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It was difficult for most people to fathom why Fortas, an astute attorney and author of a recent book that begins "I am a man of the law," would so jeopardize his position. Yet it was not the first time. Last year the scales against his confirmation as Chief Justice were tipped when Senator Griffin disclosed that Fortas' former law partner had raised $15,000 in speaker's fees for Fortas, and that some of the donors had cases before the high court. Fortas' many connections in high places have gained him a reputation for wheeling and dealing in areas not uncommon for a corporate lawyer but of questionable propriety for a Supreme Court Justice. One fellow lawyer described Fortas as simply "avaricious." It is no secret that Fortas' cigar-smoking wife Carolyn was furious when L.B.J. named Fortas to the bench: he exchanged a law practice worth about $150,000 a year for a Supreme Court post that then paid only $39,500. (Mrs. Fortas, as a member of her husband's old firm, earns a reputed $100,000 a year.)
Next Move. The next move is up to Fortas. No one in Washington is satisfied with his cursory reply to the LIFE article, in which he omitted even any mention of the amount of the fee he had received from the Wolfson Foundation. The reply, said one Washington lawyer, "raised more questions than it answered." Although Fortas stonily refused further comment, he will have to explain his actions more fully if he expects to avoid an investigation. Any move to impeach him would come from the House Judiciary Committee. Its chairman, Representative Emanuel Celler, said that he would give Fortas ample time to clear himself. "Until the dust settles, I'm waiting," Celler said. "There's an old Russian saying that you don't roll up your pants until you get to the river. There should be a very comprehensive statement by Fortas. He owes it to the court and the country." If the House should vote to impeach, the trial would be conducted in the Senate, where a two-thirds vote of those present is needed to convict.
As things stand now, the odds are that Fortas will resign. Still, he may be tempted to fight to protect his name in history. He knows that impeachment convictions are not easily won: only four of the 13 high Government officials impeached in U.S. history have been convicted. Nonetheless, Fortas may decide that the better part of valor is to admit an indiscretion, assert his innocence and quietly fade away.
* Fortas' outside source of income raised again the ugly issue of influence peddling in high Government circles (see TIME ESSAY). It is a common occurrence in Washington. Last week Representative Wright Patman accused Treasury Secretary David Kennedy of maintaining a secret interest in his old Chicago banking firm. In no case, however, has any link been established between these interests and attempts by outsiders to control officials' decisions.