^*Questioned that year by the Senate Banking Committee about an old plagiarism suit against him, Casey, testifying under oath, had waved away the issue, claiming he had not used someone else’s material in one of his tax manuals. Without qualification, but with great confidence, he had taken himself to the edge of the cliff, asserting that the judge in the case had felt that a jury verdict against Casey of $40,425 had not been supported by the evidence, and adding that the trial record had been sealed at the judge’s initiative.The trial record and the judge in the plagiarism case were brought in. The confirmation hearing was reopened and Casey was forced to reappear and eat crow. “I would like to clear up testimony…,” he said. “My recollection was not the same as that of the trial judge and is not entirely supported by the record.” He conceded that two and a half pages of manuscript by the plaintiff in the case had ended up in Casey’s tax manual almost verabatim, that the judge thought the verdict against Casey was “amply” supported by the evidence, and that it was Casey himself who had asked that the record be sealed. (The certified court record quoted Casey as saying, “I would like to have the record sealed entirely.”)A pretrial sworn deposition of Casey’s was unearthed by the committee considering his nomination as SEC chairman. Casey had told the lawyer for the plaintiff, “God damn, if you’re not a gentleman, I will kick your ass out of here…. Don’t try that again or there will be more violence in this goddamn office.” The lawyer said, “I want the record to show that Mr. Casey struck me in the face.” Before the Senate committee Casey was asked whether he had struck the attorney in the face. “I don’t recall,” Casey said. “I don’t believe…I haven’t struck anyone since high school.”The grilling lasted until 7 P.M. on March 9, 1971, when, irked and humiliated, Casey left. Mercifully, this was before the various Watergate-related confrontations between Nixon’s Administration and the Congress, and the senators displayed forbearance. The committee, and finally the full Senate, approved his nomination.