Folder 9/8: Civil rights/abuse of demonstrators questions

8/3/2019 Folder 9/8: Civil rights/abuse of demonstrators questions

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2/39

--CIVIL RIGHTS - ABUSE OF DEMONSTRATORS;;; . . . - . - - ----

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3/39

7

HALDEl1AN : Gerry 'darren s o r t of f a l l s in to the sameth in g . Ken Cl awson i s in there - - b o thin t h a t area and in th e Colson area dur ingth e campaign ,,,here he Has , I 'm s ur e h e "TaSh eav i ly involved in t h e , in the Col sont ype a c t i v i t i e s as was B il l Rhat ican , I th ink .PRESIDENT: You I r e , you ' r e nOv l you re not in c lud i ng not only Wa;:rergate , .HALDEH1-;'N : I n c lud in g ...PRESIDENT: ... Seg r e tti.

HALDE l-I.AN : . . No, th i s i sn ' t Se g r e t t i type s t u f f ,th i s i s , i s . .PRESIDEwr : A ll ' l t e r g a t e ? HALDEHAN : No, it's no t \ ~ a t e r g a e i t h e r .E H R L I C H H A . ~ : Bring ing th e Cubans up to rough -up th ed emonstrato r s .PRESIDENT : Campaign a c t i v i t i es . I got t ha t .HALDEW\N : Right , r i gh t .PRESIDENT : Ervin Committee.HALDEYlAN : -Ervin Commi-ttee a t l e a s t , bu t it's comingo u t now s o it's gonna be pres s beforeErvin Committee.EHRLICHHAN : (Unint e l l i g i b l e )HALDEl'lAN : And p robab l y , v l i l l ge t in some way loggedin to th e Grand Jury business because o f t he money.PRESIDENT: YeaG fo r i n s ta nc e , uh , Dick Howard g e t si n v o lved with th e money.EHRLICHMAN : vle l l , now if, if th e premise i s t ha t someonei s goin g to b e a p rob l em to th e funct ioning

of th e Pres idency . . PRESIDENT: Right . (Unint e l l i g i b l e ) a h e l l o f a lo- t .EHRLICHl'1AN: Th en , you g o t to , t h e r e i sn ' t any good p la c eto s top without going a l l th e way because if- we ' re o f f th e s cene and we b oth t ake up farm in gin Iowa . PRESIDENT : IOvlaEHRLICHr-1AN : Th e n Bill Rhat ican some d ay b ecomes ju s t as

HALDEr-Li\.N :

b ig a p robl e m to you as I might b e , if I werehe r e . Because t h e y ~ a ~ e n ' t got me to focus o n .I f th ey c an ' t tell you h e ' s not (unint e l l i g i b l e )th ey c an 't tie Rhil:tican -to th e Pres ident .

LI'


4/39

TRANSCRIPT OF A RECORDING OF A MEETINGBETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND H. R. HALDEMANON MAY 5, 1971, IN THE OVAL OFFICE FROM9 : 55 A. M. TO ?


5/39

NIXON, HALDEMAN ~ f f i E T I N G , MAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ?

MusicHALDEMAN: Mitchel l in today?PRESIDENT: Picked up them a l l r igh t .HALDEMAN: Yesterday.PRESIDENT: How's he ' s do - - grea t? What was thes i tua t ion today? Did they have any moreact ions?HALDEMAN: Uh, t he re ' s gonna be a , t hey ' r e going to .PRESIDENT: March on the Capi to l?HALDEt1AN: Uh, . be a t the Congress a t noon whenthe thingPRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le)HALDEMAN: Well, t ha t ' s the plan , uh, whether they do

it never can qui te sure . But they, they 'vefollowed the plan pr e t ty much up to now.It's ( tape noise) the theory i s t hey ' r egonna ...

PRESIDENT: Demonstrate up t he re , a t the Capi tol?HALDEMAN: From tv,relve noon un ti 1 the Peop le ' s PeaceTreaty i s s igned , you see , t hey ' r e demandingtha t the Congress s ign t h i s . This i s t h i speace t r ea ty tha t they 've signed with NorthVietnam. (Laughs)PRESIDENT: Hmm. (Tape Noise)HALDEMAN: They've go t no ( tape noise) spec ia l permit .Best es t ima te i s 2,000 demonst ra tors .Trouble very l ike ly .PRESIDENT: Good.HALDEMAN: They've planned bJO meetings ton ight to plandemon PRESIDENT: That was l a s t n i gh t .


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NIXON, HALDEI1AN IvlEETING, HAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.l1. TO ? 2

HALDE!1AN: '" to plan demonstrat ion a c t i v i t i e s . tvedon ' t , I haven ' t had a l a t e reading on, ontha t . (Tape Noise) They j u s t granted thef edera l employees ' permi t , a f t e r a l l .They ' re , before they 'd l e f t the s tand theycou ldn ' t g e t a base fo r an in junct ionapparen t ly , so they d i d n ' t g e t . .PRESIDENT: A ll r igh t .HALDEHAN:PRESIDENT:HALDEHAN:

. one. S o . . .(Uninte l l ig ib le) ou t here today?... t ha t ' s - - in and ou t here today. Ther e ' l lal so be the s tuden ts of Shel ton Col lege

PRESIDENT. Nhere the h e l l i s tha t?HALDEHAN: on the ,on the s idewalk in f ron t of theNhite House. It's in New Je rsey . They 'rethen demonstrat ing in favor of the war.Heh. They 're gonna, heh, t hey ' r e gonna beon our s ide of the s t r e e t and the otherpeople are gonna be in the park .PRESIDENT: Tha t ' s f i ne . Probably a new col l ege of some

so r t .HALDEHAN: It's I 'm a f r a id it has somethin ' to do withCar l Hclntyre .PRESIDENT: Oh , be suspic ious , yeah.HALDEHAN: Yeah, McIntyre 's having a vic tory th ing nex tSaturday. Sunday. This coming Sunday.Victory by the Fourth of Ju ly . It's, it's

a .PRESIDENT: Can we g e t in there with those Governmentemployees. I s there any\vay to?HALDEHAN: I guess you can ' t .PRESIDENT: I 'd sure g e t a lo t of pic tures and every th ing .


