The Otepka Case (sound)

for for the first time in the history of our nation in education in Industry even in the internal affairs of the state department electronic surveillance deliberate invasion of privacy economic intimidation and overt intimidation by force or threat of force is being used by our government to impose its will upon the citizen consider if you will the otepka case one man's battle for the right to put the safety of the United States above all other loyalties to secure for every government employee his right to expose to the Congress and thus to the people his knowledge of evils which may threaten the safety or welfare of our nation without fear of reprisals so you see Senator it is vital that we interest ourselves in what is going on in these areas of government in order that we as individuals can make the maximum contribution to yes senator the delegation from your district is here oh yeah send them in uh doctor uh these people have come to me uh about a matter which concerns our state department in Washington I'm sure you'll excuse me no wait a minute uh you've been talking about the need for individuals to become involved in matters of government how' you like to sit in on this meeting well if you think it'll be all right yes I'd like to stay yes very much oh Dr Ford Mrs hail Mr Goodman yeah have a seat oh folks this is uh Dr kleene the Reverend Dr kleene among his other interests church and Civic he's also interested with political Affairs as they affect the individual I've taken the liberty of asking him to sit in on our little talk here that is if it's all right with uh all of you sure fine fine Senator we know you're on a tight schedule so we'll get right to the point Dr Donald Dozer feels that someone ought to go to Washington and look into the matter of the case of Oto otepka former deputy director of security for the state department you remember Dr Dozer I believe is that the Donald Dozer who was once employed by the state department yes he was a state department historian he and Brighton Baron the man who has written several books about the state department both lost their jobs because they felt that the public has the right to know what our government did at the conferences of Yalta Tran pdam and so forth however the state department violently disagreed although the published record of such actions is now well over 20 years behind I'm a say that matters of State Department diplomacy hardly seem to me to be something to be banded about by the public if you refer to matters which could by being made public put our nation in danger from her enemies I would certainly agree in the case of the record of what our presidents and our diplomats have done in the matter of foreign policy however how they have dealt with the problems which affect the welfare of the United States we all believe that the people have a right to know that people's right to know is the reason we've come to Senator schmidtz we are convinced that matters which affect every citizen and about which he is entitled to full knowledge are being deliberately hidden behind a curtain of Silence in order to protect certain individuals just a minute whose actions would result in a public outcry for their removal from office if they were exposed what advantage lies in prying into past mistakes what can the ordinary citizen grasp of the complexities of high level diplomacy Dr kleene the extreme the Tre IC mistakes that our policy makers have made in the past have produced the rise of world communism and the decline of the West and trying to cover up the record guarantees the continuation of our decline well I certainly agree that the citizen does have the right to know what his government has done is doing and proposes to do in the future I'm personally quite Disturbed at what seems to be a growing philosophy of government that holds that the citizen's right to have a voice in the operation of his government and in determining the broad policy of that government both foreign and domestic must be and is being replaced by an Untouchable bureaucracy that's the concern we all have we believe that with Otto fota former deputy director of security of the state department we have a case that goes right to the heart of our concern about the Takeover of our government what is it you have in mind in connection with otepka we think that the case of AO otepka will give us the kind of example that is needed to demonstrate what is happening to America well in what way could I help you in doing what you're trying to do while we know the background of the EPA case in a general way we are not sure as to just what is going on at this time there has been a policy of delay we believe in giving this man a public Hearing in hopes that the people will lose interest in what is going to be done it has taken over two years to get the Senate internal security subcommittee to release all of the testimony taken in executive session until this was was done Mr otepka could not use it in his defense we have been talking to Dr Dozer about this case and we feel that someone should go to Washington and determine just what the facts are about this whole controversy if what we suspect is true this case can be the most important milestone in the battle to preserve our Republic that we will ever see we trust your judgment and we think that with all of the facts in your possession you may be able to suggest a course of action which will be effective in reversing this bureaucratic takeover will you go I've been listening with amazement to what you people have been saying it is not the prerogative of a private citizen or a state senator to pry into the internal affairs of the state department in a matter that is beyond your knowledge and outside your concern I refuse to sit here and listen to any more of it