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A 8 THE SUN. Friday, July 26, 1974
Summaries, selected excerptsof panel members'
By ALBERT SEHLTEDT, JR.
and THOMAS PEPPER
Washington Bureau of The Sun
The following are summaries and ex-
cerpts of statements by House Judiciary
Committee members on the question of
impeachment of the President.
Charles E. Wiggins (R., Calif.)
This conservative congressman said
he winced to hear himself cast in the
role of the President's defender and
then discussed in detail the charge that
the Central Intelligence Agency had
been "misused" in the Watergate scan-
dal.
Mr. Wiggins said the President knew
June 23, 1972, that some of the men
arrested at the Democratic national
headquarters, in the Watergate office
building, were former or "active" CIA
agents. Further, the President's counsel,
John W. Dean 3d, had been informed by
the FBI of possible CIA involvement in
the case.
The President, Mr. Wiggins indicated,
gave orders that the FBI investigation
of Watergate did not expose unrelated'
activities of the CIA or the activities of
the White House special investigating
unit (the "plumbers"); and that the FBI
and CIA coordinate their activities.
"The President's involvement ends
there, with those instructions," Mr.
Wiggins said, "and I think it is not
unreasonable to characterize the Presi-
dent's order, given the facts known to
him at the time he issued the order, to
be wholly responsible and wholly rea-
sonable. . .
John Conyers, Jr. (D., Mich.)
Mr. Conyers, a liberal Democrat ex-
pected to vote for impeachment, said
that much of Mr. Nixon's troubles, like
those of his predecessor at the White
House, stemmed from the Vietnam war.
The congressman said the committee's
study of the impeachment case "re-
vealed clearly the pressures on the
administration, so trapped by its own
war policies and the desire to stay in
office it was forced to enter into an
almost unending series of plans for
spying and burglary and wiretapping
inside this country and against its own
citizens without precedent in American
history.
"The President took the power of his
office and under the guise of protecting
and executing the laws that he swore to
uphold, he abused them and in so doing
he has jeopardized the strength and
integrity of the Constitution and laws of
the land and the protections that they
ought to afford all of the people. .."
"This is why we must exercise this
awesome power of impeachment, not to
punish Richard Nixon, because the con-
stitutional remedy is not punitive, but to
restore to our government the proper
balance of constitutioal power, and
serve notice on all future presidents that
such abuse of conduct will not now nor
ever again be tolerated."
David W. Dennis (R., Ind.)
Described earlier as leaning against
impeachment, Mr. Dennis left little
doubt on that point in his statement
yesterday.
"We would do better to retain the
President . . . for the balance of his
term, and in the meantime place our
energies and spend our time on such
pressing matters as real campaign re-
form, a sound financial policy to control
inflation, energy and the environment,
war and peace, honesty throughout gov-
ernment, and the personal and economic
rights and liberties of the individual
citizen as against private agglomera-
tions of power in the monlithic state."
Mr. Dennis said that in his view only
the "so-called Watergate coverup" pre-
sented the committee with a serious
problem upon which the members must
decide.
Joshua Eilberg (D., Pa.)He found, "Richard Nixon ... guilty
beyond any reasonable doubt of numer-
ous acts of impeachable conduct, re-
gardless of any standard we apply."
He found Mr. Nixon believing himself
"above the law" while his advisers
owed their allegiance to him and not to
the Constitution or the country. "Mosthorrendous" crime, he said, was allow-
ing Richard G. Kleindienst, Mr. Nixon's
appointee for attorney general, to "tes-
tify falsely" at his own confirmation
hearings.
It was "imperative" to impeach be-
cause ordinary citizens were afraid to
take political issues for fear of having
their telephones tapped, their ' mail
opened and their tax returns audited.
Hamilton Fish, Jr. (R., N.Y.)
I find myself deeply troubled
over evidence of presidential complicity
in thwarting justice and in the alleged
abuse of power of that great office,
particularly the use of the enormous
power of the United States government
to invade and impinge upon the private
rights of individuals."
He said every member must decide on
the basis of law and the Constitution but
stopped short of declaring how he would
vote. "If the evidence is clear, then our
constitutional duty is no less clear," he
concluded.
Jerome R. Waldie (D., Calif.)
Mr. Waldie said there had been count-
less times when the President failed to
act, though he had been told of perjury
on behalf of subordinates; told of efforts
to conceal evidence, and told of obstruc-
tion of justice on behalf of his highest
aides.
