DEAN: Yes sir. 
PRESIDENT: Well, you had quite a day today, didn't you? 
You got, uh, Watergate, uh, on the way, huh? 
DEAN: Quite a three months. 
HALDEMAN: How did it all end up? 
DEAN: Uh, I think we can say "Well" at this point. 
The, uh, the press is playing it just as we 
expect. 
HALDEMAN: Whitewash? 
DEAN: No, not yet; the, the story right now -- 
PRESIDENT: It's a big story. 
DEAN: Yeah. 
PRESIDENT: (Unintelligible) 
HALDEMAN: Five indicted, 
DEAN: Plus, 
HALDEMAN: Just so they have the fact that one of -- 
DEAN: plus two White House aides. 
HALDEMAN: Plus, plus the White House former guy and 
all that.   That's good.   That, that takes 
the edge off whitewash really -- which -- 
that was the thing Mitchell kept saying 
that... 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
HALDEMAN: that to those in the country, Liddy and, 
and, uh, Hunt are big men.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 2 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: Yeah.  They're White House aides. 
DEAN: That's right. 
HALDEMAN: And maybe that -- Yeah, maybe that's good. 
PRESIDENT: How did MacGregor handle himself? 
DEAN: I think very well.  He had a good statement. 
Uh, he said that the, uh, the Grand Jury 
indictment speaks for itself and that, uh, 
it's now time to realize that some apologies 
may be due. 
HALDEMAN: Fat chance.  (Laughs) 
DEAN: Yeah (Unintelligible) 
PRESIDENT: We couldn't do that (unintelligible) just 
remember all the trouble they gave us on 
this.  We'll have a chance to get back at 
them one day.  How are you doing on your 
other investigations?  Your -- How does this 
(unintelligible) 
DEAN: (Unintelligible) end of the, uh -- 
HALDEMAN: What's happened on the bug? 
PRESIDENT: hard to find -- on the what? 
HALDEMAN: The bug. 
DEAN: The second bug.  There was another bug found 
in the phone of, uh, the first -- 
PRESIDENT: You don't think it was one left over from 
the previous job? 
DEAN: We're -- Absolutely not. 
PRESIDENT: (Unintelligible) 
DEAN: The, Bureau, has, uh, checked and re-checked 
The man who checked the phone first said 
that his first check was thorough and it was 
there in the instrument (clear throat) and 
that indeed it had to be planted after...
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 3 
PRESIDENT: What the hell do you think is involved? 
What's your guess? 
DEAN: I think the DNC planted it, quite clearly. 
PRESIDENT: You think they did it? 
DEAN: Uh huh. 
PRESIDENT: Deliberately? 
DEAN: (Unintelligible) 
PRESIDENT: Well, what in the name of Christ did they 
think that anybody was -- They really want 
to believe that we planted that? 
HALDEMAN: Did they get anything on the fingerprints? 
DEAN: No latents at all. 
HALDEMAN: There weren't any? 
DEAN: Neither on the telephone or on the, uh, on 
the bug.  The, uh, well, the FBI has 
unleashed a full blast investigation over at 
the DNC starting with O'Brien right down. 
HALDEMAN: (Laughs) Using the same crews now that they 
have nothing to do in Washington. 
DEAN: The same Washington Field Office as well as... 
PRESIDENT: What are they doing?  Asking them what kind 
of questions? 
DEAN: Anything that they can think of because what 
happened, O'Brien has charged the Bureau 
with failing to, uh, find all the, all the 
bugs, whenever (unintelligible). 
HALDEMAN: Good, that'll make them mad.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 4 
DEAN: So, so, Gray is pissed now and his people 
are pissed off.  So they're moving in 
because their reputation's on the line. 
That's, uh, do you think that's a good 
development? 
PRESIDENT: I think that's a good development because it 
makes it look so God damned phony, doesn't 
it?  The whole -- 
DEAN: Absolutely. 
PRESIDENT: Or am I wrong? 
DEAN: No, no sir.  It, it -- 
PRESIDENT: -- looks silly. 
DEAN: If we can, if we can find that the DNC 
planted that, the whole story is going to -- 
the whole -- just will reverse. 
PRESIDENT: But how will you, how could you possibly 
find it, though? 
DEAN: Well, there's a way.  They're, they're 
trying to ascertain who made the bug. 
PRESIDENT: Oh. 
DEAN: If they -- It's a custom-made product. 
PRESIDENT: Oh. 
DEAN: If they can get back to the man who 
manufactured it, then they can find out who 
he sold it to, and how it came down through 
the chain. 
PRESIDENT: Boy, you know, you never know.  When those 
guys get after it, they can find it.  They - 
-
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 5 
DEAN: The resources that have been put against 
this whole investigation to date are really 
incredible.  It's truly a, it's truly a 
larger investigation than was conducted 
against, uh, the after inquiry of the JFK 
assassination. 
