Cabinet aide Nixon ™resigns inbugs scandal

WASHINGTON UP) -The sudden, unexplainedresignation of formerNixon campaign deputyJeb S. Magruder from theCommerce Departmentadds a new dimension tothe Watergate scandal.

It was the first resigna-tion of any high adminis-tration official involved in

• the widening wiretap af-fair.

. In another development,The Washington Post, TheNew York Times and NewYork Daily News quoted

1 sources as saying that/ Acting FBI Director L.

Patrick Gray III destroy-ed documents belonging

' to convicted Watergateconspirator E. HowardHunt Jr. after being toldby presidential aides JohnEhrlichman and John W.Dean III the documentsshould "never see thelight of day."

EHRLICHMAN issued astatement through theWhite House press officeconfirming that at a June1972 meeting in his White

' House office Dean GaveGray a sealed envelopecontaining "some of thecontents of Hunt's safe."

"Mr. Gray was told byMr. Dean that the con-tents were sensitivematerials not in any wayrelated to the Watergatecase," said the statement."I was present but nei-ther then nor at any othertime did I give Mr. Grayany request , suggestionor instruction regardingwhat should be done withthe contents."

Dean and Gray couldnot be reached for com-ment.

MAGRUDER reported-ly had been both anaccuser and an accused inthe case. He left his$36,000-a-year job as Com-merce Department direc-tor of policy developmentwithout formal notice. Hislawyer, James J. Bier-bower, was asked lateThursday night for anexplanation, and saidflatly, "There will benone."

The tall, curly-hairedMagruder, 38, set up theearly Nixon campaign ef-forts and stayed on as No.2 man when Atty. Gen.John N. Mitchell formallyquit his law-enforcementduties to run the cam-paign.

Recent news reportshave quoted Magruder astelling federal prosecutorsthat Mitchell and Dean,the White House counsel,approved and helped planlast summer's wiretap-ping of Democratic of-fices. Magruder also re-portedly said the pairlater arranged payoffs tosilence the defendants inthe case.

Dean has said publiclyhe won't be a scapegoatand has vowed privatelyto implicate others. Newsreports say Magruderbroke down only afterDean made accusations ofhis own to prosecutors.

MAGRUDER has de-clined to speak to news-men since reports of hisaccusations broke intoprint. His lawyer has saidhe advised him not tomake public statements.

Although lawyer Bier-bower has stated repeat-edly that Magruder isready to testify to thegrand jury whenever call-ed, the call has yet tocome. Asked why, prose-cutor Earl J. Silbert sug-gested to newsmen Thurs-day that conspiracy casesare built from the bottomup.

In other Watergatedevelopments:

—The Washington Post,quoting reliable sources,said Dean told PresidentNixon on March 20 that"lo save the presidency"Dean and Nixon's two topaides — H. R. Haldemanand Ehrlichman — wouldhave to disclose all theyUnew about Watergateand face the possibleconsequences of going tojail. The Post said Deantold federal prosecutorsall he knew on April 6 butHaldeman and Ehrlich-man apparently balked.

—Presidential spokes-man. Ronald L. Zicglcrsaid that neither thePresident nor anyone act-ing on his authority has

JEB MAGRUDERQuits Top Post

approached anyone withthe aim of recruiting himto replace present staffmembers or to direct ashakeup.

Various news reportshave said Nixon hasasked, or is about to ask,Secretary of State Wil-liam P. Rogers, formerDefense Secretary MelvinR. Laird, NATO Ambas-sador Donald Rumsefeldor former White Houselobbyist Bryce Harlow.Harlow says he hasn'tbeen asked. Laird says heisn't available. Sourcesclose to Rogers say hehasn't been asked, either.Rumsfeld couldn't bereached.

—A lawyer representingtwo presidential aides inthe Watergate scandalshuttled Thursday fromthe White House to the of-fice of federal prosecutor

•- Silbert.The lawyer, John J.

Wilson, has met twicewith Nixon himself.Thursday he had firsttalked to his clients,Haldeman and Ehrlich-man, and then visited Sil-bert's office for roughlyhalf an hour.

He said they discussedthe Watergate affair, andthat Haldeman and Ehr-lichman would appearvoluntarily before thegrand jury if asked.

—Others who appearedin Silbert's office duringthe day were PowellMoore, a former spokes-man for the Nixon cam-paign, and Hugh Sloan,the former treasurer.

MOORE wouldn't com-ment on a report bycolumnist Jack Andersonthat he accompanied oneof the Watergate conspir-ators, G. Gordon Liddy, ata meeting with Atty. Gen.Richard Kleindienst theday after the buggingcrew was arrested insideDemocratic offices.

Sloan's lawyer said hehad been called in for atalk with Silbert, not togive testimony to thegrand jury. Earlier thisyear, Sloan testified thathe was ignorant of thepurpose of $199,000 incampaign money he gaveto Liddy before the Water-gate break-in. Judge JohnJ. Sirica said he didn't be-lieve Sloan.

Vice President Spiro T.Agnew was quoted as say-ing he would resign if theWatergate scandal makesit impossible for him tocontinue in good con-science. He also said hehas no intention of resign-ing and still has confi-dence the President "hasnot been involved in anyway that would shock myconscience."

