October 16, 1973

Ex-Vice Pres Agnew declares on Oct 15 in nationwide TV address that he resigned Vice-Pres solely to permit Pres Nixon to restore 'unimpaired confidence and implicit trust' in that high office; says he is innocent of any wrongdoing and dismisses his accusers as 'self-confessed bribe brokers; says he accepted conviction for income tax evasion because of patriotic desire to 'still the raging storm' that swirled around him and White House for 2 mos; hails Nixon and compliments him for having chosen Repr Ford to succeed him as Vice Pres; according to copyrighted article in Nashville (Tenn) Banner Oct 15, Agnew told interviewer on Oct 14 that his resignation had been forced by pressure 'from highest levels of Nixon Adm'; he denies insinuation that he pocketed large sums of money in alleged kickbacks from Govt contractors in Md; says he abandoned his campaign for vindication because it was only quick way to resolve situation; does not refute any of specific, detailed allegations contained in 40-page summary of evidence Justice Dept amassed against Him and made public last wk as condition of its acceptance of Agnew's plea of no contest to 1 charge of tax evasion; complains that Govt charges were 'publicized and broadcast as indisputable fact'; says case against him boils down to accusation that he permitted his fund-raising activities and his contract dispensing activities to overlap in unethical and unlawful manner; suggests his accusers were enticed into implicating him by promises of immunity from prosecution; says 'The Govt in Washington does live. It lives in the pages of our Const and in the hearts of our citizens and there it will always be safe'; illus

Saudi Arabian Oil Min Sheik Yamani reptdly told Western oil co execs that Saudis will cut exports by 10% immediately and 5% monthly if US resupplies Israeli army; officials say King Faisal has been under intense pressure to show solidarity with other Arab states; say question is how far-reaching action may be; US State Dept repr R J McCloskey denies US has received official Saudi threats; US diplomats rept Kuwait will seek to stop crude oil shipments to US; US Treasury Deputy Sec W E Simon says energy conservation measures could cut US consumption

Detroit Fed Dist Judge D J Keith, who issued order June 5 73 for Govt to disclose whether it used burglaries, sabotage, electronic surveillance, agents provocateurs or other 'espionage techniques' against Weathermen, on Oct 15 grants Govt's motion to dismiss case against 15 Weathermen; dismissal is another in series of cases prepared by G L Goodwin, chief of litigation section of Internal Security Div of Justice Dept, that have been dismissed or lost by Govt; attys for 15 Weathermen say on Oct 15 that Govt dropped case because wide-ranging hearing would have disclosed illegal acts such as burglary, mail searches and wiretaps to obtain evidence; defense atty G B Lefcourt says hearings would have shown that '70 plan drawn up by Nixon Adm for domestic intelligence-gathering operations was actually put into effect, news conf; Pres Nixon has said proposal never went into effect; R B Guy Jr, US Atty for Eastern Dist of Mich, says, in presenting Govt's motion, that in effort to carry out Keith's order, sworn statements were obtained from White House, CIA, FBI, Natl Security Agency, Treas Dept, Defense Dept, Secret Service and Justice Dept's Intelligence Evaluation Com and that none of these agencies had engaged in any illegal conduct in case; says Govt decided to dismiss case because it would have had to disclose 'foreign intelligence information deemed essential to security of US'; says beneficial effect of indictment against Weathermen was that it forced orgn underground, made it more difficult for them to travel and that shortly thereafter level of terrorism and bombings had gone down, int; Keith illus

Oct 16: US State Dept says on Oct 15 that US has begun resupplying Israel with mil equipment to prevent what it terms 'a massive airlift' to Egypt and Syria by USSR from upsetting mil balance in Middle East; says it can rept no progress toward diplomatic solution to conflict; State Dept spokesman R J McCloskey refuses to provide details on dimensions of new US supply effort, which he says began on Oct 14; other sources say supplies run gamut of mil inventory, including F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers; Defense US spokesman says he does not know how many tanks will be sent to Israel; officials say US resupply efforts are in addition to regular mil aid program to Israel; say that Adm is aware that decision might provoke angry responses in Arab countries toward US oil and other interests and might worsen already strained relations with USSR; say Adm hopes that by keeping Israel supplied it will lead Israel and Arabs to look for diplomatic solution to war; McCloskey says that Soviet airlift has consisted of about 280 flights that delivered 4,000 tons of mil supplies to Egypt and Syria; refuses to comment on what situation is doing to Soviet-US relations; Pres Nixon says that US stands 'for the right of every nation in the Mideast to maintain its independence and security'; several hrs after State Dept announcement, USSR promises to 'assist in every way the liberation of all Arab territories occupied by Israel'

Justice W O Douglas declares on Oct 15, in opinion attacking Nixon Adm as 'regime where the dirty business of wiretapping runs rampant,' that he was once told by Pres Johnson that Pres's telephone was tapped; it is unclear whether Douglas had understood Johnson to mean that his telephone had been monitored before he came to White House or while he was Pres; there is no indication of whom Pres believed to have been responsible; 1 former high Govt official with detailed knowledge of operations of FBI under its late dir J E Hoover, says Johnson periodically would indicate his suspicion that his phone had been tapped; insists FBI had never tapped Johnson's phone; says Johnson's concern was not with whether he had been under surveillance while in White House but while he was in Sen; raises possiblity that Hoover might have told Johnson that his telephone had been tapped by opposition Adm while he was Sen even though it was untrue; notes recent repts that Pres Nixon was told by Hoover shortly after taking office in '68 that 1 of airplanes used during his '68 Pres campaign had been bugged by Johnson Adm; says that never happened