Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 2 › Conversation 002-002

Nixon phone call with Kleindienst on IT&T and Antitrust litigation

Monday, April 19, 1971 · 3:04 PM–3:09 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Kleindienst, Richard G.Conversation002-002 on Tape 2 (tape position 00:00:50–00:02:01)StartMonday, April 19, 1971 at 3:04 PMEndMonday, April 19, 1971 at 3:09 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 002-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directed Deputy Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst to halt the Department of Justice's antitrust proceedings against IT&T. Nixon explicitly ordered that no legal brief be filed in the case and threatened to fire Assistant Attorney General Richard McLaren if he failed to comply with the directive to drop the matter. The conversation reflects Nixon's intense frustration with the Justice Department’s aggressive pursuit of conglomerates and his desire to personally dictate the administration's antitrust strategy.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hi, Mr. President.
Hi, Dick.
How are you?
Good.
How are you, sir?
Fine, fine.
I'm going to talk to John tomorrow about my general attitude on antitrust.
In the meantime, I know that he is left with you, the IT&T thing, because apparently he says he had something to do with them once.
Well, I have nothing to do with them, and I want something clearly understood.
And if it is not understood, McLaren's ass is to be out within one hour.
The IT&T thing, stay the hell out of it.
Is that clear?
That's an order.
You mean the order is to...
The order is to leave the goddamn thing alone.
Now, I've said this, Dick, a number of times, and you fellas apparently don't get the message over there.
I do not want McLaren to run around prosecuting people, raising hell about conglomerates, stirring things up at this point.
Now, you're keeping the hell out of that.
Is that clear?
Well, Mr. President... Or either he resigns.
I'd rather have him out anyway.
I don't like the son of a bitch.
The question, that is...
The question is, I know that the jurisdiction...
I know all the legal things.
You don't have to fill out the legal appeal file.
That's right.
A brief has to be filed tomorrow.
That's right.
Don't file the brief.
Your order is not to file a brief.
My order is to drop the goddamn thing.
Is that clear?
I understand.
Okay.

NARA Description

On April 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Richard G. Kleindienst talked on the telephone from 3:04 pm to 3:09 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 002-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 2-2

Date: April 19, 1971
Time: 3:04 pm - 3:09 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Richard G. Kleindienst.

[See Conversation No. 482-17B]

[A transcript of the following portion of the conversation was initially prepared for the Watergate
Special Prosecution Force [WSPF] and can be found in Record Group [RG] 460. The Nixon
Presidential Materials Staff has reviewed the transcript and has made changes as necessary. This
transcript has been reviewed under the provisions of the Presidential Recordings and Materials
Preservation Act of 1974 [PRMPA]. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]

[End of transcript]

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       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

Also recorded on April 19, 1971

  • 482-014 2:25 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:25 pm to 2:32 pm.
  • 482-015 2:32 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:32 pm and 2:50 pm.
  • 482-016 2:32 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:32 pm and 3:03 pm.
  • 002-001 3:03 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:03 pm and 3:04 pm.
  • 482-017 3:03 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:03 pm to 3:34 pm.
  • 482-018 3:34 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:34 pm to 3:35 pm.
  • 482-019 3:35 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Robert A. Taft, Jr., John E. Nidecker, Mrs. Preston Davie, Jeremiah Milbank, Jr., Ross Reid, Thomas W. Evans, Henry Catto, Mrs. Henry Catto, Adelaide M. Dempsey, Marion J. Epley, III, Robert L. Garner, Edward J. Gerrity, Jr., E. Frederic Morrow, Louis L. Rader, Richard M. Scaife, George M. Steinbrenner, III, Lewis L. Strauss, Arthur E. Summerfield, W. Allen Wallis, David K. ("Pat") Wilson, Marilyn Chelstrom, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:35 pm to 3:47 pm.
  • 482-020 3:49 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:49 pm and 3:52 pm.

All 27 conversations from April 19, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 002-002, April 19, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-002 (accessed October 3, 2026).