PRESIDENT: Oh. 
DEAN: And good statistics supporting that 
Kleindienst is going to have a -- 
HALDEMAN: Isn't that ridiculous though? 
DEAN: What is? 
HALDEMAN: This silly ass damn thing. 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
HALDEMAN: That kind of resources against -- 
PRESIDENT: Yeah for Christ's sake (unintelligible) 
HALDEMAN: Who the hell cares? 
PRESIDENT: Goldwater put it in context, he said "Well, 
for Christ's sake, everybody bugs everybody 
else.?  We know that. 
DEAN: That was, that was priceless. 
HALDEMAN: Yeah.  I bugged -- 
PRESIDENT: Well, it's true.  It happens to be totally 
true. 
DEAN: (Unintelligible) 
PRESIDENT: We were bugged in '68 on the plane and 
bugged in '62, uh, even running for 
Governor.  God damnedest thing you ever saw.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 6 
DEAN: It was a shame that that evidence of the 
fact that that happened in '68 was never 
preserved around.  I understand that only 
the former Director had that information. 
HALDEMAN: No, that?s not true. 
DEAN: There was direct evidence of it? 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
HALDEMAN: There's others who have that information. 
PRESIDENT: Others know it. 
DEAN: DeLoach? 
PRESIDENT: DeLoach, right. 
HALDEMAN: I've got some stuff on it, too, in the 
bombing halt study.  'Cause it's all -- 
that's why, the, the stuff I've got we don't 
-- 
PRESIDENT: The difficulty with using it, of course, is 
that it reflects on Johnson. 
DEAN: Right. 
PRESIDENT: He ordered it.  If it weren't for that, I'd 
use it.  Is there any way we could use it 
without reflecting on Johnson?  How -- Now, 
could we say, could we say that the 
Democratic National Committee did it?  No, 
the FBI did the bugging though. 
HALDEMAN: That's the problem. 
DEAN: Is it going to reflect on Johnson or Humphrey? 
HALDEMAN: Johnson.  Humphrey didn't do it. 
DEAN: Humphrey didn't do it? 
PRESIDENT: Oh, hell no.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 7 
HALDEMAN: He was bugging Humphrey, too.  (Laughs) 
PRESIDENT: Oh, God damn. 
HALDEMAN: (Laughs) 
PRESIDENT: Well, on the other hand, maybe, uh -- I'll 
tell you who to call.  I want you to ask 
Connally.  Whatever he thinks, maybe we 
ought to just, just let that one fly.  I 
mean, I don't think he will, I don't think 
he will (unintelligible) Johnson. 
(Unintelligible) Also it reflects on the 
Bureau.  (Unintelligible) 
DEAN: (Unintelligible) 
PRESIDENT: They, they, they hate to admit that -- 
HALDEMAN: It's a rough one on them with, with all this 
stuff about they don't do Congressmen, and 
all that... 
PRESIDENT: That's right. 
HALDEMAN: sort of stuff (unintelligible) 
PRESIDENT: I -- 
HALDEMAN: do a presidential (unintelligible) 
PRESIDENT: It isn't worth it.  It isn't worth it.  Damn 
it, it isn't worth -- the hell with it. 
What is the situation on your, uh, on the, 
on the little red box?  Did they find what 
the hell that, that is?  Have they found the 
box yet? 
DEAN: Gray has never had access to the box.  He is 
now going to pursue the box.  I spoke with 
him just, just about, uh, oh, thirty minutes 
ago and Pat said, "I don't know about the 
box.  Uh, don't know where it is now.  We 
never had an opportunity before, when it was 
first, uh, released in the press there was a 
box, to go in." But he decided we have 
grounds now to go in and find out what it's 
all about.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 8 
HALDEMAN: The last public story was that she handed 
over to Edward Bennett Williams. 
UNKNOWN: (Clears throat) 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: Perhaps the Bureau ought to go over -- 
(NOISE) 
HALDEMAN: The Bureau ought to go into Edward Bennett 
Williams and let's start questioning that 
son-of-a-bitch.  Keep him tied up for a 
couple of weeks. 
PRESIDENT: Yeah, I hope they do.  They -- The Bureau 
better get over pretty quick and get that 
red box.  We want it cleared up. 
(Unintelligible) 
DEAN: That's exactly the way I, I gave it to Gray. 
I, uh, uh -- 
PRESIDENT: We want it cleared up.  We want to get to 
the bottom of it.  If anybody is guilty over 
here we want to know. 
HALDEMAN: (Unintelligible) in the news.  (Laughs) (Noise) 
DEAN: Another interesting thing that's developed 
is, regarding the private litigation we've 
got is, uh, the Stans' libel action was 
assigned to Judge Richey. 
