DODD CASE AUGURS A BROAD INQUIRY
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP75-00149R000200300046-0
Release Decision:
RIPPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
1
Document Creation Date:
November 11, 2016
Document Release Date:
April 20, 1999
Sequence Number:
46
Case Number:
Publication Date:
May 29, 1966
Content Type:
NSPR
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Body:
0
MAY 291966
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-0
DD CASE AUGUR
. A BROAD, INQUIRY
t
th
Panel to Study Ethics of All
Senators on Financing
Suit Is Amended
By BEN A. FRANKLIN On the same day Mr. John-:
special to The New York Times son sent Congress the bill
28 which includes a blanket re-
WASHINGTON May quirement for detailed public
The Senate ethics committee is~ disclosure not only of all cam-
quietly expanding its investiga,' I paign contributions but also of
tion of Senator Thomas J. Dodd all gifts of more than $100 ' and
examination of all income for services by mem-
into a major bers of Congress-Mr. Dodd
Congressional income and ' amended his $5-million libel and
spending. conspiracy complaint against
According to informed sources, Drew Pearson and Jack Ander-
the the committee believes that Mr. son, authors of the column
Dodd' gg connection with the con-, "Washington Merry-Go-Round." ~
trovefsial Chicago public rcla- The revision - intended to'
tions man, Julius Klein, is the hasten the trial, Mr. Dodd said:
least significant investigatory .-dropped his original conten-,
area. It has already decided to tion that the columnists had
concentrate its investigation on acted "falsely and maliciously"!
the complex and, in the view in reporting that he had "pock
of members, very real problems "cted" $50,000 to $100,000 from]
of the high cost of political liv-: three campaign fund-raising'
Ing. dinners and had converted tha'
One source described commit-' nlucll, tax-free, to his own use..
tee members as believing they! The amended suit also re-.
have an unavoidable, role to! duced the libel and conspiracy
play in establishing new rules: damages sought from $5-million'
and new boundaries of conduct.; to. $2-million, an amount based
These Senators are described-1largely on the columnists' al-
as believing that the Dodd in-l leged "false and malicious" as
,on the broad social, nnanc,u,
and political necessities of Con-
?gressional life as on the Sen-
tor himself
and spending political money
that President Johnson has pro-
posed.
Decision Made Earlier
The result may be important!, The conspiracy count, left,
support by the committee for, intact, charges the columnists:
the major reforms in raising with "inducing, aiding and abet.-"
The President's bill, which:', Evans Whittaker, a Kansas Re-I
:a part of the Senate rules by a
resolution, without the concur-
rence of the House.
o
d
crat. It reportedly decide se ii or one thenn,,, the ec s on
oral weeks ago that its mainF llrooclen its field of Investigation
job must be to recommend a! "appears to answer, in part,
new code of conduct for all:, doubts about the committee's
Senators, whether the Presi- I. determination to investigate
dent's proposed legislation is': deeply into the affairs of a cola
,adopted or not. ~? lea.gue.
Such a code could be madel Aware of public questions
a ega
against the Connecticut Demo-Igo deeply Into other questions.
d v-
l i t
committee-officially the Sen-
ate Select Committee on Stand-
ards and Conduct-was com-
mitted to go beyond the specific
11 Lions of misconduct
e,
e
properly sought to promo
special interests of Mr. Klein, a'
registered agent of the West,
t.ing" former and present em
ployes of Mr. Dodd's office to)
prepare pffotocopies of the 'Son-'
ator's private and official files;
ies to Mr
r the co
liv
d
d t
.,,
p
e
e
o
Even before the President an
made his proposals on Thurs- Pearson and Mr. Anderson.
day, it was learned, the ethics l Doubts Taken Into Account
aration at the Justice Depart-
ment, was also influenced by
the Dodd controversy. An Ad
ministration official said it had
been "enriched" at the last mo-
STATINTL
Sanitize eb p'prove~',For Rel,a6, of sa aaharshness A Rf 71540 49R000200300046-0
merit to take account of the' ited with committee rulings that:
charge that the Senator had' might otherwise open its mem
converted thousands of dollars bees to charges of "whitewash" I
in "campaign contributions" to if the decisions seem favorable,..
his personal use. This was done,' to Mr. Dodd or, on. the other;
the official said because the. hand, to senatorial complaints
still publicly the ethics commit-
tee's only agenda, observers re-,
gard with particular interest the
and inci'cased its protessionai~
staff to three.
Mr. Whittaker will have the,'
responsibility of advising andJ
presumably being publicly cred-'