oe = . goo of Mr. Katzenbach and under. the Attorney Gen- ~—~tralship of Mr. Clark, without benefit of their-ap- 7 proval? Another former high Federal official, Columnist Car] Rowan, says: “Certain buggings and other surveillance of King did not end in April, 1965. As a top Government official, I read FBI ‘surveillance reports on King long after the date. , : a) when Hoover savs the wiretaps were ended.” The essential facts of this controversy cannot be established through selective release of materials from the FBI's files. Mr. Hoover has a habit of calling what-he does not wish to disclose “classi- ‘fied.’ while allowing discreet glimpses of material that serves his purposes. His whole handling of - the wiretap problem over a period of 30 years has ; . ; | . been, in our view, disingenuous to say the. least. ; . | It began with an assertion that President Franklin. CO : D. Roosevelt authorized him to tap telephones in , national-security cases: but he insisted that the _ President's letter conferring this power was classi- ‘fied and therefore could not be made public; it: ae berame public only recently. a . (Over and over again, moreover, Mr. Hoover has saicl that his Bureau has tapped telephones only in connection with national security; and he has said this in terms and contexts which led readers and Hsteners to believe that'he was tapping only in situations involving espionage or sabotage by enemy agents. Hf his concept of a threat to “national security’ embraces the leadership of a civil rights movement, then he lacks either the judgment or the candor to direct the FBI. : Mr. Hoover has held his present job for 45 years. It entails a:most dangerous power..In many re- spects he has served the American people ably and deserves their gratitude. But long before now he ought to have nanded in his resignation. No man who dées not recognize the impropriety and ¢ ' the d tenure as head of tt ; am 3itice iO @ free peg y S50S7 Docld: 32989551 Page 248.
7 Y , r ‘ ay of Mr. Katzenbach and under the Attorney Gen- ~—~tralship of Mr. Clark, without benefit of thei-ap- ” proval? Another fermer high Federal official, Columnist Carl Rowan, says: “Certain buggings and other surveillance of King did not end in April, 1965. As a top Government official, I read FBI “surveillance reports on King long after the date when Hoover says the wiretaps were ended.” The essential facts of this controversy cannot be established through selective release of materials from the FBI’s files. Mr. Hoover has a habit of calling what he does not wish to disclose “classi- fied.” yvhile -‘levin discreat <lirees of material that serves his purposes. His whole handling of the wiretap problem over a period of 30 years has been, in our view, disingenuous to say the least. It began with an assertion that President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized him to tap telephones in national-security cases: but he insisted that the President's letter conferring this power was classi- - fied and therefore could not be made public; it became public only recently. -Over and over again, moreover, Mr. Hoover has sai that his Bureau has tapped telephones only in connection with national security; and he has said this in terms and contexts which led readers and listeners to believe that he was tapping only in situations involving espionage or sabotage by enemy agents. If his concept of a threat to “national security’ embraces the leadership of a civil rights movement, then he lacks either the judgment or the candor to direct the FBI. Mr. Hoover has held his present job for 45 years. Jt entails a most dangerous power. In many re- spects he has served the American peaple ably and deserves their gratitude. But long before now he ought to have handed in his resignation. No man who dées not recognize the impropriety and * the danzer involved in a 45-vear tenure as head et at a te ate ne ogee dre EMS ND ny edd % “ . > ea ke S oe ed - sot we ee = pee eee san 7 7 a WIKG so f Werids atid Su iTallgnt withLecnl + to. _- HK nak . =o : WW 55097 Docld:32989551 Page 249
