News stories from Monday May 21, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A CIA memo quotes former presidential aide H.R. Haldeman as saying that President Nixon wished to stop the FBI investigation into the laundering of Republican campaign funds in Mexico. That memo was written after CIA chief Richard Helms and his deputy Vernon Walters met with Haldeman and John Ehrlichman. Walters wrote the memo, but Helms now says that he cannot absolutely state one way or another whether Nixon's name was mentioned as directing the actions of his aides. The Senate investigating committee wanted to know why the CIA gave assistance to E. Howard Hunt when Hunt didn't work for the CIA; Helms answered that help was given because Haldeman asked that it be given.
Senator Stuart Symington claims that the White House had secret plans to involve the CIA and Defense Department in domestic espionage. Symington spoke after talking with former White House employee Tom Charles Huston. Huston's testimony is documented by files taken from the White House by John Dean. CBS resumes coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
The Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Archibald Cox regarding his upcoming investigation into the Watergate scandal. In response to a question by Robert Byrd, Cox said his investigation will not be interfered with by Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson. Cox assured reporters that his investigation will be free from "executive interference". Richardson's speedy confirmation as Attorney General is now expected.
[CBS] - John Mitchell and Maurice Stans, former cabinet officers and later Nixon campaign chiefs, pleaded innocent today to charges of perjury and conspiracy stemming from a secret campaign contribution. Mitchell, Stans and Harry Sears were indicted for conspiring to help financier Robert Vesco out of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation in return for a $200,000 Nixon campaign contribution. Prosecutor John Wing asked Judge John Cannella that bail be set at $1,000, but the three men were released without bail.
Vesco is said to have looted $224 million in mutual funds from his company, and a warrant is out for his arrest. Vesco last talked to reporters in March in Costa Rica. At that time, Vesco said he would appear in court if given proper notice. Vesco has extensive financial and business holdings in Costa Rica. Costa Rican President Jose Figueres denied that Vesco deposited $325,000 for him in a New York bank account on one occasion. Figueres will go on the air tomorrow to explain to his country his ties with Vesco.
[CBS] - Gold buying continued on world money markets, driving the value of the U.S. dollar down further. [CBS]
- A man armed with a rifle went on a shooting spree in Memphis, Tennessee, killing five people. Police killed the gunman after he shot one policeman and four bystanders in a liquor store. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court has blocked the controversial Richmond, Virginia, school busing plan with a deadlocked decision. Richmond city schools are mostly black; schools in the surrounding county are mostly white. In 1972, a court ordered cross-district busing to achieve racial integration, but an appeals court reversed the decision. Now the Supreme Court is deadlocked. Justice Lewis Powell, at one time a member of a Virginia school board, disqualified himself from the case, thus allowing a tie vote. Virginia Attorney General Andrew Miller is pleased with the decision. NAACP attorney Jack Greenberg said that a tie decision in court sets no precedent for other busing cases. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court ruled that a retrial is permitted to result in a longer prison term if the defendant loses the case. [CBS]
- In Detroit, Five Ku Klux Klan members were found guilty of the 1971 bombing of 10 school buses in Pontiac, Michigan, in an effort to disrupt an integration plan there. [CBS]
- Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho continue to meet in Paris, France, in an effort to salvage the Vietnam truce. [CBS]
- Soviet Communist party leader Leonid Brezhnev completed talks in West Germany with a pledge to increase Soviet cooperation with the West. [CBS]
- Chase Manhattan Bank opened its first American banking office in the USSR since 1920. Board chairman David Rockefeller attended the opening ceremonies and predicted increased Soviet-American trade. [CBS]
- Skylab has developed new difficulties. NASA reports that the portion of the craft facing away from the sun has freezing temperatures, while the portion facing the sun has excessively high temperatures. The astronauts who will be linking up with Skylab are scheduled for launch on Friday. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 886.51 (-8.66, -0.97%)
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 18, 1973 | 895.17 | 103.86 | 17.08 |
| May 17, 1973 | 911.72 | 105.56 | 13.06 |
| May 16, 1973 | 917.14 | 106.43 | 13.80 |
| May 15, 1973 | 917.44 | 106.57 | 18.53 |
| May 14, 1973 | 909.69 | 105.90 | 13.52 |
| 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 |