Republicans, might be willing to listen to additional charges made by Buckley against
Bellino. Dash says he "smelled the ugly odor of blackmail on the part of somebody and I
did not like it." Later Senators Talmadge and Inouye filed a report completely
exonerating Bellino, while Gurney conceded that there was no direct evidence against
Bellino, but that there was some conflicting testimony that ought to be noted. Dash sums
up that in late November, 1973, "the matter ended with little fanfare and almost no
newspaper comment. The reputation of a public official with many years' service as a
dedicated and incorruptible investigator had been deeply wounded and tarnished, and
Bellino would retire from federal service believing-rightly-that he had not been given the
fullest opportunity he deserved to clear his good name."
Another Bush concern during the summer of 1973 was his desire to liquidate the CREEP,
not out of moralistic motives, but because of his desire to seize the CREEP's $4 millon
plus cash surplus. During the middle of 1973, some of this money had already been used
to pay the legal fees of Watergate conspirators, as in the case of Maurice Stans. [fn 40]
During August, Bush went into an offensive of sanctimonious moralizing. Bush appears
to have concluded that Nixon was doomed, and that it was imperative to distance himself
and his operation from Nixon's impending downfall. On the NBC Today Show, Bush
objected to John D. Ehrlichman's defense before the Ervin committee of the campaign
practice of probing the sex and drinking habits of political opponents. "Crawling around
in the gutter to find some weakness of a man, I don't think we need that," said Bush. "I
think opponent research is valid. I think if an opponent is thought to have done something
horrendous or thought to be unfit to serve, research is valid. But the idea of just kind of
digging up dirt with the purpose of blackmail or embarrassing somebody so he'd lose, I
don't think that is a legitimate purpoose," postured Bush. By this time Ehrlichman, who
had hired retired cops to dig up such dirt, had been thrown to the wolves. [fn 41]
A couple of days later Bush delivered a speech to the American Bar Association on "The
Role and Responsibility of the Political Candidate." His theme was that restoring public
trust in the political system would require candidates who would set a higher moral tone
for their campaigns. "A candidate is responsible for organizing his campaign well--that
is, picking people whom he trusts, picking the right people." This was an oblique but
clear attack on Nixon, who had clearly picked the wrong people in addition to whatever
else he did. Bush was for stricter rules, but even more for "old-fashioned conscience" as
the best way to keep politics clean. He again criticized the approach which set out to "get
dirt" on political adversaries-- again a swipe at Nixon's notorious "enemies' list"
practices. Bush said that there were "gray areas in determining what was in good taste."
Bush has never been noted for his sense of self-irony, and it appears that he was not
aware of his own punning reference to L. Patrick Gray, the acting FBI Director who had
"deep-sixed" Howard Hunt's incriminating records and who had then been left by
Ehrlichman to "hang there" and to "twist slowly, slowly in the wind." Bush actually
commented that Ehrlichman's comments on Gray had been in questionable taste. At this
conference, Bush rubbed shoulders with Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. [fn 42]