PRESIDENT: Oh, Christ. 
DEAN: Well, now, that's good and bad.  Uh, Judge 
Richey is not known to be one of the 
intellects on the bench.  That's conceded by 
many that he is uh, uh -- 
PRESIDENT: (Unintelligible) in his own stupid way he's 
sort of, uh --
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 9 
DEAN: Well, he's been thoroughly candid in his 
dealing with people about the case.  He's 
made several entrees, uh, off the bench, to, 
to, uh, (1) to Kleindienst; (2) to, uh, his 
old friend Roemer McPhee, to keep Roemer 
abreast of what his thinking is.  He told 
Roemer he thought that Maury ought to file a 
libel action. 
PRESIDENT: Did he? 
DEAN: (Laughs) 
PRESIDENT: Good. 
DEAN: Uh -- 
HALDEMAN: Well, can he deal with that case 
concurrently with the other case? 
DEAN: Yeah.  The, the fact that the, the civil 
case came to a halt, that the depositions 
were halted and he -- 
HALDEMAN: -- opened his calendar for a few days. 
DEAN: Well, it did that, and more than that.  He 
had been talking to Silbert, and Silbert, 
uh, the U.S.  Attorney down here, the 
Assistant U.S.  Attorney was saying, "We are 
going to have a hell of a time drawing these 
indictments up because of the fact that 
these civil depositions keep coming out and 
the Grand Jury's got one eye on this civil 
case because they don't want to get 
themselves caught, uh, coming out with 
indictments and the civil case that is 
looking differently, so -- 
UNIDENTIFIED: Would you like to take Clark now; sir? 
HALDEMAN: MacGregor's call? 
PRESIDENT: Yeah.  Go ahead.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 10 
DEAN: So, based, based on that, uh, uh, when 
Silbert had told Richey the, uh -- had a 
casual encounter -- in fact, uh, it was just 
in the hall -- Richey, the next thing he 
does is he stops the civil case so Silbert 
can get the indictment down. 
(TELEPHONE RINGS) 
PRESIDENT: Hm. 
DEAN: So it's, it's, uh -- he's got, he's got the 
abuse of process suit also. 
(Unintelligible) 
PRESIDENT: Hello.  Yes.  Yeah.  Hello.  Well you still 
alive?  Yeah, yeah.  Just sitting here with 
John Dean and he tells me that, uh, that 
you, that you're going to probably be sued 
or some damn thing. 
HALDEMAN: Oh, God.  (Unintelligible) 
PRESIDENT: Did you put that last bug in?  Yeah.  Due to 
the fact that I (unintelligible).  Yeah. 
Yeah.  Good.  Good.  (unintelligible) 
(Pause) Yeah.  (Pause) Good.  (18 second 
pause) Sure.  (Pause) Well, I'll tell you, 
uh, just don't let this keep you or your 
colleagues from concentrating on the big 
game.  Yeah, that's right.  I mean this, uh, 
this, this thing is just, uh, you know, one 
of those side issues and a month later 
everybody looks back and wonders what the 
hell the shouting was about.  Yeah.  Yeah. 
Okay, well, anyway get a good night's sleep. 
And don't, don't bug anybody without asking 
me.  Okay?  Yeah.  (23 second pause) Thank 
you.  Always.  Okay.  (1 minute, 32 second 
pause, noise and unintelligible 
conversation)
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 11 
DEAN: Three months ago I would have had trouble 
predicting where we'd be today.  I think 
that I can say that fifty-four days from now 
that, uh, not a thing will come crashing 
down to our, our surprise. 
PRESIDENT: Say what? 
DEAN: Nothing is going to come crashing down to 
our surprise, either -- 
PRESIDENT: Well, the whole thing is a can of worms, as 
you know.  A lot of this stuff went on. 
And, uh, and, uh, and the people who worked 
(unintelligible) awfully embarrassing.  And, 
uh, and, the, uh, but the, but the way you, 
you've handled it, it seems to me, has been 
very skillful, because you -- putting your 
fingers in the dikes every time that leaks 
have sprung here and sprung there. 
(Unintelligible) having people straighten 
the (unintelligible).  The Grand Jury is 
dismissed now? 
DEAN: That is correct.  They'll, they will have 
completed and they will let them go, so 
there will be no continued investigation 
prompted by the Grand Jury's inquiry.  The, 
uh, GAO report that was referred over to 
Justice is on a shelf right now because they 
have hundreds of violations.  They've got 
violations of McGovern's; they've got 
violations of Humphrey's; they've got 
Jackson violations, and several hundred 
Congressional violations.  They don't want 
to start prosecuting one any more than they 
want the other.  So that's, uh -- 
PRESIDENT: They damn well not prosecute us unless they 
prosecute all the others. 
