Off Again

The off-again, on-again Bobby Baker hearings before the Senate Rules Committee were off again. Democratic Committee Chairman Everett Jordan, who had staved off further Baker sessions through Election Day, adjourned the committee again--this time until Congress reconvenes next month.

So far, about all Jordan has proved is that he will never be any great shakes as a Senate investigator. In hearings only last week, Jordan actually forgot that he was chairman of the committee, cleared his throat and began: "Er, Mr. Chairman ..." A further example of general ineptness came when the committee tried to pursue the charge that Democratic Wheelhorse Matt McCloskey had indirectly made a $35,000 payoff to Baker. They put McCloskey's auditor on the stand, only to discover that they had the wrong auditor.

About the best Jordan could offer was a committee decision to call to the stand Walter Jenkins, who resigned as a top White House aide last October after his arrest on a morals charge. He would be called, said Jordan, "at an appropriate time." At the moment Jenkins was playing golf in Puerto Rico.

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