Watching the Take on TV

"Now look, lean line a lot of customers up for you, members of Congress that are willing to deal with us. If you want to spend money, I'll show you how to spend it."

The cinematography was crude and the quality grainy. Even so, television viewers were treated to a rare drama last week: seeing and hearing Democratic Congressman Michael ("Ozzie") Myers of Philadelphia accepting $50,000 from an undercover FBI agent posing as an intermediary for a fictitious Arab sheik and, in return, promising to sponsor a bill to enable the sheik to settle in the U.S. The Abscam tapes were first aired in short segments on all network evening newscasts, then in their 3 1/2-hour entirety on the Public Broadcasting Service.

Myers was convicted of bribery and conspiracy on Aug. 30, largely on the basis of the video tapes. When the TV networks sought permission to broadcast the tapes earlier this month, the Federal Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that, like any court records, the video tapes be available to the public for inspection. Wrote Judge Jon Newman: "We do not believe the public at large must be sanitized as if they all would become jurors in the remaining Abscam trials." Myers appealed, arguing that broadcasting the tapes would "severely undermine" his appeal. But the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his argument last week.

The decision indicated that tapes shown in the Abscam trials of five other Congressmen, including Florida Republican Richard Kelly, whose trial is to begin this week, could be released for broadcast as soon as they are introduced as evidence. Kelly was defeated for nomination to a fourth term, but Myers is campaigning for reelection. One thing is certain: His opponent will not be demanding equal time.

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