Q. You have made other travel, though, for the committee during the 89th Congress? A. Not too much. By Mr. O'CONNOR: By Mr. TAYLER: By Mr. O'CONNOR: A. I would have to check it out. I haven't traveled very much during the 89th Congress for the committee. Q. Have you gone to New York? A. That is what I am trying to think of. I don't remember. I know that recently I haven't been to New York. Q. Within the last 2 years, have you gone to any other cities? Q. In other words, you have made one trip to Miami in the last 2 years? A. On committee business. Q. So, during the last 2 years you have only made one official trip, to your knowledge; is that correct? A. That I can recall. By Mr. TAYLER: By Mr. O'CONNOR: By Mr. TAYLER: Q. Any airline ticket that bears your name during the past 2 years is one not used by you because you don't travel by air; is that correct? A. That is right. Q. Now, Mrs. Dargans, I am going to show you photocopies of four checks which are in the record as “Gray Exhibit 1.” The first is to Eastern Airlines. Adam C. Powell per L. M. Dargans in the amount of $541.66 on October 28, 1966, and a similar check, except for the amount, $112.56, and then the third check is dated July 29, 1966, to the order of the Committee on Education and Labor in the amount of $197.15, bearing the purported signature of Adam C. Powell. The fourth check, same date, same payee, same amount, bearing the signature Corrinne Huff. Now, I ask you if you sent those checks to the House Administration Committee with a voucher to reimburse the Government for the cost of certain air travel made by Mr. Powell and Miss Huff and perhaps other members of the committee? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you have any way of identifying which tickets were being reimbursed by each of those checks? A. Yes, sir. Q. And how would you go about telling us which tickets are related to each check? Is it from your records? A. Yes, sir. Q. Would you take the first check there, give the date and the amount, and the name of the drawer and tell us which ticket that is for? A. October 28, 1966, $541.66 over Adam C. Powell's signature. By Mr. O'CONNOR: A. Yes, sir. This is for reimbursement of a ticket purchased August 5, Washington to Miami, $112.56 by C. Sumner Stone. Purchased August 5, Washington to Miami, $168.20 by C. Sumner Stone. August 5, Washington to Miami, $168.20, purchased by C. Sumner Stone. August 5, Washington to Miami—now, can I go off the record just a moment to explain this? Mr. Hays. Yes. (Discussion off the record.) Mr. Hays. If you don't mind, we would like to have that on the record. The WITNESS. The fourth purchase, on August 5, Washington, D.C., to Miami, in the amount of $168.20 'by C. Sumner Stone, of which $75.50 was refunded on August 20, which left a balance on this $168.20 purchase of $92.70, making a total of $541.66, which reflects the purpose of this check. By Mr. TAYLER: Q. That check then was made up by you at Mr. Powell's direction? A. Yes. Q. To pay for the tickets you had mentioned ? A. Yes, sir. By Mr. O'CONNOR: Q. When did you receive the instructions to make up that check? A. October 26. By Mr. TAYLER: Q. Of this year? A. Yes. Mr. Hays. Can you tell us when the bill came in for that, Mrs. Dargans? The WITNESS. I received the bill in my office on September 21. Mr. Hays. Was it processed through—this wasn't a repayment? It just wasn't paid until October, is that correct ? The WITNESS. That is right. By Mr. O'CONNOR: Q. You indicated that these purchases were all by C. Sumner Stone? A. Yes, sir. Q Let's take the $168.20 items. Weren't they round-trip tickets from Washington to New York and New York to Miami rather than Washington to Miami? A. They may well have been, but I took this information from the Eastern Airlines statement which simply indicated Washington to Miami. Q. Did you have any discussion with Mr. Stone before you drew this check for $541? A. My instruction came from the chairman by way of Mr. Stone. Q. What did Mr. Stone tell you at the time you had the discussion concerning these? A. Mr. Stone sent me a memo. A. I received it—the memo itself is undated. I received it on October 25. Q. Would you like to read the memo into the record ? A. [Reading :) To Mrs. L. M. Dargans. From Chuck Stone. There are 7 trips checked with a red pencil next to charges on the attached Eastern Airlines bill. Please pay for those 7 trips with a personal check from the Chairman to Eastern Airlines. These are his instructions. Q. May I see what you are reading from there, please? By Mr. O'CONNOR: By Mr. O'CONNOR: A. When you ask me who were the actual travelers, I can give you the names which appear as the travelers. Q. Give us the name of the one appearing as the traveler and who the actual traveler was. A. Well, I assume that the name appearing as the traveler was the actual traveler. Q. Do you know who the actual traveler was? Q. What are the names of the reported travelers then? Ă. On August 5 for $112.56, C. Sumner Stone. On August 5, $168.20, C. Sumner Stone. Q. What is the actual traveler? Q. I know it is listed. I asked you—these are all purchases with Stone's travel card ? A. Yes. A. I would have to go to look at the coupon to see that a traveleraccording to my records Stone is the traveler, as well as the purchaser. Q. Go to the third then. A. And the last one is Givens, and I am sorry I don't remember her first name. Q. Does the name “Clark” appear among those ? By Mr. O'CONNOR: Q. Let me see if I follow you correctly. The three tickets, one for $112.50, insofar as you know, the traveler was Stone? A. Yes. Q. The $168.20 ticket purchased on August 5, the traveler was Stone? A. Yes. Q. You indicated that memorandum from Mr. Stone said the seven trips checked ? A. Yes. By Mr. O'CONNOR: A. If I may explain that, some of the trips—three of them I gave you Q. Maybe I shouldn't get into that. Are they covered by additional checks that you have there? A. Some of them are covered by refunds. Mr. O'CONNOR. You proceed, counsel, because I think you are going to cover that. By Mr. TAYLER: Q. Would you now tell us what tickets are covered by the second check? That is Gray exhibit 1. The second check being also signed by Adam C. Powell, per L. M. Dargans, in the same aniount as the first; is that right? A. No, $112 A. That covers a ticket purchased by Mr. Stone on August 5, Washington to Miami, and the name of the traveler appears as Emma Swann. Q. What amount was that? A. $112.56. . Q. That check is just for that one ticket? A. Yes, sir. Q. Is there any way you can tell when the travel was performed; the tickets having been purchased August 5 ? A. No. Q. You have to check the coupons in order to determine the actual date of the travel; is that right? A. Oh, no. No. I wouldn't have the coupon from the ticket. I would only have the coupon from the purchase which the airline sends in when they send the statement in for payment. Q. Does that form show when the travel was actually performed ? A. No; it just shows the date of the purchase of the travel. Mr. Hays. This is my understanding around here from what I have seen. It would be. perfectly impossible for someone to purchase a ticket, lose it, never use it, and you'd pay for it and not know the difference, wouldn't it? The WITNESS. Yes, sir. Mr. Hays. Or any other members of the staff, because there is no certification from the airline that the ticket was ever used. Only that it was purchased. The WITNESS. I am trying to think. What you said is most important. Mr. Hays. I think what I said is right, from my experience with the Foreign Affairs Committee. The WITNESS. And you are right, Mr. Hays, because we pay on the coupons when the tickets are purchased. We have no way of telling whether or when a ticket is used unless a voucher comes in, a per diem voucher comes in—no, even then we wouldn't. By Mr. TAYLER: |