Evening star., 1962-05-06

the Senate Investigations Sub
committee said yesterday that
somebody is obviously lying"
among Agriculture Department
employees in the case Of Texas
Ifinancier Billie Sol Estes.
Senator Mundt, Republican
of South Dakota, made the
lcharge in criticizing Agricul-
lture Department officials for
calling q news conference on
the Estes case Friday.
His statement came as N.
Battle Hales, an Agriculture
employe, was given close to four
hours with the press to pin
down his accusation Of favorit-
ism for the indicted Texan.
He contended he had no op-
portunity there to rebut self
serving declarations" by Agri-
culture Department officials
who shared the press confer
ence.
Mr.. Hales said If he could
appear before q congressional
committee, he could prove his
charges that Estes won favored
treatment at the Agriculture
Department.
Senator Mundt criticized
what he termed "a sort of
kangaroo court atmosphere" at
the lengthy press conference.
Mundt Wants Probe
IAN that is apparent from
the reports Of yesterdays bizar-
re confrontations arranged for
the press by the Department
Of Agriculture leadership" he
said, ''is that somebody is
obviously lying.
j what we need and what
should be produced is q care
full investigatiop of all the
factors and all the personnel
involved. witnesses must be
brought before an appropriate
tribunal Of Congress and asked
direct questions producing tes-
timony under oath where the
Irules Of perjury apply" .'fts
Senator Mundt praise d
Chairman Mcclellan Of the
Senate investigations subcom-
mittee as a trained investiga-
tor" as well as an impartial and
determined chairman. He re-
ported that the subcommittee
now has ct least 10 investiga-
tors and General Accounting
Office accountants working on
the Estes case both in Texas
and Washington.
He advised any other Agri-
culture Department employees
wwho might be asked to appear
in q press conference court" to
refuse to comply.
Case Also Critical IS
"The idea Of trying to ascer-
tain the truth among conflict
ing statements in q widely pub
licized press conference" he
said, ''is too much reminiscent
of the Moscow-type flood
lighted public 'confessionals'
which pass for judicial proce-
dures in Russia"
Republican Senator Case of
New Jersey also criticized Agri-
culture officials for the news
conference.
This certainly looks very
much like an effort by the de-
partment to discredit publicly
one who may be . key witness
In an important matter now
under investigation by the Jus
tice Department as well as the
Department Of Agriculture"
Senator Case said.
While the Republicans are
getting into the Estes case en-
masse, there seems to be some
disagreement on who should do
the investigating. Senator
Mundt's statement Indicated
that as far as he was concerned,
the Mcclellan committee Is the
right forum.
The Senate Agriculture
Committee, which has been
under Republican pressure to
conduct its own investigation,
shows no inclination a. this
point to get in the act.
Scores Democrat Inaction
/ Senator Aiken Of Vermont.
ranking Republican on the
committee. apparently differs
with the Republican leader
ship. He said yesterday that he
considered 1t would be confus-
ing and Of little value for the
Senate Agriculture Committee
to conduct an inquiry parallel
to that Of Senator McClellan's
committee.
representative Wilson,
chairman Of the Republican
Congressional Campaign Com
Imittee, disagreed with the
Aiken view. He issued q state
ment attacking what he called
the "snail's pace probe" Of the
Democratic controlled Con-
lgress.
Estes Indicted