8. pursue the case. If this account is true, it is an example of the unspoken rule that one Administration will not prosecute the high level officials of a past Administration. Such an understanding does not promote confidence in the fairness of our system of criminal justice. 4. FBI BURGLARIES The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities revealed in 1975 that the FBI had engaged in at least 238 illegal break-ins between 1942 and 1968 against allegedly subversive domestic targets. Information about such activi ties remained secret for years from Bureau officials because of an elaborate "Do Not File" procedure which kept materials relating to break-ins out of the FBI's regular filing system. The current FBI Director, Clarence Kelley, denied that the break-ins involved an abuse of authority or a corruption of the public's trust. He argued that the authority flowed from the President's authority to protect the national security. On July 15, 1975, Attorney General Edward Levi directed the Criminal Division of the Justice Department to investigate the FBI break-ins to determine if any laws had been broken and if any persons should be prosecuted. At that time he admitted the probable illegality of such activities. The FBI has been unable to produce documents specifically authorizing the practice of gathering information by break-ins. Attorney General Levi denied any conflict in assigning the investigation of the FBI burglaries to a division of the Justice Department. However, there is an undeniable appearance of a conflict of interest when the Justice Department investigates high level wrongdoing by the FBI, itself a part of the Justice Department. In February 1973, President Nixon nominated Dr. Ruth L. Farkas, wife of a department store magnate, to be U. S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, following the Farkases' contribution of $300,000 to Nixon's 1972 Presidential campaign. At her confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Farkas testified that the contribution was based on the Farkases' strong agreement with Nixon's overtures to Moscow and China and that "it had absolutely nothing to do with whether I was getting an ambassadorship." Republican Representative Louis Wyman of New Hampshire stated that in September 1972, at Farkas' suggestion, he introduced her to Nixon's campaign finance 9. 10. chairman, Maurice Stans, for the purpose of transacting a According to a New York Times article published in July 1975, an unidentified source stated that, at the Watergate Grand Jury's investigation of illegal 1972 campaign activities, Farkas said she had received the ambassadorship "in a direct and explicit exchange" for a $300,000 contribution to Nixon's 1972 campaign. The source also said Farkas accused Wyman of tricking and seducing her and cajoling her into making the possibly illegal maneuver. Wyman confessed that he had first introduced Farkas to Stans in May (rather than September) of 1972, but denied any wrongdoing on his part. During his campaign for the U. S. Senate in the fall of 1974, Wyman asked Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski to give him a clean bill of health regarding any criminal wrongdoing with respect to the Farkas appointment. This was prior to Farkas' alleged testimony before the grand jury described above. Jaworski wrote a letter to Representative William S. Cohen of the louse Judiciary Committee stating that nothing 11. in his investigation would indicate any reason for criminal prosecution of Wyman. This letter was used extensively by Wyman in his campaign. When Farkas' testimony was acknowledged publicly in July of 1975, Wyman was involved in the rerun of his 1974 New Hampshire Senate race. President Ford was actively campaigning in Wyman's behalf. Wyman asked the new Special Prosecutor, Henry Ruth, for a reaffirmation of Wyman's innocence. Ruth refused to do so, stating that the matter was still under investigation by the grand jury. Ruth's refusal to clear Wyman is believed to be a factor in Wyman's loss of the Senate election in September, 1975. The investigation of Farkas, Wyman, and Stans is still underway. During Wyman's campaign for the Senate in the special election in 1975, many commentators interpreted the results of that election as a referendum on President Ford's performance and policies as President and the strength of his coattails. At the same time, Wyman was asking Ruth to clear him publicly of allegations of possible criminal wrongdoing while an investigation was in progress. A serious conflict of interest was avoided by the fact that the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Office not the Attorney General or a division 12. 6. BILLIE SOL ESTES During the early 1960's, Billie Sol Estes was engaged in widespread fraudulent mortgage transactions resulting in numerous indictments for swindling, embezzling, theft, mail fraud, conspiracy, and restraint of trade. Estes was eventually sentenced to over 20 years in prison and assessed over $1 million in various penalties. Two cases which gained national attention dealt with irregularities in grain storage contracts awarded by the Department of Agriculture and alleged illegalities in obtaining cotton allotments. During the course of these two investigations serious allegations of wrongdoing were made against at least fourteen Agriculture Department officials. The officials included an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and one of his aides, a Deputy Administrator of the Department's Stabilization and Conservation Service, and two officials of a field office of the Department's Stabilization and Conservation Service. While all of these officials either resigned, were dismissed, or were suspended, no criminal charges were brought by the Department of Justice against any of them. Again there was at least the appearance that government officials who do wrong may lose their jobs but are not subject to the same criminal penalties as other citizens. |