Standing in the marbled corridor outside Room 2227 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building during a break in his confirmation hearing last Wednesday morning, Hale Champion was at ease. Surrounded by a half dozen Washington correspondents for newspapers like The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe, the former Harvard financial vice president answered questions he must have heard five or six times before, always retaining his easy good humor and calm assurance. As an ex-reporter, he seemed to understand why they had to keep asking the same questions, but as a newly nominated government official, he was also careful to give the same answer to each--a denial here, a shrug of the shoulders there, and a smile of I've-done-no-wrong innocence for all. Champion had endured these sessions too many times to blow it now. He was at his best.

Question: Did you ever talk to anyone from California about the Souza case?

Champion: No, I never did.

Q: Is is true that Souza got a summary of the investigator's files?

Champion: We never denied that. They asked for a summary of the files under the Freedom of Information Act. My understanding is that they did not get what the GAO (Government Accounting Office) got.

Q: How would you characterize the hearings today? Are there any open questions left?

Champion: I think that there are no open questions.

Q: Will the Secretary make a statement today?

Champion: I think the Secretary sent over a statement in answer to the committee's request. He would have come, but they didn't think that was necessary.

Q: We haven't seen the statement.

Champion: I think he sent it over to the committee, so you can ask them where it is.

Q: Will the Secretary come up here to testify today?

Champion: Yes--I think he's on his way up here right now. He said he'd be perfectly willing to testify. He wants to get this out of the way as soon as possible.

How did a former Harvard administrator suddenly find himself embroiled in arcane issues and possible scandals like the Freedom of Information Act, the GAO, the Inspector General's Office, the General Counsel's Office, and the Justice Department, not to mention the "Souza case"? And written up in the pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post and Newsweek? The story is long and more than a little twisted, but perhaps indicative of the slow road to the top of the American political heap.

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