{"conversationCode":"002-002","tapeNumber":2,"conversationNumber":2,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-002-002","startDateTime":"1971-04-19T20:04:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-04-19T20:09:00.000Z","startDate":"19-Apr-1971","startTime":"3:04 PM","endDate":"19-Apr-1971","endTime":"3:09 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kleindienst, Richard G.;","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.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":1,"chronRelease":"First Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"5-Oct-1999","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 2-2\n\nDate: April 19, 1971\nTime: 3:04 pm - 3:09 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Richard G. Kleindienst.\n\n[See Conversation No. 482-17B]\n\n[A transcript of the following portion of the conversation was initially prepared for the Watergate\nSpecial Prosecution Force [WSPF] and can be found in Record Group [RG] 460. The Nixon\nPresidential Materials Staff has reviewed the transcript and has made changes as necessary. This\ntranscript has been reviewed under the provisions of the Presidential Recordings and Materials\nPreservation Act of 1974 [PRMPA]. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]\n\n[End of transcript]\n\n                                                                                               Back to Top\n\n       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542","filename":["002-002.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:00:50","tapeEnd":"00:02:01","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Kleindienst, Richard G."],"prevCode":"002-001","nextCode":"002-003","transcript":[{"start":0.03,"end":2.67,"text":"Hi, Mr. President."},{"start":2.69,"end":2.99,"text":"Hi, Dick."},{"start":3.07,"end":3.54,"text":"How are you?"},{"start":3.56,"end":3.65,"text":"Good."},{"start":3.67,"end":4.13,"text":"How are you, sir?"},{"start":4.2,"end":5.06,"text":"Fine, fine."},{"start":5.62,"end":9.2,"text":"I'm going to talk to John tomorrow about my general attitude on antitrust."},{"start":9.32,"end":16.51,"text":"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."},{"start":17.51,"end":21.93,"text":"Well, I have nothing to do with them, and I want something clearly understood."},{"start":22.41,"end":25.74,"text":"And if it is not understood, McLaren's ass is to be out within one hour."},{"start":26.7,"end":28.78,"text":"The IT&T thing, stay the hell out of it."},{"start":28.96,"end":29.68,"text":"Is that clear?"},{"start":29.98,"end":30.64,"text":"That's an order."},{"start":30.77,"end":31.83,"text":"You mean the order is to..."},{"start":31.85,"end":33.97,"text":"The order is to leave the goddamn thing alone."},{"start":34.15,"end":38.16,"text":"Now, I've said this, Dick, a number of times, and you fellas apparently don't get the message over there."},{"start":38.88,"end":46.67,"text":"I do not want McLaren to run around prosecuting people, raising hell about conglomerates, stirring things up at this point."},{"start":46.71,"end":47.95,"text":"Now, you're keeping the hell out of that."},{"start":47.97,"end":48.73,"text":"Is that clear?"},{"start":48.72,"end":50.72,"text":"Well, Mr. President... Or either he resigns."},{"start":50.78,"end":51.7,"text":"I'd rather have him out anyway."},{"start":51.76,"end":53.34,"text":"I don't like the son of a bitch."},{"start":53.52,"end":54.57,"text":"The question, that is..."},{"start":54.63,"end":56.37,"text":"The question is, I know that the jurisdiction..."},{"start":56.39,"end":57.37,"text":"I know all the legal things."},{"start":57.43,"end":59.24,"text":"You don't have to fill out the legal appeal file."},{"start":59.28,"end":59.9,"text":"That's right."},{"start":59.92,"end":61.34,"text":"A brief has to be filed tomorrow."},{"start":61.48,"end":61.94,"text":"That's right."},{"start":61.98,"end":62.78,"text":"Don't file the brief."},{"start":62.8,"end":64.53,"text":"Your order is not to file a brief."},{"start":64.77,"end":66.89,"text":"My order is to drop the goddamn thing."},{"start":66.95,"end":67.45,"text":"Is that clear?"},{"start":68.17,"end":69.08,"text":"I understand."},{"start":69.9,"end":70,"text":"Okay."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"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.","topics":["IT&T","Antitrust litigation","Richard McLaren","Department of Justice","Executive authority","Corporate regulation"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-05T21:07:36.922Z"},"topicSlugs":["it-and-t","antitrust-litigation","richard-mclaren","department-of-justice","executive-authority","corporate-regulation"],"audioDurationSec":70,"audioFiles":[{"file":"002-002.mp3","bytes":1683329,"durationSec":70.05,"bitrate":192241,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:20.350Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:42:32.956Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/002-002.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-002","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/2/conversation-002-002","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}