7/39

NIXON, HALDE!1AN MEETING, MAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ? 3HALDEMAN: Sure , are .PRESIDENT: You know, j u s t ge t guys with , with newscam - - , news th ings , so t ha t they d o n ' t .HALDEMAN: No, they have a plan to do anything (tapeno i se ) .PRESIDENT: We sure have good in te l l igence , don ' t we?HALDEMAN: Heh, heh.PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) Don' t know, don ' t know what ' sbeen happenin ' .HALDEMAN: They, can, uh, picked up .PRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le)HALDEMAN: in a sweep yes terday , they ar res tedAbbie Hoffman. They got Dr. Spock, as youknow, the day before . They got Al Hubbard,the , uh, veterans ' gu y t ha t , t ha t h a d .pos - - the black who had posed as a . . .PRESIDENT: Yeah.HALDEMAN: Army, as an A ir Force capta in and thentu rns out not to have been a capta in .PRESIDENT: Sargeant i s he a , i s he one of 'em?HALDEMAN: He - - they ar res ted him.PRESIDENT: I'll be damned.HALDEMAN: So they scooped up, they , they got a l l these

people in these ne t s , you know. Th- th- they 'dtaken one in a f ish ne t . They also discovered ,much to t he i r hor ror , they got tw o or th reeWashington Star repor te rs and a couple ofLife r epo r t e r s .PRESIDENT: And the Washington Pos t repor te r I not icedhas wrote an a r t i c l e t h i s morning.HALDEMAN: Well...


8/39

NIXON, HALDEMAN MEETING, ~ f f i Y 5 , 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ? 4

PRESIDENT: They l e t 'em out . In case ...HALDEMAN: Oh yeah.PRESIDENT: Let o u t Check t ha t .HALDEMAN: Well , the Life r epo r t e r , Life r epo r t e r s d i d n ' tgo out . They were del ighted to be in . Ith ink t h e r e ' s a Life photographer in t he re ,too . So they ' re get t ing a lo t o f pic tures( tape noise) ins tance , wel l , we had a b ig - d id you read about the nude dance. Thatwas one the big th ings in the s tockade i st h a t a lo t ,men and women took o ff a l l t he i rclo thes and d id a , did a , uh, some so r t t a( tape noise) opera t ion .PRESIDENT: Well , the repor te rs ce r ta in ly - - they 've go tto damned wel l understand t h a t if t hey ' r ein there an d t hey ' r e to ld to move and d o n ' t ,they ' re gonna g et picked up too .HALDEMAN: That ' s the sce -...PRESIDENT: I not iced the Post i s , i s screamin ' about

it. Nicolas Von Hoffman, the nut .HALDEMAN: Oh, I know.PRESIDENT: Jesus Chr is t . Why do they car ry t h a t son-of a-b i t ch?HALDEMAN: Well now, because he says the kind of th ingsthey l ike to say . He says it with t o t a li r r e spons ib i l i ty .PRESIDENT: That ' s r igh t . They had a repor te r in here

sa id he was a Vietnam Marine veteran , anassoc ia te ed i to r of the soc ie ty page of thedamned th ing .HALDEMAN: I s t ha t r igh t .PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) They had him a l l o v e r the p l ace .HALDEMAN: But .


9/39

NIXON, HALDEMAN MEETING, MAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ? 5

PRESIDENT: They l e t hi m out j u s t as soon as they foundout who they were, r i gh t?HALDEMAN: Should have missed ( tape noise) .PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) The whole business aboutrepression and so fo r th , don ' t you think

HALDEMAN:

it's, on t h a t s ide - - inc i - inc iden ta l ly ,has anybody thought , you know, I , I , I meanit may be t h a t you guys went ahead (unin-t e l l i g i b l e ) , maybe it occurred to you t ha t , to ,to pu t some of these guys in sp- - whydoesn ' t somebody in t roduce a r e so lu t ion .I f you c a n ' t get a r e so lu t ion , perhapsc i r cu la r ize a l e t t e r suppor t ing thePres ident on the handl ing of the demonstra-t ions . You know we - - or something l iket ha t . Or if you ylant to , pra is ing thech ie f of po l ice , o r pra is ing the AttorneyGeneral . See what I mean? Couldn ' t you(unin te l l ig ib le ) - - have any ~ e e c h e s beenmade yet suppor t ing us or on t h i s , uh ? .Yeah. (Tape Noise) Th e speeches don ' t doany damn...

PRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le) doHALDEMAN: No.PRESIDENT: Maybe a reso lu t ion .H A L D E ~ m N : A reso lu t ion or a l e t t e r might .PRESIDENT: Maybe, maybe it i s n ' t worth the bother . Ij u s t thought tha t it might,HALDEMAN: ... It might get them th inking about it.PRESIDENT: That ' s my poin t .HALDEMAN: Right .PRESIDENT: I think r ea l ly t ha t - - . . HALDEMAN: Even Sam Ervin got up and went, wentthrough a big pre tens ion of pra i s ing the ,the , the whole opera t ion , Jus t i ce , theAdminis t ra t ion , the pol ice . Everybody h e a r d .


10/39


PRESIDENT: That r igh t?HALDEMAN: Yeah, he ' s the grea t defender of cons t i tu t iona l l i be r t i e s and a l l . .PRESIDENT: Yeah.HALDEMAN: t h a t s tu f f .PRESIDENT: Wh - - what 'd he pra ise?HALDEMAN: Th e handling of the demonstrat ion ove r a l l ,the whole, you, you know, there was a very( tape noise) it was a sweeping pra ise type .PRESIDENT: Yeah. Nel l ,HALDEMAN: It a l l went PRESIDENT: One thing we, uh, one thing I was gonna say ,t h - th - th - th , Pat went down to the Senate wivesand ( tape noise) a te a t a luncheon and shesa id they were a l l ( tape noise) on our s ide ,l e f t an d r igh t . She sa id ~ t r s . Ervin, Mrs.Stennis came through the l ine and she sa id ,"You know, the Pres ident has saved our

country. "HALDEMAN: (Uninte l l ig ib le)PRESIDENT: They r ea l ly think th i s i s good. I mean,we may have more goin ' fo r us than we th inkhere , Bob. Yah. We shou l dn ' t be f r ightenedabout it. That ' s my poin t . Let me pu t

it t h i s way, l e t me p u t it th i s way: Iknow, I know what it i s t ha t you ' r e gonna runin to on t h i s . You're gonna run in to peoplet h a t - - the overreact ion thing and a l l t h a ts o r t of th ing . My po in t , you ' r e gonna getaccustomed to tha t . No way t ha t you ' r egonna avoid it.HALDEMAN: That ' s r igh t .PRESIDENT: So therefore , play it hard. Play it r espons ib ly ,bu t play it hard and don ' t back o f f from it.


