June 5, 1973

special Watergate prosecution team has decided to investigate conduct of H E Petersen, Asst Atty Gen who supervised Watergate inquiry for nearly 1 yr and was placed in sole charge by Pres Nixon in mid-Apr; sources dose to special prosecutor A Cox say that team's rev of Watergate record thus far has left 'no question' that Petersen was, at best, totally misled by his superiors in White House; say issue is whether Petersen was involved in cover-up; other investigators say they believe Petersen was 'victim' who was, as 1 official put it, 'gulled' by White House; Petersen on June 4 vigorously denies any involvement in cover-up and says 'I did not compromise this investigation with anybody at all,' telephone int; acknowledges that he was furious with Nixon Adm for its handling of case and says he would immediately retire from Govt except that 'everybody would rept that another Watergate figure left the Govt today'; 1 Govt investigator says that evidence collected thus far shows that J W Dean 3d was official who dealt most directly with Petersen and official who, either of his own volition or at direction of others, had most misled him; Petersen says he did not give Dean any details of investigation because Dean had FBI investigative repts; says Dean never tried to pressure him but he felt presure in case; says he realized higher-ups were involved in Watergate bugging within days of break-in and arrests; says he warned then-Atty Gen Kleindienst; says he has held only 1 meeting with Cox and his associates thus far and describes it as 'just a friendly discussion'; illus of Petersen

Kuwaiti Min Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber says on June 4 that $500-million in arms that Kuwait is arranging to purchase from West is 'not for use against anybody' but for country's own defense; sources say arms will be used to protect nation's enormous oil resources; Kuwaiti officials are believed to be interested in purchasing 32 US F-8 Crusader jet fighters; show interest in acquiring tanks and helicopters; Brit and French arms salesmen are competing with Amers to meet Kuwait's requirements; map

Manhattan Dist Atty F S Hogan overcomes on June 4 1st challenge in his 32-yr career and easily defeats W J vanden Heuvel in Dem primary by vote of 83,465 to vanden Heuvel's 57,673; victory assures Hogan of 9th term as Dist Atty since he already has Repub, Liberal and Conservative endorsements; Hogan issues statement in which he proclaims result 'vindication for the nonpol composition and character of our office'; vanden Heuvel telephones his congratulations but says in statement that 'those who have won' have administered system that is far from achieving goals he put forth in his campaign; candidates' campaigns revd; Hogan, who reptdly wanted to retire, decided to run again after pol leaders could not agree on his Asst Dist Atty A J Scotti, his chief aide, as his successor; vanden Heuvel, whose campaign had initial success, later encountered 'formidable' Hogan supporters and also recd lowest rating of NYC Bar Assn while Hogan recd its highest, rarely conferred, rating; Hogan illus

White House press aide G L Warren concedes on June 4 that Pres Nixon conferred frequently this yr with J W Dean 3d about Watergate scandal; says logs detailing time and place of confs will not be turned over to investigators, even under subpoena, because move would be 'constitutionally inappropriate'; stand seen in conflict with that of special prosecutor A Cox; Atty Gen Richardson says Cox can subpoena logs if he thinks it necessary and let cts decide any claim of executive privilege; confs are important to case because Dean reptdly told Sen and Fed investigators that he discussed case, including cover-up attempts, with Nixon number of times between Jan and Apr '73; Warren says Nixon stepped up considerably his contacts with Dean before discharging him on Apr 30; indicates talks began after Nixon started own Watergate probe on Mar 21; J D Ehrlichman further supports Nixon's stand on June 3 CBS TV int, holding he does not remember being in on any meetings Dean allegedly says he had with Nixon and Ehrlichman; says Dean did have series of meetings with Nixon in Feb and Mar '73 as part of Nixon effort to obtain written statement on broadest aspects of Watergate matter; says Dean finally said he could not write such an account about time he was discharged

special Watergate prosecutor A Cox asks Sen Watergate com on June 4 for delay of 1 to 3 mos in its hearings in case, lr to Sen Ervin; calls case 'enormously complex' and says there is 'grave danger' that guilty might go unpunished and full facts be lost if public hearings continue; Ervin rejects request; says that for all practical intentions and purposes, postponement would 'put the com out of business' and that postponement would only further delay a case that has already been under investigation for almost a yr; at least 3 of 6 com members announce their support of Ervin's position; Cox says that investigation was 'not undertaken with adequate resources, material and numbers of people,' news conf; statement conflicts with that of then-Atty Gen Kleindienst who said on Sept 21 that 'investigation that has just concluded has probably been 1 of the most intensive that the Dept of Justice and the FBI has ever been involved in'; Kleindienst repeats assertion June 4, telephone int; Cox says that among matters needing more extensive investigation are alleged pol sabotage by D H Segretti, more accurate information on FBI's previous investigation of Watergate and sending of campaign funds to Mex to conceal their source; illus of Cox and Ervin