DEAN: That's right.  That's right.  Well, we are 
really talking about technical violations 
that were referred over also.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 12 
PRESIDENT: Sure.  Sure.  What about, uh, uh, watching 
the McGovern contributors and all that sort 
of thing? 
DEAN: We've got a, we've got a hawk's eye on that. 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
DEAN: And, uh, uh, he is, he is not in full compliance. 
PRESIDENT: He isn't? 
DEAN: No. 
PRESIDENT: Well, now, he has his three hundred 
committees; have they all reported yet? 
Have we -- we reported ours. 
DEAN: Yes we -- Well, we have a couple of 
delinquent state committees out, uh -- 
PRESIDENT: Right, but it's done now. 
DEAN: If they -- 
PRESIDENT: (Unintelligible) Have the paper committees 
all reported, the three hundred or so 
committees he's supposed to have. 
DEAN: We -- no, they have not. 
PRESIDENT: Can we say something about that, or have we? 
DEAN: Well, one of the things that he has not 
done, is he has never disclosed the fact 
that he's got some three hundred committees. 
This has been a Wall Street Journal piece 
that picked it up and carried it and, uh -- 
PRESIDENT: Oh, he has never admitted that publicly?
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 13 
DEAN: No, he hasn't.  And it's quite -- it's a tax 
sham that he set it up for.  And -- It is 
hard to comprehend why he set up three 
hundred committees, frankly.  Uh, he doesn't 
need that many, he doesn't have that sort of 
large contributors, where they have to 
disburse small (unintelligible) 
HALDEMAN: Unless someone's giving nine hundred 
thousand dollars. 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: Which could be very possible. 
HALDEMAN: He may be getting nine hundred thousand 
dollars from somebody. 
PRESIDENT: From two or three people.  He may have some 
big angels.  I don't think he is getting a 
hell of a lot of small money.  I don't think 
so.  I don't believe this crap.  I mean if 
he -- Have you had your Post Office check 
yet? 
HALDEMAN: That John was going to do.  I don't know.  (Pause) 
PRESIDENT: That's an interesting thing to check. 
HALDEMAN: Yeah. 
PRESIDENT: You know how little those damn things 
(unintelligible) 
DEAN: (unintelligible) right.  As I see it, now, 
the only problems that, uh, that we have 
are, are the human problems and we'll keep a 
close eye on that. 
PRESIDENT: Union? 
DEAN: Human. 
PRESIDENT: Oh. 
DEAN: (Unintelligible)
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 14 
HALDEMAN: People--Human frailties, where people fall 
apart. 
DEAN: Human frailties - people getting annoyed and 
some finger-pointing and false accusations, 
and any internal dissension of that nature. 
PRESIDENT: You mean on this case? 
DEAN: On this case.  Uh, there is some bitterness 
between, for example, the Finance Committee 
and the Political Committee.  They feel that 
they're taking all the heat, and, and, uh, 
all the people upstairs are bad people and 
they're not being recognized. 
PRESIDENT: Ridiculous. 
DEAN: It is -- I mean -- 
PRESIDENT: They're all in it together. 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: They should just, uh, just behave and, and, 
recognize this, this is, again, this is war. 
We're getting a few shots and it'll be over, 
and we'll give them a few shots and it'll be 
over.  Don't worry.  I wouldn't want to be 
on the other side right now.  Would you?  I 
wouldn't want to be in Edward Bennet 
Williams', Williams' position after this 
election. 
DEAN: No.  No. 
PRESIDENT: None of these bastards -- 
DEAN: He, uh, he's done some rather unethical 
things that have come to light already, 
which in -- again, Richey has brought to our 
attention. 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
DEAN: He went down -- 
HALDEMAN: Keep a log on all that.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 15 
DEAN: Oh, we are, indeed.  Yeah. 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
HALDEMAN: Because afterwards that's the guy, 
PRESIDENT: We're going after him. 
HALDEMAN: That's the guy we've got to ruin. 
DEAN: He had, he had an ex parte -- 
PRESIDENT: You want to remember, too, he's an attorney 
for the Washington Post. 
DEAN: I'm well aware of that. 
PRESIDENT: I think we are going to fix the son-of-a- 
bitch.  Believe me.  We are going to.  We've 
got to, because he's a bad man. 
DEAN: Absolutely. 
PRESIDENT: He misbehaved very badly in the Hoffa 
matter.  Our -- some pretty bad conduct, 
there, too, but go ahead. 
DEAN: Well, that's, uh, along that line, uh, one 
of the things I've tried to do, is just keep 
notes on a lot of the people who are 
emerging as, 
PRESIDENT: That's right. 
DEAN: as less than our friends. 
PRESIDENT: Great. 
