Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 6 › Conversation 006-107

Nixon, Timmons & Haldeman on Pentagon Papers

Friday, July 2, 1971 · 6:10 PM–6:16 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Timmons, William E.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation006-107 on Tape 6 (tape position 02:12:50–02:17:38)StartFriday, July 2, 1971 at 6:10 PMEndFriday, July 2, 1971 at 6:16 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 006-107 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with William E. Timmons to assess the viability of using Representative Richard H. Ichord’s House Internal Security Committee to conduct an investigation into the Pentagon Papers. Nixon envisioned the committee using its investigative powers—including the authority to subpoena individuals like Morton Halperin and Leslie Gelb for questioning—to counter the administration's political opposition. The President instructed Timmons to gauge the interest of Ichord and Minority Leader Gerald Ford in this strategy, suggesting that such a probe would provide political benefits for ambitious committee members.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Yeah.
Bill, get your congressional directory out, and you got one handy there?
Yes, sir.
Look at the committee, Icord's committee, and give me the Republicans' own.
Okay.
John Ashbrook is on there.
Oh, Ashbrook on it?
Yeah, he's the ranking member.
He's the ranking man?
Roger Zion is on it.
He's all right.
Fletcher Thompson of Georgia.
Fletcher Thompson.
And your congressman, John Smits.
Oh, boy.
John Smits, good.
They're the four.
Now, who are the Democrats?
It's Icord, of course, and then Clark Pepper.
Ooh, go ahead.
Ed Edwards of Louisiana.
Good.
Richardson Pryor of North Carolina.
I don't know him.
And our friend Father Drinan of Massachusetts.
Yeah.
Well, now, how would that committee be, you think, to conduct an investigation of this conspiracy?
You know what I mean?
Mm-hmm.
Far better than having these people indicted and so forth is really to call them before a committee and say, no, look, did you do this or that or the other thing, you know?
Yeah.
But it's going to require, what kind of a staff man do they have?
They have a good guy, Don Sanders.
Do you know him?
I've met him.
Yes, he's chief counsel.
Is he tough?
My impression is that he is tough.
We haven't dealt with that committee much because we haven't much legislation, but my impression is that he's real tough and a good man.
Do you think I-Cord would be, now he's running for governor, I understand.
Mm-hmm.
Don't you think he ought to be willing to take a thing like this?
I would think so, with some headlines for him.
Headlines?
Good God, it'd make him a national figure.
And he can have these hearings and go right after this thing.
I think it... Will Ashbrook work, or is he just lazy?
My impression, he's pretty lazy.
He hasn't done much.
Fletcher Thompson would work, wouldn't he?
Fletcher would be great because he wants to run for the Senate down there.
Fletcher wants to run for the Senate?
Sure.
He and Bo may square off against each other.
Is Fletcher a lawyer?
I don't know.
I'll have a...
you want me to set that in motion or why don't you yeah why don't you do a little do a little sniffing around with something to see whether uh whether they'd like to uh uh but look first of all it can't be from me of course sure but what i'm getting at is it would seem to me that this is an opportunity for that committee to
resuscitate itself.
You know what I mean?
It can become a very valuable committee now.
They just call them up there.
And you see Halperin, Gelb, we have lots of names.
There's a cook over in
The NSC staff, hell yes, we'll call them up.
Give them lie detector tests.
They'd have a ball.
What do you think?
I think it's a great idea.
I talked to Chuck Colson just briefly about this a week or so ago.
I think it's tremendous.
In the Senate, you know, on the Government Operations Committee, there's a subcommittee on national security and international operations.
Who's that?
It's chaired by Scoop Jackson.
Yeah, but do you think Scoop would be willing to go?
I don't, I doubt it.
I just don't know.
I don't think he would.
I don't, I wouldn't, get Ike.
Ike or its people should step in and preempt this field.
Now, let me say this.
I have told Ford, Ford is, that Haldeman will call him, but I want you to call him and say, he's out at Burning Tree.
Yeah, I've already called him once out there.
Yeah, and so...
In doing this why don't you work with?
You you call for it and say tell them what we am I and see whether Ford likes the idea all right and then be in touch with you know that well Colson and and Holloman and Ehrlichman are all working But over the weekend and naturally they won't be doing any over the weekend But we all get this in motion, but this could be one tremendous you see if this committee is
They can have the cooperation of the FBI, they can have the cooperation of the , they can have the cooperation of
Everybody we can find, you see.
And it's distinguished from when I fought the Hiscation.
They were all against me.
So this is a different ball.
And I tell you, I'd love to be on that committee now.
God darn.
Those guys would just zoom right up.
Well, Fletcher would just love it because he's trying to get a few headlines, too.
And Schmitz would be hard on him.
And Zion, he's been going over to Parrish, you know, off and on.
He's got a real interest in this stuff and a good man.
And John's heart's in the right place.
He's just lazy.
Well, he'd make good speeches.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay, Mr. President.

NARA Description

On July 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, William E. Timmons, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 6:10 pm to 6:16 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 006-107 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 6-107

Date: July 2, 1971
Time: 6:10 pm - 6:16 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William E. Timmons.

[See Conversation No. 260-21F]

     Members of Richard H. Ichord's committee

The President conferred with H.R. Haldeman at an unknown time

[End of conferral]

House Internal Security Committee members
    -John N. Ashbrook
    -Roger Zion
    -Fletcher S. Thompson
    -John G. Schmitz
    -Ichord
    -Claude Pepper
    -Edwin W. Edwards
    -Richardson Preyer
    -Father Robert J. Drinah

Ichord's committee
     -Possible investigation of Pentagon Papers
     -Donald G. Sanders
           -Counsel
     -Ichord's political ambitions
     -Ashbrook
     -Thompson
           -Political ambitions
     -Howard ("Bo") Calloway
     -Thompson
           -Background
     -Timmons’ role
     -Possible investigation of Pentagon Papers
     -Morton H. Halperin
     -Leslie H. Gelb
     -[Forename unknown] Cook
           -National Security Council [NSC] staff
     -Timmons’ conversation with Charles W. Colson

Government Operations Committee
    -National security and international operations
    -Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson

Ichord

Gerald R. Ford
     -Location
     -Forthcoming call from White House
     -Haldeman
     -Timmons

          -Possible investigation of Pentagon Papers
          -Colson, Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman
          -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] cooperation
          -Melvin R. Laird
          -Alger Hiss case

     Ichord committee members

Also recorded on July 2, 1971

  • 006-105 5:49 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:49 pm.
  • 006-106 5:49 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:49 pm and 6:10 pm.
  • 006-108 6:16 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:16 pm and 6:36 pm.
  • 260-022 6:29 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:29 pm and 6:31 pm.
  • 260-023 6:31 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:31 pm to 6:32 pm.
  • 260-024 6:32 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:32 pm and 6:36 pm.
  • 260-025 6:35 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Rose Mary Woods, and John K. Andrews, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:35 pm to 6:47 pm.
  • 006-109 6:36 PM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John K. Andrews, Jr. talked on the telephone from 6:36 pm to 6:37 pm.

All 78 conversations from July 2, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 006-107, July 2, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/006-107 (accessed October 20, 2026).