August 7, 1973

US Army's 8th Inf Div in W Ger has ordered its intelligence service to begin a 'coordinated counterdissidence effort' among div's 13,000 troops, according to copy of plan made available to press by a soldier who thinks it stifles pol freedom; various types of information sought detailed; include 'demonstrations, teach-ins, and other activities with anti-US themes engaged in by local nationals or mil personnel'; plan, dated July 23, is apparently part of a concerted 'summer counterintelligence offensive' Army in Ger has begun against troublemakers, both Ger and Amer civilians as well as soldiers; document given to T Schwaetzer, who writes under name of Max Watts for Liberation News Service, by Sp/4 W Sparks; Army hq in Heidelberg will make no comment about it Aug 6; Sparks, in telephone int, says he gave documents to press because he believes they take away many rights given to Amers by 1st Amendment; Col E G Johnson Jr, Army spokesman in Heidelberg, issues statement Aug 6 on preliminary enquiry into 'possible compromise of classified information'; says decision whether to conduct a formal investigation has been deferred pending result of preliminary inquiry; Sp/4 J M McDougal, subject of inquiry, says he told CBS about transcripts of tap on Schwaetzer's telephone that were classified and that concerned conversations with Amer civilian lawyer H I De Nike

US bomb accidently strikes town of Neak Luong, Cambodia, 38 mi SE of Phnom Penh, on Aug 6, killing and wounding hundreds of people, mostly Govt soldiers and their families; US Embassy says only 1 plane was involved, that damage to town was 'minimal,' that total casualties were about 150 with 25 to 65 dead; B-52 believed to have dropped bombs; incident seems to be worst bombing accident of Indochina war; town has been surrounded since Feb by insurgents; bombs fell about dawn; survivors pour into Phnom Penh throughout day and into the night; one hosp has received more than 200 of the wounded, another, over 100; map

Fulgencio Batista, the Cuban dictator overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959, died of a heart attack at Guadalmina, a resort colony near Marbella, on the southern coast of Spain. Details on Page 38.

Ex-FBI Acting Dir Gray testifies on Aug 6 before Sen Watergate com that he was mystified when Pres Nixon apparently paid no heed to his warning, in July 6 '72 telephone conversation, that White House aides were trying to 'mortally wound' Pres in Watergate case; says he expected Nixon to ask him some questions but that Pres did not; says he therefore assumed that he had been unduly alarmed about efforts to cloud early stages of FBI investigation of Watergate break-in; continually describes himself as naive, almost innocent, man who had followed orders obediently, had seen nothing wrong in turning over FBI investigative repts to White House and had not thought to question motives of his Govt superiors; says his suspicions began to 'gyrate' in July '72 when he and CIA Deputy Dir Walters became concerned that White House might not want source of Watergate conspirator B L Barker's money to be determined; Sen Weicker, quoting Apr 30 statement by Pres Nixon that he assumed personal direction of Watergate case on Mar 21 '73, asked Gray if he ever had been informed of that; Gray says he had not; says Nixon telephoned him on Mar 23 to offer encouragement about Gray's difficulty in obtaining confirmation from Sen to be permanent FBI Dir; says Nixon, referring to July 6 '72 telephone conversation, reminded Gray that he had been told to conduct 'thorough and aggressive investigation' of Watergate; says he could not understand recollection and later wondered if it had been attempt to put comment on record somehow; Gray says that on Apr 26, 11 days after telephone conversation with J D Ehrlichman in which Ehrlichman says Gray told him of destruction of documents taken from White House safe of E H Hunt Jr, he was told by then-Atty Gen Kleindienst that Pres was 'concerned' about published repts that Gray had burned Hunt documents; says he agreed with Kleindienst's assertion that he ought to resign but that after Kleindienst had telephoned Nixon he had come back and said Pres 'wants you to continue to serve as acting dir'; says next day he reached independent judgment that he should resign and did so; recalls Apr 26 meeting with Asst Atty Gen Petersen at which Petersen told him he was scared, that it appeared he and Gray were 'expendable' and that Haldeman and Ehrlichman were not; says he asked Petersen if it was advisable to consult atty and Petersen advised it; illus of Sens Talmadge, Montoya and Inouye

Vice Pres Agnew announces on Aug 6, in statement issued through his press sec M Thompson, that he has been informed he is under investigation for possible violations of criminal law; says he is innocent; investigation is being conducted by Baltimore US Atty G Beall; Wall St Journal repts on Aug 7 that Agnew is suspected of extortion, bribery and tax evasion; Washington Post repts on Aug 7 that 2 of Agnew's key fund raisers, J W Jones and I H Hammerman, are also under investigation; Baltimore grand jury has for several mos been investigating kickbacks allegedly paid by contractors, architects and engineers to Baltimore County officials; Agnew served as county exec there from '62 to '66, when he was elected Md Gov; legal experts say that under Const Agnew enjoys certain immunities from prosecution but they are not sure whether these immunities cover criminal acts committed before he took office; investigation has so far produced guilty plea on June 4 from W E Fornoff, who served as Baltimore County adm officer under 4 execs including Agnew; Fornoff pleaded guilty to minor tax law violation; IRS is reptdly involved in kickback investigation; Wall St Journal says Beall personally delivered notification to Agnew; notification reptdly told Agnew that investigation involved criminal allegations in award of state contracts during his yrs as Gov in '67-'68 and award of Fed contracts by GSA in Md since he became Vice Pres in '69; others who have reptdly been implicated in investigation include J R Wolff, who was chmn of Md State Roads Comm and later worked on Agnew's vice presidential staff, and L Matz, contact man for Baltimore engineering co who was associated with Agnew in controversial purchase of plot of land near Chesapeake Bay Bridge; illus of Agnew and Beall