National Affairs: Goldfine's Switch

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Flanked by his task force of high-priced pressagents and lawyers, Boston Millionaire Bernard Goldfine made a big headline decision during congressional committee hearings last summer on his dealings with Presidential Assistant Sherman Adams (TIME, June 23, 1958 et seq.). He would refuse to tell the Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight about cash withdrawals of $104,973 from two of his tangled companies on the ground that the questions were not pertinent. Congress slapped him with a contempt charge.

As his hired troops dropped by the wayside, Goldfine tried to have the case thrown out of federal court on the claim that his Washington hotel room had been bugged by a former investigator for the subcommittee, but, although his claim was true, the contempt charge remained on the docket. Last week, when he came up for trial, Goldfine, 68, switched his plea from not guilty to nolo contendere (no contest), threw himself on the mercy of the court. Said Federal Judge James Morris: Goldfine's plea is a "complete vindication of the committee. [It] admits all of the relevant facts that are raised by the issue of pertinency and the right and power of the committee to ask and require answers to the questions."

Coming soon: Judge Morris' decision on whether Goldfine may purge himself by answering the unanswered questions, or whether he will be sentenced (maximum: a year in jail and a $1,000 fine) for contempt of Congress.