11/39

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NIXON, HALDEMAN MEETING, MAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.M . TO ? 7

Now, they can - - you see , they ' re a l l , t h e y ' l la l l think back to the san Jose th ing , youknow, and forge t t ing t ha t San Jose wasf ine except fo r the God damned s i l ly speech,you know. Covering t ha t getaway from it, we gotou t (unin te l l ig ib le ) home f ree . We had ita l l on our s ide .HALDEMAN: Nobody's ra i sed t ha t analogy and I think - t h e r e ' s been noPRESIDENT: Well.HALDEMAN: thought of backing of f .PRESIDENT: Don' t back.HALDEMAN: It's been a l l , the whole l ine has been . . PRESIDENT: . . f i rm.H A L D E ~ m N : Stay firm.PRESIDENT: Stay f irm and get cred i t fo r it. That ' s mypoin t . See, I don ' t want to make anaccident out of it. I don ' t want to bedoing on th e bas i s , wel l , wetre sor ta s i t t i ng

here embat t led and doing the bes t we can.I th ink the idea here i s to lead a nobleyou see maybe, you, it may be t h a t we' rese t t ing an example, Bob, for , uh, forun ive r s i t i e s r for o t he r c i t i e s , and sofor th and so on. Right? (Tape Noise) Let'e m look here . These people t ry somethin ' ,bus t 'em. (Unin te l l ig ib le Noise) genera la t t i t ude of your people .HALDEMAN: Yeah.PRESIDENT: Convinced?HALDEMAN: I think . . .PRESIDENT: we ought to go forward.HALDEMAN: Yeah. We, we stay with tha t a l l the way.There 's no


12/39

NIXON, HALDEMAN MEETING, MAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ? 8PRESIDENT: In o t he r words, l e t ' s be proud of what \'Te' redoing, not t h a t we're I th ink Zieg le r i s' cause I ...H A L D E r ~ N : I th ink t he re ' re some fo lks out there to t e a rdown the Vietcong f l ags today.PRESIDENT: Good.HALDEMAN: Ther e ' l l be some confrontat ion on t h a t inthe , in the Hi l l th ing . Tha t ' s , we' re , we ' r et ry ing for t ha t . Would be good . And, uh,( tape noise) of the Vietcong f lags . There ' sbeen some play . Newsweek ran some big colors tu f f . I th ink they , I don ' t think rea l izedt h a t they were . . .PRESIDENT: Yeah.H A L D E ~ f f i N : doing them a disserv ice because Ith ink the NeyTsweek coverage hur t thedemonstra-- we have them-- , cause theyshowed t h i s guer i l l a thea t re s t u f f with t he i rfaces a l l painted up and, and Vietcong f l agsand th i s kinda thing in color . Uh, veryviv id color p ic tu re s .PRESIDENT: Um-hmm.HALDEMAN: So...PRESIDENT: Hmm. You have 'e m on t ha t (un in te l l ig ib le )?HALDEMAN: Yeah, (un in t e l l i g ib l e ) Uh,.. .PRESIDENT: (Tape noise) take a look.tape noise) {Uninte l l ig ib le ,

HALDEMAN: That was the f i r s t of l a s t week's s tu f f .We don ' t have any th i s week, uh.PRESIDENT: Don' t you think they ' l l have qui te a b i tt h i s week too?HALDEMAN: Oh sure . They ' l l have to .PRESIDENT: Even though it came ou t . . .


13/39


HALDEMAN: I would guess t h - th - th , what Time, Newsweekcovers t h i s week would probably be ChiefWilson. (Tape Noise) Unless somethin 'happens the l a t t e r p a r t the week, somenew s to ry , bu t , uh, they have to go pr e t tymuch with what ' s in by Wednesday. (Unint e l l i g i b l e , tape noise) decision and Iwould think t ha t might be t he , might bethe s to ry . Maybe not .

PRESIDENT: (Tape noise , Uninte l l ig ib le ) an awfullygood job.[Pause. Tape Noise)

HALDEMAN: Heh-heh. Damn Colson th ing .PRESIDENT: He do something e lse?HALDEMAN: Yeah. Uh, Muskie sen t those oranges downto the veterans in the , the group onSaturday I mean.PRESIDENT: Yeah.HALDEMAN: He d idn ' t , he d idn ' t go down himsel f , buthe ' s sen t oranges .PRESIDENT: Colson ordered some oranges fo r him?HALDEMAN: Colson sen t oranges down yesterday.

(Laughter)HALDEMAN: (Laughing) From Muskie.PRESIDENT: I s it out?HALDEMAN: I don ' t know whether it's out yet or not .

PRESIDENT:HALDEMAN:

They ' l l ge t it out .(Laughter)(Laughing) He j u s t ordered 'em.(Laughing) Yeah. He's got an awful lo t ofcases of oranges a t t he - - I don ' t know how


14/39


HALDEr4.AN :(Continued)

PRESIDENT:HALDEMAN:PRESIDENT:HALDEMAN:

PRESIDENT:HALDEMAN:

PRESIDENT:HALDEMAN:

the h e l l he does t h a t s t u f f , bu t he- it's good, you'know, he ' s been around theD i s t r i c t here so long, he has a l o t ofcontac t s and, he, he , as a l oca l guy hecan g e t s t u f f done her e , bu t - - and he ' sgo t no - - and he ' s - - gonna ge t caughta t some o f these t h i ngs .(Uninte l l ig ib le) admit it.Well he has , he has been caught .It's a l l r ight?But , he ' s , h e ' s got a l o t done t h a t he h as n ' tbeen caught a t and, uh, he, he ge ts thoseguys , you know, something l i ke t h a t going.(Tape Noise) o f course t h i s i s uh - - we go tsome s t u f f t h a t he doesn ' t know anythingabout too through, uh , . Huston?No, through Chapin 's crew and, and RonWalker and the advance men we go t , we go t ,uh, - - see our p l an t ' s in the , . .What do you do?. . in the(unin te l l . ) , . . .

PRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le)?HALDEMAN: . . and some o f our - - guess you 've go t t awhat we've go t i s a , i s a guy t h a t nobody,none of us knmvs excep t Dwight - -PRESIDENT: Urn-hum.HALDEMAN: Who i s a , uh, and, and, who i s j u s t completelyremoved. There ' s no con tac t a t a l l . Whohas a mobi l ized a crew o f about - - I don ' twhat it i s . He ' s , he ' s s t a r t ing to bui ld

it now. We're gonna use it for the campaignnext year .

PRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le)


15/39


HALDEMAN: Yeah.PRESIDENT: Are they r ea l ly any good?HALDEMAN: In f ac t t h i s guy ' s a r ea l conspi ra tor type who, who can sor ta . . PRESIDENT: Like Huston then?HALDEMAN: Thug type guy, no, h i s , he ' s a s t rongerguy than Huston. Huston i s a , i s a - s tay in back room.PRESIDENT: Yeah.HALDEMAN: This i s the kinda guy can ge t out and t ea rth ings up.PRESIDENT: What do t h e ~ what do they do with, uh, dothey jus t , uh, .HALDEMAN: They get in and - - they wer.e the ones t h a td id the , the Nixon s igns , fo r ins tance , whenMuskie was in New Hampshire.PRESIDENT: Oh did they?HALDEMAN: And, uh .PRESIDENT: Everybody thought t ha t was gr ea t .HALDEMAN: They, you know - - things of t ha t s o r t . They,there some of t ha t , and then t hey ' r e , they ' re t he ,they ' r e gonna s t i r up some of t h i s Vietcongf lag business as Colson' s gonna do it throughhardhats and l eg ionnai res . W'hat Colson' s gonnado on it, and what I suggested he do, an d Ith ink t h a t they can get a, away \ ' lith t h i s , doit with the Teamsters. Jus t ask them to d igup those , t he i r e igh t thugs .PRESIDENT: Yeah.HALDEMAN: J u s t c a l l , c a l l , uh, what ' s h is name.PRESIDENT: Fitzsimmons.HALDEMAN: I s t ry ing t o ge t - - play our game anyway. I sj u s t , j u s t t e l l Fitzsimmons.


16/39


PRESIDENT: They, they 've got guys who' l l go in andknock t he i r heads of f .HALDEMAN: Sure. Murderers . Guys t h a t r e a l l y ,you know, t ha t ' s what they r ea l ly do.Like the S:eelworkers have and - - excep twe can ' t deal with the s:eelworkers a t

the moment.PRESIDENT: No.HALDEMAN: We can deal with the Teamsters . And they ,you know, PRESIDENT: Yeah.HALDEMAN: . it's the regular s t r i kebus t e r s - types

and a l l t h a t and they ( tape noise) typesand t h i s and then they ' r e gonna bea t thes h i t ou t of some of these people . And, uh,and hope they rea l ly h u r t 'em. You know,I mean go in with some r e a l - - and smashsome noses . (Tape Noise) some pre t ty goodf igh t s .PRESIDENT: I t ake it you can (un in t e l l i g ib l e ) p i c tu re o fthe guy in the Pos t t h a t the r epo r t e r ( tape

noise , un in te l l ig ib le ) back in jured and a l l .HALDEMAN: I d i d n ' t see t ha t . I must admit Buchanansa id in h is summary - - it's obvious thePos t i s going fo r a Pu l i t ze r pr ize ont he i r coverage of the thing o r something b ecause they ' re j u s t sp i l l i ng it PRESIDENT: Yeah.HALDEMAN: by the ton with a l l these ( tapenoise) p ic tu re s to r i es and everyth ing e l s e .PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) j u s t d o n ' t want to overplay it.They ' l l j u s t ge t , the coun t r y ' l l j u s t g e t abel ly f u l l o f these people .HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise) yeah.


17/39


PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) How did it handle it l a s tnight?H A L D E ~ 1 A N : (Tape Noise) had, had some good footage o fthe big mob ou t on the Jus t ice Departmentthing and, andPRESIDENT: Some close-up?HALDEr1AN: . . (Tape Noise, Uninte l l ig ib le ) Fort una t e ly , they ' r e a l l j u s t r ea l ly badlookin ' people . There 's no, t h e r e ' s no,uh, semblance of r e spec tab i l i ty .PRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le) on t h i s . There was someveterans e i ther .HALDEMAN: No. I d i d n ' t . There 's not . Rennie Davis has ,has been spokesman and, and he ' s as good fo rus and he ' s a convic ted conspi ra tor and, uh,( tape noise) discredi ted .PRESIDENT: Hmm.HALDEMAN: I think ge t t i ng Abbie Hoffman and, andt h i s John - - the other - - they gotPRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le)HALDEMAN: . another of the Chicago Seven guys.Uh, ( tape noise) amounts to anybody, bu tthey got him. But t h a t sor ta t a k e s . . .PRESIDENT: Aren ' t the Chicago Seven a l l Jews? Davis 'a Jew, you know.H A L D E ~ J r n : I don ' t think Davis i s .PRESIDENT: Hoffman, Hoffman's a Jew.HALDEMAN: Abbie Hoffman i s and t ha t ' s soPRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) John Luzens or Leubens or . HALDEMAN: (Uninte l l ig ib le)PRESIDENT: . . . the o ther one they got .


18/39


HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise) i s .PRESIDENT: About ha l f of these are Jews.HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise) they got one shot o f apoliceman clubbing a guy. (Tape Noise)

it doesn ' t do us an y good; but t hey ' r e ,you know, you c a n ' t avoid tha t . They ' rebound to ge t one somewhere along th e l i n e .Most of it was very much the other way.

PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) inev i tab le , Bob. How the h e l ldo you expect the poor God damned pol icemen--HALDEMAN: They've got to do it and I think peopleprobably recognize t h a t and there wasn ' t ,t h - - we don ' t have the thing l ike in

Chicago, if you remember . . PRESIDENT: Hrnm.HALDEMAN: t h a t it w-; it was a t o t a l l y d i f fe ren tkind of th ing . There the policemen werej u s t , they were r ea l ly ru th less . They hadgood reason to be.PRESIDENT: Sure .HALDEMAN: But these cops don ' t come ...PRESIDENT: And even then , and you'd b e t t e r remember,(un in t e l l i g ib l e ) the publ ic suppor ted.HALDEMAN: Then...PRESIDENT: The publ ic suppor ted. We were, we thoughtthe publ i c was not on t he i r s ide , the publ icwas on t he i r s ide .HALDEMAN: With the cops a l l the way.PRESIDENT: You be t your l i f e . And a t t h i s t ime, the pub l i c ' sgonna be on the s ide of - - I th ink thespeeches Congressmen and Senators give - -wel l for me, they won' t come bu t fo r me,bu t they could come out for Wilson, cou ldn ' t they?


