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Mr. Church's Cover-Up

The committee is not asking embar-

By William Safire

rassing questions ever when answers

are readily

WASHINGON, Nov. 19--On Oct. 10,

1963, the then-attorney General of the

United States put his personal signa-

ture on a document that launched and

legitimatized one of the most horren-

dous abuses of Federal police power in

this century.

In Senator Frank Church's subcom-

mittee hearing

room this week,

the

authorized

wiretapping

and

subse-

quent

unauthorized bugging and at-

tempted blackmailing of Martin Luther

ring Ir. is being gingerly examined,

with the "investigation" conducled in

such a way as not to unduly

em-

barrass officials of the Kennedy or

Johnson Administrations.

With great care, the committee has

focused on the f.B.I. Yesterday, when'

the committee counsel frest set forth

the result of shuffling through press

clips, it seemed as if no Justice De-

partment had existed in 1962; today,

an F.B.I. witness pointed out that it

was Robert Kennedy who authorized

the wiretap of Dr. King, and that "the

President of the United States and the

Attorney Generel specifically discussed

their concern of Communist influence

with Dr. King."

but the Church committee showed

no zest for getting further to the Ken-

nady root of this precedent to Water-

gate eavesdropping. li Senator Church

were willing to let the chips fall where

they may, he would call some know!-

edgeable witnesses into the glare of

the camera lights and ask them some

questions that have gone unasked for

thirteen years.

For example, he could call Nicholas

Katzenbach,

nedy's deputy and successor, and ask

what he knows of the Kennedy de

cision to wiretap Dr. King.

Who

at

Justice concurred in the recommenda-

tion? How does the F.S.I. know the

President was consulled or informed?

After Mr. Katzenbach assumed of-

fice, and the wiretapping continued,

he was toid by onary newsmen that

the F.B.I. was leaking scurrilous in-

formation bout Dr. King. Why did he

wait for four months, and for a thou

Sahe

telepionic interceptions, to dis

continue the pificially approved lap?

Of course, this sort

of testimony

vouid erode Senato: Churchis political

base. That is why we do not see ior-

mer Assistant F.B.I. director Cartla

(Deke)

Deloach,

Ijnion

Johnson's

personal contact with the F.B.I. in the

witness chair.

What did

President

Jounion know aboat the charicter-

assassination pins and shon did he

knew il? What conversations took

place beiween Mr. Deloach and Presi-

dent Jounsor or the tapping a Dr.

King, or about the lse of the F.B.I. in

any other ingrusions into the lives of

Dxrtinol.figtles?

LN 55273

DocId: 32989838

F.B.i. man inadvertently started

General Kennedy. The too-willing wit

ness was drompty shooshed into si

lence. and told that such information

session. Nobody raised an eyebrow.

That pattern of containment by the

Church committee is vividly shown by

the handling

of the buggings at the

ESSAY

be determined not to probe too deeply.

why are those men not given the

same opportunity to publicly tell their

story so

avidly given the next Presi-

lent's men? If Lyndon Johnson com-

mitted this impeachable high crime of

using the f.B.l. to spy

iard lo tell us all about it?

ment to

Democrats,

sional

employees of

agencies only. A new sense of Con-

gressional decorum exists, far from

the sense of outrage expressed in the

Senate Watergate committee's hear-

ing room. When it is revealed that the

management of NBC News gave press

credentials to L.B.J.'s spies at the 1964

comanti nobody demanse so money

ly and

nobody demands to

which network executive made what.

decision under what pressure.

I have been haranguing patients

readers for years about the double

standard applied in Democratic and

Republican political crimes, and had

hoped the day would come when the

hardbali precedenis set by the Ken-

nedy and Johnson men wouir be laid

before the public in damning detail.

Obviously, Democrat Frank Church

is not the mar to do it. His jowl-

shaking indignation is all loo silec-

tive;

the trail of high-level responsi-

bility for the crimes committed against

Dr. King and othurs is evid. duly going

to ha allowed to idol.

Pity. You'd think that after all the

nation has beer through in the past

few years our political icaders would

have learned that too one thing that

brings you dovin is the sit of cover-

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SEARCHED

SERIALIZED

NON 211976

80-0-5977

THE NEW YORK

TIMES

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER

20th, 1975

PAGE C- 4J

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## Page 3

Kouting Siip

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RE: SENATE SELECI COMMILIEL

ON

INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES

Date

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The enclosed is for your information. If used in a future report,

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[]

! Enclosed are corrected pages from report of SA

dated

-

Remarks:

Enclosed for your information is a copy of

an article by Mr. William Safire entitled "Mr.

Church's

" that appeared in the

November

20, 1975, issue of "The New York Times.

Enc. (1)

Bufile

Urfile

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