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NEWS ANALYSIS

ITT: 'No Question Of Political Advantage'

they had only discussed the
site of the convention.

Tom Sussman, an aid to
Senator Ted Kennedy, told
The Cavalier Daily last
Thursday that the settlement
was recommended by Richard
Ramsden, a New York broker,
who had been called in by
White House assistant Peter
Flanigan.

Yesterday, The Washington
Post confirmed that report
added that Mr. Flanigan would
probably be called to testify by
the Senate Committee.

Mr. McLaren had also
testified before the committee
Thursday that "there was no
question of political advantage
for ITT because the settlement
was so harsh."

Mr. Elzinga, in statements
made last week to the Cavalier
Daily, contradicted Mr.
McLaren by saying that the
settlement was favorable to
ITT in allowing the
conglomerate to merge with
the Hartford Fire Insurance
Co. and Grinnell Inc.

Mr. Elzinga said yesterday
that he had given NBC news
this same information but that
it had been deleted from the
tape before airtime.

"I was amused to find," Mr.
Elzinga added, "that the
sponsor of the network news
was Hartford Fire Insurance
Company."

In other denials, Messrs.
Kleindienst, McLaren, and
Rohatyn told the committee
that they knew of no political
donation from ITT until they
read about it in the papers last
December after the settlement
had been made.

Senator Kennedy disclosed
Friday, however, that he had a
letter signed by Mr. McLaren
dated September 22 that there
was no relationship between
the settlement and the
$400,000 agreement.

Both Messrs. McLaren and
Kleindienst immediately
denied having any recollection
of the letter.

Despite Republican
attempts to postpone the
investigation until after Senate
confirmation of Mr.
Kleindienst, Democratic
Senators have announced that
they will not allow the Senate
to confirm Mr. Mitchell's
successor until the
investigation was completed.

When, if ever, the
investigation will be over now
remains uncertain. Doctors of
Mrs. Dita Beard, an ITT
lobbyist and the author of a
controversial memo that linked
the settlement with the
pay-off, stated that she
probably would not be able to
leave her hospital room in
Denver to testify for at least
two weeks.

Mr. Elzinga also indicated
that he believed that Willard
Mueller, the government's star
expert witness against ITT
might be called to talk to the
committee.

The witnesses before the
committee so far have only
succeeded in contradicting
both themselves and their
colleagues. With the confusion
generated from this conflicting
evidence, one must doubt if
the truth will ever come out.

As Mr. Elzinga stated last
Saturday night, whether there
was a bribe or not, the recent
disclosures have shown that
monopolies and big business
firms have an unusual ability to
reach and influence high seats
of government.