IMMUNITY HINTED IN COAST INQUIRY; Testimony Reported Sought Against Ehrlichman
Date: 16 May 1973
By. STEVEN V. ROBERTS
spokesman for Los Angeles Dist Atty J P Busch says on May 15 that local prosecutors are focusing their investigation of break-in at office of D Ellsberg's former psychiatrist Dr L J Fielding on former Pres aide J D Ehrlichman; sources close to case rept that virtually all potential witnesses are being offered immunity for their testimony against Ehrlichman and Ehrlichman's former chief asst E Krogh Jr; grand jury will not begin hearing testimony until June 5; Ehrlichman's atty J J Wilson confirms that he has talked to reprs of Dist Atty about Ehrlichman being invited to testify
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Newsman Seeks Apology From Rhodesia's Leader
Date: 16 May 1973
Lawyers for P Niesewand, who was forced to leave Rhodesia following his imprisonment for having allegedly published secrets harmful to Govt, have been instructed to seek apology from Prime Min Smith for remarks he made about Niesewand May 15 at election campaign meeting in SE area
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C.B.S. Says a Grand Jury May Focus on Ehrlichman
Date: 15 May 1973
newscaster D Schorr (CBS) repts on May 14 that J D Ehrlichman, E Krogh Jr, G G Liddy and E H Hunt Jr, whose names have been connected to White House investigations of D Ellsberg, will be subject of new grand jury investigation expected to open in Los Angeles
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WEEK-LONG HUNT; Pentagon Papers Trial Was Ended in Part Over Lost Material Ruckelshaus Says F.B.I. File Was at White House Interview With Mardian Arms Talks Involved Mitchell Denial Cited
Date: 15 May 1973
By JOHN M. CREWDSONSpecial to The New York Times
acting dir of FBI W D Ruckelshaus says on May 14 that records of 17 wiretaps placed on newsmen and Govt officials were discovered last wk in White House safe belonging to former Pres adviser J D Ehrlichman; notes wiretaps include 1 in which D Ellsberg was overheard talking from Dr M Halperin's phone; repts documents were compiled during 21-mo effort to halt disclosure of secret information to press; effort grew out of conversation between Pres aide H Kissinger and then FBI dir Hoover; Kissinger repts that while he had seen summaries from wiretaps placed in '69 and '70, he had not asked for taps and had not specifically approved them in advance; Ruckelshaus declines to identify 16 of 17 individuals subjected to taps on ground that 'potential harm' to be done by release of names outweighs any benefits; Ehrlichman says in int with reporters that documents had remained in his safe 'over a year or more' and that he had skimmed them at one point but was unaware until now that there was 'anything in there relating to the Ellsberg trial'; says until he had int with former Asst Atty Gen R C Mardian he had no reason to believe that records were still intact; says FBI investigation had shown that sometime after wiretaps were removed in Feb '71, records were placed in custody of then asst to Hoover, W C Sullivan; says Mardian recalled that Sullivan had suggested that Hoover might use records 'in some manner against the Atty Gen or the Pres'; says Sullivan turned records over to Ehrlichman because there had been certain rumors that Hoover was at that time in danger of losing his job by being forced to retire; says 2 pieces of FBI correspondence had been found that bore notations in Hoover's own handwriting indicating that he had been told by Mitchell that records had been destroyed; illus of Ruckelhaus
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Statement by Acting F.B.I. Director About Wiretap Documents; Length of Taps Varied Transferral Recommended Records Are Located
Date: 15 May 1973
Special to The New York Times
text of statement by acting FBI dir W D Ruckelshaus on inquiry about missing records relating to electronic surveillance of certain newsmen and Govt officials, including D Ellsberg, which led to dismissal of charges against him and A J Russo in Pentagon papers case
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Excerpts From Transcript of Ziegler's Regular White House Press Briefing on Watergate; Based on Data Given Him
Date: 16 May 1973
Special to The New York Times
excerpts from transcript of May 15 regular White House press briefing on Watergate by White House press sec Ziegler
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PRESIDENT LINKED TO TAPS ON AIDES; Nixon Said to Have Backed Action in '69 in Effort to Plug Security Leaks
Date: 16 May 1973
By SEYMOUR M. HERSH
reliable sources rept on May 15 that Pres Nixon personally authorized wiretapping of more than a dozen of of his subordinates on Natl Security Council and in Pentagon beginning in '69; say wiretapping was undertaken in response to dispatch by W Beecher published in NY Times on May 9 '69, which reptd for 1st time that B-52 bombers were striking targets inside Cambodia; White House spokesman confirms rept of Pres authorization on May 15; asserts that action was natl security matter; adds that procedure was approved by Nixon and authorized in individual cases by Atty Gen in coordination with Dir of FBI; well-informed Govt officials defend Nixon's authorization as necessary, in view of what they term a 'serious security breach'; special approval for operation, which involved tapping of home and office phones, was granted by late FBI Dir J Edgar Hoover and former Atty Gen J Mitchell; special FBI repts of overheard phone conversations were provided to Nixon's Natl Security Adviser Dr H A Kissinger and then-Col A M Haig; sources rept that among those tapped were 3 aides to Kissinger--D I Davidson, A Lake and W Lord; acting FBI Dir W D Ruckelshaus told news conf on May 14 that records of 17 wiretaps placed on 13 Govt officials and 4 newsmen had been found in safe belonging to Pres chief asst for domestic affairs J D Ehrlichman; Ruckelshaus identifies one of those overheard as Dr M Halperin, who joined Kissinger's staff in '69; sources in exec branch say that wiretap logs had been sent routinely to Kissinger's office until May '70; at that time there was a meeting between Nixon, Hoover and H R Haldeman, former White House chief of staff, 'to discuss these taps'; they agreed to continue tapping, but decided to have all mail (logs and other products of wiretaps) go to Haldeman; wiretap program ended in Feb '71; sources describe taps as being very productive; Malperin noticed that after Times dispatch on Cambodia bombing was published he was told that 3 top Govt officials--Sec of State W P Rogers, then-Defense Sec M R Laird and Mitchell--complained to Nixon that he was source; Halperin denies that he was source for article; says despite suspicion and wiretapping, he remained on Natl Security Council until Sept '69, when, despite urgings from Kissinger, he resigned
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130 Stations Sample News-Film System; 8 'Women of Year' Saluted Nationally
Date: 15 May 1973
8 women receive 'Women of Yr '73' awards in televised ceremony; awards are based on nominations of readers of Ladies Home Journal; winners are H Hayes, S Chisholm, K Graham, V Apgar, N Giovanni, E Straus, L Harris and M Lasker
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Sports News Briefs; U.S. Quintet to Tour China
Date: 16 May 1973
OTB announces on May 15 that it will start to accept wagering on Preakness on May 18; Samuels, noting small field for May 19 Preakness, says he expects corp to handle approximately $2-million
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