Church probe off to an inauspicious start By GORDON ATCHESON deftly avoided saying much of anything. ibility in the eyes of the American people and thus WASHINGTON - The federal government is one To further obfuscate the matter, he refused to an- blunt its findings about the-CIA. of the greatest places to hear double talk, gobbledy- swer reporters' questions concerning his announce- Thus far the two other probes of the agency's oper- igook, and new-speak. Pick your favorite term ment. Church would not acknowledge if connections ations have not been distinguished by particularly for it because in the end it's all the same anyway- between the plots and the White House, as distinct forward, candid methods. incomprehensible, from the president, had been established or if some The Rockefeller Commission report, released last Last week, a classic example of a government of- information not compelling enough to be considered week, has been labeled a whitewash in many re- ficial flaping his gums but saying virtually nothing spects and the most crucial part of its material - leaped onto the front pages of newspapers across the the evidence on assassination plots - has re- country. mained secret. "Thus far the committee has no evidence that would directly link the CIA involvement in this kind of"Frankly, the public would be much activity with the president of the United States at the better off if the committee findings time under consideraion," Sen. Frank Church told an eager group of reporters awaiting further develop- were released in their entirety rather ments on the investigations of the intelligence com- r"than trickled out in undecipherable munity, as those spies in the sky, behind bushes, and b n$ bits and pieces by Church. s :<. "When Church issued his most re- cent statement on the investigation into murder plots, he deftly avoided saying much of anyhing. To further obfuscate matters, he refused to an- swer reporters' questions about t h e announcement." just about everywhere else have been euphemisti- cally called. Thank you, Mr. Church. That statement is about as enlightening as a Zeiglerism. CHURCH, OF COURSE, heads the Senate probe of the CIA and the agency's activities which have in- cluded surreptitiously reading other people's mail, giv- ing LSD to human guinea pigs who were unaware of synthetic additives in their food, and plotting the assassination of certain foreign leaders. Now most of these fun things are thought to be illegal and that's why Church and others including our unelected Vice President Nelson Rockefeller have been trying to find out who's responsible. But when Church issues his most recent state- ment on the investigation into the murder plots he Frank Church "evidence" had been unearthed linking the chief executive to the murder plans. "I STATED IT accurately," Church said, ducking the questions - or at least the answers. "I'm not going to be drawn into that quagmire. One wonders exactly what quagmire he was . refer- ing to, probably the one he had just created with his cryptic remark. Frankly, the public would be much better off if the committee findings were released in their entirety rather than trickled out in undecipherable bits and pieces by Church. Such actions can only hurt the Senate panel's cred- THE COMMISSION ITSELF was never considered particularly unbiased - its eight members all assum- ed that the CIA was a necessary part of the govern- ment's foreign policy even before they began their investigation. And the House inquiry on the CIA has become snarl- ed with internal problems since it was learned that the chairman, Rep. Lucien 'Nedzi of Michigan, had been briefed over a year ago on many aspects of agency, activities but did not tell his fellow commit- tee members about those contacts. Nedzi is now in the middle of a power play in which other committee members want him ousted while the House leadership feels he should remain at the helm. Whether Nedzi stays or goes, the group's re- liability and forthrightness has been irreparably mar- red and whatever its findings, they will probably be ignored. This leaves Church and his investigation. And the senator must be careful to avoid undercutting his panel's mission with ill-timed, unclear, and conceiv- ably misleading public statements. Gordon Atcheson is Co-editor in Chief of The Daily and a summer intern for the K n i g h t Newspapers Washington Bureau. The Michigan Daily Edited and managed by Students at the University of Michigan Thursday, June 19, 1975 News Phone: 764-0552 SU PERHAWK Packard: Ford's money man SA yet, clar chie Pac PE t t 2969 Whole truth on Magic' PE IT IS TIME for the Ann Arbor Police Department to busi come clean and report their version of what hap- core pened and the names of their officers involved in a lys month-old incident in which at least four city police and county sheriffs allegedly brutalized six members of rock and blues band, Blue Magic. In sharp contrast to our local law enforcement agency, the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Department fen should be applauded for their fair and above-board handling of the matter. cot Sheriff Fred Postill conducted a thorough investi- gation of the case which culminated in the firing of two Sil deputies, Randy Evans and William Tommelein, for "grossly and neligently" abusing members of Blue Magic bo and their property. Curiously, the two unidentified city police officers Lo standing next to Tommelein and Evans while they al- legedly committeed both verbal and physical atrocities . against the band, are presumably innocent since Police Cou Chief Walter Krasny has taken no public disciplinary was action whatsoever against any officer involved in the H Blue Magic incident. and JJOWEVER, EVEN IF city police are innocent of ac- chie tually taking part in the brutalization of the band, ofr any officer witnessing victimization and not attempting W to stop it is guilty of not only failing to do his job and -th legal obligation, but of not meeting his responsibility as hol a human being. nes In a country supposedly gripped by a "post-Water- defe gate morality" where even conservative types like Nel- sect son Rockefeller no longer reflexively whitewash illegal ver activities, it's disturbing to think that, -locally, the new plan morality, hasn't reached the police force into whose out hands we place our trust each day. the By RICK JURGENS AN FRANCISCO - The news isn't official but President Ford - who hasn't yet de- ed his candidacy - has already chosen his f fundraiser for the 1976 election: David kard, California electronics multimillionaire. ackard-a Deputy Secretary of Defense from to 1971 - confirmed to PNS he has been :d to do the job but hasn't made up his id. ackard is a chief member of what Dun's ness magazine referred to as the "very of the business establishment." He recent- stepped down as chairman of the Business "As Deputy Secretary of De- nse, Packard helped save the ntroversial Safeguard (ABM) mis- e system, defended - the B-i mber and set up the bail-out of ckheed Corporation." ncil - a prestigious group whose influence termed a "little short of awesome." e is- also a member -of other local, national international organizations of corporate efs and has served on the boards of directors numerous corporations. 'hile serving as Deputy Secretary of Defense ie "most powerful number two man ever to d that job in the Pentagon" according to Busi- s Week - Packard put his job on the line to end the multibillion dollar B-1 bomber pro- t from efforts to trim its budget, helped ar- ge the compromise that saved the contro- sial Safeguard (ABM) missile program, and yed an important role in setting up the bail- (through government-guaranteed loans) of financially troubled Lockheed Aircraft Cor- David Packard poration, the nation's second largest defense contractor. NOW, Packard and long-time business asso- ciate William Hewlett earn 'over a million dol- lars a year as heads of the electronics corpora- tion they began in the 1930's - Hewlett-Pack- ard. They operate in Germany, France, Scot- land, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Brazil. Rick Jurgens is a former co-editor of Pacific Basin Reports and a regular cor- respondent for PNS. Copyright, Pacific News Service, 1975.