Oct. 21, 1964 - Representative William E. Miller of New York stepped up his assault on President Johnson over the Jenkins case tonight. In a statement about Walter W. Jenkins, who resigned as a special Presidential assistant after the disclosure of two arrests on morals charges, Mr. Miller said:
“Police records show that the President's close friend and chief White House aide has been involved for five years in a pitiful, sordid situation which made him a ready subject for blackmail and compromise as to the highest secrets of government.”
Mr. Miller, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, repeated the same theme in a speech tonight at the Wamplers Ball Arena in Dayton In both the speech and the statement issued on the way here from San Francisco, Mr. Miller reiterated the charge that President Johnson's involvement with figures in various scandals made him unworthy of a voter's trust.
“The President's No. 1 lieutenant in the Senate, Bobby Baker, amassed a fortune by abusing the influence of his official position,” Mr. Miller charged.
He said that “the President's great friend from Texas, Billie Sol Estes, stands exposed as a swindler and influence peddler.”
“Hasn’t the time come to ask ourselves how much longer we can trust the judgment of this President, or how much longer we can rely on the integrity of his Administration?” he asked.
His speech tonight included quotation from Mr. Johnson in praise of Robert G. Baker, former secretary of the Senate Democratic majority.
He quoted Mr. Johnson as having said:
“My colleagues of the Senate, my heart, even as my tongue, says Bobby, Bobby. I say to you, members of the Senate, here is a young man who has gone very far and who is going much further.”
Mr. Miller then moved into the involvement of Mr. Jenkins in the Baker case. He charged: “Lyndon Johnson saw to it that Walter Jenkins was not called as a witness and sworn under oath, which he should have been” during the Senate Rules Committee's investigation of Mr. Baker.
Mr. Miller then commented on Mr. Jenkins's arrest on a morals charge earlier this month and also in 1959.
He expressed outrage that the morals arrest in 1959 was not ground for withholding a security clearance from Mr. Jenkins. He said:
“Walter Jenkins came to the White House, and ever since has attended meetings of the National Security Council, the Cabinet of the United States, and has had access to information vital to the security of all mankind and to the survival of the world.”
He also asked:
“Can we stand for four more years of that?”
The audience roared, “No.”
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