Now what DID happen was that the discovery of this disease in America's midst coincided with the Reagan presidency. The American government under Reagan was reluctant to publicize or put money toward researching an illness that, in the early years, was considered a "gay disease". However, the government's silence in no way reflected the opinion of the larger medical and scientific community.

"Robbins’s claim fails because the Hobbs Act does not apply when the National Government is the intended beneficiary of the allegedly extortionate acts."