesses. It has been suggested that the C.E.O.'s of tobacco companies be granted immunity from prosecution and brought into a national effort to make cigarette smoking safer. Wigand's information indicates that it would not be that hard to do."