—_ 2 3 4 wt = § ™ i a 6 . = 7 gS a c—d ™ J 9 a = 10 Ss - g e OU a = , = 32 E: 3 a 14 “ = bd & 1s ° a Gs = 13 “a 7 ee tea = 18 = nn = 19 «~ e S 20 21 te, jet 22 . a 23 : Z4 25 HW 54756 DoclId: SS ae a SS ae Se [a ad . ' . . . 22766577 Page 13 “ oo 20 Rather than go into what you finally decided -to work on,. I would like to sum up by saying this did involve numerous manhours, and I feel we did as good a job as we could under the time constraints - we were operating under in trying to do the job, to conduct the search in as thorough and competent a manner: as we could. | I am satisfied at this point, Mr. Chairman, that you hav before you the names of people, at least the task force anyway feels we could live with very easily and would believe they would bring credit to this committee in its effort to resolve the questions surrounding these two assassinations. I will be glad to answer any questions from any of the other committee members. I am sure my colleagues on the task force might like to comment on the process or make any other additional observations. | The Chairman. Do any members of the task force want to make additional comments? (No response.) The Chairman. I certainly want to once again thank you, “Mr. Dodd, and each member of the task force. Mr. Fithian. May I just say one thing? I do want to -- on the record -~ thank both the chairman | and the members of this task force for having spent this type | The Chairman. I will recognize you in just a moment. | | | of time in behalf of a search. I think all of us on the com= | | mittee recognize the importance that all of us attach to this: ALCERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. i
6 re os gg particular office, state, and ‘the ultimate report which we: must Mr. Thone. Mr. Dodd, what did Mr. Blakey teach at Cornell Mr. Dodd. He is in: the Law School there and he teaches -- ! | 2] go ta: :the..Aneritcan:. people with. It is obvious you have expende 3 an awful lot of. time and effort. ‘I very sincerely appreciate @ 4 | all your work on. this. ne = 3 _I recognize Mr. ‘Fithian. 3 } Mr. Fithian. I just want to say, cutting down to two s 7 categories of people in this choice process, you could select ES g |, a person for his prosecutorial ability and make that really th 3 7 heavy emphasis, or you could get someone who had a lot of ad- a : 0 ministrative experience to write a good report and manage the 2 . 2 1 | staff, and if you are lucky to get somebody who has some contact a > 12 | with Washington, some contact with the Hill, so they know what 2 | e = 13 | the congressional committees and congressional staffs are all - -2 a | about,-and it is hara to find somebody who has had all of these. 5 1s | It is hard to be an outstanding national prosecutor, have con-. = | tact and long years of experience on the Hill, and also be abl bc -J . : a 17 | to administer'a large number of lawyers... = i . " . B a It is just not a normal combination. I think I could | = = 13 live very happily with any one of the six on the first and € . second teams. For various other reasons, I.would not have bee 31 | happy had we gone beyond that, beyond the top six. | pe = Mr. Thone. Mr. Chairman ~- t 93 | The Chairman. Mr. Thone. | | ze | 4 ' I | | i i ‘ | ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 Docld:322766577 Page 14
22 if you will wait one second, let me pull-out his resume for you. 2 ‘Mr. Thone. How old is he, by the way? 4 OS Mr. Doda. I would be guessing. Off the top of my head, 4 | I believe he is 45. “Let me get his resume for you. . z | “the Chairman. Born 1936, ; oe é 5 | Mr. Dodd. Born 1936, so that would make him 41. s ; ae The-Chairman. The other fellow is 36, Mr. Zagel. § a! a Mr. Thone. What is his first name? — os ‘ 9 | | The Chairman. James B. Zagel. | : 10 | Mr. Sawyer. I was tremendously impressed by this fellow : | Zagel. | . - $ 1 | Mr. Dodd. Mr. Chairman, if I may ask the gentleman to — eo : 1 | yield, he teaches criminal law. procedure, property, seminars, z 1 | organized crime and faculty advisor. He also taught at Notre : is | Dame Law School. | | | 5 | Mr. Thone. Going to the Notre Dam Law School, did you 7 17 | say the current or former dean? ) 5 13 i Mr. Dodd. Former dean. ; ; — ° | | Mr. Thone. What does he do now? : | Mr. Dodd.. ‘He isa professor there. | af Mr. Fithian. Every five or six years they rotate that | Bee deanship. He is back on the stat again. | | | e 73 | The Chairman. It might help, Mr. Thone, just reading out] 7 part of the things on it: A.B.,1957, University of Notre Dame; @ 25 q L.B., 1960, Notre Dam Law School, Special Attorney Honors | i - ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. HW 54756 Docld:322766577 Page 15
