HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT HEARINGS ON HOUSE RESOLUTION 1042

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00966R000800010004-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 153
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 14, 2006
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: September 15, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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423111,1i1
OUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HEARINGS
EFO
E THE COMMITTEE
on
STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT
HEARINGS ON HOUSE RESOLUTION 1042
Official Reporters to Corinnittee9
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Vcachinxr.on, D. C.
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CONTENTS
TESTIMONY OF
Clay S. Felker,
Editor in Chief and Publisher
of the Village Voice
-- Accompanied by
PAGE
Theodore W. Kheel, 1274
Attorney
Aaron Latham,
-- Accompanied by
Theodore W. Kheel, Attorney
Sheldon Zalaznick,
-- Accompanied by
Theodore W. Kheel,
Attorney
Daniel Schorr,
-- Accompanied by
Joseph A. Califano, Jr.,
Attorney
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HEARINGS ON HOUSE RESOLUTION 1042
^
Wednesday, September 15, 1976
House of Representatives,
1267
Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct,
Washington, D. C.
The committee met, pursuant to recess, at 10:00 a.m.
in Room 2360, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable
John J. Flynt, Jr. (chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Flynt, Price, eague, Hebert,
Foley, Bennett, Spence, Quillen, Hutchinson, Quie, Mitchell,
and Cochran.
Also present: John M. Swanner, Staff Director;
John Marshall, Legal Counsel; David Bowers, Investigator;
Harvey Harkness, Associate Counsel; Jay Jaffe, Staff Member;
Andrew.Whalen, Staff Member; Miss Jan Loughrey, Committee
Staff.
-
Mr.. Flynt. The committee wilt come to order.
The Staff Director will call the roll.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Flynt.
Mr. Flynt. Here.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Spence.
Mr. Spence. Here.
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Mr. Swanner. Mr. Price.
(No response.)
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Quillen.
Mr. Quillen. Here.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Teague.
Mr. Teague. Here.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Hutchinson.
Mr. Hutchinson. Here.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Hebert.
(No response.)
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Quie.
(No response.)
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Foley.
Mr. Foley. Present.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell. Here.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Bennett.
Mr. Bennett. Here.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Cochran.
Mr. Cochran. Here.
Mr. Swanner. Mr. Chairman, nine Members answered
present, three'Members absent, not voting.
Mr, Flynt. Nine members having responded to their"'
names when the roll was called, a quorum is present.
At the beginning of the hearing on this subject, the
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Chair made an opening statement, a copy of which has beem
made available to all witnesses who have appeared before
this committee during these hearings.
The Chair is not going to again read the opening statement
in its entirety. But the Chair is now going to read certain
portions of the opening statement, and now proceeds to do so.
In recent months, the Congress of the United States
has sought to take a more active role ?in the conduct of this
nation's foreign policy, and its concommitant intelligence
operations-.
In furtherance of these efforts, the House of Representa-
tives established a Select Committee on Intelligence to conduct
an inquiry into the organization, operations, and oversight
of the intelligence community of the United States Government.
Section 2 and Section 6 of House Resolution 591 required
that Select Committee to establish and implement such rules
and procedure as it deemed necessary to prevent the unauthorized
disclosure outside the Select Committee of "any information
relating to the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency,
or any other department or agency of the federal government
engaged in intelligence activities obtained by the
Select Committee during the course of its study and
investigation." And to prevent "the disclosure outside the
Select Committee of any information which would adversely
affect the intelligence activities of the Central Intelligence
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Agency in foreign countries, or the intelligence activities
in foreign countries of any other department or agency
of the federal government."
The House of Representatives, on February 19, 1976,
adopted House Resolution 1042, which authorized and directed
this committee to inquire into the circumstances surrounding
the publication of the the text and of any part of the report
of the Select Committee on Intelligence, and to report back
to the House its findings and recommendations thereon.
The House of Representatives has the authority, indeed
the duty, to investigate possible violations of its resolutions,
and protective orders, by those subject to its jurisdiction
in order to protect the integrity of the legislative process.
