v085

salzburg kissinger lead 6

he read the letter to fulbright. it it, he said, news reports
and editorials+ involve fundamental issues concerning the
truthfulness and completeness of my testimony+ before the
committee and +hence they raise issues of public confidence
and directly affect the conduct of our foreign policy.+

he recalled that he said under oath the wire taps were
+ordered by the president and carried out by the fbi under
the authority of the attorney general...+

+no new material has appeared since my testimony except
a brief excerpt from a presidential tape. a large part of which
is described as unintelligible.+ his letter said, adding:

+the documents now being leaked were, to the best of
my knowledge available to me before my testimony...in a few
cases my recollection differed in emphasis from the
documents, in those cases i pointed out apparent discrepancies
and explained them at the time.

+the innuendoes which now imply that new evidence contradicting
my testimony has come to light are without foundation. all the
available evidence is to the best of my knowledge contained
in the public and closed hearings which preceded my confirmation.+

(more)

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salzburg kissinger lead 7

the secretary said he has no reason to change the testimony
he gave the committee, but +nevertheless, at this sensitive
period i feel it important that the committee which first
examined the evidence, and which has a special concern with
the conduct of foreign affairs, should have an opportunity to
review it once again.+

if the committee decides on a review, he said +i would not
object should it wish to examine relevant security files and
reports on wiretaps sent to my office.+

during its september hearings, the committee had two
members examine fbi summaries of the information obtained by
the wiretaps. they found everything in order.

kissinger at that time also told the committee that during
the involved period he had no knowledge of the evidence
of the so-called white house plumbers group,+ +by that or
any other name.+

he also denied knowing that a former assistant, david young,
was involved in checking national security leaks.

young was a member of the plumbers, which was organized to
trace leaks.

he repeated those denials again today. (more)
ft1428gmtjune-11-74

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v094

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salzburg kissinger lead - 8

when a newsman asked kissinger if he considered himself
an +innocent bystander+ in the controversy, he replied that
on a number of occasions he had called nixon's attention to very
significant security leaks+.

+this then led to the president...to institute a program of
wire taps+, kissinger said+. i did not myself propose the program..
i undoubtedly contributed by my description of the security
problems...(but) i did not recommend the program myself+.

+i find wire tapping distasteful+, he said, adding that
he also finds+ +leaks distasteful+.

kissinger said in 1969 he was directed to supply the names
of subordinates who had adverse material in their security
files, who had access to material which had been leaked or
who were suspected of leaking the material+. i understand the
order came from the president+, he said.

say he mentioned to yoda that i was a paying customer of some
reached his desk only infrequently. (more)
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ZZ

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t a

kagcorrection

read last graf in salzburg kissinger lead - 8 (v094 x x x
order of the president+, he said.

he heatedly denied receiving scores of wire tap logs, saying
he saw only 1 1/2 page summary reports and that these
reached his desk only infrequently. (more)
grb1438gmtjun-11-74

jj

v096n

v096

gk lead - y

in criticizing recent news accounts, kissinger said
to suggest that +my office was spending its time reading salacious
reports+, of extra-marital affairs an pornographic material +is
a symptom of the poisonous atmosphere that is now characteristic
of our public debate+.

after reciting his recollection s of te wire tapping, the
grim-faced kissinger, his voice quavering at times, declared
+these are the facts...i do not apologize for it. it is not
a snady affair..... it followed legal procedures. i stand ready
to testify again before any appropriate committee+.

he repeatedly declared that his honor, integrity and
credibility was under challenge and that the attacks were hurting
his foreign policy role.

he said if he cannot carry out his duties+, i shall
turn them over immediately to an individual less subject to
public attack+. (end)

grb1443gmtjun-11-74

WTOP-TV 9

June 11, 1974

EDWIN DIAMOND COMMENTARY - KISSINGER

Henry Kissinger's sweetheart arrangement with the press is over. It lasted five years by one count, figuring from the date he moved to the center of power in Washington with Richard Nixon's election. But all his professional life, Kissinger has carefully cultivated reporters--and, equally important, their editors and publishers. He was sensitive to the demands of deadlines, fresh "angles" and journalistic egos--long before the word _stroking_ passed into the public vocabulary.

The journalists who transcribed the Kissinger world view included the super byliners in the biggest news outlets. It was all gentlemanly--and admiring. When Bob Woodward--one of the two reporters who broke open the Watergate case--phoned Kissinger to track down one angle in the story, Kissinger bristled. "I'm not used to this treatment," he said, and called Woodward's boss.

In the present disclosures over Kissinger's role in wiretapping, the bristling has become public. He still complains to publishers and he has added a new tactic--or rather, borrowed an old and discredited one from the Watergate mess: when a charge is made, don't address the truth or falsity of the statement, but attack the story as "leak and innuendo..."

This is what a platoon of White House non-spokesmen did all during the first year of Watergate. So welcome to the new Post-Watergate world, Mr. Secretary. We are all being taught some new roles.

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