ITT AFFAIR

ITT AFFAIR, (1971–1972) involved allegations that the Justice Department settled an antitrust suit against International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT) in return for a $400,000 donation to help pay for holding the Republican National Convention in San Diego in 1972. Newspaper columnist Jack Anderson broke the story on 29 February 1972, by publishing ITT lobbyist Dita Beard's 25 June 1971, memo admitting a quid pro quo. Beard claimed forgery, and the Richard M. Nixon administration pressured the Federal Bureau of Investigation to agree. But the FBI refused. In June 1973, the Watergate special prosecutor created an ITT task force to determine whether Attorney General Richard Kleindienst had committed perjury at his 1972 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings when he denied there had been White House pressure to drop the antitrust action. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor count, receiving a one-month prison sentence (later suspended) and a $100 fine. California Lieutenant Governor Ed Reinecke was also convicted for testifying falsely before the Senate regarding discussions with Kleindienst's predecessor as attorney general, John Mitchell. That conviction was over-turned because the Senate lacked a quorum during his testimony. San Diego lost the convention to Miami.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ITT Task Force. Record Group 460.9. Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, 1971–1977. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service.

Sampson, Anthony. The Foreign State of ITT. New York: Stein and Day, 1973.

KennethO'Reilly