DEAN: Because this is going to be over some day 
and they're -- We shouldn't forget the way 
that some of them (unintelligible) -- 
PRESIDENT: I want the most, I want the most 
comprehensive notes on all of those that 
have tried to do us in.  Because they didn't 
have to do it.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 16 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: They didn't have to do it.  I mean, if the 
thing had been a clo -- uh, they had a very 
close election everybody on the other side 
would understand this game.  But now they 
are doing this quite deliberately and they 
are asking for it and they are going to get 
it.  And this, this -- We, we have not used 
the power in this first four years, as you 
know. 
DEAN: That's true. 
PRESIDENT: We have never used it.  We haven't used the 
Bureau and we haven't used the Justice 
Department, but things are going to change 
now.  And they're going to change, and, and 
they're going to get it right -- 
DEAN: That's an exciting prospect. 
PRESIDENT: It's got to be done.  It's the only thing to 
do. 
HALDEMAN: We've got to. 
PRESIDENT: Oh, oh, well, we've just been, we've been 
just God damn fools.  For us to come into 
this election campaign and not do anything 
with regard to the Democratic Senators who 
are running, and so forth.  They're, they're 
crooks, they've been stealing, they've been 
taking (unintelligible).  That's ridiculous. 
Absolutely ridiculous.  It's not going, 
going to be that way any more, and, uh -- 
HALDEMAN: Really, it's ironic, you know, because we've 
gone to such extremes to do every -- You 
know, you, you and your damn regulations 
with -- 
PRESIDENT: Right. 
HALDEMAN: Everybody worries about,
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 17 
PRESIDENT: That's right. 
HALDEMAN: about... 
PRESIDENT: That's right. 
HALDEMAN: not picking up a hotel bill or anything. 
DEAN: Well, I think, we can, I think, I think we 
can be proud of the White House staff.  It 
really has... 
PRESIDENT: That?s right. 
DEAN: had no problems of that -- 
PRESIDENT: Well, that's right. 
DEAN: And they're looking, this GAO audit that's 
going on right now, uh, I think that they 
have got some suspicion, uh, in even a 
cursory investigation, which is not going to 
discover anything, that they're going to 
find something here.  I learned today 
incidentally, that, that, uh, I haven't 
confirmed this because it's -- came from the 
GO, GAO auditor, investigator who's down 
here, that he is down here at the Speaker of 
the House's request, which surprised me. 
HALDEMAN: Well, God damn the Speaker of the House. 
Maybe we better put a little heat on him. 
PRESIDENT: I think so too. 
HALDEMAN: Because he's got a lot worse problems than 
he's going to find down here. 
DEAN: That's right.  (Pause) 
HALDEMAN: That's the kind of thing -- 
PRESIDENT: I know, let the police department go.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 18 
HALDEMAN: That's the kind of thing that, you know, you 
-- What we really ought to do is call the 
Speaker and say, "I regret to see you 
ordering GAO down here because of what it's 
going to cause us to require to do to you." 
PRESIDENT: Why don't you just have Harlow go see him 
and tell him that? 
HALDEMAN: Because he wouldn't do it. 
PRESIDENT: Hm? 
HALDEMAN: 'Cause he wouldn't do it. 
PRESIDENT: Harlow wouldn't do it, you mean. 
HALDEMAN: Harlow would say, ?Mr. Speaker --" 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
DEAN: I, I suppose the other area we are going to 
see some publicity on in the coming weeks 
because, uh.  I think after the, now that 
the indictments are down, there's going to 
be a cresting on that.  The whitewash charge 
of course, but, uh, I think we can handle 
that while the civil case is in abeyance. 
But Patman's hearings, uh, his Banking and 
Currency Committee, and we've got to -- 
whether we will be successful or not in 
turning that off, I don't know.  We've got a 
plan whereby Rothblatt and Bittman, who are 
counsel for the five men who were, or 
actually a total or seven, that were 
indicted today, are going to go up and visit 
every member and say, "If you commence 
hearings you are going to jeopardize the 
civil rights of these individuals in the 
worst way, and they'll never get a fair 
trial," and the like, and try to talk to 
members on, on that level.  Uh --
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 19 
PRESIDENT: Why not ask that they request to be heard 
by, by the Committee and explain it 
publicly? 
DEAN: Publicly, they've planned that.  What 
they're going to say is, "If you do commence 
with these hearings, we plan to publicly 
come up and say what you're doing to the 
rights of individuals.? Something to that 
effect. 
PRESIDENT: As a matter of fact they could even make a 
motion in court to get the thing dismissed. 
