Last week Columnist Drew Pearson kept clear his astonishing record of never losing a libel suit. But for a few days in a Washington court, it was touch & go whether he would. On trial was the suit of California's ex-Attorney General Frederick Napoleon Howser. He wanted $350,000 damages for Pearson's broadcast in 1948 that Howser had accepted $1,200 to protect gamblers.
At the time, several California newspapers had also heard about the bribe story from the source, a man of none-too-savory reputation who was also a onetime Howser campaign worker. But they had not dared print it for fear of libel.
Pearson...