you'd better remember Senator I belong to an organization that controls an awful lot of votes and I have important connections with the newspapers if you engage in any such hairbrain action as these extremist suggest I promise that you'll regret it good [Music] day friends seems we must have struck a nerve in the good [Applause] doctor I wonder uh how he knew I just might be willing to go to Washington Dr Ford how does oa's case compare with those of Dr Dozer and Brighton Baron the area of contention is whether preventing any disclosure which might bring about public censure of the state department is more important than the safety and Welfare of the nation you mean whether government belongs to the citizens or vice versa precisely are you willing then Senator to investigate the case of OT EPA will you go to Washington well Mrs hail uh I'm certainly interested in discovering what goes on in our government that that is being kept from our knowledge as you know um I have a fairly tough schedule so it's going to take some tight planning to find time to do it but I'll go to Washington uh to find out all I can about the case of aepa and I promise you that I'll report both my findings and my conclusions to you I want to thank all of you for um uh coming to see me and I'll contact you on my return in Washington I headed first for the offices of Liberty Lobby my taxi took me past Capitol Hill with an inspiring view of our beautiful Capitol Dome and dropped me at the door of Liberty Lobby WB Hicks Executive Secretary of Liberty Lobby introduced me to Colonel Dal chairman of the board of policy Senator I'm delighted to meet you I understand that you're interested in the otepka case Colonel do I'm sure I've come to the right place to begin my study of the otepka case and I'm most happy to have the opportunity to meet you knowing that you've had access to top level government information since President Roosevelt's time and being aware of the fine work of Liberty Lobby and representing the people it seems uniquely fitting that I should ask you to help me in this matter why thank you senator for a long time we here at Liberty Lobby have been interested in the otar case as you know Otto epar has been a devoted and extremely capable public servant for over 25 years until the Kennedy Johnson Administration came into power in 1960 epar had time after time been highly commended for his outstanding work as a career security officer can you point out any particular happening that signal the start of epa's persecution Senator I think perhaps our Mr Hicks would best be able to acquaint you with all of the details he has been in closer touch than I WB can you tell the senator how Otto pepa's troubles began I'll be glad to try Colonel as you know Senator atoa is a career security officer he had numerous commendations for the outstanding way in which he handled a difficult and demanding job I'm sure you'll recall the furor in the newspapers about the reduction in force in the state department headlines such as State Department Security to be emasculated 25 top Security Experts to lose jobs and so forth when the Senate internal security subcommittee decided to investigate the administration of the internal Security Act and other internal security laws in the state department I tolda was called to testify because he was the top security expert in the field EPA has the oldfashioned idea that the security of the United States is more important than preserving The Prestige of the Foreign Service Officer yes I understand that some Foreign Service officers have their loyalty reversed one officer was reported to have said that he wondered how he could best serve the country in which he was stationed he didn't seem to be concerned over how he could best serve the United States many of our legislators are deeply concerned over the way the executive and judicial branches of our government keep arrogating to themselves more and more of the powers which rightfully belong to Congress Edith kermet Roosevelt well-known syndicated columnist and lecturer granddaughter of President Teddy Roosevelt is personally acquainted with otepka Miss Roosevelt has followed his case from the beginning I asked her for her views for more than a year Senator I have watched with compassionate interest the Relentless persecution of a man a state department security officer loyal professional who committed the so-called crime of placing loyalty to country above loyalty to superiors the term in the state department is organization loyalty otepka is being willfully and deliberately isolated from his task of State Department security officer and has been given meaning meanless tasks to perform he has gone through the usual state department tapping and bugging procedure his telephone conversations have been monitors monitored his mail has been read and yet this man has committed no crime the state department charged him of having mutilated a document uh subsequently he was cleared by the justice department yet ottaa has not been restored to his duties and the men who lied before the the committee investigating the charges have not been fired from their government posts the point here is we are witnessing what amounts to a breakdown of our constitutional system a constitutional crisis our form of government depends upon the right of senators and congressmen to be able to call before them government employees to answer truthfully questions that they want to know or that they must know certainly the security procedures in the state department is not a subject which should be covered under the cloak of executive privilege well thank you very much M Roosevelt I went to see Brigadier General boner Fellers former member of general Douglas MacArthur's staff and head of the citizens forign a committee the general welcomed me