These hearings are being held for the purpose of inquiring
into, as fully as possible, the circumstances surrounding the
publication of the text and of any part of the report of
the Select Committee on Intelligence, and reporting back to
the House its findings and recommendations.
The Congressional power in question concerns the internal
processes of Congress moving within its legislative command.
It involves the utilization of the Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct, to secure testimony andievidence needed
to enable the House to investigate and exercise legislative
functions, properly belonging to the House of Reprsentatives
under the United States Constitution.
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Committee Counsel will proceed.
Mr. Marshall. Call as the first witness Mr. Clay
S. Felker.
TESTIMONY OF CLAY S. FELKER, ACCOMPANIED BY THEODORE
W. KHEEL, ATTORNEY
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Fleker, would you remain standing and
let me administer the oath? Do you solemnly swear that the
testimony you will give before this committee in the matters
now under investigation will be the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. Felker. I do.
Mr. Flynt. Be seated.
Mr. Marshall. Mr. Felker, would you state your name and
address for the record, please?
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Mr. Felker. Clay S. Felker, 755 Second Avenue, New York
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City.
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Mr. Marshall. You are appearing here with counsel?
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Mr. Felker. Yes, I am.
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Mr. Marshall. Counsel, you may identify yourself.
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Kheel. My name is Theoddre W. Kheel of New York.
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I am counsel generally for the New York Company which is
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the owner of New York and the Village Voice, and I am here
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? representing Mr. Felker, as well as Mr.,Zalaznick and Mr.
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Latham.
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Mr. Marshall. Mr. Felker, you are here pursuant to a
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subpoena duces tecum which was served upon you prior to
this hearing.
Mr. Felker. That is right.
Mr. Marshall At the time that the subpoena was served
upon you, you received copies of House Resolutions 1042 and
1054, authorizing this investigation; a copy of the Rules
of the House of Representatives and the Rules of this
Committee; a copy of the Investigative Procedures which were
adopted by this committee; and a copy of the Chairman's
opening statement for these hearings; is that correct?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
Mr. Marshall. In the event your evidence or testimony
may involve material from an executive session of the House
Select Committee on Intelligence, or information which is
classified or information which may tend to defame, degrade
or incriminate any person, would you please advise this
committee so that it may take appropriate action under the
Rules of the House of Representatives?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
Mr. Marshall. The subpoena duces tecum served upon you
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prior ?to the hearing demanded that at this hearing you produce
certain papers, including any and all copies or drafts of the
report prepared by the House Select Committee on Intelligence
pursuant to House Resolution 591. Do yotijaave any of those
papers with you to produce at this hearing?
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Mr. Felker. No, we have no papers.
Mr. Marshall. Your statement is you have no papers in
your cutody, control, or possession to produce?
Mr. Felker. That is right.
Mr. Marshall. Do you have a statement which you wish to
file or make to this committee?
Mr. Felker. Yes, I have a very brief statement.
Mr. Marshall. You may proceed.
Mr. Felker. Last February a draft report of the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives
was published in two successive issues of the Village Voice.
We three individuals, I, as the Editor in Chief and Publisher
of the Village Voice, and two Senior Editors of New York
Magazine,
a sister publication, were responsible for deciding
to print and for preparing for publication the material
published in the Village Voice. Our role and that of our
publication began only after the report became available
for publication. We did not then and we do not now think that
discovering the source of the report would add to public
understanding of its contents and we therefore make no ,
effort to identify the source. We do not know the source. That
being said, we wish to emphasize our support for the position
taken by Dan Schorr. We believe he acted, responsibly as a
journalist and a citizen in making the text of the draft
report available for publication, and we believe that he will
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act in the highest traditions of our profession and of
the First Amendment itself by refusing to disclose to this
committee or to any other governmental body the identity of his
source. We would do the same today if we knew the identity
of the source just as we would have refused to have disclosed
the identity of our source, Dan Schorr,himself,had he not
made it public. As Dan Schorr at considerable personal risk
defends the journalistic and constitutional principles at
take today, we honor him, and we believe he deserves the honor
and thanks of our nation.
