C. WILLIAM TAYLER, having been duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows: By Mr. O'CONNOR: Q. Will you state your full name and your position with the Special Subcommittee on Contracts. A. C. William Tayler, counsel to the special subcommittee. Q. You have just completed an interrogation of Mr. Julian Langston concerning the efforts to obtain the appearance of Mrs. Adam C. Powell before the special subcommittee. Have you had contacts with the U.S. attorney in Puerto Rico concerning Mrs. Powell? A. Yes. Q. Would you relate to the committee how the contacts were made and the nature of the discussions that you have had with him. A. First let me describe the background of my first phone call to the U.S. attorney for Puerto Rico, which was made on December 28, 1966. When I arrived in the committee offices on the morning of December 28, I was shown the cablegram from Mrs. Powell's attorneys which is Langston exhibit No. 13, which stated that they had no information about her scheduled appearance on the 29th other than what they had heard in the press, and they were asking for clarification. Since it was already late in the morning of the 28th and Mrs. Powell's reservations were for a plane leaving San Juan at 6:36 p.m. that day, San Juan time, I undertook to contact these attorneys by telephone in order to get the message through as quickly as possible. I instructed one of our secretaries to place the call and she advised me that she had reached the office of the attorneys for Mrs. Powell and had been informed by a girl on the other end of the line in that office that they were at lunch and would be back at 1:15 p.m., Washington time, and she would have them return my call. My secretary identified me as counsel for the House Administration Committee when she left the message. One fifteen came and went and the call was not returned. At 1:45 I again attempted to reach her attorneys and according to the information given us by a secretary in their office they were not in and they would be back in an hour. At this point I undertook to instruct Mr. Langston to phone the U.S. marshal and have him find the attorneys. The instruction was to find the attorneys and tell them that Mrs. Powell was to be before the subcommittee on the next day and she was to take the 6:35 p.m. Eastern Airlines flight out of San Juan. I then phoned the U.S. attorney for Puerto Rico, Mr. Francisco Gil, Jr., and advised him of our situation, that we were trying to reach Mrs. Powell's attorneys to get her on the plane that evening. I asked him to contact the attorneys as quickly as possible and tell them that she was expected here before the subcommittee on the following morning. I did not hear from Mr. Gil until the morning of the 29th, early in the morning, when he called me and reported a conversation he had had on the preceding evening with one of the two attorneys, Reinaldo Paniagua Diez. He said Mr. Paniagua Diez had informed him that Mrs. Powell had no notification of a scheduled appearance on the 29th other than what the newspapers had reported and the information received by the attorneys on the afternoon of the 28th from the U.S. marshal; that she was unable to make arrangements on such short notice to travel to Washington. Mr. Gil said that he had impressed upon Mr. Paniagua Diez the seriousness of her failure to appear and he urged him to advise Mrs. Powell that she might be subject to a citation for contempt of Congress if she did not appear. Mr. Paniagua Diez, according to Mr. Gil, said that he was not certain that Mrs. Powell was following his advice any longer and he did not know what effect such advice given to her would have. Mr. Gil also reported that Mrs. Powell's correct address is the address on the December 20 cablegram which the committee chairman, Mr. Hays, sent to her, that is, Cerro Gordo, Vega Alta, P.R. But he had been unable to reach Mrs. Powell at that address because the telephone lines were down on that day. I asked Mr. Gil to again contact Mr. Paniagua Diez and advise him that we had made a new reservation for Mrs. Powell at 4:30 p.m. on the 29th on a Pan American flight from San Juan to Friendship Airport. I asked him to urge Mr. Paniagua Diez to get Mrs. Powell on that plane for a rescheduled appearance on Friday morning, December 30, at 10 a.m. Mr. Gil said he would do so. I have not heard anything further from him. Mr. O'CONNOR. I have no further questions. Mr. HAYS. Are there any other questions? (No response.) Mr. HAYS. That is all. (Witness excused.) (Whereupon, at 11:20 a.m. the committee was recessed to reconvene at 2 p.m., the same day.) Mr. HAYS. Mr. Stone, you have been sworn previously. C. SUMNER STONE, JR., having been previously duly sworn, was examined and testified further as follows: Mr. O'CONNOR. Please state your name. The WITNESS. C. Sumner Stone, Jr. By Mr. O'Connor: Q. Mr. Stone, you appeared before the committee on December 19, I believe. Is that correct? A. Yes, sir. Q. And in your testimony there was one matter that the committee would like to have clarified. You might recall the question as to whether or not there was a testimonial and dinner in New York for Mr. Powell the latter part of March of 1966. Do you recall that question? A. Yes. Q. I believe your answer to that was that there was no testimonial dinner. A. That is right. Q. The committee has information that on March 25, 1966, there was a ball or dance. A. Oh, yes. Q. For Mr. Powell in New York City. Does that refresh your recollection as to a gathering on behalf of Mr. Powell in the city at that time? A. Yes, sir; the Alfred E. Isaacs Club dance. I am not sure that it was for Mr. Powell or not but it is an annual dance that his club gives. He is coleader of the club. Q. I believe there was also a testimonial for Lillian Upshur. Is that correct? A. Yes. It is not a testimonial as such. It is just an annual dance they have. I don't recall whether they said testimonial dance for him, or her, or what. I know it was an annual dance they have. Q. Who is Lillian Upshur? A. Coleader of the assembly district with Mr. Powell. New York City is divided into assembly districts and they have a leader and coleader. Mr. Powell is the leader and she is his coleader. I don't know the