The Brethren Read Online Free PDF Page A

up. John Mitchell's Justice Department was providing assistance to Life magazine in its attempt to establish that in 1966 Abe Fortas had accepted a $20,000 fee from a foundation funded by milli onaire industrialist Louis Wolf son.* At that time Wolfson had been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and had apparently
    * In a June 2, 1969, memo to Attorney General Mitchell, F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover stated that a reliable source had informed the F.B.I, that, "in connection with the investigation involving former Supreme Court Associate Justice Abe Fortas, the Department furnished considerable information to William Lambert, writer for Life magazine, which not only enabled Lambert to expose the Fortas tie-in with the Wolfson Foundation but additionally kept Lambert advised" regarding its own investigation into the matter. It is perhaps significant that Hoover did not name any individual, but simply "the Department of Justice." It suggests that his reliable sources indicated that the leaks were official, perhaps authorized by Mitchell.
    bragged that his friend Fortas was going to use his influence to help. Wolfson was indicted and later convicted, and Fortas secretly returned the $20,000.
    When Nixon was informed of the investigation, he realized that Fortas's actions were perhaps not necessarily criminal. But there was an opportunity not only to get Fortas off the Court but to discredit his strident liberalism. The Fortas investigation became one of Mitchell's first action projects, and Nixon demanded almost minute-by-minute reports, personally calling the shots from the Oval Office.
    On May 1, Mitchell received a memo from Assistant Attorney General William H. Rehnquist. If Fortas had helped Wolfson, it said, they could prosecute him. The next day, May 2, Ehrlichman received a single copy of the advance proofs of the Life article. Spread over six pages, it was headlined, "Fortas of the Supreme Court: A Question of Ethics." Mitchell had an aide call every major news organization in town to alert them. When the article was released on Sunday afternoon, May 4, Washington exploded. Republicans called for impeachment Democrats and liberals were stunned.
    But Nixon didn't want an impeachment . It would take too long and might in the end hurt the Court. All Nixon wanted was Fortas's seat and he wanted it intact, not devalued. Resignation was the obvious short cut. With the departure of Fortas and Warren, Nixon could name two justices. That would end the control of the liberals. In his first year, he would have altered the character of the Court
    On Tuesday, May 6, Wolfson surrendered to government investigators a document that showed that the $20,000 was not a one-time payment. The Wolfson Foundation had agreed to pay Fortas $20 ,000 a year for the rest of his life, or to his widow for as long as she lived.
    When Mitchell arrived at Dulles Airport at 1:30 a.m. after a trip to New York, his aides showed him the documents. Mitchell was incredulous. He thought they might be phony. He was assured they were not. The news was forwarded to the President. Nixon and Mitchell agreed that the Attorney General should go to Earl Warren. With the Congress and editorial writers howling for Fortas's head, pressure from inside the Court might force the issue.
    Entering the Court through the basement garage, Mitchell called on Warren in his chambers at eleven-thirty Wednesday morning. The meeting was to be confidential. Laying out the documents in his possession and referring to others, Mitchell outlined the developing case against Fortas. There was not only the contract specifying the annual payment, but he was about to obtain some Wolfson-Fortas correspondence in which the S.E.C. case was discussed. In one letter Wolfson asked Fortas's help in obtaining a presidential pardon.
    Warren thanked Mitchell and said that he appreciated the information. Mitchell mentioned how embarrassing this was for everyone. Approaching the