wm, 2. 5 LE eap hr, Th Sor mn eg eee > ” Picusiyn, June 5 Gi— Wiihess- es in the Cassius Clay wiretap hearing testified loday that tele- phone conversation of Elijah Muhammad, head of the Black _ Muslim religion, had been moni- _ tored as early as 1860. . Witnesses had indicated yes- terday that the Rev. Martin Lu- ther King, Jr., had been under wiretap surveillance for al least four years before his death last! year, , C. Barry Pickett ¢ Jachson- - {ville (Fla.) FBI agent, testified today that he monitored Mr. Mu- hammad’s conversalions from 1882 to 1665 while working as a “elerk in the Phoenix (Ariz.) FBI office, . : Frederick A. Brownell, a for- Iner special agent at Phoenix, said he had supervised the sur- veillance there prior to his re- tirement in late 1965, > “T cannot recall vy hen the case was apcned, but it prebebly was around 7880, Mr. Brevnell said, Mr. Brownell was the govern- nent’s final witness. T. Osear Smith, former chief fof the Justice Departinent's con-| scientious cbjector section, testi- fied icnay thal he had recon. mended an Nov. 25, 1885, that! Mr. Clay’s claim be rejected be-: cause many Black Muslim ba liefs “rest on grourds primarily porver and racial.) =——<—— ioe "He Ghiecls not total wars! but to specific ivpes,” Mr. Smiih said. “He had rot esiebtshed thet bey s onpuscd to wer da o . eyes, { rouret 6 ft thle pron. tikes far Refused leducen ; « The hearing was erdered by' “the U.S. Senreme Court to deter. mine whether the wiretans af-i fected the trial, is whiea Mr.! Ciay was convicted of refusivg: to he frJdoected into the Arm. Tho former huavyveight bex- ing champion conlended he was: a Ble} Malin adnister end thus exempt from milRenrtuy. Hn ae rh je FRO EERP CPEBRS why we Oe BE a) fe LED WCE Fe. a ee CLE AON ony ‘ . as ce ~ J = Me—Piekott did nef—ive th specific reasons today for thal surveillance of Mr. Muhammad. Charles Morgan, Jr., Mr. 1 Caly’s chief counsel, Sought re- peatedly {o obtain specific rea- sons, but Mr. Pickett insisted his | instructions were general, Evidence Admitted “T am trying to prove he had Specific instructions to obtain in- formation on the religious be- liefs of this defendent,” My, Morgan told Judge Joe Ingra- ham, of the U.S. District Court. “puinmaties of four daned can- vere admitted into evidence yes- lerday. One involved Dr. King and three involved Black Mus- lim officials, Judge Ingraham had a fifth Summary in a seaied envelone but refused to admit it into the record on the grounds tat such action could endanger national Security. | The monitored conversations Were not revealed by the Justice. Department until Mr. Clay ap! peated his 1837 conviction, ‘ Mr. Clay received the maxi- mum sentence ef five ycers in, ‘prison and a $16,099 fine. | Nonitored Conversations i Mr. Picket! said he monitored leonversations of Mr, Muham- mad while workicg as a clerk in she FBI cffies in Phoenix, Ariz., from 1£52 to 156. i Sars af: AaN! 140 of x sumpery of a ec Imad en March 24, Black Muslim leader was grotd axedvising Mr. Clax 4okeep ——— od. The Quit aie? telling hinrhearodld make a beller minister then a figs: weet Page 250 ~~, | “My instructions weretowca- jlor conversations beth inthe heme and by telephone and make notes of conversations by Elijah Muhammad,” Mr. Pick- ett sadi. “I recorded all vonver- .salions I heard bt prepared only ‘pertinent facts-io go into the log.” = OY - “You obtained the infomation by electronic bugging??? Mr. Morgan asked. . “Correct.” Mr. Pickett said only summa- ries were prepared on each con- yersalion. . “What to you was pertinent?” Mr. Morgan asked. . “Whatever I considered of val- te.” : “What criteria did you emply for delermining what you consi- dered pertinent?” | “There were wrilten instruc- I } tions but not for a particular case, They were gereral, a