Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 012-025
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 1971 at 6:17 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Mitchell, John N.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/012-025

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] Yeah.
[0:02] The attorney general.
[0:03] Yes, Mr. President.
[0:04] Hi.
[0:05] One thing that occurred to me is that you're going to have to fend off, of course, is our friend Volpe.
[0:12] You know, we put off Toro on the ground that he was too old and so forth and so on, and now I suppose that John, isn't Toro, what is he, 60?
[0:22] 65, I guess 6 now.
[0:24] 66.
[0:24] Yeah, must be.
[0:26] That's two years older, but...
[0:28] Had to get somebody less than 65, I guess we can say.
[0:31] But anyway, I guess you can handle it.
[0:34] I'll stay away.
[0:35] I'll stay out of it.
[0:36] Yes, he talks to me about it constantly.
[0:40] And you tell him we're preparing people for it.
[0:43] But as a matter of fact, I'm not sure Toro would slide through as well as Powell anyway, would he?
[0:50] No, I don't believe he would.
[0:51] He isn't that distinguished?
[0:54] Is he or is he?
[0:57] No, he'd probably get by all right, but he wouldn't.
[1:00] Isn't it interesting?
[1:01] Why do you think they pissed on Friday of all things?
[1:04] Civil rights.
[1:06] I'll be damned.
[1:08] Really?
[1:08] Yeah, that's what Ed Wallace told me.
[1:10] Well, they'll do the same on Powell then, won't they?
[1:13] They're not going to have, nobody's going to have a chance.
[1:16] You mean I will have named him?
[1:18] You will have named him, and it won't be this pressure, you know, from all over the country, from the laws of civil rights and all that.
[1:28] I'll be goddamned.
[1:30] Yeah, and Walsh admitted to me that that was it.
[1:35] Mm-hmm.
[1:36] Well, the woman thing, that's got to get out, you know, some way.
[1:39] I mean, naturally, the boat will get out, won't it?
[1:43] Everything else is leaked out of there.
[1:44] Now, believe me, we're going to leak this out if they don't.
[1:47] You can rest assured we'll get it out one way or the other.
[1:49] And Walsh knows it's coming.
[1:54] Yeah.
[1:54] He's been well-programmed.
[1:56] And the 11-to-1s.
[1:56] And I think the 11-to-1 is brilliant because it's a jury that way, see?
[2:00] It's a stack jury.
[2:02] All men.
[2:04] Huh?
[2:05] Absolutely not one qualified.
[2:08] She's the best qualified woman, but she's not qualified for the Supreme Court.
[2:11] Jesus, that's great.
[2:13] That's great.
[2:15] We just have to program it.
[2:16] Of course, we can't go too far until you get through tomorrow night, because otherwise the surprise of the operation will be destroyed.
[2:26] That's right.
[2:28] But we're working on the letters and so forth.
[2:31] We'll have it pretty well set up.
[2:33] Right.
[2:33] Now, in preparing my remarks, I'm going to use, in the morning, I'm going to use Sapphire because he's the fastest rider and I'm, you know, on this sort of thing.
[2:44] And so I'm going to have
[2:47] And all that stuff gets over here.
[2:49] He may ask a question or two whether I want you to know it'll be by my authority I'm fine My view is to just come on with the match going to be brief But I want to point out that I've searched the country for the two best qualified people and all that He is the biggest leaker in the place.
[3:04] Can you turn him off?
[3:05] Well, I'm not gonna tell him till the morning.
[3:07] Oh, I think oh hell I've not got time tonight.
[3:10] I say oh Christ.
[3:11] Yeah, that's my point is a leaker Yeah, that's why that's why I mean in the morning.
[3:15] I
[3:16] Once we decide, then I'll start him writing and lock him up.
[3:19] That's the way we did, that's what we did up at the phase two, phase one thing, you know, he did that too.
[3:24] Great.
[3:25] Oh, Christ, I know he leaks.
[3:26] I would never, oh, he doesn't have the slightest idea that he's going to even be asked to do this job.
[3:30] All right.
[3:30] But he writes quickly, that's the main thing, gets it done.
[3:34] Because this is going to have to be a fast job.
[3:36] Very good, sir.
[3:37] I hear Howard Baker has just landed at the airport and he's waiting to talk to me.
[3:42] Waiting to talk to you?
[3:44] Mm-hmm.
[3:44] At the airport?
[3:45] He just got into the airport.
[3:46] He's on the phone.
[3:48] Yeah.
[3:48] Okay.
[3:49] Well, call me back.
[3:49] Oh, well, I'll give you directly, sir.
[3:51] All right.
[3:51] All right.