Basing his observations on the White
House transcripts Mr. Waldie went on to
say:
The saddest part . . . of all those
transcripts was the President's own be-
wilderment in the March 22 tape when
he was talking about President Eisen-
hower and he said this..
'That is all he cared about. He only
cared about-Christ, be sure he was
clean. Be sure he was clean. Both in the
fund thing and the Adams thing (Sher-
man Adams, Mr. Eisenhower's top aide
was forced to resign for accepting a
gift.) But I don't look at it that way. We
are going to protect our people if we
can.'
"That," Mr. Waldie continued, "is the
saddest standard of conduct set forth in
that entire page of transcripts, that the
President denigrates a standard of con-
duct that Eisenhower had set forth for
his subordinates.
"He said, 'We don't look at it that
way,' and he doesn't look at it that way.
He looks at it as necessary to cover
up "
Wiley Mayne (R., Iowa)
This congressman said the strongest
case against the President, in his view,
was the charge of obstruction of justice.
as it related to the alleged Watergate
coverup.
"And I have been listening intently
and will continue to be most interested
in what my colleagues have to say on
this, because it seems to me that this is
the only real possibility that remains of
a vote for impeachment.
"Direct presidential involvement in
such a coverup must be proved, but so
far as I have been able to hear up this
to time, all of the evidence on this, or
almost all of it, is purely circumstan-
tial.''
Mr. Mayne implied that partisanship
was motivating impeachment, saying
that the late President Lyndon B. John-
son came to Congress in 1937 with only
a $10,000 salary, but left the White
House a wealthy man.
Walter Flowers (D., Ala.)
"I wake up nights .. . wondering if
this could not be some sordid dream,"
he said. "Impeach . . our commander
in chief in this cruel and volatile world
that we live in in 1974."
Not to impeach might be worse, he
suggested. He worried about abuses of
the Internal Revenue Service and other
agencies, found it a "chilling thought"
that tax collectors were being used to
get political enemies. Held that there
was "some evidence" that Mr. Nixon
did not tell the truth and therefore, "if
the people cannot know that their Presi-
dent is candid and truthful with them,then I say the very basis of government
is underminded."
Lawrence J. Hogan (R., 5th)
Mr. Hogan, who announced his pro-im-
peachment stance earlier this week,I
Caroline Kennedy (right), watches impeachment debate.D
positions
said it was difficult for him to oppose
the man to whom he had given his
enthusiastic support in presidential cam-
paigns and in legislative battles.
"But it is impossible for me to con-
done or ignore the long train of abuses
to which he has subjected the presi-
dency and the people of this country."
The congressman, in a printed state-
ment of his views, went on to say, "The
Constitution and my oath of office de-
mand that I 'bear true faith and allegi-
ance' to the principles of law and justice
upon which this nation was founded, and
I cannot, in good conscience, turn away
from evidence of evil that is so clear
and compelling."
Promised to vote only as "I am con-
vinced in my heart and mind. . ..
James R. Mann (D., S.C.)
Mr. Mann rejected the claim that the
events which have brought about im-
peachment charges against the Presi-
dent can be explained as "just politics,"
asking, if "we are so morally bankrupt
to accept a past course of wrongdoing."
The American system of government
built on the Constitution has been pres-
erved by "men putting it above their
own political careers," he said.
The moderate-conservative stopped
short of stating how he will vote, saying
that he would like to examine all the
evidence, which he said the President
has. However, he referred to the com-
mittee's decision as a "verdict" and
then corrected himself to say that the
final decision would have to be made in
the "open forum" of the Senate.
M. Caldwell Butler (R., Va.)
He said there would be "frightful
implications" for the future if the Presi-
dent were not impeached. It would
mean the country would "condone and
leave unpunished" obstructions of jus-
tice and clear abuses of power.
"Misuse of power is the essence of
tyranny," the conservative Republican
said. He pointed above all to the use of
the Internal Revenue Service to harass
the enemies of Mr. Nixon, which he
found a "frightening" implication for
the future.
He doubted there was sufficient proof
in other areas, but announced he would
vote to impeach on articles of obstruc-
tion and abuse of power, although there
is "no joy in it for me."
Paul S. Sarbanes (D., 3d)
Mr. Sarbanes, who represents East
and South Baltimore and portions of
Baltimore county, held up a copy of the
Constitution, and called it "probably the
world's best exposition of free govern-
ment."
He cited the Constitution's re uire-
ment that the President faithfully exe-
cute the laws, and found, he said, that
Mr. Nixon had helped obstruct the ad-
ministration of justice by participating,
along with his subordinates, in a cov-
erup of the Watergate burglary.
