KELLEY TERMS REPORT ON OIL "WHITEWASHING"
KELLEY TERMS REPORT ON OIL "WHITEWASHING" Says Dept. of Justice Which Probed Charges Makes 3Iany Misstatements [Special to The Progressive] WASHINGTON, D. C—The department of Justice's report on...
...In his letter of resignation, Mr...
...He also termed the Kelley charges false and unwarranted, basing hla contention upon the report made by Richardson of the department of justice...
...Instead, he bared details in the newspaper articles, which ran into about 15 installments, secretary Wilbur issued vigorous denials of the charges, saying that Kelley was being "exploited" by interested parties who were anxious to bring about, another oil "scandal" similar to that of the Harding administration...
...Kelley asserted that "it reeks with misstatements and misrepresentations...
...In his report on Kelley's charges, Richardson said, "The investigation which has been made by the Department of Justice has been unable to substantiate in any material particular the complaints and charges made by Kelley...
...The Department of Justice investigation was carried on by Seth W. Richardson, an assistant district attorney, under the direction of Attorney General Wm...
...The honesty and character of Secretary Wilbur, he said had been challenged by contentions utterly supported hv fart or evidence...
...He charged Kelley with deliberatcly delaying his charges until shortly before the lime lor elections, and roundly criticized the New York World, which published the details of the oil charges, as not representing the highest aims of American journalism...
...In a subsequent series of articles published in the New York World, Kelley described in detail what he called the "irregularities" in the administration of these public lands, and directed his accusations against Secretary Wilbur, former Secretary Hubert Work, departmental heads and employees, and a whole group of Colorado politicians and oil interests...
...Resides terming the Department of Justice report on his charges a "ridiculous whitewash," Mr...
...When the report of the department of justice was made public, President Hoover surpru-ed Washington and the...
...public by Issuing a lengthy statement condemning the whole array of Kelley charges as a political plot...
...of Justice Which Probed Charges Makes 3Iany Misstatements [Special to The Progressive] WASHINGTON, D. C—The department of Justice's report on the four billion dollar oil scandal charges made against the Interior department, which termed the accusations as false and without merit, was characterized as a ''ridiculous whitewash" by Ralph S. Kelley, former chief of the Federal land office of Denver who made the charges following his resignaton several weeks ago...
...He refused to aid in the investigation that was launched by the Department of Justice, saying that this body has become prejudiced...
...D. Mitchell...
...The cases to which Kelley has directed specific attention present in the files and records no evidence of Improprieties or irregularities...
...Attorney General Mitchell also sent a letter to his fellow cabinet member in which he stated that the Investigation had been "thorough and painstaking" and that he fully agreed with the conclusions that were drawn in the report...
...The records and the files in the department with Kelley's correspondence, together with the language used in his newspaper story, indicate fairly that he makes extreme charges readily, carelessly, and excitedly...
...The report, which has just been issued, states that an investigation failed to substantiate any of the claims made by Kelley that some four billion dollars in Colorado oil shale lands were permitted to be taken illegally under government grant by the big oil interests...
...Kelley threw official Washington into an uproar by charging that the Interior department, under the supervision of Secretary Wilbur, had been guilty of allowing political considerations to enter into the granting of oil land patents...
Vol. 1 • November 1930 • No. 48