to his office General are you familiar with the case of autoa uh in general I'm quite familiar with it I don't know the detail TS as much as I'd like to but I admire him tremendously and I think you people are doing a wonderful thing to invite the attention of the public to the mistreatment that otepka is receiving from the Department of State we are living in a police state today if you get out of line for example uh General Walker was picked up without any uh legal procedure and taken to a house of uh where they have insane people and kept until so many telegrams were sent protesting it that they released him now that's a police state tactic and then uh poor Mary K Jones working for the Department of Agriculture happened to have some files on Billy solistes that uh uh were not uh desired by the department of AG AG culture and she was lifted out of the office and taken to St Elizabeth where she stayed for 12 days as a mental case and she there wasn't anything wrong with her and there are innumerable instances of this when one gets in the way and seriously blocks the uh liberal establishment uh he's in trouble so I admire otepka tremendously wish I knew him I hope that he gets some justice the cards are stacked against him he's done nothing wrong he stood up for his country and for security of the of important uh people and he's paying the price now of not going along with whatever the establishment is but there is something that is very unsavory in our government I'm Frank clone a newspaper man and author as a matter of fact I have just written this book The Drew Pearson story Senator I'm glad that you're taking an interest in the EPA case because this is a matter of importance in my opinion for every American otoa served with me five years in the state department and I was in the office of the administrators of security above him he was the finest security officer that I ever met as a matter of fact the state state department drafted him from the Civil Service Commission where he was the top evaluator of personnel records he went over the case of every employee in state at home and abroad and he gave people the benefit of the doubt he was the kind of security officer the Liberals say they like he never revealed the name of a person dropped for security and neither did the department while he was there AOA Senator is a likable fellow and I'm sure he has no personal enemies the issue here is can the security risks run the security officers out of the state department here's what Senator STM Thurman had to say in one of his news broadcasts some months ago about the EPA case unquestionably the state department should be concerned about what others think of the United States for this is a part of the state Department's function if however the image of the United States created by the state department overseas is no better than the image the state department creates for itself among Americans confidence in the United States by foreigners must be at a rock bottom low the state department record in the atepa case is one of secur to laxness deception of Congress and the public the use of guest oper investigation and harassment tactics and the secret trial actions speak louder than words and the role of the state Department's conduct in the atepa case drowns out all the pious words uttered by diplomats about freedom justice and fairness it should be obvious to responsible officials here in Washington that it is time for a thorough house cleaning in the state department while on the hill I met Bill Williams one of the fine leaders of Young Americans for Freedom Bill I'm real happy to meet you I understand that as chairman of the national capital chapter of the Young Americans for freedom you and your group have been very concerned about the EPA case well yes Senator uh we were very concerned about the EPA case and our concern dated from July of last summer when we heard that certain uh sources within the administration were apparently trying to stop part 20 of the auto EPA hearings in from 1963 from being released and we were concerned because it's been over three years since those hearings were held on State Department Security matters and part 20 still had not been released and the way we understood it was that part 20 was the most had the most damaging evidence in it uh only after a 100,000 letters flooded Congress where people able to get parts 1 through 19 release so we were very anxious to have the Congress release part 20 uh what we did was we started off in July with a briefing from Auto EPA all about the case uh we followed that up in August at the American Legion convention by passing out several thousand flyers and brochures on the case uh urging the legionaires to take an interest to see their Senators to see their congressmen and go back home and uh and get active on the case and we feel as a result of our activity that the um many senators and many Congressmen were alerted both by Young Americans for freedom and by American Legion members to the case and as a result part 20 was released then I went to see my old friend and neighbor representative James b ut of Orange County John the story of the EPA case is a personal tragedy it goes to the very heart of our national security otepka has been persecuted not because his he did his job poorly but because he did it too well on giving the tax fairs of full value for the salary which they pay him when the Kennedy administration took office it determined that the tight security that they had in the state department would not permit them to bring in the people that they wanted to put into government service and so they had to begin to eliminate uh the State security when they found that otepka wouldn't go along with the administration they began a an attack on him and began to destroy him and The Witch