19/39


HALDEMAN: Yeah.PRESIDENT: And, uhHALDEMAN: I (un in t e l l i g ib l e ) ge t 'em, you know, some-how. (Uninte l l ig ib le)PRESIDENT: Yeah. Okay.HALDEMAN: This i s the thing on t he , uh ( tape noise)employees fo r peace th ing . They, uh, ( tapenoise) over f ive hundred people on, and, uh,f ive hundred permits so they 've got to do

it under law.PRESIDENT: For f ive hundred?HALDEMAN: Yeah. Court ( tape noise) c a n ' t get an in -junct ion because we have toshow t h a t itr epresent s a c lea r t h rea t to secur i ty o fthe White House.PRESIDENT: Forge t it. Forget it.HALDEMAN: And t h i s doesn ' t , so - -PRESIDENT: Jus t don ' t pay an y a t t en t ion to tha t . Wec a n ' t ( un in te l l ig ib le , . tape noise) I'll be

over there . That ' s no problem. There 's oneplace Chapin screwed -(unin te l l ig ib le ) i sge t t i ng (un in t e l l i g ib l e ) God damn it i fthere a re any Sta te Department people t he re .And I be t I - - I 'd j u s t l ike to know.(Uninte l l ig ib le) i f they ' re HEW, to he l lwith it, t ha t ' s a l l .HALDEMAN: What it's genera l ly gonna be i s a l l thea c t i v i t i e s a t HEW (unin te l l ig ib le ) College

people are gonna s t a r t th i s Thursday andgo through Saturday. So they a r e n ' t gonnabe out there today.PRESIDENT: Oh boy. (Uninte l l ig ib le) All those preachertypes without t he i r ( un in te l l ig ib le ) .HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise) Immediate vic tory in Vietnam,( tape noise) a mil i t a r y vic tory in Vietnam.


20/39


(Pause, background noise)PRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le) on Saturdays.HALDEMAN: Not r ea l ly .PRESIDENT: NO, I mean it changed. I mean the a t t i t u d e schange. Two weeks ago everybody was worr iedabout the God damn veterans and so for th and

t h i s week they ' r e on the s ide of the cops .See what I mean? People , people t he re .HALDEMAN: Why.PRESIDENT: (Tape noise) They wer en ' t too much on thes ide of the ve te rans e i t h e r .HALDEMAN: That same thing as t h a t po l l of ours whichshows the s h i f t back to 48-40 approval ofVietnam, the Pr es iden t ' s handl ing o f Vietnam.PRESIDENT: Yeah, uh-huh. (Tape noise)HALDEMAN: You know, it sh i f t ed j u s t the o the r way,j u s t t h a t week of the veterans ' ...PRESIDENT: That the vet s . .HALDEMAN: ... demonst ra t ion .PRESIDENT: Tha t ' s , t h a t ' s awful.HALDEMAN: (Tape noise) That ' s r ea l ly what happened.

It sure shows t ha t , th e e f f ec t o f , uh, o fthe t e l ev i s ion barrage and was j u s t a l l itcan be. That ' s the only way they knew anyth ing . PRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le)HALDEMAN: . . about the vet s ' cause the papers d i d n ' tgive 'e m t h a t much, t h a t much of a play ou t s i deo f , ou tPRESIDENT: Outside of Washington. Tha t ' s r i g h t . Thatwas a h e l l of a te lev is ion show.HALDEMAN: Yeah. (Tape noise) and t h a t was before , t h a ta r t i c l e was taken before they threwthe medals over the fence which was the

most ef fec t ive appearing ( tape noise) on T.V.


21/39


PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) Oh, yeah. Th e lunge aroundthe - - the drop. That ' s r igh t . (Tape Noise ,Uninte l l ig ib le ) to show it the day beforethe medal ( u n i n t e l l i g i b l e ~ tape noise)Th e po l l ind ica tes t h a t was .

HALDEMAN: Well , our p o l l ind ica ted they were two- toone agains t the , the demonstrat ions beforeth i s happens, before an y s - s - , of t h i ss tu f f . (Tape Noise) I th ink you ' r e gonnahave to , have to - - it's more than two. It'salmost t h r ee .

PRESIDENT: Um-hum .HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise) I think more now. (Tape noise ;un in te l l ig ib le ) PRESIDENT: Does know anybody gonna be around today.Did you look - - I hope they ' re keepin 'the f l ags up. (Tape Noise) That ought tobe a nat iona l - - cause I suggested to theLegion and VFW should have t h a t was anat iona l pro jec t . Defend the f lags . Any-body t ha t would t e a r it down - - you know, t h a t ' s ,t h a t ' s p a r t of t h e i r d r i l l anyway. Wouldn' tt h a t be a good idea? (Tape Noise; Unint e l l i g ib l e ) Jus t gonna be the end. Thesepeople got a f lag upside down, you know,burning it and so fo r th . The h e l l with it.You l e t 'em s t a r t on t ha t - -HALDEMAN: Um-hum.PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise, Uninte l l ig ib le )HALDEMAN: Yeah.PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) cool Spr ing . It's, it's never ...HALDEMAN: It's supposed to warm up now today.PRESIDENT: I s i t ?HALDEMAN: And, uh - - ( tape noise) it's up to seventy.PRESIDENT: I wonder if the Congress, uh, today wil lr ea l ly g e t a be l ly f u l l of these people .


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NIXON, H A L D E f f i N rlli ETING, MAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ? 18

HALDEMAN: Well, I ho pe so .PRESIDENT: I f they could ju s t move in in to th e ha l l sof Congress somewhere , have they thought oft ha t .HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise) Congressional Pol ice are p ~ o b a b l y gonna t ry and - - the Capi to l Pol ice w i l ltu rn 'e m over to us ( tape noise) know whatt he i r plan i s , l e a s t d id as of , f i r s tthing t h i s morning.PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) Did t ha t thing about t ha t , t ha ts tory about the bomb under the bridge everget out?H A L D E It turned ou t t ha t it wasn ' t a l ive bomb,j u s t a fake , ( tape noise) went down andtes ted it and it was no (unin te l l ig ib le ) .PRESIDENT: Jus t a fake . (Unin te l l ig ib le ; tape noise)H A L D E Y ~ N : (Unin te l l ig ib le , tape noise) see these peoplerun. And they ( tape noise) don ' t even knowwhat they . . Real ly impat ient .HALDEMAN: On t h a t - - ( tape noise) Yeah. Their

technique was theo r e t i ca l ly non-vio lent ,bu t t r ans i en t s tu f f they don ' t regard asv io len t . (Tape Noise) God Almighty.PRESIDENT: That ' s the worst thing I ever heard of.(Tape noises) It's - - he sa id the Congressi s mad again. (Uninte l l ig ib le) - - wel l ,they ' r e not - - th i s i s r ea l ly t h e i r f i r s trun a t the Congress en masse. They d i d n ' thave a the i r , th - , l a s t week, they j u s t

went - - a fe w of 'em.HALDEMAN: That ' s r igh t . They d i d n ' t have any demon-s t r a t ion - - wel l , the veterans ' th ing , uh PRESIDENT: No, the major i ty of the pain though was a t ,was a f t e r the veterans ' th ing .HALDEMAN: Yeah and t ha t was small groups.