new number but prior to the constitutional change it was known as the 12th Assembly District. It has a new number now. Q: Is Miss Upshur on the Congressman's congressional payroll? A.. I don't think I don't really know. I am not too familiar with the congressional payroll. There is a list of names I don't recognize. Q. Does she work in Mr. Powell's congressional office either in New York or Washington? A. She doesn't work in Washington. I don't know about New York City. Q. Do you know whether she might be on the payroll of the Education and Labor Committee? A. I am almost sure she is not. I am pretty sure she is not on the Education and Labor Committee payroll. I cannot say it with any finality. I would have to see the list. Q. In connection with that dance or ball on March 25, 1966, did you go up to it? A. Yes, I did. Q. Did you use an airline credit card to go up to it? A. I can't remember, sir. I know I drove a couple times at that particular time. I am not sure whether I went on the airline credit card. Q. Did anyone accompany you? A. No, sir, I went by myself. Q. Could you relate to the committee the names of other employees of the Washington office of either the committee or Mr. Powell's congressional office that were in attendance that night in New York City? A. Let me see. Mr. Derrickson, Mrs. Wright, Miss Himes. Q. Miss Dorothy Himes? A. Yes. I am just trying to think. There was a dinner before. I think Miss Lewis. Q. Miss Cleomine Lewis? A. Yes, Mr. Odell Clark. There were about eight or nine. I remember definitely being there. Oh, Miss Swann was there. I am not sure whether Mr. Schwartz was there or not. I think so but I can't remember for sure. Q. Do you know how they transported themselves to the dinner from Washington to New York? A. No. I know some of them drove. I don't know how they all got there. Q. Did you use your airline credit card for the purchase of any transportation of these people to that dinner? A. No, sir. Q. To your knowledge was there any official business on behalf of the committee in New York City on that date? A. Not to my knowledge, sir. Q. You don't know of any official duties that were performed by any of these people who went up to the dinner? A. No, sir. Q. I would like to direct a series of questions to you concerning Y. Marjories Flores, who also is known as Mrs. Adam C. Powell. Do you know Mrs. Powell personally? A. I met her just once back in 1959 when I was editor of the New York Age. That was the only time I physically saw her. Q. 1959? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where did you see her? A. At a dance in New York City with Mr. Powell. Q. Have you ever seen Mrs. Powell in Washington, D.C., during the last 2 years? A. No, sir. I have talked to her on the phone when she was in Washington, D.C., but I have not seen her physically. Q. Have you ever seen her in New York City during the last 2 years? A. No, sir; not personally. Q. Have you talked to her on the phone up there? A. Yes, sir, I have. Mr. HAYS. May I ask a clarifying question? Did I understand you to say you talked to her on the phone when she was in Washington but did not physically see her? The WITNESS. Yes. Mr. HAYS. And you talked to her on the phone when she was physically in New York? The WITNESS. Yes, sir. I talked to her on the phone from Washington when she was in New York. By Mr. O'CONNOR: Q. Can you place the dates when she was in Washington first and then New York City to the best of your recollection? A. The last time I talked to her when she was in Washington was around September, I think. Q. September of 1966? A. This year; yes, sir. Mr. HAYS. Could that have been August? The WITNESS. Might have been August. I don't know the exact month. It was late summer or early fall. Mr. HAYS. As I recall the press said she was here in August. I can understand you can have some difficulty in sorting out the months. That is when you talked to her? The WITNESS. Yes. Mr. HAYS. When the press said she was here? By Mr. O'CONNOR: Q. When she was at the Sheraton Park Hotel? A. Yes. Q. Did she come to the office at all during that visit? A. No. Q. How long was she in New York City, to your knowledge? A. I don't know. I only talked to her once when she was in New York City. That was about a year ago. All I recall is the conversation in New York City. Q. In connection with her visit to Washington in August or September of 1966, you did not talk to her during those months in New York City, also, did you? A. No, sir. Q. Do I understand your testimony that you met her personally only once? Q. You are familiar with her voice? A. Oh, yes. I know her voice. Q. You know when she is on the other end of the telephone? A. When I talked to her; yes, sir. Q. Since December 15, 1966, have you talked to Mrs. Powell by telephone? A. Yes, sir; a couple times. Q. Where was she at the time you talked with her and where were you? A. I was in Washington. I presume she was in Puerto Rico. A. She called me. Q. Could you relate to the committee the circumstances and the occasion of her calling you, at least why she told you she called you? A. Two matters, one concerning her appearance here before the subcommittee. The other was concerning the need to get in touch with Mr. Powell concerning personal matters. Q. The record shows she received a subpena from the committee on December 15, 1966, to appear before the committee on December 21, 1966. Had she received a subpena at the time she called you? A. I don't think so. The last time I talked to her was last Wednesday, which was the 21st. She hadn't received a subpena then but she said she was coming. Q. When was the first time she called you that you can recall? A. It might have been the 19th or the 16th. I talked to her a couple days before the 21st. I do recall last Wednesday was the last time I talked to her. Q. You talked to her on the 19th and then the 21st? A. Either the 16th or 19th and then I talked to her again on the 21st. Q. About December 16 and again on December 21? A. Yes, sir. Q. When she called you on the 16th, which would be the first call, what did she say to you? A. Well, then she was just concerned about getting in touch with Mr. Powell. That was the call primarily. She wanted to get in touch with him. |