An Aide Aids

Congressman Flood is indicted

"I have been doing all the dirty work, and the old man has been getting all the gravy." So Stephen Elko reportedly complained to the FBI about his former boss, Daniel Flood, 74, a 30-year Congressman from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and the flamboyant head of the powerful House Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor and HEW. Largely on the basis of Elko's testimony, a Los Angeles federal grand jury last week indicted Flood on three charges of perjury, including one stemming, from a statement he made denying receipt of $5,000 in bribes to help some now-defunct West Coast trade schools.

Last October, Elko was convicted of taking bribes from the same schools but engineered a three-year sentence after agreeing to reveal his boss's dealings. Elko has told investigators that Flood was paid more than $100,000 for having pressured federal agencies to help various constituents, contractors and businessmen. Grand juries in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia are now probing Flood's activities, and Government investigators believe they can indict the Congressman on additional charges.

Last week a resolution was introduced in the House, aimed at Flood, requiring committee chairmen to step aside if they are indicted for an offense punishable by more than two years in prison. Meanwhile, Flood continues his campaign for re-election back home where his popularity does not seem to ebb. After the indictments were announced, the Congressman--a former Shakespearean actor --seemed uncharacteristically subdued when he stepped outside his modest house to make a statement. Claimed Flood: "These are charges made by desperate men under pressure." .

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