Mr. Kheel. Mr. Marshall; may I say that that statement is
also submitted in behalf of Mr. Zalaznick and Mr. Latham.
Mr. Marshall. It will be so received.
Mr. Felker, what is your position with the newspaper named
the Village Voice?
Mr. Felker. I am the Editor in Chief and the Publisher
of the Village Voice.
Mr. Marshall. Did you hold that position with the
Village Voice when the editions of February 16 and
February 23, 1976, were published?
Mr. Felker. I did..
1
Mr. Marshall. New, the February 16 and 23 editions of
the Village Voice printed a part of the text of the repUrt
prepared by the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Your
opening statement said that Mr. Schorr made the text of that
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report available to the Village Voice for publication
on that date, is that right?
Mr. Felker. That is right.
Mr. Marshall. When did Mr. Schorr first contact i.ou conce
ing the report?
Mr. Felker. Mr. Schorr never contacted me. A repreSenta-
tive of the Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press
contacted me, and said that the report was available for
publication in the Village Voice, or the report was
available for publication in any of our publications, and
was I interested. And I said that I was. .And subsequently
that report was made available.
Mr. Marshall. When was that contact by the representative
of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press?
Mr. Felker. It was on a Wednesday night that I first
heard about it, prior to publication the following week
on Wednesday. And the report came into our hands on mid-day
Friday.
Mr. Marshall. Was the representative of the Reporters
Committee who contacted you a member of that committee, or
was it someone you understood to be acting on behalf of that
committee?
Mr. Felker. He was someone who made it very plain
in the first sentence that he spoke to me that he was
acting as a representative of that committee.
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Mr. Marshall. Who was that person?
Mr. Felker. Peter Rufo.
Mr. Marshall. Mr. Tufo is an attorney?
Mr. Felker. He is a. New York Attorney, yes.
Mr. Marshall. Now, who first received the text
of the report on behalf of the Village Voice, that is the
physical document?
Mr. Felker. My assistant, Susan Parker.
Mr. Marshall. Is it correct that Mrs. Parker came
to Washington to pick up that document from Mr. Schorr?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
Mr. Marshall. All right. And the document was delivered
to Mrs. Parker on February 6, 1976, is that correct?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
Mr. Marshall. Now, during the time that the Village
Voice had the document, did you deal directly with Mr.
Schorr concerning the publication, or did someone on your
staff of the newspaper, or the newspaper staff handle those
responsibilities?
Mr. Felker. No one at any time had any contact with
Mr. Schorr prior to publication of this document.
Mr. Marshall. At the time you were contacted by Mr.
Tufo, did somebody else handle the negotiations
with Mr. Schorr about deliery of the document?
Mr. Felker. I do not know who was in contact with Mr.
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Schorr, but we were not.
Mr. Marshall. Now, do you have any knowledge whatsoever
how or from whom Mr. Schorr obtained the copy of the
report he made available to the Village Voice for
publication?
Mr. Felker. None whatsoever.
Mr. Marshall. Did Mr. Schorr ever communicate to you or
to anyone else to your knowledge how or from whom he obtained
the report?
Mr. Felker. Never.
Mr. Marshall. Did you or anyone else to your knowledge
ask Mr. Schorr from whom he obtained the report or how
he obtained the report?
Mr. Felker. No.
Mr. Marshall. Do you know of anyone other than Mr.
Schorr himself who may have knowledge about how or from whom
he obtained the report?
Mr. Felker. No.
Mr. Marshall. After Mr. Schorr made the text of the
report available to the Village Voice, did your staff
or anyone acting on behalf of the Village Voice make copies
of that -document Mr. Schorr delivered?
Mr. Felker. Yes, we made two or three copies.
Mr. Marshall. Do you know how many Copies precisely?
Mr. Felker. Not exactly certain. It is either two or
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three.
Mr. Marshall. And where are those copies now?
