News stories from Monday May 14, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Acting FBI director William Ruckelshaus reported today that FBI wiretaps of government employees and reporters have been found in John Ehrlichman's White House safe. The wiretaps were made from 1969 through 1971 after Henry Kissinger asked FBI director J. Edgar Hoover for help in plugging security leaks. Hoover aide William Sullivan took the tapes to the White House. Former assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian believed that Sullivan felt the FBI might use the wiretaps against the Attorney General or the President, so Sullivan gave the files to Mardian who took them to the White House. John Mitchell later allegedly told Hoover that the records of the wiretaps had been destroyed; Mitchell has denied making any such statement to Hoover.
It wasn't until last Thursday that Mardian revealed that the files probably still existed in the White House; a search then turned up the documents in John Ehrlichman's safe. Ruckelshaus said that FBI agents had almost to wrestle with Secret Service men in order to get the files from the safe. Ruckelshaus didn't say who was tapped other than Morton Halperin, a former Kissinger aide. Halperin's tap picked up conversations with Daniel Ellsberg. That wiretap was a major factor in the dismissal of the Pentagon Papers case.
Ehrlichman will be the center of a new grand jury investigation to open soon in Los Angeles. David Nissen, the Pentagon Papers prosecutor, has been receiving information from Watergate prosecutor Earl Silbert. Egil Krogh, G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt among others will be questioned.
In Washington, DC, John Dean appeared before Judge John Sirica to answer questions regarding papers related to Watergate which he took from the White House and put in a safety deposit box to prevent their illegal destruction. The papers are classified "super-secret." Sirica has ordered that copies of the papers be given to the Watergate grand jury and to the Senate investigating committee. Dean attorney Robert McCandless denied that Dean was involved in a secret attempt to infiltrate anti-war groups before the 1972 Democratic convention.
[CBS] - The Senate Watergate Committee has learned that the White House sought CIA aid in more than just the Ellsberg burglary. Senator Stuart Symington said that he was surprised to learn from deputy CIA chief Vernon Walters that not only John Ehrlichman and John Dean were involved in CIA activity but also H.R. Haldeman. Symington claims that the CIA was asked to help the White House on several occasions. The Senate committee will hear from former CIA director Richard Helms soon.
Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson reported that he has narrowed the search for a Watergate special prosecutor down to four men. Richardson upset the Senate by revealing that the White House had suggested some names as possible Watergate prosecutors. General Alexander Haig, the new White House chief of staff, and Leonard Garment, John Dean's replacement, are said to have made suggestions. Two of the men suggested are former Governors Pat Brown of California and Warren Hearnes of Missouri, both of whom are Democrats. Senators John Tunney, Birch Bayh and Philip Hart objected to the White House's suggestions. Richardson said that his four top choices are Howard Tyler, David Peck, Warren Christopher and William Erickson.
[CBS] - The Skylab launch went well this afternoon but two solar panels providing power to the orbiting space ship failed to deploy properly. NASA is now trying to decide whether to send astronauts Conrad, Weitz and Kerwin into space tomorrow as scheduled to connect with Skylab. [CBS]
- Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho will open talks Thursday in Paris in an effort to salvage the Vietnam truce. North Vietnam threatened that the talks will not take place if it is found that the U.S. has been bombing in South Vietnam as the Viet Cong charged. [CBS]
- David Bruce has arrived in Peking to serve as special liaison officer for the United States in China. [CBS]
- William Abernathy was killed by FBI agents after holding two Portland, Oregon, airport employees as hostages for several hours today. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court ruled that female members of the armed services are entitled to the same benefits for their husbands as male military personnel receive for their wives. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court also ruled that local governments cannot limit the hours airports use for jet service. James Cummings of Burbank, California, and his family go camping every weekend in order to avoid the noise from a nearby airport. Jean Cummings says she has taught her children to cover their ears when jets go over, to avoid ear damage from the noise. The Cummings family was instrumental in getting a city ordinance which prohibits jet flights late at night. But today the Supreme Court ruled that ordinance unconstitutional. [CBS]
- A Colorado state judge gave the go-ahead for a nuclear blast which has been planned in Colorado to release natural gas sources. Environmentalists fear that the blast will contaminate underground water. [CBS]
- Gold prices reached new highs on European money markets. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 909.69 (-18.29, -1.97%)
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 11, 1973 | 927.98 | 108.17 | 12.98 |
| 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 |