He particularly cited the President's
promise to the assistant attorney ge-
neral, Henry E. Petersen, to keep the
results of Mr. Petersen's Watergate in-
vestigation in confidence. But on one
occasion, Mr. Sarbanes said, two min-
utes after Mr. Petersen left the Oval
Office, Mr. Nixon talked to his aide
John D. Ehrlichman, and told Ehrlich-
man what Mr. Petersen had just re-
vealed about an investigation directed,
in part, against Ehrlichman.
Mr. Sarbanes went on to thank four
Nixon administration officials-Randolph
Thrower and Johnnie M. Walters, both
former commissioners of internal re-
venue, and Elliot L. Richardson and
William D. Ruckelshaus, respectively
former attorney general and deputy at-
torney general-for failing to yield to
political pressure to misuse the powers
of the offices they held. Mr. Sarbanes
did not specifically say how the would
vote, but his remarks clearly suggested
that he would favor impeachment.William S. Cohen (R., Maine)
Mr. Cohen, a freshman congressman
who represents most of northern Maine,
said he was prepared to rule out certain
presidential conduct-concerning the se-
cret bombing of Cambodia, the im-
poundment of funds appropriated by
Congress, and the sanctioning of spend-
ing tax money to improve Mr. Nixon's
residences-as not serious enough to
warrant impeachment. But two matters
did bother him, Mr. Cohen said-ob-
struction of justice in the Watergate
coverup and abuse of presidential pow-
ers.
He took issue with some of his Repub-
lican colleagues in saying that circum-
stantial evidence could be just as valid,
in certain circumstances, as direct evid-
ence, and he clearly indicated that he
thought a conspiracy case-such as the
Watergate coverup-was one such cir-
cumstance.
John F. Seiberling (D., Ohio)
Mr. Seiberling, a liberal Democrat
from Akron, argued that "nothing can
do more for undermining the law than
disrespect for the law on the part of our
highest officials."
The evidence against President Nixon,
he said, is "overwhelming." The Presi-
dent, he said, falsified facts, directed a
coverup of the Watergate investigation,
and directed or condoned abuses of
presidential power.
He said the committee's decision
would set forth standards of conduct for
all future presidents, and addressing
himself to Mr. Nixon's contention that
an impeachment would weaken the pres-
idency, Mr. Seiberling said the contrary
-that the presidency and the entire
constitutional system would be weak-
ened if Mr. Nixon were not impeached.
Trent Lott (R., Miss.)
Mr. Lott, an avowed conservative sup-
porter of President Nixon, contended
that "you cannot impeach a presidentbecause you don't like his philosophy,"
or based on "innuendo" or "for half a
case."
"The line," Mr. Lott said, "must be
drawn directly to the President, clearly
to the President. This was not done."
For every bit of evidence linking Mr.
Nixon to impeachable behavior, he said,
there is also evidence to the contrary.
While praising the overall impeach-
ment inquiry by the Judiciary Commit-
tee as fair, Mr. Lott also said the staff
presentation was not balanced, and that
committee members and staff lawyers
had gotten "so deep in the forest we've
lost sight of the forest."
G. E. Danielson (D., Calif.)
He holds that impeachable conduct
need not be a crime but in the case of a
president "a substantial breach of his
oath of office" is enough.
Spent much of his time quoting from
key presidential tapes but was inter-
rupted in mid-afternoon as the commit-
tee recessed because of another bomb
threat.
Concluded that Mr. Nixon and his
aides were "plotting, planning and con-
spiring against out system of justice and
to impede a congressional committee in
the discharge of its lawful functions."
This taped evidence, he said, was
"enough direct and undisputed evid-
ence" to support a criminal conviction
and enough for impeachment.
arold V. Froehlich (R., Wis.)
This congressman, who has not dis-
closed how he will vote on impeach-
ient, deplored the "series of leaks"
from the Judiciary Committee during its
closed-door investigation, and said that
partisanship had played a role in the
proceedings.
"One by one," he said, most of the
charges against the Nixon administra-
tion have faded into the background. He
added, however, that he was troubled by
allegations of obstruction of justice and
abuse of power made against Mr. Nixon.
The obstruction of justice, he said,
involved the coverup plan to save the
administration from embarrassment and
to preserve votes for the November,
1972, presidential election.
Robert F. Drinan (D., Mass.)