Mr. Felker. They have been thrown away.
Mr. Marshall. Do you know that based on your personal
knowledge, or have you simply been informed that by someone
else?
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Mr. Felker. I am reasonably certain that they have
been thrown away.
Mr. Marshall. To whom were those copies delivered
at the time copies were made of the document Mr. Schorr
supplied?
Mr. Felker. Well, one was delivered to me, one was
delivered to Mr. Zalaznick, and one to Mr. Latham.
Mr. Marshall. Did you personally destroy the copy that
was delivered to you?
Mr. Felker. After I read it, I threw it away, I put
it in my wastebasket and threw it away.
Mr. Marshall. So it went out with the garbage?
Mr. Felker. That is right.
Mr.. Marshall. When you read the copy of the report
which was supplied to you, did the report have any markings
and handwriting on the margin which were xeroxed markings
at the time?
Mr. Felker. I really cannot recall whether it did
or not. I was reading the report very rapidly, and to -
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the best of my knowledge, I cannot recall any markings.
Mr. Marshall. Did any pages appear to be missing?
Mr. Felker. Yes, there were at least one page and perhaps
several -- although I was just skimming the report to
establish certain kinds of information, and I was not aware
of how many pages precisely were missing.
? Mr. Marshall. Did the copy of the report which you read
have footnotes in the text?
?Mr. Felker. Yes.
? Mr. Marshall. Were these footnotes published?
Mr. Felker. Some were and some weren't.
Mr. Marshall. In the Village Voice at the time of
publication, there was a statement that some of the footnotes
?
had been trimmed because of space problems in publication.
Is that statement correct, sir?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
Mr. Marshall. Who made the decision about trimming
certain portions of the report?
Mr. Felker. These -- this was an editorial decision
reached by the editors involved in the editing of this
document.
Mr. Marshall. This was a joint committee type
decision?
Mr. Felker. It was a decision that was made by the editors
of the magazine and the newspaper.
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Mr. Marshall. When you say the magazine, do you mean
the New York Magazine?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
Mr. Marshall. And the editors of the Village Voice?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
*Mr. Marshall. Now, did the Village Voice pay any money
to any person, firm or corporation in return for publishing
the report in the editiOna of the Village Voice for February
16 and February 23, 1976?
Mr. Felker. No.
Mr. Marshall. Were there any discussions with any
persons, firm or corporation about payment of money?
Mr. Felker. There was no discussion about the payment
of money for this report.
Mr. Marshall. Did you have any discussions with
Mr. Schorr concerning the payment of money for the report?
Mr. Felker. I never talked to Mr. Schorr.
Mr. Marshall. To your knowledge, did anyone acting on
behalf of the Village Voice or the New York Magazine have
any discussions with Mr. Schorr about the payment of
>
money for the report?
Mr. Felker. No one acting on the part of our organization
had any discussions of any nature at any time with Mr. Schorr.
Mr. Marshall. There have been certain statements in the
Press that financial arrangements were made with the
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Reporters Committee for Freedom of the PreSs in return
for the Village Voice being given access to the report
and being given the ability to publish the report. Are those
statements incorrect to your knowledge?
Mr. Felker. They are incorrect.
Mr. Marshall. Did the Village Voice or New York Magazine,
or anyone acting on behalf of those publications, or those
legal entities, have any negotiations at all with the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press about making a
money payment to the Reporters Committee in return for access
and publication of the report?
Mr. Felker. There were no negotiations per se.
There was a discussion, a request, that we consider making.
a contribution to the Reporters Committee. However, the request
was not made contingent upon the publication of the report.
The report was made available to us, no strings attached.
Mr, Marshall. Who made the request that the Village
Voice consider making a contribution or payment to the
Reporters committee for Freedom of the Press?
Mr. Felker. Mr. Tufo.
Mr. Marshall. Did you understand him to be acting
on behalf of Mr. Schorr at that time?
Mr, Felker. He was acting on the part of the Reporters
Committee.
