The Washington Merry-Go-Round Friday, Oct. 27, 1973 D19 Prosecutors Were Probing Rebozo

By Jack Anderson more to head off the Rebozo in- March 23; 1971, the President vulge. In one law book, a chap- Now that Watergate Prosecu- vestigation than to withhold the met personally at the White ter was earmarked entitled, tor has been re- Watergate tapes. Their suspi- House with a dairy delegation. "Discovery from the moved, the true test of the Jus- cion has been bolstered by the Two days later, the White Government; Government Priv- tice Department's credibility President's release of the tapes House ordered the Agriculture ilege." The chapter began: will be its handling of the in- only three days after Cox was Department over Secretary "Special problems are raised vestigation into the strange fi- sacked. Clifford Hardin's objection to by the application of the discov- nances of President Nixon's My associate Les Whitten increase dairy subsidies. ery rule in actions to which the friend C. G. (Bebe) Rebozo. rushed over to the prosecutors' The special prosecutors government is a party." Sources close to Cox tell us office immediately after Cox's questioned the President's per- Cox's executive assistant, Pe- the special prosecutors had re- sudden dismissal. Barely one sonal attorney, Herbert Kalm- ter Kreindler, also checked out ceived reports, still unsubstan- step ahead of the FBI, he ob- bach, who told them he op- a book giving the procedures tiated, that Rebozo was the tained only one document be- posed making any promises to for answering a Supreme Court President's bagman. fore agents sealed the offices the dairy people in return for appeal. The prosecutors evi- This much has been and refused to let the prosecu- campaign funds. dently expected the President established: Rebozo accepted a tors remove even pictures of The library document shows to ask the Supreme Court to $100,000 cash gift from billio- their wives and children. This that Archibald Cox was doing overrule the Appeals Court, naire and interesting document was a li- his own homework. Twice in which upheld Judge John Siri- stashed it in a safety deposit brary check-off list, which the last few days, he checked ca's demand to hear the contro- box. The money was delivered showed what the prosecutors out law books on federal pre- versial Watergate tapes. in $100 bills, $50,000 at a time in were researching. cedents. The Watergate prose- The original Justice Depart- 1969 and 1970. They were checking, for ex- cutors were digging through ment prosecutors served a sub- The Hughes aide who made ample, into the government's their law books, in particular, poena upon the President de- the delivery, Richard Danner, access to financial records. In for precedents on how to han- manding Watergate documents, has sworn the money was in- one earmarked case, the courts dle President Nixon's defiance news summaries and other ma- tended as a contribution for the uled that a taxpayer could not of their subpoenas. terial from White House files. 1970 congressional campaign. lock the Internal Revenue Among the cases we found The President's counsel, Yet not only did Rebozo have J. ervice from examining his earmarked in their law library Fred Buzhardt, responded im- no authority to collect cam- bank records. This could have was a 1947 conviction of Com- mediately with a request for paign funds but he never been preparation for a show- munist Party official Eugene more time. turned over the $100,000 to any down over the Rebozo records. Dennis for failing to respond to campaign committee. He told They expected to encounter re- a subpoena. He had defied the Cox took over the prosecution investigators that he returned sistance if they pushed the in- old House Un-American Activi- before any papers could be de- the cash after keeping it for estigation. ties Committee which tried to livered. Rather than use the three years. The library document also subpoena his records. Joining subpoena, Cox at first tried to The special prosecutors were shows that James Quarles, a the outcry againsg Dennis, negotiate with the White House investigating whether Rebozo Cox assistant and a specialist in ironically, was a young member for the desired documents. Not had collected other cash con- campaign funds, was searching of the committee named Rich- until the negotiations broke tributions for Mr. Nixon. Word through three law books for ard Nixon. down did he resort to a sub- reached them indirectly, say cases dealing with campaign In addition to the Dennis, poena. our sources, that the President funds. The dairy industry, for case, the prosecutors appar- What will happen to the spe- was disturbed over their inter- example, offered to raise $2 ently were studying how to pry cial prosecutors' investigations est in Rebozo. They suspect the million for President Nixon's loose information that the gov- still remains uncertain. President may have fired Cox 1972 re-election campaign. On ernment doesn't want to di- • Ira United Feature Syndicate