The Jesuit priest was concerned that
"the greatest deception and possibly the
most impeachable offense of President
Nixon" may not become a charge
against him. He referred to the "clan-
destine war in Cambodia," which he
held was in the same pattern as the
Watergate coverup.
The Cambodian war troubled him the
most, he said, because it was concealed
and because the President "usurped"
the constitutional right of Congress to
make war.
Seemingly miffed, he reminded the
committee that impeachment can lead
to "honorable acquittal" when an offi-
cial is "unjustly accused," Without say-
ing how he would vote, he finished by
asserting that the government will be
"purified and strengthened" by the pro-
cess of impeachment, no matter what the
outcome
Carlos J. Moorhead (R., Calif.)
Mr. Moorhead, a conservative from a
staunchy Republican district in subur-
ban Los Angeles, said he could not in
good conscience vote for impeachment
when he felt the involvement of Presi-
dent Nixon in serious offenses had not,
in his view, been proven. He said he
could only do so by crossing "a big
moat," and on the basis of the evidence
he had heard and read, "I cannot jump
over that moat."
He criticized the inquiry staff for not
calling more witnesses and for allowing.
hearsay testimony to be admitted into
evidence. He also said he had no faith
in the testimony of Dean, Mr. Nixon's
former counsel and chief accuser, who,
he said, had failed to tell the truth "so
many times you almost lose count."
Charles B. Rangel (D., N.Y.)This Harlem Democrat, in one of the
more moving statements of the day,
reviewed some of the aspects of the
Watergate scandal that led to the im-
peachment hearings and then said:
"Some say this is a sad day in
American history. I think it could be
onej oi the brightest days."
He then referred to the power of the
people. through the vehicle of the House
of Representatives, to call a president to
account."What is really sad about this day,"
Mr. Rangel added, "is that morality is
no longer expected in government."
The congressman then recalled the
oath to defend the Constitution taken by
presidents, congressmen, generals and
privates.
"If this oath is to become meaning-
less, then this young country will have
lost one of its riches resources-the faith
and the confidence of its people," he
said.
Joseph J. Maraziti (R., N.J.)
Mr. Maraziti, a moderate Republican
from northwestern New Jersey, said the
committee should "settle for no less
than hard evidence that the President
has committed impeachable offenses,"
and he indicated that he did not feel it
had found such "hard evidence" as yet.
"In many areas," he said, the commit-
tee had found "a lack of certainty."
Mr. Maraziti criticized the inquiry
staff for calling too few witnesses, and,
for failing to ask President Nixon writ-
ten questions he would answer under
oath.
He also said that, in considering con-
flicting testimony, he would certainly
believe statements made by Mr. Nixon
more than statements made against the
President by Dean, whose Senate Water-
gate committee testimony directly impli-
cated Mr. Nixon in the Watergate cov-
erup.
Barbara C. Jordan (D.,Texas)
Representative -Jordan, a liberal De-
mocrat from Houston, began by saying
that when the preamble to the Constitu-
tion refers to "We the people," she used
to feel left out. The black congress-
woman said that through a process of
amendment, she no longer felt left out
of "the people."
She outlined the charges of which she
believes Mr. Nixon is guilty:
Protecting suspicious persons by al-
lowing hush money payments to Water-
gate defendants and aiding his impli-
cated subordinates; encroachment of in-
dividual liberties by acquiescing on the
Huston plan and the break-in of Daniel
Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office; betray-
ing the public trust by making numer-
ous "false assertions" about his know-
ledge of the Watergate break-in, and
subverting the Constitution.
Quoting frequently from impeachment
criteria discussed at constitutional ratifi-
cation conventions of the 13 original
states, Representative Jordan'concluded:
"If the impeachment provisions of the
Constitution of the United States will not
reach the offenses charged here, then
perhaps that Eighteenth Century Consti-
tution should be abandoned to a Twenti-
eth Century paper shredder."
Delbert Latta (R., Ohio)
Mr. Latta said that world conditions
demand a strong presidency in the Un-
ited States and he asked his colleagues
what effect Mr. Nixon's removal would
have around the globe.
He also wondered what effect the
removal of President Andrew Johnson
from office in the last century would
have had on the balance of power
among the three branches of govern-
ment. If President Johnson had been
convicted by the Senate, would the legis-
lative branch of the government have
become supreme? he asked.
The Ohio Republican also attacked
liberal members of the committee for
what he implied was a pre-judgment of
the case and further stated:
"Show me the hard evidence . . . and
I'll show you a vote for impeachment."
Ray Thornton (D., Ark.)
