◆ SpookStack

& I find it more than coincidental that many of the best legal minds join many ‘political thinkers and writers of both liberal and conservative persuasions in being terribly upset at the Bureau's behavior in this case. None are condoning the alleged actions of public officials but that ig not the primary issue here. i The reputation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is at stake. We had thought A the "we are above the law" and the character assassination programs of the latter \Hoover days, illustrated by the director's vendettas against such people as Dr. ;Martin Luther King, Jr., were over and gone. Is our F.B.I. returning to that 7 triumphal era? If so, fair-minded, thinking citizens eommitted to United States. : constitutional democracy must fudge that the Bureau is again becoming one of the © more serious threats to our Battons® security and democracy. ° . {I hope my fears are unduly exaggerated. The reputation of: the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice are at Stake, I would appreciate whatever you can tell me to explain what has happened and to assure me, with” preci tia and concrete actions rather than glib, general words, that the Bureau fis going to operate within the legal and Judicial reatraints of our American _}eonstitutional democratic system. aac + Very truly yours, ees: Director William H. Webster : Federal Bureau of Tnvest igation _Mashington, D.C. a " genator Hawetann whens “ Senate Office Building Washington, D.C.