Division, United States Department of Justice, 1960 to 1964; Assistant Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School, 1964 to 1967; Professor, 1967 to 1974. Chief Counsel, Subcommittee on > a 200 7TH STREET, S.WU. REPORTERS BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20024 (202) SSk-2345 Criminal taws and Procedures, Chairman John L. McClellan, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 1969 to 1973 “Assault on organized Crime, President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, 1966 to 1967; Repor on Electronic Surveillance, American Bar Association Project for Minimum Standards in Criminal Justice, 1967-1968; Consult . and on:Conspirary, Organized Crime, National Commission on the Reform of the Federal Penal Law, 1968; member, Task Force on Legalized — Gambling, 20th Century Assault, Commission on Review of National Policy, 1974-1975; member, National Commission for the Review of Federal and State Laws relating to Wire Tapping and Elec- tronic Surveillance, 1974-1975; professor, Cornell Law School since 1973; Director, Cornell Institute on Organized Crime, subjects: - criminal justice, criminal procedure, seminar on | ‘organized crime. 20 + § 23 i Program; Organized Crime, Racketeering Section, Criminal I might say I have now interviewed both of these appli- 21 ») © cants and I also had talked with Mr. Highland prior to his with is outstanding in his own right. Zagel, of course, is a 1ittié younger. He is about 36 years old and has not had, I suppose, ' | drawal. All three individuals are very, very choice. Each | | | : | | the extensive type of experience that Blakey appears to have i | : 4 t i i. i i ' | j ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC.. HW 54756 Docld:32766577 Page 16
2 3 4 wm a 66S n~ i, a «6 ~ ' = 7 zg Se ™ ey 3 a = 10 9 = 2 zou a sy => 12 re = - 13 @ : = a t4 ed r--4 bos 7" & 135 2 fad x %% = “a 17 ot ud eS 13 ~ a” = 19 ~ (— Ss 20 27 . 23 25 HW 54756 DoctId: H 32266577 Page 17 “9 ou -had at 45, and yet he is the type of a fellow who at 36 is- i considered to be an old prosecutor because he has been in the | field quite a while. ‘They are tremendously impressive. I suppose on balance I would lean perhaps a little more toward professor Blakey. I think I do so because on balance I think he has perhaps a little more experience in different areas than Mr. zagel has.and has the advantage of having had Capitol Hill experience and is familiar with the working members of Congress and Hill administration situation, which is also unique.. I found Mr. Zagel, while he has had some administrative experience, some relationship to persons in the State legis- lature, also very knowledgeable in terms of the political _ process and how to get along with officials he has to deal with in official capacity and so forth. It is just in my own personal type of reaction that on balance I would put Blakey just a little bit above. Mr. Dodd. If the Chairman would yield, just one point I think should be mentioned. I made an effort to contact Senator McClellan, to ask haa about how he had performed in his role as chief counsel over | ‘there at that committee.. Unfortunately, Senator McClellan just returned home from an. operation in the hospital, but I did | manage to speak with one of his top assistants who has been with. the senator for numerous years and knew Blakey very, very well. t + 8 t ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC.
7 25 Speaking with hin on a confidential basis, he told me he would speak for the Senator without hesitation and that Bob Blakey was the finest person he every had working for hin, . he was top flight, in fact, felt so highly of him he has been | ! | z § : strongly recommended for one of the top Positions in the Depart. - 6 | ment of Justice in the present Administration. | g 7 T:guess many have not been too successful in relationship § (a | with the. new Administration in that area. He had the highest ‘ >| remarks for Blakey. Certainly it is a key question in terms of : 1 his ability. to perform as a chief counsel of a congressional 2 1 | committee. | | 2 1 Mr. Sawyer. Mr. Chairman, I was equally impressed, really} rs : 13 | with Zagel and ‘Blakey. They are both top guys. I got the im- z 14 pression, talking to Blakey, he “might have some economic proble . n , S 1g || Did you get that? . é. The Chairman. I can speak to that. The task force had | | i | 7 | indicated that to me, that we might have a problem there. He } “i = 18 a = 15 When he and z talked, we discussed that and I told him -& 99 /$47.5 thousand would be tops. He then did some computing on 21 |his own there with me with reference to the fact the retirement | > BD Ae va ledtuation here would provide him a little additional money. In i | i z [Phings are less than they :Are in New York. ' | | iS presently at around $53,000 and we only’ pay top of $47, 000. | | he would be living over in Virginia where taxes and other | | He felt he could Wo 5 pick up a little additonal money there, and then he had a question i i : - ALDERSCN REPORTING COMPANY, INC. : HW 54756 DBocld: b0966577 Page 16