Hunt which they launched still goes on today as long as men like otepka are prevented from doing their job the nation will continue to be imperiled from subversion from within and the security risks will begin and continue to fire the security guards and the security officers that is the real meaning of the atepa case instead of flying directly home from Washington I decided to detour to Dallas Texas to see Dr Robert Morris University president and former councel for the Senate internal security subcommittee I am very happy to contribute words of support for otepka I was for five years Council and chief counsel for the United States Senate internal security subcommittee and I was for five years an officer in the United States Navy intelligence and among other things I was officer in charge of Counter Intelligence for the third Naval District I know what the problems of a security officer are AA as well as I know that good internal security is a necessary antecedent for National well-being we also know that good internal security is a necessary antecedent for a strong foreign policy conversely if we have an inad adequate security we're going to have demoralization on the national scene and we're going to have a weak foreign policy on the international scene this lesson has been taught over and over again it was taught certainly in connection with the fall of China which has led now to the terrible bloodletting that's now going on in Vietnam and it happened certainly at the time of the Cuban disaster which saw a fight El Castro come to power after conspicuous security failures now knowing that lesson and knowing it well otepka had a great Duty he has a he has a strong conscience and he has a strong sense of Duty the legal elements here are simple one otepka has the moral right to uh cooperate with the Senate internal security subcommittee when it asks him to to do so in addition he has a constitutional right which which constitutional right incidentally was handed down by Justice Frankfurter some years ago it's the constitutional right of every citizen to have access to his Congress then two is the legislative right passed by Congress where is every every officer in civil service and every officer holding a position such as otus had to communicate and has to keep an open channel with the Congress and the only in only administrative only an administrative ruling coming in between separated otepka from doing what was necessary in cooperating with the Senate internal security subcommittee when it asked him to do so now we must stand by otepka as a the whole security fraternity should stand by him and the American people should stand by him because if he fails then the country is going to be the worst for his [Music] failure finally I felt that I had been away as long as I dared there were many things that I would have liked to have gone into but I felt that I had to return to my duties in Sacramento now you understand the reason for the long delay in giving otepka a fair public hearing his actions have not only been correct they have been the actions of a man of Honor a man of deep regard for his country's welfare and safety it is perfectly clear that to exonerate this Patriot before the American public as he deserves will mean the exposure of numerous well-known and highly placed public figures to the Wrath and Scorn of every decent American what we must all understand and make clear to Those whom we entrust with public office is that paternal bureaucratic government is the very antithesis of the American dream of of Liberty under God no public servant from the president on down has the right to preempt the records of his or others actions upon leaving office when those records hold the vital facts the public has the right to know no official has the right to interpose executive privilege between the Congress and the full and complete truth in order to Shield the miscreant no holder of public office has the right to place his Allegiance elsewhere than to the United States and the Constitution he has sworn to honor and uphold so you see that what is actually at stake here in the case of aepa is the right of Congress to be told the truth and the concurrent right of any government employee to expose to the Congress and thus to the American people any wrongdoing error or corruption which may exist in the area of government in which he is employed without fear of harassment or reprisals anything less makes the Congress a rubber St stamp farce anything less makes the government employees life a nightmare filled with visions of a tyranny by whose whim he may be summarily divested of both his livelihood and his career if the people of America understand this and refuse to remain acquiescent about it the inroads of the bureaucracy can be halted and the growing Trend towards a nation of helpless WS of an all powerful Big Brother government can be reversed knowledge without action aileth not because the problem Demands a political solution as voters you must solve it do not feel that as one individual you are helpless to affect any change your influence counts use it join with other Americans in those organizations which believe in preserving our constitutional republic where as in no other land upon this Earth the Providence of almighty God has been so bountifully poured out upon its people remember Otto TKA a true American hero whose courage and unswerving faith in America gave him the will and the determination to go on in his fight against the efforts of the administration and the state department to destroy him you can help write to your congressmen senators and representatives and demand that adepa be given an open fair and public hearing so that the people of this great land can join with us in saying well done adota America will not not let you [Music] down