Mr. Marshall. Is it your testimony that Mr. Schorr
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supplied the report to the Village Voice, but that the
Reporters Committee, without any relationship to that report
being made available, then sort of out of the blue made
a request for contributions to your magazine?
Mr. Felker. I would imagine that the Reporters Committee
in order to carry on its work, is probably always looking
for money.
Mr. Marshall. But is it your testimony that the
Reporters Committee had no reasonable relationship to the
report being made available at the time that it made the
request for a contribution?
Mr. Felker. I do not know what the relationship was.
It had nothing to do with the publishing of this report.
Mr. Marshall. Did you have any information that making the
report available to the Village Voice and the request?
from the Reporters Committee had any connection whatsoever?
Mr. Felker. I did not feel there was any connection.
Mr. Marshall. The two were totally unrelated in
your judgment?
Mr. Felker. In my jdugment, they were unrelated.
The report was made available to us, no strings
attached.
Mr. Marshall. Were you the, person that talked directly
with Mr. Tufo concerning the Reporters Committee's request?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
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Mr. Marshall. During those conversations, did Mr. Tufo
at any time mention to you that his request was because of
Mr. Schorr's making the report available to you?
Mr. Felker. No.
Mr. Marshall. Thatsubject was never discussed?
. Mr. Felker. The subject of -- that we were discussing,
had to do with whether we would be interested in publishing
the report. After that was discussed and settled, we
began to talk about the possibility of a contribution on the
.part of our company.
Mr. Marshall. The two matters were then related in time.
You firSt discussed having the report being made available
for publication, and then you and Mr. Tufo discussed the
contribution to be made to the Reporters Committee, is that
correct?
Mr. Felker. One was not contingent upon the other.
Mr. Marshall. That was not my question, sir. I am
? saying insofar as point of time is concerned, you first
made whatever arrangements were made in connection with the
publication of the report and getting access to it, and you ther
dealt with Mr. Tufo on the subject of making a contribution
to the Reporters Committee, is that your testimony?
Mr. Felker. It took place within the same framework of
time, yes.
Mr. Marshall. And you understood the two to be related
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somewhat, did you not?
Mr. Felker. No, I didn't understand the two to be related.
Mr. Marshall. Those are all the questions I have at
this time, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Price.
Mr. Price. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Spence.
Mr. Spence. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Teague.
Mr. Teague. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Hutchinson.
Mr. Hutchinson. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Hebert?
Mr. Hebert. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Quie.
Mr. Quie. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Foley.
Mr. Foley. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Mitchell?
Mr. Mitchell. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Bennett.
Mr. Bennett. No questions.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Cochran.
Mr. Cochran. Mr, Chairman, I have one question for
the witness.
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Mr. Felker, at the time the Village Voice actually
published the report, were you aware that the House of
Representatives had voted by a substantial margin to refrain
from permitting publication of that .document?
Mr. Felker. Yes.
Mr. Cochran. I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Flynt. Counsel?
The witness may step down.
Will Committee Counsel call the next witness.
Mr. Marshall. Call Mr. Aaron Latham to the witness
stand.
TESTIMONY OF AARON LATHAM, ACCOMPANIED BY
THEODORE W. KHEEL; ATTORNEY
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Latham, would you raise your right hand
please? You do solemnly swear that the testimony you will
give before this committee in the matters now under considera-
tion will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth, so help you God?
Mr. Latham. I do.
. Flynt. Please be seated.
Mr. Marshall. Mr. Latham, would you state your name
and address for the record, please?
Mr. Latham. Aaron Latham.
Mr. Marshall. Where do you live, sir?
Mr. Latham. 223 East 72nd Street, New York City.
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Mr. Marshall. Mr. Latham,.you are Appearing here with
counsel?
Mr. Latham. I am.
Mr. Marshall. Counsel, you may identify yourself
for the record.
Mr. Kheel. Theodore W. Kheel. My affiliations
have previously been entered in the record.
Mr. Marshall. Thank you.
Mr. Latham, you are here pursuant to a subpoena duces
tecum which has been served upon you prior to your appearance
today?
