A Question of Duty

Attorney General Bobby Kennedy and Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa would make a great passing combination--if insults and accusations were footballs. Last week it was Jimmy's turn to toss: free after standing federal trial in Nashville, Tenn., Hoffa charged that Bobby had tried to tell Nashville Banner Publisher James G. Stahlman what the paper "should or should not print" about the trial. Moreover, he said, he could provide a transcript of a telephone conversation in which Bobby pressured Stahlman.

Just how Hoffa got hold of the transcript was not revealed. But the transcript did exist, and next day Stahlman printed it. The conversation came in the first days of the trial--after someone purporting to be a Banner reporter had called prospective jurors to find out how they felt. When Stahlman, a crusty 64-year-old, heard of the jury tampering, he offered a $5,000 reward for arrest of the impostor. Bobby tried to dissuade him--on grounds that detailed publication of the incident might cause a mistrial. Excerpts of the conversation:

Stahlman: I have called you on my office phone with the squawk box on, so that my administrative assistant, my editor and my legal counsel can hear what transpires between you and me.

Kennedy: That will be fine. I am here in my office alone. It is the opinion of our lawyers . . . that if a detailed story in connection with this matter were made, it might very well lead to a mistrial in this case. I am sure you are as interested as I am in attempting to bring this trial to a successful conclusion. I can understand your own personal concern as to what has resulted at the trial. I have been subjected to these matters for a period of five years now, and the one thing that Mr. Hoffa is interested in is to obtain a mistrial . . . If we take any steps now that will lead in that direction, we will play right in his ballpark.

Stahlman: We are just as anxious to see a successful case against this fellow as you are. We are going to be the last people on the face of the earth to jeopardize that, if it be within our power ... A gross injustice has been done to me, my newspaper and my associates on this newspaper, and I feel that it is necessary to put our position in the clear . . .

Kennedy: As long as they can get somebody to take public steps, 'they can get delays, and it doesn't bother them a bit.

Stahlman: I cannot leave my newspaper in the position of having a false statement made about it or members of its staff.

Kennedy: These matters require sacrifice by many people.

Stahlman: General Kennedy, I have made as many sacrifices for the Department of Justice as any man in middle Tennessee. I have made sacrifices for my country and will continue to do so. I am suggesting to you that what has happened has made it necessary for me to defend the reputation of my newspaper, which has existed for 86 years, and I don't intend to have it sacrificed for Jimmy Hoffa, the Federal Government or anybody else.

As it turned out, Stahlman's publication did not cause a mistrial; nine weeks later, Hoffa was freed after the jury could not agree on his guilt or innocence. Now, in addition, Hoffa had pointed a finger at the Attorney General of the U.S., whose duty it is to see that justice takes an unhampered course, for trying to suppress a fact in order to win a conviction.

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