August 8, 1973

Ex-Atty Gen Kleindienst and Asst Atty Gen H E Petersen testify on Aug 7 before Sen Watergate com that they had 'cracked' Watergate case in Apr but had never obtained any information implicating Pres Nixon in cover-up; describe continual struggles in their efforts to assure unimpeded investigation; say J D Ehrlichman sought 'technical' advice early in '73 about possibility of lenient sentences or Pres pardons for Watergate defendants; Ehrlichman has denied under oath charges that he sought guarantee of exec clemency for Watergate conspirator E H Hunt Jr; Petersen and Kleindienst agree that they were unable to obtain evidence of high-level conspiracy until Apr '73 and that they had immediately conveyed their findings to Pres; Kleindienst says Nixon was 'dumfounded' and Petersen says Pres was concerned but 'calm' when they told him on Apr 15 that conspirators may have included sr officials of White House and of Nixon's re-election com; both attribute Apr break in case to private statements made to Govt prosecutors by ex-White House counsel J W Dean 3d and ex-campaign com deputy dir J S Magruder; Petersen says that on basis of Dean's and Magruder's accts prosecutors had concluded that there were 7 'putative defendants' in case, including ex-Atty Gen Mitchell, campaign aide R C Mardian, campaign official F La Rue, Magruder, Ehrlichman, ex-White House chief of staff H R Haldeman and Dean; Petersen says he 'resented' being replaced by special Watergate prosecutor this spring and that he is certain that Justice Dept 'would have convicted those people' if case had not been taken out of its hands; Petersen says he urged Pres on Apr 15 to dismiss Haldeman and Ehrlichman because, while he was not able then to guarantee they would be prosecuted, he was able to assure Pres that their presence in White House would be 'source of embarrassment'; says he initially persuaded Nixon not to dismiss Dean and told him that Dean was 1st White House official to indicate willingness to cooperate with prosecutors; says he later agreed with Nixon in demanding Dean's resignation because Dean insisted on grant of immunity from prosecutors, and US Attys were not prepared to extend immunity; says he told Nixon that if he were to come up with evidence to support suspicion that Nixon was involved, he would take it to HR, where impeachment proceedings must originate, and would resign; discloses that Nixon revealed to him existence of secret White House tape recordings; Kleindienst tells of several importuning events in course of Justice Dept's investigation of Watergate; says he was angry when Watergate conspirator G G Liddy and ex-Justice Dept official P Moore, then working for re-election com, approached him 'in a rather furtive manner' on day of Watergate arrests to implore him to assist in some manner; says he instead telephoned Petersen in Liddy's presence to order that Watergate case be handled no differently from any major investigation; says he rejected request by Dean to have access to FBI investigative files; recites several occasions when Ehrlichman had incurred his direct or indirect wrath; Sen Watergate com recesses until Sept 10 after 37 days of hearing 33 witnesses; com counsel S Dash comments; illus

FPC, 3-0, on Aug 7 approves natural gas rate increase that will more than double present prices on gas flowing from wells brought in during last 5 yrs; gas from older wells will get 607c increase; comm substantially adopts Dec '72 finding of law Judge N Litt, who rendered initial decision on issue; increases prices on gas from older wells between 12% and 18% higher than Litt recommended; releases no data on how much additional revenue will accrue indus or on impact on gas bills

Fed officials say on Aug 7 that indictments are expected within wks; there is no indication whether Agnew is among those expected to be indicted by grand jury; case involves allegations of 5% kickbacks from contractors to Md officials; investigation involves alleged bribery, extortion and concealment of these illegal payments to avoid discovery and taxation during Agnew's 2-yr terms as Gov in '67 and '68 and after he became Vice Pres in '69; Detroit Free Press repts on Aug 7 that Fed investigators are checking allegations that Agnew got weekly $1,000 payments from contractors while Baltimore County Exec and $50,000 after he moved to Washington; says payments allegedly were made after campaign fundraisers for Agnew sought contributions from contractors in exchange for state and Fed contacts; says some of contributions may have been put to personal, rather than pol, use by Agnew; US Atty for Md G Beall obtains approval of Atty Gen Richardson to continue Md investigation in Baltimore rather than transfer it to special Watergate prosecuting team of A Cox in Washington; others under investigation are known to include D Anderson, Agnew's Dem successor as county Exec, L Matz and J D Wolff, heads of private planning and engineering consulting cos that have held county and state contracts, and J W Jones and I H Hammerman 2d, prominent Baltimore businessmen; Jones asserts, in statement, that he is not aware of any kickbacks on part of Agnew or himself; Washington Post repts on Aug 7 that investigators are 'widening' state and local character of inquiry to include contracts awarded by Fed GSA and 'role of a Repub Sen from outside Md' in handling of such contracts; it is believed Sen referred to is Sen Scott; Scott insists he knows nothing about any investigation involving himself or Agnew, telephone int; spokesman for Md Gov Mandel says that US Atty's office in Baltimore had demanded, and had been assured that it would be given, documents and records from Md Transportation Dept; it is believed Agnew conferred personally with Nixon following receipt of lr last wk notifying him of investigation; key witness in early stages of investigation is reptd to be W E Fornoff, Anderson's former admr officer at Baltimore County Exec offices; illus of Anderson, Wolff, Hammerman and Jones

US on July 8 refuses to accept validity of Libyan expropriation of Bunker Hunt Oil Co because nationalization was act of pol reprisal against US Israel policies that runs counter to principles of internatl law; US Embassy in Tripoli delivered message which has gone unanswered; message quoted; State Dept officials on Aug 7 say foreign govts are being informed of US stand in effort to persuade them to forbid importation of oil from Hunt fields; subsequent to June 11 expropriation, US announced recognition of Libyan right to seize co but called for prompt and adequate compensation; co officials are gratified by US contention that seizure is not entitled to recognition by other states because it intends to take legal action to obtain title to any oil from co fields exported to other nations

Mrs H Ryan arrives in W Ger on Aug 7 and is jailed