Mr. Thornton, a soft-spoken moderate
from Southern Arkansas, said he en-
tered the impeachment inquiry hoping it
would not be necessary to recommend
articles of impeachment, and with a
presumption that President Nixon was
innocent.
However, he said that on the basis of
evidence he had heard thus far he feltMr. Nixon had violated his oath of office
by abusing his power and obstructing
justice. To fail to impeach Mr. Nixon,
he said, would repeal the right of the
legislative branch to check the power of
the executive branch of government.-
In citing various crimes that occurred
under Mr. Nixon's administration, Mr.
Thornton said he realized that such
illegal wiretapping and surveillance had
been committed before, but, he added,
"I know of no time when they have beensystematized or carried on in such an
organized way."
Elizabeth Holtzman (D., N.Y.)
Representative Holtzman, a liberal
Democrat from Brooklyn, came out une-
quivocally for impeachment. Calling
President Nixon's conduct "sorry and
disgraceful," she said she felt the evid-
ence showed that he had tried to hide
incriminating evidence about the Water-
gate coverup, and even more serious,
that he acted to obstruct justice
throughout his terms of office, authoriz-
ing illegal wiretaps and break-ins "not
for national security reasons but for
political advantage."
"I feel very deeply," she said, "that
the President's impeachment and remo-
val from office is the only remedy.
Because the presidential coverup is con--
tinuing even through today, there is no
way it can be ended short of the
President's removal."
Wayne Owens (D., Utah)
This very junior member of the com-
mittee said that "on the basis of the
evidence before us, I am now persuaded
that the President has knowingly en-
gaged in three types of conduct which
constitute impeachable offenses under
the requirements of the Constitution and
that he should now be called to account
before the United States Senate."
Mr. Owens said that, first, there was
convincing evidence that Mr. Nixon di-
rected and participated in a coverup of
the Watergate bur lary.
u LCO!IQ;itihe resident aised the
power of his office for political profit,
including the misuse of the FBI P:-e
illegal wiretaps, and the misuse of otn.r
federal agencies, he said.
Thirdly, Mr. Nixon's refusal to res-
pond to the committee's subpoenas con-
stituted an obstruction of the constitu-
tional impeachment process which "is
an extremely grave offense," Mr.
Owens said.
Edward Mezvinsky (D., Iowa)
Mr. Mezvinsky, a liberal Democrat
from southeastern Iowa, called the im-
peachment process "the ultimate guar-
antor" of presidential accountability.
Not only is President Nixon being
tested, he said, but Congress is also on
trial, challenged by the question of how
it will judge whether Mr. Nixon "has
abused that great gift of the presi-
dency."
Clearly advocating impeachment, Mr.
Mezvinsky chose to emphasize the issue
of Mr. Nixon's underpayment of his
personal income taxes-an issue, Mr.
Mezvinsky said, that was not yet in-
cluded in the proposed articles of im-
peachment, but an issue he thought just
as important as obstruction of justice
and abuse of powers.
He contended that Mr. Nixon falsely
backdated a deed of the gift of his vice
presidential papers to the National Ar-
chives, and through this device, created
a massive tax shelter. Worse yet, he
said, the President has disclaimed res-
ponsibility, saying his tax lawyers and
accountants are to blame. But, he said,
"Richard Nixon is on the bottom line"
as well as the names of his accoutants.
All this, he said, "demeans the office of
the presidency."
E. Hutchinson (R., Mich.)
This most senior GOP member of
the Judiciary Committee said he re-
mained "unconvinced" by arguments
for impeachment.
He further stated that one of the two
articles of impeachment drafted by
committee Democrats was "a grab bag
of allegations." He referred here to the
abuse of power article against Mr.
Nixon.
Mr. Hutchinson said, too, that he did
not believe crimes had been proved
beyond a reasonable count, and he
deplored what he called a "stacking of
infrences."
Peter W. Rodino, Jr. (D., N.J.)Mr. Rodino, the committee chairman,
closed the general debate phase by
briefly stating his own view in favor of
impeachment, saying: "I revere the
presidency of the United States of Amer-
ica. I revere all presidents."
However, without referring to Presi-
dent Nixon by name, he went on to say:
"I have searched within my heart, my
conscience, searched out the facts, and
when I test the facts, I find that the
President of the United States, in ac-
cordance with the tests that I feel that
we must confront, I find that the Presi-
dent must be found wanting."Chairman Peter W. Rodino, Jr. (left) and Edward Hutchinson, ranking minority member, listen to debate.
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