Mr. Latham. That is correct.
Mr. Marshall. At the time the subpoena was served upon
you, you also received copies of House Resolution 1042 and
1054, copies of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
and the Rules of thisCommittee, a copy of the Investigative
Procedures which were adopted by this committee, and a copy
of the Chairman's Opening Statement for these hearings,
is that correct?
Mr. Latham. That is correct.
Mr. Marshall. In the event that your testimony or
evidence may involve material from an executive session of
the House Select Committee on Intelligence or information
which is Classified, or information which may tend to defame,
degrade or incriminate any person, would you please advise
this committee so that it may take appropriation action under
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the Rules of the House of Representatives?
1287
Mr. Latham. I will.
Mr. Marshall. The subpoena duces tecum served upon
you prior to this hearing demandsthat you produce at this
hearing certain papers, including any and all copies or drafts
of the report prepared by the House Select Committee on
Intelligence pursuant to House Resolution 591. Do you have
those papers with yoU?
Mr. Latham. I haven't brought anything. I don't have
anything that I thought was covered by the subpoena.
Mr. Marshall. It is your statement, then, that there
were no papers in your custody, control oi possession which
were covered by the subpoena?
Mr. Latham. Well, I have no copies of the Pike
Committee Report in my possession.
Mr. Marshall. 'Do you have a statement that you wish
to make or file with the committee at this time?
Mr. Latham, Well, I would like to say just a few words.
I think that it tends to have a chilling effect upon
journalists to be compelled to come before a Congressional
committed. I believe that no matter how benign the questions,
these questions tend to erod the First Amendment. And I
believe that any intimidation of reporters, intentional
--
or unintentional, tends to compromise what the First Amendment
sought to protect. Therefore, I feel that I shouldn't have
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been compelled to come here, or that Daniel Schorr should not
have been compelled to compelled to come here.
That is all I have to say.
Mr. Marshall. Mr. Latham, where are you presently
employed?
Mr. Latham. At New York Magazine.
Mr. Marshall. And could you give us a description
of your duties with the Magazine?
Mr. Latham. Well, my official title is Senior Editor.
What that really means is that I cover Washington for
New York Magazine.
Mr. Marshall. Mr. Latham, were you employed in any
capacity by the Village Voice when the February 16 and
February 23, 1976, editions of that paper were published?
Mr. Latham. Well, this is a tiny bit complicated. I
am employed by New York Magazine. New York Magazine
owns a controlling interest in the Village Voice. And I
was assigned to write the introduction to the Pike Committee
papers. However, I have never been on the Payroll of the
Village Voice.
Mr. Marshall. Now, when the text of the report-was
published in the February 16 and February 23, 1976, editions
of the Voice, is it your testimony that you wrote the rntro-
i
duction to that text?
Mr. Latham. That is correct.
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Mr. Marshall. Did you have anything else to do with
the publication of the report in those editions of the Village
Voice?
Mr. Latham. I was the one to xerox the report.
Mr. Marshall. All right.
How many copies did you make?
Mr. Latham. I believe that I xeroxed three copies
of the.report. And we were trying to keep this terribly secret
that we had the report within our company. And so everybody
formed a line behind me at the xerox machine, and I told everyone
I was xeroxing a copy of a novel that I had written.
Mr. 'Marshall. I see.
After making three copies, you then had a total of
four copies in your possession?
Mr. Latham. That is my memory, right.
Mr. Marshall. All right. Now, to whom did you deliver
those copies?
Mr. Latham. I believe that one went to Shelley Zalaznick--
no, two went to Shelley Zalaznick, one went to Clay Felker,
and I took one.
Mr. Marshall. Where is your copy of,the report, that
is the copy you took?
Mr. Latham. After we published the ireport, we decided
that we should return the report to Daniel Schorr, who had
given it to us in the first place. I contacted his lawyer's
office. They said they would recieve it. . And I carried it
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1 290
ver to Mr. Califano's office, and delivered it back to
Mr. Schorr in that manner.
