News stories from Friday May 11, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A mistrial has been declared in the Pentagon Papers case. Judge Matthew Byrne ruled that the government's wiretapping and the White House investigation of Daniel Ellsberg offends all sense of justice. Byrne dismissed all counts against Ellsberg and co-defendant Anthony Russo. Ellsberg feels that the prosecution was stopped because the case was getting too close to presidential misconduct, but he is pleased that the trial helped uncover the way the Nixon administration operates.
Robert Cushman, who was deputy CIA chief at the time of the burglary of Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office by E. Howard Hunt, told Congress that he was not aware of the precise nature of Hunt's mission. Cushman stated that he helped Hunt at John Ehrlichman's request. Cushman is an old friend of President Nixon, Ehrlichman and Haldeman. Senator Henry Jackson said that the White House, not the CIA, violated the law.
[CBS] - The Nixon campaign finance committee pleaded innocent to federal charges of failing to report and keep proper records of the $200,000 cash contribution from financier Robert Vesco. [CBS]
- The Senate Watergate committee and the Watergate grand jury are beginning to get in each other's way in their investigations. L. Patrick Gray was questioned by the grand jury today; it is believed that he was asked about destroying files from the desk of E. Howard Hunt. Gray has previously said that White House aides John Dean and John Ehrlichman told him to destroy the files. Bernard Barker and Eugenio Martinez were given immunity from prosecution, and they testified before the Senate Watergate committee. Watergate prosecutors complain that the Senate committee is destroying their case, but Senator Sam Ervin said that it is more important for the public to know the truth than for a few people to go to jail.
Fred LaRue, a former campaign aide and alleged participant in the Watergate cover-up, is said to be planning a move to delay the Senate investigation on grounds of the Senate hearings prejudicing the rights of witnesses if they go to trial. Jeb Magruder's attorney James Bierbaum believes that idea is appealing for others involved in the case. John Wilson, the attorney for H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, doesn't plan to go along with such a move. Senator Ervin insists that courts can't halt a congressional hearing, and Senator Lowell Weicker agrees with Ervin that any move to halt the Senate hearings should be ignored.
Former Attorney General John Mitchell stated that CBS' charge that he tried to influence Supreme Court decisions is "malicious and untrue."
[CBS] - John Connally is taking a leave of absence from his law firm to serve as a presidential aide. [CBS]
- CBS erred in reporting that the Nixon re-election campaign used a Bethesda, Maryland, accounting firm to launder campaign contributions into cash. CBS has now learned that the firm handled checks issued by Nixon finance committee accountant Henry Buchanan (the brother of presidential aide Pat Buchanan), who would deposit checks into his client account and then issue cash back to the committee. [CBS]
- Soviet Communist party leader Leonid Brezhnev is scheduled to hold summit talks in the United States with President Nixon the last week of June. [CBS]
- Henry Kissinger has been given a new assignment. He will meet with North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho in Paris, France, to discuss ways to make the Vietnam truce work. The U.S. wants North Vietnam to withdraw its troops from Laos and Cambodia. Presidential press secretary Ron Ziegler stated that Congress, by voting to withhold funds for bombing Cambodia, must take responsibility if the government of Lon Nol falls. Congress' anti-war vote is a sign that the President's power is declining on Capitol Hill following Watergate. [CBS]
- Senator Mike Mansfield said that the Senate is likely to vote against funding the Cambodian air war, as did the House. [CBS]
- Two International Control Commission helicopters were forced down in South Vietnam by Communist fire. Nobody was hurt, and the Viet Cong apologized. [CBS]
- Tornadoes and storms hit the Midwest. Three people died in Joplin, Missouri, and four are dead in Ohio as the result of tornadoes; property damage is extensive. Many people have been hospitalized because of the storms. [CBS]
- Vicksburg, Mississippi, is suffering from floods. The Mississippi River is 40 miles wide at Vicksburg; many have evacuated the area. [CBS]
- Astronauts Pete Conrad, Joseph Kerwin and Paul Weitz are preparing for next week's Skylab launch. Some Skylab experiments are designed to show the effects of living for long periods of time in space. Skylab is also designed to take pictures of solar flares and of earth. [CBS]
- An autopsy showed that the death of former Missouri Senator Edward Long was caused by a heart attack, not by poison. [CBS]
- Women's lib won another victory: the national Little League organization is threatening to suspend the Ypsilanti Orioles for having a girl on the team. But 12-year-old Carolyn King is supported by the Ypsilanti city council, and the council ruled that if King can't play then the Little League can't use city diamonds. [CBS]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 927.98 (-11.36, -1.21%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| May 10, 1973 | 939.34 | 109.54 | 13.52 |
| May 9, 1973 | 949.05 | 110.44 | 16.05 |
| May 8, 1973 | 956.58 | 111.25 | 13.73 |
| May 7, 1973 | 950.71 | 110.53 | 12.50 |
| May 4, 1973 | 953.97 | 111.00 | 19.51 |
| May 3, 1973 | 945.67 | 110.22 | 17.76 |
| May 2, 1973 | 932.34 | 108.43 | 14.38 |
| May 1, 1973 | 921.21 | 107.10 | 15.38 |
| April 30, 1973 | 921.43 | 106.97 | 14.82 |
| April 27, 1973 | 922.19 | 107.23 | 13.73 |