SENATORS TO QUESTION HAIG ON 7 KEY AREAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000302440062-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 15, 2010
• Sequence Number: 62
• Publication Date: January 8, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

I/
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/15: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302440062-2
NEV YORK TIM2 S
8 JANUARY 1981
tors :to
e+W~? ..: ?Sp~aI+~EOThsNe..YorfiTlme. .
:.,% iSHINGTON, Jan. 7- Insisting they
didftmt want. to "rehash Watergate, or
ithunt",Senator Claiborne Pell and
cthex Democrats on the Foreign Rela-
tioii ommittee met for two hours today
to'oIan strategy- for the confirmation
hpgs on the nomination of Alexander
M1IMig Jr_ to be Secretary of State.
Pell, the Rhode Islander who is the
cot>rslittee's senior Democrat,' insisted
I;rats had' made no plans about
wi*lto do.it the voluminous files-arid
to Democrats have asked for were not
supplied by . the ? Carter Administration.
" cross that bridge when we: get to
ithesaid.. u ... ;
e` `aid he hoped the material could be
pi ogided so the committee could weigh it
ar 4 tide on Mr. Haig by, Inauguration
Day~+ {-
;$tdr with the knowledge that their r*
estemaynot_be met by. then, theDemo-
cial prosecutor,- because "your Com_
mander in Chief Is giving you an order."
One. Watergate tape that has been
released includes a passage in which.Mrti
June 4, 19 3, to deal with charges by say-
ing "you just can't recall.
Mr. Haig's most prominent activity in
the Watergate defense was his dealings
with Leon A. Jaworski, who succeeded
Mr Cox Mr Ja
k
wors
i speaks hihlf
...gy o asked. about the Soviet Union; Iran, El .~ the general's role now, but in a 1976 mem-
Salvador or Poland. oir he was ambivalent. In some passages
These seven issues span a decade of he complained of Mr. Haig's efforts to ob-
controversy, with most of them arising ( struct him, but .at another he conceded:
from the days of Mr. Haig's service in the'
. "Haig was' the man on the tightrope.
Nixon White House:.:: i . Nixon depended on him and Hai" felt that
1-Wiretapping. As deputy, to Henry A. he had to support the President." Kissinger on. the National Security.Coun- 6. The Nixon Pardon. On Aug. 1,. 1974,
-cil; Mr. Haig, then a general, Cook to the General Haig told then- Vice President'
Federal Bureau of Investigation the Ford that some people in the White House
names of Government officials: and re- had said Mr. Nixon might .resign in ex-
porters . to be wiretapped ; f r o m _ .1969 on- change for the promise of a pardon. When
wards. ,ic ..: ~ .... ~ 3 : ..
He also studied the records on the. rap- a step he had once told Congress he did
ping -.-.whose subjects included Hedrick - not think the public would stand for -the
'Smith and William 13ehpr of .t,e ire.. -._ . .
an almost unheard-of appearance before
a House Judiciary Committee to den
y
that there was any deal. But efforts to get
General Haig to testify were blocked by
the subcommittee Chairman;
=:.t
7
The -
.
Iranian revoluti: A com-
:onsmander of the North Atlantic Treaty Or-
nI
_ga
zation, General. Haig was aware of a
mission to Iran in Janua
1979 b
hi
ry
y
s
. effort to toop e e iyernment of salon deputy, Gen.: Robert . E:-. Heyser, which
odor Allende Gossens in 1970: There w mac arc considered the possibility of staging a
effort involving the- Central Intelligence ' coup against the Ayatollah IZuhollah Kho..?
Agency to stimulate a m ~p against Mr mein. Former Ambassador William SW
Allende. Knowl r.livan has said that General Haig was Puri-!
H
e.
ouse was a arentl limited to pus at the plan - but has declined to say
President Nixon .Mr Kisslniter an 'Mr : c whether he objected-to the idea of a coup
, Senator Paul E_. Tson as: `Democrat of? at all, or simply to a lack of steadfastness'
t y he wanted to . behind the Shah
,;;e;
ar we
l
d
_ .. ?? .
an
ae
can exnect c
~? tine: attem to chap ,.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/15: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302440062-2
_~r. v ....., , 3 r!e bombing of
Friday's hearings with no sign of great Cambtxlia. 'T'hese
pleasure. At least one influential member bombings were carried out in 1969 with.
has been telling friends that he welcomed
neither the nomination nor. the need to
challenge it and thought that Mr. Haig
would be confirmed. But even so. he said.
-ne leers a duty to ask questions about Mr.
Haig's record. =
~r_,= uenteu oy tae Administration.
Again, Democrats say they view this
issue as one on which to test Mr. Haig Is
Haig made many trips to Vietnam while
Most Senators Are 'Prudent'
w.) -11Avua UUwIUC eiiurt sions from North Vietnam but to impress
to attack;t a nomination. "Most bf the a reluctant South Vietnamese Govern-
senatnrs_are curt, sh
ll r
a
people,'; ' he said, "that unless they are it 5.~ For all the
given some encourao public Insistence that
t
h
tors have said need-to be explored --
along with the normal questions any pro-
an exploration of Mr. Haig's record "ap.
propriate in our system of government." -
The records the Democrats are seeking
might answer some questions, but the.
records of many congressional hearings
and court cases deal in detail with seven.
issues that one or more Democratic sena-
.5 men
t
ey won t Watergate is not their fortis senators
do anything. They're afraid make it clear they are interested in Mr.
Haig's role in helping Mr. Nixon defend
But while there is no organized opposi- I
t+.oii, there has not been much support for !i himself. In October 1973, he told William
Mr. Haig from places where it night be . Ruckelshaus, Deputy Attorney General,
expected. Even such backersas Senator that he had to fire Archibald Cox, the spe-
and Henry Brandon of The Sunday Times:
~Af London..Mx'. Haig has said he?was.fob
lowing orders, but senators say they want.
to know if he will promise to resist illegal'
,orders if : he.:gets any as. secretary op:
State.:;; 4t. , r :- : r ry ~? ..
r :r Moves AGainst Allende
Z:?.Chile and the so-called' Track Two
STAT