{"conversationCode":"022-026","tapeNumber":22,"conversationNumber":26,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-022-026","startDateTime":"1972-03-27T16:11:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-03-27T17:06:00.000Z","startDate":"27-Mar-1972","startTime":"11:11 AM","endDate":"27-Mar-1972","endTime":"12:06 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Ziegler, Ronald L.; Colson, Charles W.;","description":"On March 27, 1972, Ronald L. Ziegler and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 022-026 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":"Abuse of Governmental Power Release","aogpSegment":"Segment 0","lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 22-26\n\nDate: March 27, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 11:11 am and 12:06 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nRonald L. Ziegler talked with Charles W. Colson.\n\n     Press briefing\n           -No comment on International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT] case\n           -William R. Merriam\n                 -Request for call to Dita D. Beard\n           -White House\n                 -Request for call to Edward J. Gerrity, Jr.\n                 -Request for call to Merriam","filename":["022-026.mp3"],"tapeStart":"01:01:17","tapeEnd":"01:01:56","participantsList":["Ziegler, Ronald L.","Colson, Charles W."],"prevCode":"022-025","nextCode":"022-027","transcript":[{"start":0.47,"end":1.75,"text":"Mr. Coulson's office."},{"start":1.77,"end":2.63,"text":"Hi, this is Ron Ziegler."},{"start":2.67,"end":4.07,"text":"Could I speak to Chuck a moment, please?"},{"start":4.54,"end":5.66,"text":"Mr. Ziegler, he's not here."},{"start":5.68,"end":6.6,"text":"Oh, where'd he go?"},{"start":6.68,"end":7.64,"text":"Do you want to speak with Joan?"},{"start":7.68,"end":8.56,"text":"Can you hold on just a minute?"},{"start":8.78,"end":10.06,"text":"No, no, I wanted to speak with Chuck."},{"start":10.34,"end":11.7,"text":"Well, he's just left for the Hill."},{"start":11.92,"end":12.8,"text":"Oh, he's left for the Hill."},{"start":14.33,"end":14.55,"text":"Okay."},{"start":15.21,"end":17.47,"text":"Can I ask him to call you as soon as he gets back?"},{"start":17.49,"end":18.07,"text":"Yeah, please do."},{"start":18.09,"end":22.21,"text":"Okay, fine."},{"start":22.23,"end":23.58,"text":"Well... Mr. Coulson, sir."},{"start":23.7,"end":24.16,"text":"Yeah, good."},{"start":24.54,"end":24.9,"text":"There you are."},{"start":25.58,"end":25.86,"text":"Chuck?"},{"start":26.26,"end":26.48,"text":"Yes."},{"start":26.5,"end":27.2,"text":"Hi, this is Ron."},{"start":27.32,"end":27.68,"text":"Yeah, Ron."},{"start":28.08,"end":29.14,"text":"Say, listen, uh..."},{"start":29.6,"end":33.46,"text":"The feeling is that we stay with a no comment, you know, from the White House."},{"start":33.58,"end":36.92,"text":"But can Miriam... Yeah, we're going to try to get Miriam to put that out today."},{"start":37.51,"end":37.66,"text":"Good."},{"start":37.69,"end":37.84,"text":"Okay."},{"start":37.87,"end":38.45,"text":"That was the thing."},{"start":38.47,"end":45.31,"text":"In other words, the testimony said that Dita Beard called Miriam, or Dita Beard, I mean, that someone from the White House called Garrity or Miriam."},{"start":45.33,"end":46.05,"text":"Right, right, Miriam."},{"start":46.41,"end":48.76,"text":"We don't know yet whether it's Garrity or Miriam trying to find that."},{"start":49,"end":52.24,"text":"But once you determine that, then you'll have them deny it from that end."},{"start":52.92,"end":53,"text":"Yep."},{"start":53.02,"end":53.34,"text":"Today."},{"start":53.96,"end":55.3,"text":"Well, that's what we're trying to get done."},{"start":55.56,"end":56.47,"text":"Okay, good."},{"start":56.48,"end":57.09,"text":"Okay, fine."},{"start":57.11,"end":57.43,"text":"Right."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"Ronald Ziegler and Charles Colson coordinate the White House's public response to the International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) scandal. They agree to maintain a \"no comment\" position from the administration while tasking William R. Merriam with issuing a denial regarding allegations of inappropriate White House contacts. The pair seeks to confirm whether the improper communications originated from Edward J. Gerrity, Jr. or Merriam so that the appropriate individual can formally refute the claims.","topics":["ITT scandal","Dita Beard","William R. Merriam","Edward J. Gerrity, Jr.","public relations","White House communications"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T02:19:27.529Z"},"topicSlugs":["itt-scandal","dita-beard","william-r-merriam","edward-j-gerrity-jr","public-relations","white-house-communications"],"audioDurationSec":60,"audioFiles":[{"file":"022-026.mp3","bytes":1431300,"durationSec":59.58,"bitrate":192194,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:27.521Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/022-026.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/022-026","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/22/conversation-022-026","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}