a . ° 26 as to whether he might pick ‘up. one consultant fee without witness on behalf of the member of the Mafia? The Chairman. .I can see some problem, particularly with no 2 violating the: House rules: which would give him $2, 500. He has 3 some time ago contracted with Lou ‘Nizer to testify as an expert 4 in a Libel case that will be coming up in August somewhere ou 2 5 ‘West where he would be testifying in his capacity as an expert rs 5 f} on organized crime. It is a civil matter where I guess a memb S 7] of the Mafia has sued the State -- my understanding is it was = gi} clearly a libel situation on the part of either a newspaper or 3 " magazine that wrote the article; and he would be testifying in a 7 - : ; . ; z 10 | that ease. = = n | . Ir guess one is. paid testimony of this sort where he would). = | . = . = 4 | be entitled to a $2, 500 fees. o ° . e 5 13 | Mr. Sawyer, | For which side? a 14 | The Chairman. He would be testifying against the news- Fs 13 | paper. | | | | Z ig | ' Mr. Devine. The same situation we had with Sprague. = : a “a Wy | Mr. Dodd. He is not the principal in the case. B " The Chairman. He evidently is an expert in this area and - i9 | has been called as a court witness. in several of those anes | é 1 | I told him this is. something I would have to take up with the 1 | committee; but at any rate I think he realistically would be ® pe 2 | willing to try to live with $47.5 thousand. | _ Mr. Sawyer. - What problem is there if. he was called as a 23 - | { i it i id if . ALDERSON REPORTING COMP ° . HW 54756 DBocld: 32266577 Page 19 ; ANY ING
27 the problems this committee. has had. Mr. Doda. His name is Alessaridro Travicante? . The Chairman. No, but it is something similar to it. Mr. Edgar. Mr. Chairman _ The Chairman. Mr. Edgar. | Mr. Edgar. I would like to urge the committee to move | with deliberate haste to the selection of this chief counsel. I think both candidates are equally qualified and because of your interest in Mr. Blakey, having served on the task group an having met Mr. Blakey, while he was not my choice, he was clearly in the top part of the scale, and I think selecting an securing a chief counsel at this time would do more to establi h this kind of mature staff morale that we are looking for ! now in the committee. I think if we could announce tomorrow the acceptance REPORTERS BUILDING, WASHINGTON , D.C. 29024 (202) $54-234%5 : a Pes = o ~o o field investigators is leaving, a new one is possible on the Ww tn 1 | | | | | 16 | of new chief counsel and that person could be.in place by the = | “i 17 | middle of July at the latest, we could really pursue the 5 investigations carefully. One of our concerns that we expressed ad u = 13 ‘in our interviewing the candidates was the fact that every day € | every week pushed this off even further. | One of the things Mr. Lehner wanted to talk to us about eS = | | | | ® Bad 29 ! and didn't have a chance is that their investigation is a little “NO | . a bit handicapped because they are working with three field | 24 | investigators divided between Kennedy and King. One of the | i | a] i | = - INT 54756 Docla: 42966577 Page 20 - ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC.
13 28 horizon. They would like to see the selection of three or fou minimum for the King group before the deadline passes, so thos "investigators can be on board before August. I-know we have had a semimoratorium on hiring, rightly so, because the new desire to testify, to take this $2,500 consultant fee; if he ' 3 | cet coeer seen have that responsibility; but I would jus z & urge us to act.as quickly as possible to secure the new chief 5 71 counsel and allow some flexibility perhaps, at least. two or thtee . S a) “investigators coming on as quickly as possible so we can get : | the evidence together and pursue these cases. : 0 | Mr. Dodd. Mr. Chairman, I would like to suggest, I do g i | not believe a.motion is necessary unless someone so wanted, = | but I would like to suggest that..you, as Chairman of this com- rs : 13 | mittee, be authorized by the rest of us to make that decision z 14 | as to which one of these two or any of the other ones we looke é sf at, if you so desire to make that choice pursuant to Congress- r=) H . FA 1s man Edgar's last suggestion. = | Unless there is some projection in that, I would make tha : 13 | as a suggestion. . 9 | Mr. Devine. I would agree with the assessment that the : / Chair should, make the selection. between those two persons. Th uf only thing that troubles me is what you: just pointed out, his - . . a 23 | does, in fact,. publicly in August, why, that may be another a thing that people will jump upon. | e 25 | Mr. ‘Edgar. Mr. Chairman -- | men meee ce ete tt eee eee ee pn — ee a a ee a TE Sa : ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. HW 54756 Docld:32266577 Page 21