Cox: Ready to Shovel Some Snow

He was dressed in blue jeans and a sweater and already looking forward to a three-month vacation on the coast of Maine, "hiking, riding--and I may even shovel a little snow." In a relaxed and reflective mood, Archibald Cox talked with TIME Correspondent Hays Gorey about his aborted service as special prosecutor:

How did the White House raise objections to your activities before you were fired?

The White House would call [Attorney General Elliot] Richardson and ask, "What does this guy think he's doing?" And then Elliot would take up these questions with me. The question that was constantly bothering people in the White House was, "What limits apply to Archie Cox?" But Elliot was at all times entirely reasonable. There was never anything remotely resembling improper pressure.

Do you think your dismissal was linked to the investigation touching on Bebe Rebozo and the "campaign money" from Howard Hughes that he kept in a safe-deposit box for three years?

I think this has been exaggerated. I don't think that this one thing precipitated the recent events. It is more likely that several things came together.

Were you deeply involved in investigating the Rebozo matter?

We had done some poking around, but frankly this was an area where I gave my staff more autonomy and stayed reasonably clear of it myself because my brother's firm [Davis & Cox] is Hughes' primary counsel. I told my staff to get cracking, and of course I would have been involved in any major decisions as time went on.

Why would Rebozo have kept the money where it was not even earning interest?

Well, I don't know that. But Herbert Kalmbach [the President's personal lawyer at the time], according to his testimony before the Senate committee, kept an even larger sum of money--left over from the 1968 Presidential campaign--in safe-deposit boxes. If you have any knowledge of mathematics, it makes you wonder, but that is Kalmbach's testimony.

It has been charged that the Nixon Administration is the most corrupt in history. Do you agree?

The evidence regarding conduct in high office is stronger and more widespread than in any Administration I can recall, but the question of guilt or innocence remains open in my mind and remains to be established.

Do you think President Nixon should be impeached?

It would not be proper for me to comment. I am sure that any President who refuses to comply with court orders and to abide by the rule of law ought to be impeached.

Do you have confidence that the work you started will go forward without you?

As of today, the Senate and the House and the American people will insist upon it.

Will you play any future role in the investigation?

Well, I'll be glad to help anyone who may be appointed to take it over.

Has this experience left you with any bitterness?

No, it's left me with a regenerated faith in the people's ability to respond and to make a very determined President conform to the rule of law.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.