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Closed Doors. The subcommittee's star witness of the week was James T. Ralph, former Assistant Secretary of Agriculture who was fired after it came out that Billie Sol once took him into Dallas' Neiman-Marcus luxury store and apparently bought him expensive clothing. Before the subcommittee, Ralph conceded that he had tried on two suits in Neiman-Marcus that day and had tried on a pair of $135 alligator shoes; but he insisted that he had just gone through the motions to avoid offending Estes, and that he never actually received the clothing.
Ralph admitted that he got two $100 money orders from Estes, but said he sent $100 to the Democratic campaign committee in California and $100 to the Democratic National Committee. Ralph also testified that his former assistant, William E. Morris (another Neiman-Marcus visitor fired from the Agriculture Department), received $200 from Estes. According to Ralph, Morris used the money to buy two tickets to a $100-a-plate Democratic dinner, sent the tickets to Estes.
In his own defense, Ralph explained that he had been taken in by Estes because Billie Sol seemed to be "one of the most influential men in the country," and very moral besides. Ralph said he wished he had followed the advice of a "wise old sergeant who told me in the Army that if a man didn't smoke, drink or chase women,— stay away from him."*
The subcommittee met in closed-door session at midweek to consider how to handle an . exceedingly touchy item of evidence: Witness Morris' sizeable list of other Washingtonians who had received money from Estes. At week's end the subcommittee had not yet disclosed the names on the list, and Morris had not yet testified in open session. According to ex-Counsel Manuel, the list "would implicate certain members of Congress and at least one very high-ranking Administration official."
* Estes does not smoke or drink.