23/39


PRESIDENT: That was small groups.HALDEMAN: Sor t o f marauding bands. I d o n ' t know,( tape noise) they may decided to crank it up.PRESIDENT: (Tape noise) supposed to be the b ig day.

HALDEMAN:

Anyway, t h a t ' s what I have on t he ca lendar .May 5th .Oh yeah. This was gonna be the b ig day.

PRESIDENT: (Tape noise) s i t ua t ion repor te r s havebeen scooped up a l r igh t . (Unintel l ig ible)HALDEMAN: (Tape noise) say t h a t again.PRESIDENT: Repor ters would be in it's the lo g ic a l

th ing. They' re the re to cover - -H A L D E ~ m N : They jus t c i rc le them, you know, which hasbeen the t ac t i c they 've used. They g e t agroup, order them to disperse . I f theyd o n ' t then they c i r c l e 'em and a r r e s t every-body ins ide the c i rc le . And they, the th ingi s they 'd move 'e m f a s t onto the vans , and uh, ( tape noise) - - t hey , now they 've changedt h a t t ac t i c now. They won' t any more press

because the press has got a l l t h e s e l i ~ - - t h ey ' l lshow the badge of course . Unless he wants tobe arres ted and some of them probably wantedto be. Some of theroprobably purpose lyd i d n ' t show...PRESIDENT: Sure.HALDEMAN: t h e i r badge.PRESIDENT: They wanted to be - - so they can g e t a l l the(un in te l l ig ib le ) fo r the P u l i t i z e r Pr ize .Steve Bul l (un in t e l l i g ib l e ) . That damnedEisenhower College t ry ing to ge t me to makea fundrais ing - -HALDEMAN: Yeah, they got Ju l i e put t ing the p i tc h to younow.PRESIDENT: Not gonna do it. (Tape Noise) I ' ve done alo t fo r the Eisenhower family .


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NIXON, HALDEMAN MEETING, MAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ? 20HALDEf-u\N: Yeah.PRESIDENT: an d I ' ve got to do something fo r Bob

HALDEMAN:

Hope's Eisenhower Center in the Deser tand t ha t ' s f ine - - but t h a t EisenhowerCollege i s one smal l col l ege and I'll beGod damned i f I 'm gonna do it, don ' t youagree?Yeah. And they ' r e j u s t milking

PRESIDENT: Oh yeah.HALDEMAN: poor Mrs. Eisenhower.PRESIDENT: You know she ' s . .HALDEMAN and PRESIDENT t a lk a t once.PRESIDENT: . s e v e n t y ~ f i f t h bi r thday .HALDEMAN: ... using a l l her pres t ige to t r y and - -PRESIDENT: And she c a l l s Ju l i e . (Tape Noise , Uninte l l ig ib le )

(Background noises)HALDEMAN: (Uninte l l ig ib le) I don ' t t a lk to her .(Uninte l l ig ib le)

(Tape and background noises)PRESIDENT: Okay. Probably j u s t as wel l because t h i senormous pressure w i l l go on then , Bob, nowon these meetings today ( un in te l l ig ib le , back-ground noises) .HALDEMAN: Yeah, uh , - -PRESIDENT: Inc identa l ly - - and they w i l l pass r igh ton today and accept it. (Unin te l l ig ib le ,background noise) Okay?HALDEMAN: (Uninte l l ig ib le)PRESIDENT: Okay.HALDEMAN: (Uninte l l ig ib le)


25/39

NIXON, HALDEMAN MEETING, MAY 5, 1971, ~ : 5 5 ~ . M . TO ? 21

PRESIDENT: Next week. After a l l , there i s , ifthere is any so r t o f crappin ' around youshouldn ' t have problems with it. We ta lked(un in te l l i g ib l e ) . This af ternoon (un in te l l ig ib le )what e lse i s , uh, - - with regard to the(un in te l l ig ib le) .HALDEMAN: Saw him fo r a few minutes .PRESIDENT: (Unintel l igible) Lef t fo r New York.(Unintel l igible)HALDEMAN: Mitchel l . He wanted to catch up. That , t ha twas j u s t your weekly get - toge ther t h a t "vole hadscheduled fo r yesterday.PRESIDENT: Well l e t ' s leave it up to him. He might

have some (un in te l l ig ib le )HALDEMAN: Okay.PRESIDENT: I know, uh, - -

(Pause, wri t ing sounds)HALDEMAN: Uh ( tape noise) Pete Peterson. And thenth i s group t ha t ' s goin ' in to t h i s BusinessCounci l th ing .PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise, Uninte l l ig ib le ) head of theBusiness Counci l , Bob? Connally? Who e lse?HALDEMAN: Connally, Shul tz , Stans , the Vice Pres identand Pete Peterson.PRESIDENT: (Tape noise) what - - I c a n ' t see t ha t t he r e ' smuch I can say to them. They a l l havet he i r own speeches to make. (Tape noise) I

th ink it gives them - - the Business Counci l ' simportance too much . HALDEMAN: Yeah.PRESIDENT: fo r me to spend t ha t mucp t ime to t a lk to(unin te l l ig ib le )HALDEMAN: I t was j u s t a , yo u know . .


26/39


PRESIDENT: Well, wh-what ' s the l i ne , e r , has beenwhat the l ine is? Connal ly ' s?HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise) to ge t Connally in and, and

still not necessar - -we don ' t have to do theLockheed th ing .PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) I f igure the Lockheed thingdoesn ' t have to be done us . I don ' thave to anyway, (un in te l l ig ib le )H A L D E ~ m N : No , I know.PRESIDENT: I want -Connally to do it in Treasury.HALDEMAN: Well , I could get Connally in to ge t it done .

(Pause)HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise, Uninte l l ig ib le ) That oughtado it, anyway, s tay out of it, t h a t s onemore day ' s s t . .PRESIDENT: I .HALDEMAN: I d o n ' t think a leak gonna do t h a tmuch good. He sa id he 'd announce Tuesday

o r Wednesday.PRESIDENT: Yeah. I th ink you could have done the th ingI , I think you ' r e r igh t . I think the leaksth ing i s worth - - they have most anything(un in t e l l i g ib l e ) the papers have had it anyway. It's a bunch a - -HALDEMAN: It'sPRESIDENT and HALDEMAN ta lk a t once.HALDEMAN: day a f t e r day. One more day i s n ' tgonna make t h a t much di f fe rence probably.PRESIDENT: (Tape Noise) Peterson want to t a lk aboutto ta lk about the Japan t rade th ing? Doesth i s - - does he say he doesn ' t know aboutthe day t ha t , uh ...HALDEMAN: (Tape Noise) He's a t a c r i t i c a l s tage . Needs

to consu l t pr io r to taking any fu r the r ac t ion .


