Brooke Gains in Senate; Agrees to Harvard Debate

WASHINGTON-The Senate Ethics Committee voted four to one yesterday to allow Sen. Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass.) to question a lawyer who has accused the Senator's representatives of altering documents submitted to committee investigators.

Washington attorney Richard J. Wertheimer said last week, when he resigned as special committee counsel for the Brooke investigation, that Brooke's attorneys had intentionally withheld and falsified documents involved in the inquiry into the Senator's personal finances.

Brooke said the only alteration made in the records concerned a $38,000 loan from Toronto insurance executive Norman Cohen.

The figure was corrected to reflect what was actually a return on investments made with Cohen, Brooke said.

Brooke denied the charges and asked for an immediate opportunity to confront Wertheimer at an open meeting of the committee.

The committee will hold the hearing before the Massachusetts senatorial election, maybe within the next few days.