A Senator is indicted
Now comes the biggest, and for the Government, perhaps the most difficult Abscam case. After examining its evidence for nine months, the Justice Department last week obtained an indictment against Democratic Senator Harrison ("Pete") Williams, 60, of New Jersey for allegedly offering to use his political influence to help a phony Arab sheik make profitable investments in the U.S. In return, the bribery indictment charges, Williams accepted shares in a defunct titanium mine in Virginia in which the sheik, who was actually an undercover FBI agent,' said he intended to invest $100 million.
Williams, who will plead not guilty ("I did nothing wrong"), is the only Senator who has been charged in Abscam. Two Congressmen have been tried and found guilty. Four others are awaiting trial. Unlike the convicted Congressmen, Democrats Michael Myers of Pennsylvania and John Jenrette Jr. of South Carolina, Williams is not accused of accepting cash. The mining company shares were of little value at the time, but the Government contends that Williams promised to help the titanium company get defense contracts, which would have made the shares valuable.
His lawyers are expected to try to persuade the trial jury that Williams, who met with the bogus sheik or his representatives eight times in eleven months, was improperly enticed by the FBI. An FBI tape played at Myers' trial records FBI Informer Mel Weinberg, who acted the role of the sheik's associate, coaching Williams on how to impress the fake Arab. Said Weinberg: "You gotta tell him how important you are. You tell him in no uncertain terms: 'Without me, there is no deal. I'm the man who's gonna open doors.' " Thus, the jury's most difficult decision may be deciding if Weinberg went too far in trying to lure the Senator into an illegal deal.