{"conversationCode":"010-118","tapeNumber":10,"conversationNumber":118,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-010-118","startDateTime":"1971-10-07T15:07:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-10-07T15:08:00.000Z","startDate":"7-Oct-1971","startTime":"11:07 AM","endDate":"7-Oct-1971","endTime":"11:08 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Mitchell, John N.;","description":"On October 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 11:07 am to 11:08 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 010-118 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":2,"chronRelease":"Second Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"26-Oct-2000","aogpRelease":"Abuse of Governmental Power Release","aogpSegment":"Segment 0","lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 10-118\n\nDate: October 7, 1971\nTime: 11:07 am - 11:08 am\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with John N. Mitchell.\n\n[See Conversation No. 285-16C]\n\n     Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] investigation\n         -Los Angeles Times\n         -Hiring of aliens\n               -California\n         -Otis Chandler\n               -Gardener\n         -President’s orders","filename":["010-118.mp3"],"tapeStart":"03:57:33","tapeEnd":"03:58:20","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Mitchell, John N."],"prevCode":"010-117","nextCode":"010-119","transcript":[{"start":1.15,"end":4.19,"text":"Attorney General, Mr. President, there you are."},{"start":4.21,"end":9.29,"text":"John, with all your other problems, there's one thing that I want done, and I don't want any argument about it."},{"start":9.97,"end":26.37,"text":"I want you to direct the most trusted person you have in the Immigration Service that they are to look over all of the activities of the Los Angeles Times, all underlined, and they are to send their teams in to see whether they are violating the wetback thing."},{"start":26.93,"end":29.41,"text":"Now let me explain, because as a Californian I know,"},{"start":29.8,"end":31.74,"text":"Everybody in California hires him."},{"start":31.76,"end":33.85,"text":"There's no law against it because they are there."},{"start":34.49,"end":35.97,"text":"Because for menial things and so forth."},{"start":36.05,"end":39,"text":"Otis Chandler, I want him checked with regard to his gardener."},{"start":39.06,"end":40.12,"text":"I understand he's a wetback."},{"start":40.44,"end":41,"text":"Is that clear?"},{"start":41.04,"end":41.77,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":42.06,"end":42.79,"text":"I understand."},{"start":42.83,"end":43.49,"text":"Do it."},{"start":43.81,"end":44.87,"text":"Give me a report."},{"start":44.89,"end":45.49,"text":"Very well, sir."},{"start":45.51,"end":45.93,"text":"Okay."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon instructed Attorney General John Mitchell to launch an aggressive investigation into the Los Angeles Times for potential immigration violations, specifically regarding the hiring of undocumented workers. Targeting publisher Otis Chandler, Nixon demanded a review of Chandler's personal staff to see if his gardener was an undocumented immigrant. The President emphasized that he wanted this directive carried out immediately and expected a formal report on the findings.","topics":["Los Angeles Times","Otis Chandler","Immigration and Naturalization Service","Abuse of power","Political retaliation"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-05T23:13:14.954Z"},"topicSlugs":["los-angeles-times","otis-chandler","immigration-and-naturalization-service","abuse-of-power","political-retaliation"],"audioDurationSec":47,"audioFiles":[{"file":"010-118.mp3","bytes":1126608,"durationSec":46.86,"bitrate":192315,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:22.039Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/010-118.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/010-118","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/10/conversation-010-118","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}