Chipping Away At The Rock

The House Judiciary Committee is looking into the possibility that vice presidential nominee Nelson Rockefeller may have secretly financed a book that is highly critical of former Treasury Secretary John Connally.

The book, entitled "Connally, The Adventure of Big Bad John," was released shortly after Connally switched from the Democratie to Republican parties last year - making him a leading contender along with Rockefeller for the 1976 GOP presidential nomination.

The book's author, Charles Ashman, has told the Judiciary Committee he does not believe that Rockefeller financed or "orchestrated" the book. However, Ashman says that he continually received help from mysterious beneficiaries when promoting the book.

Rockefeller, whose family secretly financed a book critical of of one of his New York gubernatorial opponents, has denied he had anything to do with the anti-connelly work.