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Lifetime Income. In the end, practically no one could be found to speak up to excuse conduct that was, at very best, grossly improper. "He has not committed the ultimate evil of taking a bribe," said Stanford Law Professor Gerald Gunther. "But that misses the point. There is a question about the appearance of virtue on the court." In fact, Fortas' action had been even more ill-judged than was at first realized. Not only had he received $20,000 from Louis Wolfson's foundation in 1966—not giving it back until eleven months later, after Wolfson had been indicted for defrauding stockholders—but he had also agreed to accept $20,000 a year for life. The payments were to go to his wife Carolyn, also a lawyer, if she survived him. The services he or his widow were to perform were spelled out only vaguely in his case. He had intended, he told Warren, to "help shape" the program and activities of the foundation, whose stated aim was to further racial and religious harmony. There was no explanation of Mrs. Fortas' role. While Fortas denied interceding for Wolfson with any Government agency, he did admit to receiving from Wolfson letters about the financier's business problems. At week's end, it was revealed that the Justice Department had subpoenaed the letters from Wolfson and his foundation.
The Justice compounded his own troubles—and the furor in Congress—by brushing off LIFE'S original disclosure of the Wolfson link with a preliminary statement that omitted so much that it was almost a falsehood. It was not until the FBI had quizzed Wolfson in prison—using the power of a grand jury to force his testimony and to give him immunity from prosecution in connection with it—that Fortas wrote a fuller statement, along with his resignation.
Jail Interview. Almost no one, least of all those in the Nixon Administration, wanted to see the impeachment carried out. It would have poisoned the atmosphere in Washington and reflected unfavorably on the entire Government. More practically, it would also have monopolized the time of both houses of Congress for weeks and even months. Nixon cautioned Republicans in Congress against hasty action, and G.O.P. Congressional Leaders Gerald Ford and Everett Dirksen passed the word.
Not that the Nixon men lacked eagerness for the kill. They simply wanted to do the job bloodlessly, or at least to make sure that Fortas' was the only blood spilled. As the LIFE story was being prepared, Will Wilson, Assistant Attorney General for the criminal division, had personally begun an investigation of the Fortas-Wolfson relationship. His findings were presented to Chief Justice Warren by Attorney General John Mitchell. The next day the Justice Department dispatched agents to quiz Wolfson in his cell at the federal prison camp in Eglin, Fla.; the material they wanted was in hand. Among other things, Wolfson believed that Fortas was going to intercede for him with the Securities and Exchange Commission.