According to a 2 June 1999 article in "The Virginian-Pilot", Taylor had extensive business dealings with the American televangelist Pat Robertson during the civil war. He gave Robertson the rights to mine diamonds in Liberia. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported this incident to the Commonwealth of Virginia for an investigation which it was conducting in 1994, Robertson used his Operation Blessing aeroplanes to haul diamond-mining equipment to his new mines in Liberia, while he was telling his "700 Club" viewers that the planes were sending relief supplies to the victims of the genocide in Rwanda. The subsequent investigation by the Commonwealth of Virginia concluded that Robertson diverted his ministry's donations to the Liberian diamond-mining operation. Attorney General of Virginia Mark Earley blocked any prosecution of Robertson, as the relief supplies were also sent.