Letter From Washington

So far the big loser in the Watergate investigation has been one of the investigators, Senator Lowell Weicker (R., Conn.). In a remarkable week Weicker produced a steady stream of vague insinuations and then wound up on Face the Nation, demanding that H. R. “Bob” Haldeman, White House chief of staff, resign. He said that although he did not have any solid evidence, high (but unnamed) GOP officials had told him that “Haldeman knew what was going on.” Weicker said Haldeman “clearly has to accept responsibility” for illegal acts by the Nixon campaign organization. All this talk got Weicker what he obviously was after—a lot of media exposure. But it did not work quite as he had planned it. He infuriated the other members of the Watergate committee, who thought he was destroying the Committee’s credibility. Committee Chairman Sam Ervin and Vice Chairman Howard Baker issued a statement for the Committee regretting “certain news media accounts attributable to this committee inferring that Mr. Haldeman . . . was involved in the break-in and bugging of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate and other illegal activities.” The press, and especially the Washington Post and New York Times decided Weicker was currying their favor by attacking a Nixon favorite and they didn’t go for it. The Post declared “we are not prepared to believe that Senator Weicker has publicly substantiated what are essentially his insinuations or has done anything for the prospect of getting at the facts fairly and responsibly and in a convincing way.” The Times said Weicker has “muddied the waters,” and Times columnist James Reston wrote: “He has appointed himself top bull in the Watergate china shop, and charges around smashing the crockery every day or so.”

All is quiet—for the moment—along the west front of the Capitol Building. But this is the calm before another storm about a proposed extension of that front. For a decade the government has been debating whether to restore the badly crumbling front or to extend it to provide more working space. Opponents of extension argue that it would damage a historic treasure: the west front is the last remaining exterior portion of the original building. Those favoring extension—mostly congressmen and senators and those they employ—say Congress needs the space for the nearly four thousand people who work on Capitol Hill. Extension would cost $60 million, approximately twice the estimate submitted when the debate began a decade ago.. The front could be restored for less than $15 million. A committee composed of Vice President Agnew and congressional leaders has recommended extension. And George M. White, newly appointed Architect of the Capitol, has recently changed from an outspoken critic of extension to an advocate of it.

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So far the big loser in the Watergate investigation has been one of the investigators, Senator Lowell Weicker (R., Conn.). In a remarkable week Weicker produced a steady stream of vague insinuations and then wound up on Face the Nation, demanding that H. R. “Bob” Haldeman, White House chief of staff, resign. He said that although he did not have any solid evidence, high (but unnamed) GOP officials had told him that “Haldeman knew what was going on.” Weicker said Haldeman “clearly has to accept responsibility” for illegal acts by the Nixon campaign organization. All this talk got Weicker what he obviously was after—a lot of media exposure. But it did not work quite as he had planned it. He infuriated the other members of the Watergate committee, who thought he was destroying the Committee’s credibility. Committee Chairman Sam Ervin and Vice Chairman Howard Baker issued a statement for the Committee regretting “certain news media accounts attributable to this committee inferring that Mr. Haldeman . . . was involved in the break-in and bugging of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate and other illegal activities.” The press, and especially the Washington Post and New York Times decided Weicker was currying their favor by attacking a Nixon favorite and they didn’t go for it. The Post declared “we are not prepared to believe that Senator Weicker has publicly substantiated what are essentially his insinuations or has done anything for the prospect of getting at the facts fairly and responsibly and in a convincing way.” The Times said Weicker has “muddied the waters,” and Times columnist James Reston wrote: “He has appointed himself top bull in the Watergate china shop, and charges around smashing the crockery every day or so.”

All is quiet—for the moment—along the west front of the Capitol Building. But this is the calm before another storm about a proposed extension of that front. For a decade the government has been debating whether to restore the badly crumbling front or to extend it to provide more working space. Opponents of extension argue that it would damage a historic treasure: the west front is the last remaining exterior portion of the original building. Those favoring extension—mostly congressmen and senators and those they employ—say Congress needs the space for the nearly four thousand people who work on Capitol Hill. Extension would cost $60 million, approximately twice the estimate submitted when the debate began a decade ago.. The front could be restored for less than $15 million. A committee composed of Vice President Agnew and congressional leaders has recommended extension. And George M. White, newly appointed Architect of the Capitol, has recently changed from an outspoken critic of extension to an advocate of it.