News stories from Tuesday July 24, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Former White House aide John Ehrlichman appeared before the Senate Watergate committee. Ehrlichman is charged with playing an active role in the White House "horrors", but insists that he will refute every charge of illegal conduct. He stated that John Dean's testimony was erroneous and dishonest.
Committee counsel Sam Dash asked if Ehrlichman had a role in authorizing wiretaps. Ehrlichman confirmed that he did, and said that the wiretaps were implemented because of national security concerns. Ehrlichman recalled halting the fire-bombing of the Brookings Institution, but didn't remember who he called. He also recalled meeting with the President regarding G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt's roles in the Ellsberg break-in, and said that the President agreed with Ehrlichman on the action taken because national security was at stake.
Committee chairman Sam Ervin argued with Ehrlichman over the statute which permits the President to take such actions in national security matters, and asserted that the foreign intelligence activities mentioned in the statute had no relation to any files in Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office, which were just records pertaining to the intellectual and psychological aspects of Ellsberg. Ervin charged that the statute makes no mention of the President's power to suspend the 4th amendment or to authorize burglaries.
Ehrlichman insisted that there was no illegal purpose involved in collecting money for the Watergate defendants. Ervin sarcastically asked if the Nixon re-election committee gave $450,000 to the burglars and their lawyers merely because they felt sorry for them. Ehrlichman's testimony will continue tomorrow. If Ervin receives a negative response to the subpoenas of the White House tapes, he will go to the full Senate for backing. That action would constitute pre-impeachment proceedings.
[CBS] - President Nixon is busier with diplomacy than with subpoenas. The Shah of Iran received full ceremonies upon his arrival in Washington today. President Nixon stated that Iran has always stood for peace and stability in the world. He and the Shah met in the Oval Office --without tape machines recording their conversations.
Deputy press secretary Gerald Warren had no comment on the possibility of the Supreme Court ordering the President to release the tapes to the Watergate committee and the special prosecutor.
[CBS] - A federal judge has ordered the Nixon campaign finance committee to release the names of anonymous contributors to the 1972 campaign. District Judge Joseph Waddy also wants to know where the money was spent. [CBS]
- A court in Costa Rica ruled that Robert Vesco can't be extradited to the United States. Vesco was indicted in May along with Maurice Stans and John Mitchell on charges pertaining to illegal contributions to the Nixon campaign fund. [CBS]
- Republican national chairman George Bush charged the Democratic party with spying which occurred during the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy campaign. Affidavits report that Carmine Bellino, a longtime Kennedy assistant and now a chief investigator in the Watergate affair, allegedly recruited people for spying on Republicans. One affidavit from the late John Leon says surveillance procedures were ordered by Bellino, and another affidavit concerns bugging plans for Nixon's hotel room during the Kennedy-Nixon debates. Bush believes that an investigation into the alleged spying should be started, and denied that bringing the charges represents political vengeance. Bellino denied all charges completely and stated that he was never involved in electronic surveillance during any campaign. [CBS]
- Defense Secretary James Schlesinger told the Senate Appropriations Committee that he won't ask for a bombing extension in Cambodia after the August 15 deadline. Outside the committee room, Schlesinger faced reporters and defended the bombing of Cambodia in 1969 and 1970, but not its secretiveness. [CBS]
- The Pentagon admitted that some agents were killed on spying missions in Laos and Cambodia during the time of the secret bombing raids. At the time, the families were told that the men were actually killed in South Vietnam. [CBS]
- The saga of the hijacked Japanese plane is over. The hijackers landed at Benghazi, Libya, the passengers and hijackers got off and then the hijackers blew up the plane. The hijackers were arrested.
Japan watched the proceedings with intense interest. Tokyo news coverage followed the plane the from Amsterdam through Dubai and Baghdad to Benghazi. Around the clock reports kept the Japanese people posted. Relatives and friends were tense and afraid when news of the plane's explosion reached them, but reports that all passengers were safe finally ended the ordeal for the relatives and the hostages.
[CBS] - Alexander Caldwell, administrator of the Commodity Exchange Authority, said that the Continental Grain Company tried to keep their 1972 grain deal with Russia a secret from other grain competitors. Senate investigating committee chairman Henry Jackson wants to know why the Nixon Justice Department didn't bring charges against Continental. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 918.72 (+5.57, +0.61%)
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* |
| July 23, 1973 | 913.15 | 107.52 | 15.58 |
| July 20, 1973 | 910.90 | 107.14 | 16.30 |
| July 19, 1973 | 906.68 | 106.55 | 18.65 |
| July 18, 1973 | 905.40 | 106.35 | 17.02 |
| July 17, 1973 | 898.03 | 105.72 | 18.75 |
| July 16, 1973 | 897.58 | 105.67 | 12.92 |
| July 13, 1973 | 885.99 | 104.09 | 11.39 |
| July 12, 1973 | 901.94 | 105.50 | 16.40 |
| July 11, 1973 | 908.19 | 105.80 | 18.73 |
| July 10, 1973 | 888.32 | 103.52 | 15.09 |