DEAN: That's another thing we're doing is to, is 
PRESIDENT: Because these hearings --- 
DEAN: bring an injunctive action against, uh, the 
appearance, say -- 
HALDEMAN: Well, going the other way, the dismissal of 
the, of the, of the indictment -- 
PRESIDENT: How about trying to get the criminal cases, 
criminal charges dismissed on the grounds 
that there, well, you know -- 
HALDEMAN: The civil rights type stuff. 
DEAN: Civil rights -- Well that, we're working 
again, we've got somebody approaching the 
ACLU for these guys, and have them go up and 
exert some pressure because we just don't 
want Stans up there in front of the cameras 
with Patman and Patman asking all these 
questions.  It's just going to be the whole 
thing, the press going over and over and 
over again.  Uh, one suggestion was that 
Connally is, is close to Patman and probably 
if anybody could talk turkey to Patman, uh, 
Connally might be able to.  Now I don't know 
if that's, uh, a good idea or not.  I don't 
think he -- don't know if he can.  Uh, Jerry 
Ford is not really taking
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 20 
DEAN:  (cont.) an active interest in this matter that, that 
is developing, so Stans can go see Jerry 
Ford and try to brief him and explain to him 
the problems he's got.  And then the other 
thing we are going to do is we're looking at 
all the campaign reports of every member of 
that Committee because we are convinced that 
none of them have probably totally complied 
with the law either.  And if they want to 
get into it, if they want to play rough, 
some day we better say, ?Well, gentlemen, we 
think we ought to call to your attention 
that you haven't complied A, B, C, D, E, and 
F, and we're not going to hold that a secret 
if you start talking campaign violations 
here." 
PRESIDENT: Uh, what about Ford?  Do you think so?  Do 
you think he can do anything with Patman? 
Connally can't be sent up there. 
HALDEMAN: No. 
PRESIDENT: Connally 
DEAN: I don't think anybody can do anything with 
Patman.  But if, if Ford can get the 
minority members, uh, together on that one, 
it's going to be a lot -- 
PRESIDENT: They've got a very weak man in Widnall, 
unfortunately.  Heckler is all right. 
HALDEMAN: Heckler was great. 
DEAN: She was great, with, uh -- 
PRESIDENT: That's what I understand, but you see, 
Windnall -- let's take somebody -- Jerry 
could talk to him.  Put it down, uh, Jerry 
should talk to Windnall and, uh, just brace 
him, tell him I thought it was 
(unintelligible) start behaving.  Not let 
him be the chairman of the Committee in the 
House.  That's what you want?
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 21 
DEAN: That would be very helpful, to get our 
minority side at least together on the 
thing. 
PRESIDENT: Jerry's really got to lead on this.  He's 
got to really lead. 
HALDEMAN: Jerry should, damn it.  This is exactly the 
thing he was talking about, that the reason 
they are staying in is so that they can 
PRESIDENT: That's right. 
HALDEMAN: run investigations. 
PRESIDENT: Well, the point is that they ought to raise 
hell about this, uh, this -- these hearings 
are jeopardizing the -- I don't know that 
they're, that the, the, the counsel calling 
on the members of the Committee will do much 
good.  I was, I -- it may be all right but - 
- I was thinking that they really ought to 
blunderbuss it in the public arena.  It 
ought to be publicized. 
DEAN: Right. 
HALDEM4AN: Good. 
DEAN: Right. 
PRESIDENT: That's what this is, public relations. 
DEAN: That's, that's all it is, particularly if 
Patman pulls the strings off, uh -- (Pause) 
That's the last forum that, uh, uh, it looks 
like it could be a problem where you just 
have the least control the way it stands 
right now.  Kennedy has also suggested he 
may call hearings of his Administrative 
Practices and Procedure Subcommittee.  Uh, 
as, as this case has been all along, you can 
spin out horribles that, uh, you, you can 
conceive of, and so we just don't do that. 
I stopped doing that about, uh, two months 
ago.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 22 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
DEAN: We just take one at a time and you deal with 
it based on -- 
PRESIDENT: And you really can't just sit and worry 
yourself -- 
DEAN: No. 
PRESIDENT: about it all the time, thinking, "The worst 
may happen," but it may not.  So you just 
try to button it up as well as you can and 
hope for the best.  And, 
DEAN: Well if Bob -- 
PRESIDENT: and remember that basically the damn thing 
is just one of those unfortunate things and, 
we're trying to cut our losses. 
DEAN: Well, certainly that's right and certainly 
it had no effect on you.  That's the, the 
good thing. 
HALDEMAN: It really hasn't. 
PRESIDENT: It has or hasn't? 
HALDEMAN: No, it hasn't.  It has been kept away from 
the White House almost completely and from 
the President totally.  The only tie to the 
White House has been the Colson effort they 
keep trying to haul in. 
DEAN: And now, of course 
HALDEMAN: That's falling apart. 
DEAN: The two former White House people, low 
level, indicted, one consultant and one 
member of the Domestic Council staff. 
