Accusing a Roosevelt

Both the virtues and defects of congressional investigating committees have lately been on display, thanks to Watergate, and last week there was some fresh evidence on the debit side --at least in form. The substance was still obscure. During hearings by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, headed by Senator Henry M. Jackson, Elliott Roosevelt, 63, the second son of President Franklin Roosevelt, was accused of plotting the assassination of Lynden O. Pindling, Prime Minister of the Bahamas.

The charges came from Louis P. Mastriana, a convicted stock swindler and onetime Roosevelt employee, who was testifying during an investigation of organized crime in stock and security frauds. Under questioning by Senator Charles Percy, Mastriana told the subcommittee members that in 1968 he had been offered $100,000 by Roosevelt and Michael McLaney, a reputed associate of Gambling Czar Meyer Lansky, to kill Pindling after the Prime Minister refused to grant McLaney a gambling license in exchange for campaign contributions.

Mastriana produced a $2,500 check, part of an alleged down payment, made out to Roosevelt and signed over to Mastriana. In addition, Mastriana charged, Roosevelt had been involved in the attempted sale of $150,000 in stolen securities. He insisted that he had recordings to prove his accusations, but committee investigators said that the tapes were indecipherable.

Cheap Sensation. From his ranch outside Lisbon, Roosevelt denied the charges, described Mastriana's story as "absolutely fantastic" and accused the subcommittee of using his name "to get a cheap sensational headline." Roosevelt demanded a public apology from Senator Jackson and offered to testify publicly in his own behalf.

The charges against Roosevelt, a former mayor of Miami Beach who writes, breeds horses and promotes Portuguese tourism, first came to light during a private session between Mastriana and subcommittee investigators. At least two more witnesses met with subcommittee investigators and were prepared to testify about Roosevelt's alleged security misdealings. According to Subcommittee Chairman Jackson, attempts to interview Roosevelt about this during a visit to Florida in August were unsuccessful, and a public airing of the alleged-assassination-plot portion of the testimony was not planned until Roosevelt could be reached.

Obviously displeased that Mastriana's allegations were brought out prematurely by Percy, Jackson suspended further testimony until next week, when Roosevelt is scheduled to return to Washington and confront his accuser. It could be quite an encounter. Mastriana's police record includes arrests for gambling, grand larceny, forgery, aggravated assault and possession of the contents of stolen mail. Three years ago, he was declared mentally incompetent by a New Jersey court. "He's the greatest bull artist in the world," a Florida police official said of Mastriana last week.

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