A Test for Jaworski

When the Nixon Administration named Leon Jaworski to succeed Archibald Cox as the special Watergate prosecutor, the most skeptical people in Washington were the experts who would be working for the new man, the staff that Cox himself had assembled. Several key members of the 80-man unit said privately that they would resign if Jaworski did not vigorously pursue Cox's work, letting the indictments fall where they may. Last week the Watergate staffers had their first chance to take a hard, appraising look at their new boss. Their verdict, somewhat to their own surprise, was one of approval, at least for the moment. Said one appreciative senior member of the force: "Everything we have put in front of him so far he has signed."

Jaworski and Cox could hardly be more different in personal styles. A proper Bostonian, Cox, 61, is reserved, with flashes of arrogance; Jaworski, 68, is an expansive Texan, much warmer and more approachable. Jaworski soon showed that he is as devoted to hard work as Cox, plunging into long meetings with lawyers and investigators, obviously anxious to dispel any suspicions that he had taken the job to call off the hounds. "Press on," Jaworski said repeatedly. "Make your own judgments."

When he went up to the Hill to testify against the need for Congress to pass legislation calling for a court-appointed prosecutor, Jaworski sounded like a man determined to dig just as deep as Archie Cox had tried to. He told a House judiciary subcommittee that he had taken on the job only after receiving "what I consider the most solemn and substantial assurances of my absolute independence." That independence not only included asking for any tapes or other material he wanted, but also suing the President if they were not forthcoming. True, admitted Jaworski, he had been given these assurances not by the President but by White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig, who had made the pledges more than once. "Maybe I'm naive," said Jaworski, "but I accepted those assurances in good faith."

If the White House did go back on its word, Jaworski said, he would so report to eight congressional leaders (four Democratic, four Republican), the same men who, under the terms of his hiring, would have to approve by "a substantial majority" any efforts by the President to fire him.

Jaworski should soon know how good the White House promises are. He has already sent off two letters requesting presidential material, including some information about the activities of the White House "plumbers," the commando group that carried out such nefarious activities as wiretapping and the burglary of the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. No less a knowledgeable source than John Ehrlichman has publicly admitted that not all of the plumbers' capers have been disclosed.

In the future, TIME has learned, Jaworski's staff will insist that he ask the White House for full information about the plumbers and, moreover, that he fight the case all the way to the Supreme Court if the President does not hand over the information.

If Jaworski refuses to request the full files on the plumbers or ducks a test in court, his staffers are almost certain to tell the story to the media, and many of them are also expected to quit--resignations that could seriously compound the crisis of Richard Nixon.

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