That's not very much of a tie. 
HALDEMN: No.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 23 
PRESIDENT: Well their names have been already 
mentioned. 
DEAN: Oh, they've been... 
PRESIDENT: Voluminous accounts. 
HALDEMAN: And it's, it's been discounted -- 
PRESIDENT: You know, they've already been convicted in 
the press. 
DEAN: Absolutely. 
HALDEMAN: Yep. 
PRESIDENT: God damn it, if they'd been communists you'd 
have the Washington Post and the New York 
Times raising hell about their civil rights. 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: Or Manson. 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: Jesus Christ.  If they'd been killers, 
wouldn't -- 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: Isn't that true? 
DEAN: It's absolutely true. 
PRESIDENT: These poor bastards are -- well they've been 
-- they've got no way they can ever -- In 
fact, they ought to move the, uh, move the 
trial away from the -- 
DEAN: Well, there has been extensive clipping by 
the counsel in this case, and I've gone 
through some of these clippings and it's 
just phenomenal the, uh...
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 24 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
DEAN: the amount of coverage this case is getting. 
They may never get a fair trial, may never 
get a fair trial.  They may never get a jury 
that can convict them or pull it together. 
And the Post, as you know, has got a, a, a 
real large team that they've assigned to do 
nothing but this... 
PRESIDENT: Sure. 
DEAN: this case.  Couldn't believe they put Maury 
Stans' story about his libel suit, which was 
just playing so heavily on the networks last 
night, and in the evening news, they put it 
way back on about page eight of the Post... 
PRESIDENT: Sure. 
DEAN: and didn't even cover it as a -- in total. 
PRESIDENT: I expect that.  That's all right.  We've 
(unintelligible) 
HALDEMAN: The Post is ... 
PRESIDENT: The Post has asked -- it's going to have its 
problems. 
HALDEMAN: (Unintelligible) 
DEAN: The networks, the networks are good with 
Maury coming back three days in a row and -- 
PRESIDENT: That's right.  Right.  The main thing is the 
Post is going to have damnable, damnable 
problems out of this one.  They have a 
television station. 
DEAN: That's right, they do.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 25 
PRESIDENT: And they're going to have to get it renewed. 
HALDEMAN: They've got a radio station, too. 
PRESIDENT: Does that come up too?  The point is, when 
does it come up? 
DEAN: I don't know.  But the practice of non- 
licensees filing on top of licensees has 
certainly gotten more,... 
PRESIDENT: That's right. 
DEAN: more active in the, in the area. 
PRESIDENT: And it's going to be God damn active here. 
DEAN: (Laughs) 
PRESIDENT: Well, the game has to be played awfully 
rough.  I don't know -- Now, you, you'll 
follow through with -- who will over there? 
Who -- Timmons, or with Ford, or -- How's it 
going to operate? 
HALDEMAN: I'll talk to Bill.  I think -- Yeah. 
DEAN: Dick Cook has been working... 
HALDEMAN or 
PRESIDENT: (Unintelligible) 
DEAN: on it. 
HALDEMAN: Cook is the guy. 
DEAN: Dick has been working on it. 
PRESIDENT: Maybe Mitchell should -- 
HALDEMAN: Well, maybe Mitchell ought to -- would, 
could Mitchell do it? 
PRESIDENT: No.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 26 
DEAN: I don't really think that would be good. 
PRESIDENT: No. 
DEAN: I hate to draw him in. 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
DEAN: I think Maury can talk to Ford if that will 
do any good, but it won't have the same 
impact, of course, 'cause he's the one 
directly involved, but I think Maury ought 
to brief Ford at some point on, on exactly 
what his whole side of the story is. 
HALDEMAN: I'll talk to Cook. 
PRESIDENT: Oh, I -- maybe Ehrlichman should talk to 
him.  Ehrlichman understands the law, and 
the rest, and should say, "Now God damn it, 
get the hell over with this." 
HALDEMAN: Is that a good idea?  Maybe it is. 
PRESIDENT: I think maybe that's the thing to do 
(unintelligible).  This is, this is big, big 
play.  I'm getting into this.  So that he -- 
he's got to know that it comes from the top. 
HALDEMAN: Yeah. 
PRESIDENT: That's what he's got to know,... 
DEAN: Right. 
PRESIDENT: and if he (unintelligible) and we're not 
going to -- I can't talk to him myself -- 
and that he's got to get at this and screw 
this thing up while he can, right? 
DEAN: Well, if we let that slide up there with the 
Patman Committee, it'd be just, you know, 
just a tragedy to let Patman have a field 
day up there.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 27 
PRESIDENT: What's the first move?  When does he call 
his wit -- witnesses? 
