Investigations: The Silent Witness

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Serv-U is unusual in another sense as well. It is the one outfit in which so many of Baker's business associates are linked together. These include men like the glib Fred Black, under indictment for income tax evasion and, until he was fired last week, a top lobbyist paid by North American; Ernest Tucker, with whom Baker shares a Washington law office, and who has his finger in several Baker pies; Edward Levinson, the Las Vegas operator, and the mysterious Miamian, Benny Sigelbaum.

Far from Closed. There is no doubt that, through the tangled web of his far-reaching financial dealings, Baker used his Senate post to feather his own and his friends' nests. But whether an influence-peddling case can be made against him remains to be seen. While Pennsylvania Republican Hugh Scott, a member of the committee investigating Bobby, wants 40 more witnesses called, Counsel McLendon talks privately about summoning only half a dozen or so more, then closing down. Chairman Jordan seems disposed to go along with McLendon. Naturally enough, the Republican minority would like to turn the Baker affair into an attack on Lyndon Johnson next fall; the Democrats, just as naturally, are reluctant to let things go too far. Looming ahead is a certain roadblock. The Senate's upcoming debate on the civil rights bill will bring most committee hearings to a standstill.

But no matter how fervently some wish the Baker business would be laid to rest without disturbing more bodies, the case is far from closed. As busy as Bobby Baker was, all sorts of trails will inevitably keep turning up.