Word: agnew
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...court battle over pretrial publicity and the protection of newsmen's sources was avoided last week because of Spiro Agnew's resignation. The subpoenas that had been issued to journalists became moot. The basic issues, however, remain very much alive...
...memorandum filed with the federal district court in Maryland before the resignation, the Justice Department-some of whose officials had also been subpoenaed by Agnew's attorneys-set forth some stinging arguments against this kind of judicial interference. The department pointed out that "publicity about the criminal investigation of any newsworthy person is all too likely, and some of that publicity will almost inevitably be unfavorable." But the department argued that news stories do not necessarily prevent fair proceedings and noted that grand jurors' exposure to prejudicial publicity "has never been considered a proper ground even for dismissal...
...Spiro Agnew's abdication produced some interesting shifts of tone among editorial writers, columnists and TV commentators last week. Some of the journalists who had clashed most bitterly with Agnew in the past showed considerable restraint in burying their old adversary. Others who had been relatively sympathetic, perhaps feeling that they had been betrayed, were more harsh...
Speaking hours after Agnew resigned, NBC'S David Brinkley-long a favorite Agnew target-described Agnew returning to Baltimore as "a tragic and almost pathetic figure." A night later, CBS'S Eric Sevareid paraphrased an English proverb to suggest that Agnew's sins dimmed in comparison with those of the Watergate malefactors: "Agnew was stealing the goose from off the common, while they were trying to steal the common from the goose...
...York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe agreed that the Justice Department's willingness to make a lenient deal, though it spared Agnew the penalty he might have received, was in the national interest. The Times observed that a private citizen would have fared far worse. "It is also true," the paper said, "that for a public official who rose so high, disgrace and banishment from public life are severe punishment indeed...