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The latest round in the Agnew crisis began with a story by the Washington Post quoting an unnamed "senior Republican figure" as saying that he came away from more than two hours of conversation with Agnew "99½% certain he will resign — and probably this week." The Post gave the story an eight-column banner headline, but its punch came from the fact that it was written by David S. Broder. A Pulitzer prizewinner, Broder not only has excellent Agnew sources — he was the first to say that Nixon was considering the little-known Maryland Governor as his running mate in 1968, but he is also one of the most highly respected political reporters in town, a man known for his careful checking of sources.
No Comment. Rumors soon spread that Senator Barry Goldwater was the source for Broder's story and that the White House was naming the Senator, but Goldwater emphatically denied the charge. "You won't believe this," Goldwater told one of Agnew's aides, "but as fast as my staff can put out denials, somebody at the White House spreads the word that I was the source."
Because Goldwater commands immense prestige among conservative Republicans, some of Agnew's staffers understandably began to suspect that the White House engaged in a little Machiavellianism to force the Vice President to resign. This theory was reinforced by a story in the New York Times the following day asserting that some high-ranking White House officials — again unnamed — had been saying that "it might be best for Vice President Agnew to resign and allow President Nixon to choose a new Vice President."
Reporters sought Agnew for confirmation, setting up ambushes for him whenever he appeared in public. But Agnew stuck by his oft-enunciated rule never to comment on any report that did not name the source, and indeed refused comment on anything all week.
That, however, did not inhibit the combative Victor Gold, Agnew's former press secretary and still a close associate. Gold put the blame for the stories squarely on Alexander Haig and Melvin Laird, Nixon's two top aides, who he said were following a familiar White House pattern in trying to undermine the Vice President as Nixon's most likely successor in 1976. Said Gold: "First we had Haldeman and Ehrlichman; now we have Haig and Laird; next we'll have Sonny and Cher."
When both Haig and Laird denied that they were the sources for the Agnew-is-going stories, newsmen turned to Deputy White House Press Secretary Gerald Warren to find out the thinking of the President. What Warren did not say turned out to be as valuable a clue as what he did say. As the President's diligent echo, Warren could have rescued Agnew from his humiliation by merely giving the slightest sign of support. Instead, Warren had "no comment" to questions about Broder's story in the Post, with one notable exception.