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University of Cincinnati FROM: Warren Bennis Dictated Saturday, December 18, 1971 I just want to put on record for you a summary of a phone call I have just completes with Ellis Mottur at 5:25 p.m. Mottur called yesterday on two occasions, the first being to t e l l my office that Senator Kennedy was sending me a Special Delivery Airmail letter that was for me personally as President and not for the University. He said it was very significant in relation to the discussions that were going on and you should be in possession of this before the University comes to any final formal response to them. He said he knew Dr. Gall would not be back until Monday, and you should have this before then. He later called back and said that he would like to speak to me. I tried calling him earlier today (December.l8), but just now managed to find him at home. The letter he referred to is being sent to me, which at this time has still not arrived either at my house or office and cannot be located in either the University post office or the Clifton post office. It is actually a copy of a letter that Senator Kennedy wrote to Senator Taft yesterday (December 17), with a covering letter from Kennedy to me. Senator Kennedy has not made this public as yet, and according to Mottur, does not intend to. What the letter does is point out from Senator Kennedy's viewpoint a number of inaccuracies made on the floor of the Senate by Senator Taft on December 15. Kennedy takes exception to some of these llinaccuracies." The main thing I wanted to report to you about this conversation I had with Mottur, and also included in the letter are: 1. There will definitely be an inquiry into this 2. The chief inaccuracy that Mottur discussed with me was exactly the point and time between the Department of Defense start of the project and other statements made by either Drs. Gall or Saenger. (Apparently there seems to be some discrepancy between statements made in the news conference picked up by both the New York Times and
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the Medical Bulletin and information or statements reve a led through further discussions either with Defense apparently learned things from.) cate d that the only public statement he has nade was upon hear - ing of the Washington Postl s article of October 8, I believe, That is the only public statement Kennedy said he has made until this last week. - officials or other people that Kennedy's people have which at that time he said, "If this is acc il rate,then .......1 11 According t o Mottur, Kennedy's letter to Tart mentions sone significant discrepancies between the UC official account z nd other sources that they (Kennedy, etal.) have learned things The only other significant thing that I learned from the conversa tion with Mottur is that he has consulted with Professor Milton Katz, Professor of L&w a t Harvard who Mottur claims (to my surprise)is one of the world ' s leading authorities on medical ethics and that Katz thinks ought to pursue the case, that they have every legal right to speak to the patients, and that despite medical authorities ' claims to the contrary, the legal authorities and the cow ts will support this activity.I mention this to you only to make certain that we move with dispatch toward getting the - best legal advice we can to advise this University about the proper course it ' should take with regard to the interviewing of for the University during my absence, and will certainly be the person to talk with and will comply with the point in my letter to Senator Kennedy that some word will be gotten back t o then! by December 23. Whatever that word i s from my point of view, it will have t o be ascertained presumably with the best legal advice we can get 2nd possibly with added medical opinion. Finally,Itold Mr. Mott ur that Dr. Gall is the spokesnan I want t o make sure that this letter to you is not overly conf usf ng because I am dictating it at light zing speed.Essentially nothing is new even after having Senator Kenndy's letter to Senator Taft read tome. The only possible new thing in it i s the information reported from Milton Katz (which I find dubious and certainly legally questionable) and the fact that Kennedy is determined to go all the way to the inquiry. I wish there were better news than this,butI thought. it would be wise t o get this down on paper before leaving for c c : Frank Purdy, George Rie ve schl,William Meyers