Agnew made his re-marks to members of theHarvard Republican Clubin his office Wednesday.His office made availablea transcript of his state-ment Thursday.

air tourof flood(Continued from Page A-l)

From north to south thiswas the situation in theflooded areas overnight:

The flooding claimed itslatest victim Thursdaywhen Walter Huber, 32,an Indianapolis insuranceman, drowned after hisboat sank in the swollenRock River near Rock-ford, HI. Huber was as-sessing flood damage tohomes along the river.

The swollen Missouri,which has covered about40 per cent of St. CharlesCounty north of St. Louis,was receding after anearly crest of 36.1 Thurs-day afternoon, short ofthe 36.7-foot prediction bythe National WeatherService.

"This could be a falserecession," George Huntof the Corps of Engineerssaid Thursday night. "Theriver could ,rise againafter it fills in the areasnow being flooded," Huntsaid.

CORPS officials saidthey believed the Missis-sippi and Missouri formeda new confluence Thurs-day night, but they saidthey would know for sureafter getting a better lookat the rivers today. If thathas happened, a Corpsspokesman said, an areaof about 45 square milesbetween the two riverswould become an island.

Sandbagging efforts by200 volunteers continuedtoday on Missouri 94 in St.Charles County. About 600persons residing in mobilehomes in the north part ofSt. Charles were evacuat-ed after a levee formedalong a railroad embank-ment was topped by theswollen Missouri.

The Arkansas River haddropped to 24.8 feet lateThursday after crestingearlier at 26.2. That al-lowed a slight recession offlood waters that hadbacked up into Little Rockand North Little Rock.

Gov. Dale Bumpersestimated Arkansas flooddamage at about $13 mil-lion and said he was ask-ing President Nixon to de-clare five more counties— to make a total of 10 —as disaster areas.

IN LOUISIANA, withsome 4 million acres —nearly 12 per cent of thestate — under water, Lt.Gov. James Fitzmorrissaid he expected a presi-dential declaration ofemergency status cover-ing 17 parishes some-time today.

An emergency setbacklevee was under construc-tion near Nairn 45 milessoutheast of New Orleans.

Ask publichelp inkilling hunt

Watergate pairstole Ellsbergfile, U.S. admits:/ • >i

randum to the defendantsimmediately and Asst.U.S. Atty. David Nissendid not resist.

PRESIDENT, FIRST LADY OFF TO DEDICATION CEREMONYNavy Center at Meridian, Miss., to be named for Sen. John Stennis

AP Wlrephoti

Heavy quake in Hawaii;report vast damage

• i Continued from Page A-l)

street began to undulateand weave."

"All traffic came to agrinding halt," Morsesaid. "Moving cars could-n't keep their course andbegan to bounce around."

The force of the quakesplit a 1,200-foot concretepier at Kilo Harbor fromend to end.

AN OLD plantationhouse was flattened butthe people inside escapedwith a few scratches.

The Hilo Electric Co.reported lines broken,poles down and insulatorsout across half the island.

Tall buildings swayedand occupants fled to thestreet in Honolulu, 200miles away.

Chandeliers shook inHonolulu city hall, and thereceptionsit for a 10th-

IVortJi Vietswon't meetKissinger(Cont inued from Page A-l)

begun before North Viet-nam cast doubts on theKissinger-Tho talks. TheN o r t h VietnameseEmbassy said it had noinformation on such ameeting.

floor revolving restaurantsaid, "The building wasshaking tremendously andwe didn't know what todo. Things were reallymoving up here."

A resident of a 40-story

Japan agreesto 'principle'of Nixon visit

WASHINGTON (UPI) —The Japanese governmenthas agreed "as a matterof principle" to a visit byPresident Nixon to Japan,but no date for the triphas been set, White HousePress Secretary RonaldL. Ziegler said Thursday.

Ziegler was asked tocomment on a statementby Japanese ForeignMinister Masayoshi Ohirathat Japan had no plansto invite Nixon to visitJapan any time soon.

apartment said the struc-ture was "rattling as if itwould fall down." Policecontinually received re-ports of pictures andhousehold items crashingfrom the walls.

A SMALL landslideoccurred on a highway onthe island of Maui andseveral cement garagefloors cracked.

Fiye shocks were felt onMaui. The nine-storycounty office building wasevacuated.

Canadian Prime Minis-ter Pierre Trudeau wasvacationing on Maui withhis wife and son. Aspokesman at his hotelsaid the Trudeaus felt thequake but had not been in-jured.

The Hawaiian Islandshave been hit by severalearthquakes in the past.The worst took place in1868 and registered 7.75.

THE MEMORANDUMdid not state the date orplace where the allegedburglary occurred orwhat was done with theallegedly stolen files. Thedefense refused to com-ment on who the psychia-trist might be or wherehis office is located.

Ellsberg's chief attor-ney, Leonard Boudin, ex-pressed shock at thedevelopment and said, "Itlooks like we're gettingclose to the possibility ofa mistrial."

