Bar President Asks Congress To Name the New Prosecutor

The president of the American Bar Association, speaking here last night, called for the appointment of a special Watergate prosecutor who would be totally free from interference by President Nixon.

Chesterfield Smith, elected to the ABA presidency in August, said that a resolution requesting an independent special prosecutor was adopted Saturday in Chicago by the ABA's Board of Governors in the second emergency session called in the Bar Association's history.

He said that it made no difference to him whom Congress appointed as special prosecutor but he emphasized that the position should be created by Congress and that the prosecutor must not be an employee of the executive branch.

Outrage

Smith said he believed the American system of justice remains strong, especially following the recent restrictions by the judiciary on the executive branch. But he added that it was "outrageous to think that a party to an adversary proceeding (the president) could determine the scope and content of that proceeding."

He said that the president's interference with the work of the investigation represented a "clear and present danger to out national way of life."

On his way to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this morning, Smith said he learned that a good friend of his, Leon Jarowski, had been selected by President Nixon to be the Justice Department's new special prosecutor.

However, he said he opposed the present arrangement, and told the committee that the president should not be allowed to select the new prosecutor.

Smith said that he often received letters asking why he didn't disbar Richard Nixon. He replied, "Every once in a while I'd like to write 'em back and say 'I think I will.'"