October 24, 1973

Pres Nixon abruptly agrees on Oct 23 to turn over Watergate tape recordings to Fed Dist Judge Sirica; move ends 3 mos of his insistence that tapes remain in White House and that he, as Pres, maintain absolute control over them; appears to deflate, at least for moment, const crisis that erupted full-blown last weekend when Pres announced that he would not appeal any further 2 ct rulings ordering him to turn over tapes but also that he would not comply with them, either, and that he would give dist ct only 'summary' of tapes' contents; Nixon's decision is announced by his attys before Sirica, who issued original order for tapes Aug 29 '73; total capitulation comes just a few hrs after HR began taking its 1st tentative steps toward impeachment and day after leaders of legal profession began mobilizing to rebuff what they considered unprecedented attack by Nixon on system of law; Nixon, through his attys, continues to insist that he acted correctly all along and that 'summary' would have satisified ct's needs; Nixon atty Prof Wright says 'This Pres does not defy the law, and he has authorized me to say he will comply in full with the orders of the ct'; Nixon's agreement to turn over disputed tapes to Sirica does not mean that grand jury will automatically or necessarily get to hear all tapes; Sirica's original order specified that Nixon should present tapes to ct so that Sirica could examine them in private and decide which portions, if any, should be kept confidential under doctrine of exec privilege; Appeals Ct decision revd; question remaining unanswered is whether prosecution will be able to obtain any other Pres tape recordings or any other material such as memos and repts; H Ruth, ex-special Watergate prosecutor A Cox's 2d-in-command, says it is unclear whether Nixon agreement erases all implications of Oct 19 Pres order; White House chief of staff A M Haig Jr indicates that Pres still feels strongly that his personal papers should not be turned over to prosecution; Asst Atty Gen Peterson, now in charge of Watergate investigation, is known to believe that prosecution may need some more White House documents; before Nixon announcement, Sirica called in both Watergate grand juries and told them that they were still 'operative and intact' and that he himself would 'safeguard' their rights; illus of Cox staff members Ruth, P A Lacovara and P M Kriendler and Prof Wright

Repr F J Brasco and uncle J Brasco indicted, Oct 23, by Fed grand jury, NYC, on charges of conspiring to receive $27,500 in illegal payoffs in '68 from ANR Leasing Corp, headed by alleged Mafia member, J A Masiello, for helping Masiello get contracts to haul mail for the PO; Masiello, convicted in '70 of bribing postal officials to ignore complaints against his co, named co-conspirator with the Brascos but not a defendant; J Doherty, exec asst to Asst Postmaster Gen in Washington in '67 and '68, also named as a co-conspirator; Repr Brasco denies his guilt; case was originally investigated by US Atty G Beall of Md; probe was halted in '71 by Deputy Asst Atty Gen H E Petersen on grounds there was no evidence that the alleged conspiracy had borne fruit or that Repr Brasco had been paid; indictment alleges that the Brascos conspired to get $27,500 from Masiello for 2 favors: helping him win a contract for which he was not the low bidder, and helping him get an $875,000 loan to buy trucks to carry out the PO contract; Brascos and Doherty, beginning in June '67, interceded with PO to obtain truck leasing contract for the ANR Leasing Corp; from June '68 to Jan '69, the Brascos helped Masiello get PO contracts through the Randen Trucking Corp and Bermur Leasing Corp, 2 cos that he controlled; case presented to grand jury by E M Shaw, atty in charge of NY Joint Strike Force Against Organized Crime; Repr Brasco por

Heavy artillery fire continues on Oct 23, 1st day of cease-fire, in southern sector of Suez Canal; Egyptian high command declares that Israeli troops violated cease-fire during previous night by pushing more tanks into bridgehead Israelis hold south of Ismailia, Egypt, on western bank of canal; holds that Egyptian forces went into action in response to violation; repts heavy fighting through day, claiming that 7 Israeli planes were shot down; Egyptian Govt issued statement earlier accusing Israel and Premier G Meir personally of having decided at highest level' to break cease-fire; statement, issued by Middle East News Agency, cited wide range of Israeli attacks on ground and in air; stated that Meir, while speaking to Knesset, knew that troops and planes were attacking; declared that while mentioning Israeli acceptance of cease-fire, Meir did not say that it was being carried out; statement appeals to US and USSR to see to it that cease-fire is respected; official Egyptian statement charges that Israeli forces had started bombing and shelling in area south of Bitter Lakes; holds that Israelis were making 'no distinction between mil and civilian targets,' causing heavy casualties among population; correspondents detail action on east bank of Suez Canal; Egyptian army rejects correspondents' requests that they be permitted to go to sector of Israeli bridgehead, saying they can not assure their safety because of Israeli attacks; existence of Israeli bridgehead on west bank of canal is believed to have caused Egyptian Govt to delay acceptance of cease-fire; Egyptian forces made an all-out effort to liquidate bridgehead in last 2 days before cease-fire; local officials, however, contend that Egypt accepted cease-fire without reservations and was intent on maintaining it in spite of continued presence of Israelis on west bank; illus of Egyptian POWs

Israel on Oct 23 tightens its grip on large enclave of captured Egyptian territory west of Suez Canal, pouring in supplies and fresh troops to make its bridgehead secure against mil threat; cease-fire violations being currently debated at UN are not apparent at bridgehead, as area witnesses 1 of quietest days since war broke out on Oct 6; Israel and Egypt, however, accuse each other of violating cease-fire that began on Oct 22; Israel announces that in view of continued Egyptian shelling of its bridgehead, it has ordered Israeli troops to continue fighting; continued combat gives Israel opportunity on its southern front to threaten further Egyptian troops occupying positions east of canal in southern sector of Sinai Peninsula by menacing their supply lines; situation on day following cease-fire announcement on west bank of Suez Canal described; illus of Israeli soldiers in Egypt

Le Duc Tho, the North Vietnamese negotiator, rejected the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, charging that “peace has not yet really been established in South Vietnam.” Details, Page 3.