THE ADMINISTRATION: Clearing Kleindienst

The longest Senate confirmation hearings in history came to an anti-climactic end last week. By a seemingly routine vote of 11 to 4, the Senate Judiciary Committee cleared the nomination of Richard Kleindienst as Attorney General for consideration by the Senate.

Thus, after two months of confusing and contradictory testimony about the Justice Department's motives for settling antitrust cases against ITT out of court, only four committee members changed their minds about Kleindienst's fitness for office. Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy, John Tunney, Birch Bayh and Quentin Burdick this time voted no. But their Democratic colleagues, Chairman James Eastland,

Sam Ervin, Philip...