Cox to Testify Today In Senate Hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, to continue this morning at 10:30 a.m., will feature testimony from Archibald Cox '34, the special Watergate prosecutor, in conjunction with the nomination of Elliot L. Richardson '41 to the attorney-generalship.

Although Cox will not face an actual Senate confirmation vote, he said Saturday that his appointment will be considered "in connection" with Richardson's. The Judiciary Committee hearings had been delayed to allow for the search for a special prosecutor.

The degree of autonomy from the government Cox will have as prosecutor and his professional calibre will reportedly be considered as reflections of Richardson's ability to man the office of attorney general.

Members of the Judiciary Committee had threatened to hold up Richardson's confirmation as attorney general if he refused to give the investigator "final authority" over the Watergate inquiry.

Cox indicated that he will await the results of the Senate hearing on Richardson and himself before actually "issuing directives to anyone," concerning the Watergate case.

Cox, Williston Professor of Law, was announced as Richardson's choice last Friday.

All Offenses

At his Holyoke Center news conference Friday, Cox vowed to investigate "all offenses arising out of the 1972 presidential election, and all allegations involving the president, the White House staff, or presidential appointees."

Cox, a registered Democrat who voted for Senator George S. McGovern (D.-S.D.) in the 1972 presidential election, said that he is satisfied with guidelines Richardson releasted that define the prosecutor's function.

"I think the guidelines leave complete room for independence and I haven't the slightest doubt I will be independent," he said.

Meanwhile, the Senate Watergate inquiry will continue tomorrow with further testimony from James W. McCord Jr. Friday, McCord asserted that a White House official assured him in 1972 that he would get executive clemency if he pleaded guilty to charges related to breaking into the Watergate complex.

McCord will be followed as a witness by John J. Caulfield, the implicated White House official.