C.I.A. Agent Wages Lonely Battle for Vietnam Data; Testimony Challenged Speech Recalled Charges Called Ridiculous
Date: 26 February 1973
By SEYMOUR M. HERSHSpecial to The New fork Times
CIA official S A Adams, once in charge of estimating the strength of Vietcong units in S Vietnam, has, for nearly 6 yrs, been waging a one-man campaign against top Army officers who he believed deliberately falsified critical intelligence information a month before the Vietcong began their Tet offensive at end of Jan '68; he wants Army to begin full probe into distortion of intelligence that he says was ordered by top officers working in Mil Assistance Command in Vietnam; Army and CIA have refused to make such a probe; Adams again raises issue by contending that his allegations may have a bearing on US prosecution of Pentagon papers case; he has offered a number of documents to the Justice Dept that, he alleges, refute a key prosecution witness's testimony in trial; some Army sources call Adams's charges 'ridiculous; his friends note that Adams has recently been transferred to a lower-status position in the CIA; stress his truthfulness and courage
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POWERS TELLS I.T.U. A STRIKE IS POSSIBLE
Date: 27 February 1973
B A Powers, pres of Typographical Union Local 6, says on Feb 26 that he has given parent internatl union required notification that bargaining situation with NY's major daily news papers, NY Times, NY News, LI Press and NY Post, could result in strike; vote on strike authorization is not expected until March 18
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2 Charges of Espionage Dropped in Ellsberg Case; 2 Espionage Charges Dropped A t Trial of Ellsberg and Russo
Date: 27 February 1973
Fed Dist Ct Judge W M Byrne Jr, presiding over Pentagon papers trial, orders defendants D Ellsberg and A J Russo Jr acquitted on Feb 26 of 1 count of espionage in their 15-count indictment but does not immediately rule on 2 other counts that he took under submission; refuses defense requests for acquittal on 11 counts of espionage-conspiracy-theft indictment; Byrne says that there still remain questions of constitutionality on some of statues as applied; says removal of count against Russo resulted from Govt's interpretation of word 'disposed'; repts he had questioned attys at length as to what was meant by 'disposed of' in relation to eventual use of papers and whether Russo was aware of such planned disposal when he helped copy papers; felt he was not aware of any plams to dispose of papers
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Chinese Newsmen Out In Force for Sessions
Date: 27 February 1973
Scores of Communist Chinese officials, aides, interpreters and newsmen, led by Min Chi Peng-fei, are in Paris to attend internatl conf on Vietnam; it is first time since before Chinese Cultural Revolution of the '60s that the Chinese press corps is appearing at a major Eur conf; some newsmen ask Western colleagues for copies of Sec Rogers speech which was not available to the press; in contrast, Chinese release copies of Chi's speech
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WIRETAP REPORT BY TIME REJECTED; Kleindienst Denies Approval of Check on News Leaks
Date: 27 February 1973
Special to The New York Times
Atty Gen Kleindienst denies on Feb 26 rept by Time that FBI tapped telephones of number of newsmen and White House aides with approval of top Justice Dept officials; says he has strongest personal assurances from former Atty Gen Mitchell that he never authorized or was asked to authorize implementation of such devices against reporters or White House aides; says FBI acting dir L P Gray 3d termed charge that he approved continuation of such wiretaps 'blatantly untrue'
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Publisher, Editor And 10 Reporters, Are Subpoenaed; PUBLISHER, EDITOR ARE SUBPOENAED
Date: 27 February 1973
By DAVID K. SHIPLERSpecial to The New York Times
David SHIPLERSpecial
Pres Nixon's re-election com obtains subpoenas on Feb 26 ordering 12 reporters and news execs to turn over all their notes, tapes and other private material relating to news articles on bugging of Dem Natl hq last June; those receiving subpoenas are K Graham, H Simons, C Bernstein, B Woodward and J Mann (Washington Post), Washington Star-News, NY Times and Time; Repubs lawyer K W Parkinson says they are asking for information reporters secured in ints which would include 'false, libelous, malicious statements' allegedly made by former Dem party Chmn L F O'Brien about several high-ranking Repubs; soon after bugging was discovered, O'Brien charged that it was engineered with help of Pres Nixon's chief fund-raiser M H Stans; reporters and news execs listed
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Expert Finds No Guides on Secrecy
Date: 27 February 1973
By MICHAEL T. KAUFMAN
Michael KAUFMAN
Yale Prof A M Bickel on Feb 26 makes key address at rededication ceremonies of W L Willkie Memorial Bldg of Freedom House Orgn, NYC
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TAPS ON NEWSMEN BY F.B.I. ALLEGED; Time Magazine Says Action Lasted About Two Years Mitchell Role Alleged Charges by McGovern Cronkite Sees Manipulation
Date: 26 February 1973
Special to The New York Times
Time (pub) repts in issue that will be released on Feb 26 that for over more than 2 yrs FBI, under orders from White House, tapped telephones of 6 or 7 newsmen and number of White House aides in effort to determine how information was being leaked to press; attributes its rept to 4 different Govt sources and does not name newsmen or aides involved; quotes White House repr as denying that taps existed; says wiretapping began about 3 yrs ago when J E Hoover was FBI Dir and continued when L P Gray 3d took over as acting dir last May; says taps were removed last June following Sup Ct ruling that ct orders are required before Govt can install wiretaps on telephones of persons without foreign connections; says Hoover initially balked at White House directive but was ordered to do so by then-Atty Gen Mitchell; charges that wiretapping operations 'actually helped to keep Hoover on job' as Mitchell's former deputy R G Kleindienst 'tried to force Hoover to step down'; Hoover, however, threatened to disclose wiretaps to Cong and 'scuttle-Hoover' manuever was forgotten; Time says wiretaps never uncovered any White House leaks; Gray is scheduled to testify on Feb 28 before Sen Judiciary Com, which is considering his nomination to be permanent FBI Dir and it is considered likely that he will be questioned about Time article
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