Word: wolfson
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...thus came as a distinct shock to most Americans when LIFE reported that Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, an appointee, longtime confidant and private legal retainer of Lyndon Johnson, had accepted a $20,000 fee from the family foundation of Stock Speculator Louis Wolfson, who was then under investigation and is now in jail. Fortas-who admitted that LIFE'S facts were essentially correct-had held the money for almost a year, returning it three months after Wolfson's indictment. Although Fortas had not broken any law, he had clearly been guilty of a gross indiscretion...
...grounds that he was acquitted. Three years ago, it was disclosed that Justice William O. Douglas was receiving $12,000 a year in fees from a foundation linked to Las Vegas gambling interests. However, no one connected with the foundation was in immediate need of highly placed connections, as Wolfson and his associates were...
Next Move. The next move is up to Fortas. No one in Washington is satisfied with his cursory reply to the LIFE article, in which he omitted even any mention of the amount of the fee he had received from the Wolfson Foundation. The reply, said one Washington lawyer, "raised more questions than it answered." Although Fortas stonily refused further comment, he will have to explain his actions more fully if he expects to avoid an investigation. Any move to impeach him would come from the House Judiciary Committee. Its chairman, Representative Emanuel Celler, said that he would give Fortas...
Without Fortas' knowledge, reports LIFE, Wolfson used the Justice's name in an attempt to stay out of prison. LIFE quotes a Government witness as saying that Fortas, while a member of the high court, had discussed the case against Wolfson during a visit to Wolfson's Florida horse farm in June 1966, and that Wolfson had used Fortas' name as reassurance to keep other conspirators from cooperating with Government prosecutors. LIFE did not charge, or claim to have any evidence, that Fortas had either helped Wolfson or been retained...
...letter denying a request by LIFE editors for a meeting to discuss the information uncovered by the magazine, Fortas wrote: "Since there has been no impropriety, or anything approaching it, in my conduct, no purpose would be served by any such meeting." Fortas acknowledged visiting the Wolfson farm and said that he "was present at a meeting of the Wolfson Family Foundation," but added: "I did not, of course, participate in any of Mr. Wolfson's business or legal affairs during that visit, nor have I done so at any time since I retired from law practice...