June 27, 1973

White House deputy press sec G L Warren says on June 26 that Nixon stands by his May 22 statement on Watergate case, which conflicts with J W Dean 3d testimony to Sen com that Pres was involved in cover-up; statement held Nixon was unaware of his aides' cover-up efforts; Warren refuses to comment directly on Dean testimony; gives impression Nixon is more concerned with carrying out duties on domestic and foreign affairs than with Watergate case; says he seems in 'very good mood'

Met Museum of Art pres C D Dillon says on June 26 that museum officials have concluded on basis of available evidence that vase was not smuggled out of Italy, press conf held to release rept of special trustees com headed by R L Gilpatric that was assigned last Mar to examine museum policies; states that while no investigation was conducted to explain contradictions surrounding acquisition of calyx krater, museum recd no evidence to contradict assertion of R E Hecht Jr, who has been charged by Ital police with illegally exporting vase from Italy, that vase had belonged to Lebanese art dealer D A Sarrafian; says that museum invited Ital Govt to send reprs to NY to examine vase more than 7 wks ago but it has yet to receive reply; cites sworn affidavit, obtained 'through' Hecht, of Swiss vase restorer F Buerki contending that vase was restored several mos before admitted bootleg digger A Cenere said it was dug up in Etruscan tomb in Cerveteri in '71; neither Dillon nor Gilpatric express any concern that Hecht's account has been contradicted in part by Sarrafian, who has claimed that several pieces of vase were missing and that bulk of money paid by museum for vase was kept by Hecht; Dillon says that museum's vase is complete and that Sarrafian may have thought some pieces were missing because he did not see assembled vase; states that museum in future will require more evidence of ownership when buying art objects but maintains that in present instance proof requested was more than adequate; holds that arrest warrant issued by Ital authorities for Hecht did not come as surprise to museum officials since they felt Italians had to take some action by this time or drop whole investigation; says, when asked whether museum would return vase to Italy should it be proven that it came from there, that it would be up to trustees but that if museum were to give it back, it would be only as gesture of goodwill because museum would not have violated any laws in buying vase; vase illus

Met Museum on June 26 makes public new procedures governing removal and sale or exch of works from its collections; also issues Rept on Art Transactions 1971-73, concerned with dealings that gave rise to recent controversy, prepared by special 8-member com of trustees; museum, in statement accompanying announcements, says its previous procedures on deaccessioning and disposal 'apparently were inadequate in preventing doubts and misunderstanding in public mind concerning art transactions and perhaps contributed to that misunderstanding'; principal changes in museum procedures listed; museum says it will continue to explore with other museums possibility of joint purchases of works of art; museum spokesman says new procedures were adopted earlier this mo by bd of trustees; museum pres D Dillon, com head R L Gilpatric and dir T P F Hoving hold news conf; Hoving admits museum may have miscalculated tenor of the times in acting 'the way we had always acted'; says he believes 'we were out of pace with desire for public disclosure'; NYS Atty Gen Lefkowitz announces that inquiry his office conducted on museum's transactions has been concluded with adoption by museum of 'safeguards of the public interest in the museum'; his office issues statement noting Lefkowitz's inquiry showed that much of public criticism directed to his office was result of museum's own indifference to public's legitimate and understandable interest in museum's activities; asserts it would have been better for museum and public interest if museum had revealed the full facts; special com attributes museums controversial decision to sell Rousseau painting The Tropics to impact of its puchase-fund reserves caused by '70 acquisition of work by Velazques; defends sale of work by Rousseau from de Groot bequest; Dillon, in reply to question on whether NY Times carried on 'vendetta' against museum, absolves NY Times 'as such' but maintains that Times reporter J L Hess did carry on vendetta; Hess says he stands by accuracy of his repts; illus of Hoving, Gilpatric and Dillon

Pres Johnson ordered FBI to 'check' Vice Pres-elect Agnew's long-distance telephone calls in Nov, '68, according to Govt sources and full rept provided to Sen Watergate com; FBI inquiry did not confirm White House suspicions linking Agnew with what White House considered to be South Vietnamese sabotage of Paris peace negotiations in '68

Controller Beame easily defeats opponent US Repr Badillo by 3-to-2 margin in June 26 runoff primary election for NYC Dem mayoral nomination; tally of votes in 5 boros; victory, in which Beame lost only Manhattan and nearly doubled his 34% vote in initial June 4 primary, makes him 'commanding' favorite to be elected Mayor in Nov; is not only personal triumph but victory for city's Dem orgn, which is believed to be at least partially responsible for record turnout of about 900,000 voters, 125,000 more than voted in 1st primary; Beame will face in Nov 2 Dems he defeated in June 4 primary, Conservative party candidate US Repr Biaggi and Liberal party candidate NYS Assemblyman Blumenthal, as well as Repub nominee NYS Sen Marchi; tells cheering supporters at Biltmore Hotel, where he appears with his wife, S Terry and son, both of whom are Beame co-campaign mgrs, that his victory is 'double' one, meaning Dem nomination and triumph over 'myth of apathy'; predicts that he will unify party; Terry retorts, when asked whether win was anti-Puerto Rican reaction, that it was reaction against Badillo; Badillo does not congratulate Beame or indicate whether he will back him in Nov in his concession speech at campaign hq, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; scene there described; 1 of keys to Beame victory was switch of voters who had backed Biaggi in earlier primary, as evidenced by Beame's lead in all 10 Assembly dists carried earlier by Biaggi; victory makes it more likely that Beame can unify badly-split Dems and thus cut Blumenthal's chances of capturing liberal Dem vote in Nov; campaigns of Beame, who tried to update his generally staid appearance by wearing 'mod' shirts, and Badillo, who tried to tone down his 'short-fused' personality by dressing conservatively, described; illus of Badillo and wife; illus of Beame and wife; illus of polling station