THE
Summer Daily
Vol. LXXXIII No. 40-S
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Saturday, July 14, 1973
Ten Cents
Twelve Pages
Witness contradicts past testimony
Nixon not
aware of
Watergate
-Moore
WASHINGTON {P - White House lawyer Richard
Moore insisted yesterday that President Nixon knew
nothing of official entanglement in Watergate despite
early published disclosures about the case.
He said. the President relied on FBI and grand jury
investigations.
"THE FACT IS that the President was operating with the
knowledge before him," Moore said in a machine-gun interroga-
tion by Sen. Sam Ervin (D.N.C.) chairman of the Senate Water-
gate committee.
"He had no intimation, it is my firm conviction, that would
have triggered a clue that a cover-up was going on," Moore said.
Moore told the hearing he believes Nixon found out about in-
volvement and cover-up in the case on March 21, 1973. And he
admitted that he, too, didn't confide his suspicions to the President
because he had no concrete facts.
"I THOUGHT this thing was coming to a head," Moore said.
"But I did not feel I had anything except hearsay and gossip and
rumor, but I was sure beginning to worry."
That was late February or early March, Moore said - weeks
before John Dean warned Nixon about "the cancer on the presi-
dency" on March 21. Dean was fired on April 30.
Ervin, perhaps the senator on the com-
mittee most anxious to receive testimony
from Nixon, asked Moore:
Doily Photo by TERRY McCARTHY
. Doin' the Rock of Ages
Part of the large crowd which attended a genuine, old-time revival meeting Thursday night fills
the air with a song for Jesus. Evangelist Percy Jordan led the spirited meeting in a tent pitch-
ed in Ypsilanti. For more religion see the story and photos on Pages 8 and 9.
mmiton- charge
"DON'T YOU AGREE with me that of
all the inhabitants of this earth the one
best qualified to testify on the knowledge
the President had of this affair between
June 17, 1972, and March 21, 1973, is
President Nixon?"
"I 'onuld agree with that," said Moore,
a special counsel to Nixon. June 17 was
the date five men were arrested inside
Democratic Party headquarters in the
Watergate office building.
Meanwhile, the dispute between the Sen-
ate committee and Nixon over supplying
documents appeared to be building to a
showdown.
ERVIN SAID the committee will issue
subpoenas if the White House doesn't co-
operate, precipitating a clash between two
branches of government whose duties are
separated by the Constitution.
The 76-year-old senator said he still
hopes to meet with Nixon on the matter
next week, despite the President's hos-
pitalization for viral pneumonia. He indi-
cated such illness is not considered criti-
cal.
Ervin q u e s t i o n e d Moore about his'
statement that Nixon probably did not
know about the cover-up until March 21.
"THAT IS purely a conjecture on your
part, isn't it?" he asked.
"Well," said Moore, "he told me he did
not, sir, and I have no evidence to the
See MOORE, Page 10
sum
with
loca
By GORDON ATCHESON
The Summit Hamilton Management
Company, a local rental agency, has vio-
lated at least one city zoning law, ac-
cording to city officials and consequently,
may be forced to move its business oper-
ations elsewhere.
Currently Summit/Hamilton's office is
located at 727 South Forest Street in an
area the city has zoned for residential use
only.
SUMMIT/HAMILTON has been "in clear
violation"-of city law, according to build-
ing inspector Ralph Lloyd. The manage-
ment company, however, will fight the
decision.
If the company can show that prior to
1963 the building had been partially used
for offices, it could be granted the right
to continue operating at the Forest Street
location by the Zoning Board of Appeals
(ZBA).
Summit Hamilton assumed ownership
of the building and an adjacent apartment
structure last November. The previous
owners, another rental management com-
pany, used one room in the building as
an office.
ii zoning
THE FORMER owners used the office
exclusively to oversee operations at the
two buildings and not as a central business
location. They rented the rest of the
building as apartments.
The city never determined the legality
of using a room in the building as an of-
fice, but was aware of its existence for
a number of years.
Beginning in November Summit/Hamil-
ton began phasing-in business operations
from a Packard Street office. They con-
verted the first floorto offices, while con-
tinuing to rent the second floor apart-
ments.
AT THE END of the school year the
second floor apartments were also con-
verted to offices. City law requires that
anyone expanding a non-conforming use
- such as commencial offices in a resi-
dential area - must obtain prior approval
from the ZBA.
Summit/Hamilton failed to obtain the
go-ahead from the ZBA before making
the alterations.
"They received no previous approval to
my knowledge," said Gerald Scofield of
violation .
the City Building and Safety Department,
which enforces zoning laws.
DUANE RENKEN, an executive with
Summit/Hamilton, confirmed the company
did'not seek approval from the ZPA.
"We didn't go before the board because
we made no structural additions to the
building," Renken said.
Scofield pointed out that the law re-
quires ZBA approval for "expanded in-
tensity of a non-conforming use," whether
the increase involves structural changes
or not.
RENKEN ALSO claimed the previous
owners used a large portion of the first
floor for offices, thus little expansion
actually took place. "For all practical
purposes the second floor is not presently
being used," he added.
However, a former tenant of 727 South
Forest said in fact "expansion of offices
on the first floor" occurred. The tenant
further confirmed that the previous own-
ers used only one room as a "mainten-
ance office."
See LANDLORD, Page 10