Mr. Marshall. On what date was the report delivered
back to Mr. Schorr?
Mr. Latham. Well, it was shortly after we published
it, but I do not know exactly when.
Mr. Marshall. When you say "shortly after we published
it," do you mean at the time the February 16 edition was
made public and published?
Mr Latham. We published it on two successive weeks.
It was after we had completed publishing both weeks, that
I returned my copy to Daniel Schorr's lawyer.
Mr. Marshall. Now that leaves three copies to account
for.
Do you know what happened to Mr. Felker's copy?
Mr. Latham. Well, he has told me that he threw it
away.
? Mr. Marshall. What about Mr. Zalaznick's two copies?
Mr. Latham. He has told me that he threw those away.
Mr. Marshall. Now, prior to the time you wrote
?
the introduction to the piece that appeared in the February
16 and February werd editions of the Village Voice, did you
have any contact with Mr. Schorr?
Mr. Latham. I did not have any contact with Mr. Schorr
having to do with the publication of the report.
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Mr. Marshall: Did you have.any contact with .Mr. Schorr
dealing with the subject matter of the piece that you were
going to write an introduction to?
Mr. Latham. No, I didn't .
Mr. Marshall. Your contacts were totally unrelated
to that subject?
Mr. Latham. Right. I mean just to make it clear,
I hadn't -- I hadn't talked to him for about a year before
we got 'the copy of the report.
Mr. Marshall. Now, do you have any knowledge whatsoever
how or from whom Mr. Schorr got the copy of the report
he made available to the Village Voice for publication?
Mr. Latham. Well, I have some trouble personally answering
questions about sources at all. We have said in our opening
statement that we do not know who Mr. Schorr's source
was. And I don't know who Mr. Schorr's source was. To the
broader question of any information whatsoever, I would.
respectfully deline to answer.
Mr. Marshall. On what grounds?
Mr. Latham. The First Amendment protection of sources.
Mr. Flynt. Mr. Latham, at thi's time I must advise
you that this committee is acting pursuant to the authority
vested in it by Resolutions 1042 and 1054 of the House..
of Representatives, 94th Congress.
Copies of those resolutions and the opening statement of
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the Chairman of this committee setting out the legislative
purposes of these hearings were served upon you prior to your
appearance as a witness here today.
The subject of these hearings is an inquiry into
the circumstances surrounding the publication in the Village
Voice of the text and of any part of the report of the
House Select Committee on Intelligence so that this committee
can report back to the House its findings and recommendations
thereon.
The question put to you is pertinent to the subject under
inquiry in that the identity of the person from whom the text
and any part of the report were obtained and the method by
which the text and any part of that report were obtained
constitute evidence of the circumstances surrounding publication
of the text and any part of that report.
Your answer to the question put to you is necessary
for this committee to Carry out the mandate of the House of
Representatives.
If You continue to refuse to answer the question,
your refusal will be deemed by this committee to constitute
a willful failure to answer a question pertinent to the
subject under inquiry and will subject you to prosecution
and punishment by fine or imprisonment or both under Title
II of the United States Code, Sections 192, 193 and 194.
Your refusal to answer will also subject you to.prosecutio
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and punishment for contempt of the House of Representatives.
Accordingly, you are hereby advised that your objection
to the question and your grounds for refusing to answer
the question are hereby overruled.
As Chairman of this committee, I hereby demand and
direct that you answer the question put to you.
Mr. Kheel. Mr. Chairman, if I may, the witness
has testified under oath that he does not know who the
source was. I am a little at ajoss to know what is the
question that you say he has refused to answer bearing on this
subject.
Mr. Marshall. If I may respond, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Flynt. Counsel for the committee will respond.
Mr. Marshall. The question put to the witness asked
for a response as to whether he had any knowledge of who Mr.
Schorr's source was. As I recall his response, it was that
hadid-not personally know, but that he was unwilling to
provide this committee with any knowledge he might have of
the source. And it is that question which the witness is being
asked to answer at this time.
Mr. '