27/39


28/39


(End of background noise)PRESIDENT: Boy it ' s r ea l ly a c lea r day .HALDEMAN: Yeah.PRESIDENT: On the agr icu l ture th ing - - do I speak

outside?HALDEMAN: No.PRESIDENT: To the d inner orHALDEMAN: No, you, youPRES IDENT : \fua t do I do then?HALDEMAN: You--you go over to the Agricul tureDepartment on a Friday morning.PRESIDENT: Oh (unin te l l ig ib le )H A L D E ~ l : Seminar t h a t you j u s t open. And then theyhave gree t ings from Henry Kiss inger or somebody, you know, and t ha t . Uh, .PRESIDENT: But what do I have to - -PRESIDENTandHALDEMAN: Both t a lk a t oncePRESIDENT: ... Expect a speech then? Do I have to givesomething?HALDEMAN: Remarks. Jus t , j u s t ...PRESIDENT: \fuat in the h e l l i s out there? I don ' t

have to go out there today, do I?HALDEMAN: That ' s something - - I d o n ' t know what t h a ti s , no ( un in te l l ig ib le ) .

(Background noise dur ing next segment.)


29/39

NIXON, H A L D E ~ m N MEETING, MAY 5, 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ? 25PRESIDENT: Hold the door. Now if God damn it, Ican, I d o n ' t want to ( un in te l l ig ib le ,background no i se ) , Bob. We went throught h i s before .HALDEMAN: No , t h i s i s , t h i s (un in te l l i g ib l e ) . Thisi s the , the , uh, - -

(End of background noise)PRESIDENT: What i s it, j u s t a "dur ing each Admin is t ra t ion ,men are chosen top c i v i l servant s (un in t e l l i g ib l e )(Tape noise) not going to comment upon it.HALDEMAN: This i s the one where you don ' t . .PRESIDENT: I don ' t want to say a word. Now.HALDEMAN: You've never done the ceremonies.PRESIDENT: I'll do the ceremony. J u s t leaveHALDEMAN: We're only doing j u s t (un in te l l ig ib le ) .PRESIDENT: (Uninte l l ig ib le) in t roduce you to the Chai r man an d ( un in te l l ig ib le ) . Then the boysw i l l want , "you might wish to comment.""No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I 'm not gonnac- , " - - see I don ' t want to a speech aboutthese men. I don ' t want to do it. They cansend it over fo r your s ignature to theheads of ( tape noise , un in te l l ig ib le ) by theappropr ia te Department heads. Tha t ' s - -HALDEMAN: Well , nothing good.PRESIDENT: Sure. Now, then. Oh, with regard to t h i sthing here in August , uh,HALDEMAN: (Uninte l l ig ib le) presenta t ionPRESIDENT: Of the , o f the j u s t present ing the awards.And get the God d a ~ ~ e d people ou t , you know. Imean, I d o n ' t want t he , you know, the r epo r t e r schewin ' t h e i r gum and 'Vmiting fo r me to saysomething profound.HALDEMAN: Well t h e r e ' s nothing to say t h a t ' s


30/39

-NIXON, HALDEHAN MEETING, MAY 5 , 1971, 9:55 A.M. TO ? 26

PRESIDENT: You knmv r ea l ly it i s n ' t going to me loseanyway, Bob. Jus t present the awards. Veryn ice pic ture s tory . That ' s a l l . And then ,and t e l l 'e m t he re ' s not going to be an ycomments. I f , if the repor te rs - - l e t ' s l e tOll ie take a p ic tu re . Ca n we do t h a t t h i st ime? I mean, you have so many coming ino f , of the press pool .

HALDEMAN: You don ' t have to say anything. There ' s no,you know, uhPRESIDENT: Okay. We' l l go over it tomorrow. Good,t h i s i s ( un in te l l ig ib le ) . Maybe (unin-t e l l i g i b l e ) .

(Door c loses . En d of conversa t ion . Eigh tcounter un i t s of background noise u n t i lend of t ape . )


31/39

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32/39

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33/39

--.).-

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34/39

--WATERGATE SPECIAL P,ROSECUTION FORCE DEPJ\ TMENT OF J UST ICE.lVlemorandumTO Henry S. Ruth, J r . DATE : May 22, 197 5

FROM Nick

SUBJECT : Quest ions For Former Pr es i den t Nixon

S e t for th below are the ques t ions fo r formerPres ident Nixon r e la t ing to (1 ) th e a s s a u l t on demons t r a t o r s on May 3 , 1972, (2 ) Richard Moore ' s Senateand grand ju ry tes t imony on th e February 13-15, 1972,La Costa meet ing ; (3) th e use of the Pos t Off ice Depar tment to obta in informat ion on P r e s i d e n t i a l candidateGeorge McGovern ' s campaign con t r ibu t ions , and (4) the1971 May Day demons t r a t ions .

Assau l t on DemonstratorsOn or abou t May 3, 1972, d id you have any conver sa t ions wi th Char les Colson about an an t iwar demonstrat i o n , a counterdemonst ra t ion o r an as sau l t on demon

s t r a t o r s a l l of which took p la c e on th e Capi to l s tepson th e evening of May 3, 1972, when J . Edga r Hoover ' sbody was ly ing in s t a t e in the Rotunda?In a June 28, 1972, a r t i c l e in th e New York Times,

it wa s f i r s t repor ted t h a t th e Miamians lnvolved in th eWatergate break- in had conf ron ted a n t iwar demonst ra tors"ou ts ide th e Cap i to l while th e body o f J . Edgar Hooverlay i n s t a t e . " On o r abou t th e time t h a t a r t i c l e waspub l i shed , d id y ou d i scuss t h i s i nc i d e n t w ith Cha r le sColson o r anyone el se?In an A p r i l 25, 1973, conversa t i on with Haldemanand Eh r l ichman in th e Oval Off ice , t he r e i s a d iscuss ionabou t "br inging the Cubans up to rough-up the demons t r a t o r s . " Who f i r s t informed you abou t t h i s in c ident?

cc: Fi l e sChronAkerman ChronRut (2)Davls

---------------------------..


35/39

2.

Was it Colson? Spec i f i ca l ly , you s t a t e tha t "DickHoward get s involved wi th th e money. " vJho t o ldyou tha t? What d id you unders tand to be Col son ' sand Rhat i can ' s ro le in t h i s inc iden t?

