Word: civiletti
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Amid all the festivities aboard the Delta Queen, there came an ominous telephone call for President Carter at about 8:15 last Thursday night. It was the new Attorney General, Benjamin Civiletti. He regretfully told the President a stunning piece of news: he had just ordered the FBI to undertake a preliminary investigation of Carter's two closest White House aides, Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan and Press Secretary Jody Powell. The reason: an allegation that Jordan had snorted cocaine during a visit to New York City's Studio 54, a celebrated disco club-the first version...
Since Powell, on the Queen with Carter, was standing near by, Carter asked Civiletti whether it would be all right for him to talk to his press secretary about the charge. Civiletti said it would not, so Carter waved Powell away as he listened to the rest of the story. At 4 a.m., two FBI agents boarded the steamer and interrogated Powell, who not only denied the story but said he had never even been to Studio 54. In Washington, Jordan also denied the charge. He had gone to Studio 54 for about an hour once last year, he told...
...these criminal defendants have a clear interest in making false and sensational charges in an effort to bargain for leniency." Rubell said that he would testify against Jordan only "if they [the Federal Government] give us the right situation" and in fact had told two deputies of Attorney General Civiletti: "I am not going to testify unless I have immunity." To TIME, he added: "Sure I have motives, but I swear not one thing I have told you is a lie." Whether Johnny C. will appear also is questionable; Rubell says he is hiding out in Los Angeles "because...
...matter what doubts Civiletti might have, the 1978 Ethics in Government Act requires the Attorney General to order an inquiry into any charges of serious crime against a high Administration official. He has 90 days to decide if appointment of a special prosecutor is warranted. If a prosecution ever becomes imminent, it could lead to Jordan's resignation and a major political crisis. At the moment that seems unlikely-though the White House is bracing itself for yet another unwelcome furor. Carter prepared a statement asserting: "A public official cannot be forced from office by unsupported allegations. Mr. Jordan...
Next stop was the convention of the Sons of Italy. Joining Carter on the podium were Attorney General-designate Benjamin Civiletti, Watergate Judge John Sirica, New York Democratic Congressman Mario Biaggi and Monsignor Gino Baroni, Assistant Secretary of HUD. Carter used the occasion for another attack on Congress. Said he: "I'm sorry to say that until now the general interest has had a hard time of it in the halls of Congress...