The judge ordered thegovernment to tell him"whether any of the infor-mation used at this trialcame from anythingtaken at the alleged bur-glary.

"Time is of the es-sence," Byrne told thegovernment attorneys." . . . I want to know all

facts known to the govern-ment."

He asked to be informedwhether Liddy and Huntwere employes of the gov-ernment at the time of thealleged burglary and, ifnot, who did employthem. He asked to be told"at whose direction Mr.Liddy and Mr. Hunt be-came involved . . . (and)what if anything wastaken, copied or receivedin the alleged break-in."

"The governmentknows better than I whichagencies it should con-tact," said Byrne.

ELLSBERG, who askedfor a recess immediatelyafter the announcement,appeared shaken by thenews. Later, returning tocourt, he told reportersbitterly, "I wish as a citi-zen that I felt surprised atthis. I hear words aroundhere like astonishing, sur-prising. I wonder wherethese people have beenfor the last few weeks."

He refused to commenton the identity or locationof the psychiatrist and,moving away from

(Continued from Page A-l) •*

group of reporters, hesaid, "I believe there areareas of individual priva-cy not open to the govern-ment and this is one ofthem."

Russo's chief attorney,Leonard Weinglass, saidthat the names of Liddyand Hunt had been men-tioned early in the trial ina defense motion whichalleged that the two men,according to a news re-port, had been involved inhiring Cuban nationals £&to attack Ellsberg andembarrass him when hegave a speech. The de-fense claimed then thatjurors might have readabout the alleged incident,but the matter was neverpursued at any length.

The judge said he wouldallow cross-examinationto continue today of aRand Corp. security offi-cer called as a govern-ment rebuttal witness inthe espionage, theft andconspiracy trial of Ells-berg and Russo.

THE JUDGE said thegovernment had producedovernight secret inter-views with the securityofficer and other wit-nesses. The interviewshad been the subject of adispute which halted thetrial Thursday.

Weinglass, commentingon the new link with theWatergate principals,said, "I'm amazed, but Iguess I shouldn't be." Henoted wryly that he hadbeen on a speaking tour ofthe Midwest over theweekend and, "I foundthat people had this cace(The Pentagon Papers)completely confused withWatergate. Now I see thepeople probably knewwhat was really goingon."

THE INTERVIEWSwere conducted by vari-ous government agenciesin June 1971 after thePentagon Papers werepublished in newspapers.The employes were askedabout Rand's storage ofthe papers and Ellsberg'sinvolvement.

THE DOCUMENTS re-portedly destroyed byGray were in two folders,each an eighth of an inchthick. The newspaperstories said the files in-cluded phony State De-par tment documentspurporting to show thtelate President John F.Kennedy played a role inthe 1963 political assassi-nation of South Viet-namese President NgoDinh Diem, and a dossieron Sen. Edward M.Kennedy, D-Mass., andhis 1969 automobile acci-dent at Chappaquiddick,Mass., in which a femalesecretary died.

"We urge anyone hav-ing any knowledge aboutthese ghastly crimes tocome forward," DanCook, of the Los Angelespolice, said.

Anyone having informa-tion was asked to call au-thorities in the variouscommunities involved, orcall the Independent,Press-Telegram's SecretWitness desk at 436-2526.

Cook, who acted asspokesman for the meet-ing, said police are yetunsure if all the slayingswere committed by thesame person or persons,but "there are similaritiesin each instance."

There is a "strongspeculation of homosex-uality" in each case, Cookadded.

All the bodies werenude when found, and thebody of a still-unidentifiedyoung man found April 14in Huntington Beach —like the torso of the dis-membered victim foundin the harbor area lastSunday — had been cas-trated.

Last Dec. 26, the bodyof Camp Pendleton Ma-rine Daniel Moore wasfound near the junction ofthe San Diego and SanGabriel River freeways inSeal Beach, and the bodyof another yet unidentifiedyoung man was foundFeb. 6 on the Terminal Is-land Freeway south ofPacific Coast Highway.

"THIS information wasdistributed unilaterally bythe United States," theEmbassy said. "TheEmbassy of the Demo-cratic Republic of Viet-nam has no informationon the subject of thismeeting."

When the new round oftalks was announcedWednesday, Hanoi ac-knowledged that consulta-tions would begin todaybut did not mention theKissinger-Tho talks.

The newspaper Le Figa-ro quoted North Viet-namese souces today assaying Tho would notmake the long voyagefrom Hanoi unless theUnited States is preparedto resume de-miningoperations and economicaid talks it broke off lastweek.

There was no progressreported meanwhile in thenegotiations between theViet Cong and the Saigongovernment. A 90-daydeadline in the Pariscease fire agreement forthe two sides to sign a po-litical agreement passestoday and there were noSigns of a compromise.

THE NEW Hanoi-Wash-ington talks were prompt-ed by an exchange ofcharges on cease-fireviolations.

Hanoi has charged thatWashington suspended de-mining operations in Hai-phong Harbor and re-newed reconnaissanceflights over South Viet-nam. The United Statesaccused North Vietnam ofinfiltrating 30,000 troopsinto South Vietnam .

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