DEAN: Well, he, he has not even gotten the vote of 
his Committee; he hasn't convened his 
Committee yet on whether he can call 
hearings.  That's why, come Monday morning, 
these attorneys are going to arrive, uh, on 
the doorstep of the Chairman and try to tell 
him what he's doing if he proceeds.  Uh, one 
of the members, Garry Brown, uh, wrote 
Kleindienst a letter saying, "If the 
Chairman holds Committee hearings on this, 
isn't this going to jeopardize your criminal 
case?" 
PRESIDENT: Brown's a smart fellow.  He's from, he's 
from Michigan... 
DEAN: That's right. 
PRESIDENT: and some tie into Ford.  He's very, he's a 
very smart fellow.  Good. 
DEAN: Good lawyer and he's being helpful.  He is 
anxious to help. 
PRESIDENT: Right, just tell him that, tell, tell, tell 
Ehrlichman to get Brown in and Ford in and 
then they can all work out something, but 
they ought to get off their asses and push 
it.  No use to let Patman have a free ride 
here. 
DEAN: Well, we can, we can keep them well briefed 
on moves if they'll, if they'll move when we 
provide them with the, the strategy.  And we 
will have a raft of depositions going the 
other way soon.  We, will be hauling the, 
the O'Briens in and the like, and uh, on our 
abuse of process suit. 
PRESIDENT: What are you going to ask him? 
(Unintelligible) questions?
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 28 
DEAN: No.  This fellow, this fellow Rothblatt, who 
has started deposing, uh, he's quite a 
character.  He's been getting into the sex 
life of some of the members of the DNC 
and... 
PRESIDENT: Why?  How can -- What's his justification? 
DEAN: Well, he's working on an entrapment theory 
that, uh, uh, they were hiding something or 
they had secret information, affairs to hide 
and they, they could, some way, conspire to 
bring this thing about themselves.  It's a, 
it's a way-out theory that, uh, no one had 
(unintelligible) 
HALDEMAN: (Laughs) 
DEAN: Uh, and he, he had scheduled Patricia Harris 
and she didn't show up.  She went to the 
beauty parlor instead so he went down to the 
Court House and she had, had been directed 
to show up and then the next day the Judge 
cut all the depositions off.  But he had a 
host of wild questions, including, you know, 
where O'Brien got his compensation when he 
was Chairman.  Not that he knows anything 
about that, but, uh, it was just an 
interesting question he thought he might 
want to ask the, the Chairman under oath. 
HALDEMAN: That's -- It gives us, the same hunting 
license that it gave them. 
DEAN: Oh, that's right. 
HALDEMAN: So we can play the same game they are 
playing, but we ought to be able to do 
better at it. 
PRESIDENT: Well -- 
HALDEMAN: Are those depositions sealed? 
DEAN: That's right.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:17 P.M. 29 
HALDEMAN: They are? 
DEAN: But that argues that, uh, they won't want 
them unsealed.  They'll want them unsealed 
less than we will, and we may be arguing at 
some point to get them unsealed. 
PRESIDENT: Yeah. 
DEAN: I think what's going to happen on the civil 
case is the Judge is going to dismiss the 
pending complaint down there right now. 
They will then turn around and file a new 
complaint which will be heard, or come back 
to Richey again.  That, uh, that'll probably 
happen the twentieth, twenty-first, twenty- 
second.  Then, twenty days will run until 
any answers will have to be filed and these 
depositions will be commenced so we're, 
what, we're eating up an awful lot of time-- 
HALDEMAN: On their side. 
DEAN: for those next fifty-four days. 
PRESIDENT: Why will they have to dismiss the present -- 
DEAN: Uh, probably on, on a dual ground, uh, both 
on the substantive ground that they haven't 
stated a good cause of action -- that there 
is an improper class action filed and that 
O'Brien indeed doesn't represent any class. 
Uh, and he'll just dismiss it on the merits. 
It's not a good complaint.  He's already 
shaved it down to almost nothing on his 
original order.  They will then have to re- 
design it into a much narrower action, but 
the Judge himself can't suggest something to 
counsel.  But it's -- you've got a good res 
judicata argument here.  If he dismisses on 
the merits, uh, that they can't file another 
suit.  They're out of the court totally.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1972 FROM 5:27 TO 6:27 P.M. 30 
HALDEMAN: But our suits do still hang? 
DEAN: Our suits are still -- We have two suits 
now, we have the abuse of process and... 
HALDEMAN: -- the libel -- 
DEAN: the libel suit. 
HALDEMAN: We can take depositions on both of those? 
DEAN: Absolutely. 
PRESIDENT: Hell yes. 
HALDEMAN: (Laughs) 
PRESIDENT: (Unintelligible) depositions. 
DEAN: It's a, it's a glimmer down the road anyway, 
but, uh --