House committee hires former Watergate prober

A House committee hired a former Watergate investigator to serve as special counsel to the congressional investigation of how Carter White House materials were obtained by Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign.

James Hamilton was hired one day after the two aides closest to President Reagan during his campaign advised the panel they had no involvement or direct knowledge of ''transactions'' concerning Carter White House papers. But presidential counselor Edwin Meese and deputy White House chief of staff Michael Deaver did not rule out the possibility that they had heard that colleagues in the campaign had obtained the briefing book.