guiceline as to what we were to listen for. facts relevant to the cage We wete working on” The Washington Post Times Herald The Washington Daily News The Evening Star (Washington) The Sunday Star (Washington) Daily News (New York) Sunday News (New York) New York Post The New York Times The Sun (Baltimore) ‘The Daily World The New Leader The Wot Sicet Prous! The National Observer Date "NW 55097 Doold: 32989551 ° ee rary DeLoach Mohr —___-______ Bishop Casper Callahan Conrad — Felt Gale Rosen Sullivan Tavel Trotter Tele. Room Holmes Gandy if "FBI agent, testified that to I: “knowledge Mr. Clay neverh he i been under electronics surve! flance in Louisville, kis hoo towns tT home ne . A
.Colurabia, Soy JOHN A ‘MONTGOMERY nee? . THE COLUMBIA R ECORD | _) th Carolina H. HARRISON J ENKINS Editor . Associate Editor . ‘s 12:A . _— . Thursday, June 26, 1969 7. apres, sar ce wwe < a ; 7 ee . sostt ee mre = Le PS oo RAE i ei: —~ Best Fo orgel The King Wiretap | Enough now has been “written ‘and spoken about the wiretapping of the late Marlin Luther King, the or- “ders of the late Attorney Gencral “ Robert Kennedy and the position of [¥BI Director J. Edgar Hoover. The affair is best left to history and fu- ture documentation. : Our conservative columnist, Wuil- liam F. Buckley, is dead wrong . when he asserts that a Congressional’ ‘inquiry is in order. It.most positive: Jy is not. Informed and intelligent ECongressmen realize quite well that the whole affair should he quietly f dropped. eee eat mere erty ACE ISLS MONS HANS BOAT 8 re The King wiretap was ‘brought into the foreground again (not dis- closed for the first time, as Buckley believes) through the Cassius Clay trial in Houston. Then, the syndicated columnist, Carl Rowan, asked that | Hoover relire on the basis-of the King wiretap testimony. WaT P tal OORT [3 \ Rowen has served the Federal goverment well as amlasz.dcr fo . Finland and with the USIA ond isa : usinttly camer feet eboceyre of ths nalianal seers, Yet co Ors aon tai, fe cad elf—iat ai Ne wacnci. f The simple fact is th rp director, om any CIA director, will a be forced to take needless, supernu- . merary public Jumps—without ane ¢ ay tae ANCES CmeME TE Deen ATT EDO Ceaser mend © FL HY Beta dese ale PAS went vee RA ARO REET OR whe ade Doold: 329659551 NW 55097 Page 251 swer. etn however, for the. sake of these agencies, the directors ' must set the record straight. In this instance, Hoover was again the unfor- tunate victim. The surface facts. are thal Robert Kennedy ordered the wiretap on King, before his death. That wiretap (in the inlerest of national sccurily) was continued under Kennedy’s suc- cessor, Nicholas Kalzenbach. Former Attorney General Ram- , sey Clark, perhaps still smarting from the campaign chatter of Presi- dent } Nixon, got info the act with a, denunciafion of Hoover, Clark has § the unfortunate habit of opening his’ | Texas mouth, wide, when he should ! keep it shut. A singular fact which should he borne in mind js that a Congression- al inquiry, to be fair to all parties involved (including. King, Hoover and Robert Kennedy), would also ex-, tend jnfo the While House-—brinz. ing in both the Jate President John YT. he former Presi- Ky ney aa rad dent. Lyrdon Jekneon, who has been - wea ant tee , saa ® The and King. the repute tions of all con cerned, and—aLove ail—the nalion’s - interests are best served by a pres-' ent dismissal of chatter about the! Ww holei incident 27 oe ae ha e . vie + bas 17 Mr. Polson. ys Lig Det tf pip. AN Tot... Hist Bi shop {2,4 A Mir. Casper.———. My. Callahon _.. & Mr. jo Mr. Felt. oO BD Myr," Gale”. 4 Livers Roseits, Mr. Syllivan ow. ( pw . -My. Trotter Tele. Room... fo Miss Holmes... Miss Gandy. LPP Se, Amore {Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) 12-0 The Columbia Record Columbia, S. C. 6/26/69 Metro Date: Edition: Author: Editor: John A. if ‘ Nontgomer capes A | Siapeentennsuinadren name immenrenienre mmm ot mE