Richard Nixon's Tangled Web

The former President is snarled in costly lawsuits

Though Richard Nixon was never prosecuted for conspiracy or for obstruction of justice, thanks to his pardon from Gerald Ford, he has had a full share of legal problems to cope with. Since leaving office, he has been named defendant or sought as witness in 50 lawsuits--with no end in sight.

When a case involves Nixon's acts as President, the Justice Department is responsible for defending him, or paying private attorneys to do so. In either event, the taxpayer foots the bill. But in other civil cases, Nixon must fend for himself and pay for legal help. His estimated bill to date: nearly half a million dollars.

Some of the suits seem frivolous. A group calling itself PORN (Profits of Richard Nixon) charges that under a California law the former President is barred from making money as a result of his own misconduct in office. PORN is asking the court to turn over to the U.S. Treasury all of Nixon's profits from the $19.95-a-copy book, RN, The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. So far, Author Nixon has had to pay his California lawyers more than $30,000 fighting off PORN.

Other suits are of a more somber hue: > The right to the tapes. Many Watergate tapes were turned over to the special prosecutor in 1974, and those played at the cover-up trial may be heard by the public at the National Archives. Despite the courts' refusal to respect Nixon's claim that presidential privilege automatically shields other Oval Office conversations from disclosure, Nixon so far has managed to keep secret the 113 tape segments sought by demonstrators arrested during the 1971 May Day protests. Nixon's attorneys maintain that the conversations are harmless. The ex-President, they say, is resisting "on principle."

> The FBI affair. It was understood that Nixon would help two former agency officials at their trial for authorizing Weatherman-related break-ins by testifying on their behalf. Now his participation is in doubt. Their case is going well, and they may not need help. Besides, the former President's lawyers feel an appearance would make it difficult to stave off future requests to bear witness.

> Immunity. The legal stakes for Nixon are highest in Kissinger vs. Halperin, a case that is expected to be argued before the Supreme Court in December. Plaintiff Morton Halperin, once a senior staff member at the National Security Council, has sued high Nixon Administration officials, and Nixon himself, for $1.26 million, claiming they violated his right to privacy by tapping his phone in search of news leaks. Nixon's defense: a President must be immune from lawsuits involving his official acts.

The private lawyers handling most of the cases for Nixon are Herbert Jack Miller, 56, and R. Stan Mortenson, 35. They charge their famous client up to $225 an hour, not unusual for accomplished legal help. Mortenson warns that if the Supreme Court fails to uphold the former President's position in Halperin, any President could be "fair game" in the future. Jimmy Carter, for example, could be sued by any Olympic athlete claiming his career had been blighted. That legal logic does not impress Bruce Ennis, the national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Halperin. No judge, he suggests, would allow a former President to be hauled into court unless the need were compelling. Ennis sees a different danger: "It is not proper for a President to be above the Constitution he swears to uphold."

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