◆ SpookStack

October 10, 197.2 Statement of Attorney General Elliot L, Richardson delivered in United States District Court for the District of Maryland. , May it please the Court, I am, like every other participant in these proceedings, deeply conscious of the critical national interests which surround them. The agreement between the parties now before the Court is one which must be just and honorable, and which must be perceived to be just and honorable, not simply fo the parties but above all to the American people. From the outset of the negotiations which have culminated in these te proceedings, the Department of Justice has regarded as an integral x requirement of any agreement a full disclosure of the surrounding circumstances, for only with knowledge of these circumstances can - the American people fairly judge the justice of the outcome, One 3 critical component of these circumstances is the Government's evidence, In accordance, therefore, with the agreement, of counsel, I offer for he permanent record of these proceedings an exposition of the evidence accumulated by the investigation against the defendant conducted by the office of the United States’ Attorney for the District of Maryland as of October 10, 1973. Because this exposition is complete and detailed, it is sufficient for present purposes simply to state that this evidence establishes a pattern of substantial cash payments to the defendant during the period when he served as Governor of Maryland in return. for engineering contracts with the State of Maryland. Payments by the ' { i ;