Richard Moo reSubsequent to Apr i l 19, 1 973, d id you have any

fu r the r d iscuss ion with Richard Moore abou t th eFebruary 13-15, 1973, meeting a t La Costa o r abou th is tes t imony on th is meeting before th e Senate Commi'cteeo r the Watergate grand jury?Spec i f i ca l ly , d id your conversa t ions wi t h Mr. Moo r eon Apr i l 20, 1973, and May 8, 1973, r e l a t e to thesetop ics?

Pos t OfficeIn a discuss ion abou t McGovern's campaign c o n t r i but ions , in th e September 15, 197 2, tape Haldeman andNixon engage in the f o l lo wi ng in terchange:

PRESIDENT:* * *

He may have some b ig ange ls .d o n ' t th ink he i s ge t t i ng a h e l l o fo f smal l money. I d o n ' t th ink s o .d o n ' t bel i eve t h i s crap . I mean ifHave you had your Pos t Off ice check

Ia l o tIhe - ye t?

HALDEMAN: That John was going to do. I d o n ' t know.PRESIDENT: Tha t ' s an in te r e s t ing th ing to check.HALDEMAN: Yeah.

* * *When d id you f i r s t l ea r n abou t t h i s projec t 'comoni to r McGovern's mail?When d id t h i s proj e c t s t a r t ?How of t en was it done?Did th e purpose and scope o f t h i s pro jec t extendbeyond checking th e volume o f mai l to McGovern?


36/39

3 .

The 1971 May Day DemonstrationsIn a May 5, 1971, conversa t ion with Haldeman ,Haldeman and Ni xon t a lk about good squads being re -c ru i t ed by Colson and Chapin to bea t up demonstra to r s .

It wi ll f i r s t be necessary to t r ansc r ibe t h i s tapebefore I can formulate q u e s ~ ~ o n s . The ques t ion ing ,howeve r , w i l l focus on Ni xon ' s knowledge of su ch goonsquads .


37/39

WATERGATE SPECIAL P ~ O S E C U T I O N FORCE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Memorandum After maet..in] with NA, PK, RD, JH ruii ne ,a ll parties agreed that "office interview" fonnaton both issues was appropriate request. Not grruii juryTO

FROM

: ~ ~ . w ~ i t i e s and " '" legal ~ ~ ' i , - , ~

SUBJECT: Nixon Grand Jury TestimonyI f former President Richard M. Nixon is subpoenaedbefore the grand jury he should be questioned abouth is knowledge of the assaul t on antiwar demonstratorson May 3, 1972, and his knowledge of the facts leadingup to Richard Moore's grand jury an d Senate testimony

on the La Costa meeting.Assaul t on Demonstratorswith respect to the assaul t , there i s overwhelmingevidence in an April 25th, 1973, White House tape toindicate tha t Nixon was knowledgeable about th is in aident ei ther through direc t conversations with CharlesColson or :.others . This tape of a Nixon, Ehrlichman,

(Haldeman conversation in the Oval Office contains twoseparate references to facts surrounding this assaul tincluding Ehrlichman's statement to the President about' ~ r i n g i n g the Cubans up to rough-up the demonstrators."t ~ i s connection the involvement of Colson, Rhatican,nd oward, Colson's administrative ass i s t an t , i s brief lyussed in terms of what past incidents might comeplague the President in the future .

(There i s also evidence tha t the President may haveinst igated th is assaul t .. Magruder has t es t i f ied tha tColson told him tha t the President wanted the proAdministration presence a t the antiwar demonstration.Although it was a re la t ive ly common pract ice fo r White

House aides to request action in the name of the Presidentwhen in fact the President made no such requests , Colsonwas one of the few aides who actually ha d constant accesscc: FilesChronRuth (2)HorowitzDavisAkermanAkerman

. / .to the President during th is period of t ime. Indeed," Colson had a number of meetings with the President~ e t w e e n May 1, and May 3, 1972. Rhatican has alsot es t i f i ed tha t Colson would have l ikely ha d contactwith the President on this project .

Chron

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FCIA(b)6FOIA(b)7 - (C)

NW#:36514

2.

There are two reasons why the former Presidentshould be questioned about th is matter . Fi r s t , hemight be a e to provide valuable evidencColson

Nixon could provideextremely relevant testimony on the assaul t and onColson's motive ei ther through his conversations . withColson or others or b direct ing us to relevant conversat ions which might have been tape recorded.

and

The second reason for questioning Nixon about th isassaul t i s simply the fact that he does have knowledgeof a highly s ignif icant crime insofar as it involvesan act of violence perpetrated by the same people , i . e .Liddy, Hunt, and the Cuban-Americans who burglarizedDr . Fieldingts off ice and the Democratic National CommitteeHeadquarters. Indeed, when we have overwhelming evidence

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NW#:36514

3.

that the former President of th e United States ha ss igni f icant knowledge of th is incident , it would beto ta l ly negl igent for us not to take his testimonybefore the grand jury .Richard Moore

As we have discussed previously, there is evidencethat Richard Moore committed perjury before the grandjury an d th e Watergate Senate Committee when he wasquestioned about the discussion of funds fo r theWatergate burglars a t the La Costa meeting with Dean,Ehrlichman, and Haldeman. Evidence of th is perjury whichis presently insuf f ic ient to convict Moore consists ofJohn Dean's testimony and a tape of an Oval Officemeeting between Moore and Nixon on Apri l 19, 1973.The strongest evidence contained in th is tape is thatport ion of the conversation in which Moore agrees toNixon's request to be "damn hazy" about his recollectionof the La Costa meeting.

Nixon's testimony could establ i sh a perjury caseagainst Moore. Nixon's testimony could clear up someof the ambiguities in the April 19th tape , most s igni f icant ly ,what Nixon believed was Moore's understanding when hewas asked to be "damn hazy." There is reason to bel ievefrom Nixon's subsequent taped conversations with Ehrlich-man and Haldeman (a l l of which would be inadmissible ina perjury case against Moore) tha t Nixon clear ly expectedMoore to l ie to the prosecutors . Nixon also would beable to test i fy to the substance of an y other relevantconversations with Moore about La Costa subsequent toApril 19th up to the time Moore t es t i f i ed in the Watergate grand jury. There i s evidence tha t a t l eas t two suchconversations or meetings occurred - - one on April 20 ,1973, and another on May 8, 1973.The l ikel ihood of Nixon tes t i fy ing against an oldfriend should not be a factor in deciding whether toquestion Nixon about th i s matter in the grand jury.There is overwhelming evidence tha t Nixon could providehighly relevant evidence, and on that bas is alone wewould be negl igent in not p u r s u i n ~ his testimony.

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Documents

Folder 9/8: Civil rights/abuse of demonstrators questions