Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 39 › Conversation 039-089

Nixon phone call with Haig on Watergate and Executive Privilege

Tuesday, June 5, 1973 · 1:12 PM–1:16 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation039-089 on Tape 39StartTuesday, June 5, 1973 at 1:12 PMEndTuesday, June 5, 1973 at 1:16 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 039-089 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig discuss public relations strategies regarding the Watergate scandal, specifically emphasizing the need to frame the ongoing investigations as a politically motivated attack on the presidency. They evaluate the effectiveness of Gerald Warren's press briefings and coordinate on the legal nuances of executive privilege and the Brady rule in relation to evidence disclosure. Additionally, the President clarifies the use of government transportation by Julie Nixon Eisenhower, dismissing concerns by highlighting Secret Service security mandates and cost efficiencies.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yes, sir.
Hi, Al.
I just wanted to be sure.
Do you want to get off by 4.30 today?
No, I can leave when the meeting with Connery is over.
Yeah, fine.
Good.
Any problem with Jerry I need to know about?
With... You were saying that... Oh, no, no.
She was a little concerned about using government planes for private purposes.
I said that she has no private purposes as a member of the First Family.
And if people ask her about that, she should just say, oh, these security people.
You know, she's self-conscious about it.
Who is this?
Julie.
Well, there's no problem on that.
That's the Secret Service.
And also, we pay for all that, you know.
Of course.
We pay her first-class transportation round trip.
Yes.
So it really cost Secret Service more if they went on the commercial.
That's right.
And we could never consider any of it.
See, they won't allow it.
No, it just couldn't be.
That's right.
And I told them that.
See, this, I think, was a little— I didn't know that was what the note was about.
Okay.
That was—I'll see Bazaar then after we leave.
the uh he's a pretty clever guy you know isn't he in terms of this strategy although that strategy was mine they came out this morning and i changed it i see well i get the point in other words they wanted to put out a statement today and i said a confrontation statement and then you shifted well al you're absolutely right if i'd uh anytime you want of course i guess i really shouldn't be
Well, make those decisions because—no, no, no, but I meant on a strategy decision like that, you be sure to make them.
Your sense is good.
Oh, I do, sir.
The point that I make is that it's never right to have a confrontation when you don't need to.
Always fuzz it up.
Don't you agree?
Exactly.
Exactly.
And then Jerry put us in that position.
It's no fault of his, but he should quit answering legal questions from that podium.
Now, we put a good statement together for him.
I just left it, and it's good.
You know, he'll get a little carping himself, but that's easy.
But you think Scots will get a ride, do you?
Oh, boy.
And he did another thing.
He said, now look, boys, we all know what the game is.
He said, this is an effort to get the president.
It's just that simple.
And it's a simple political thought.
God, he just laid it out.
You know, the more we can have people say that they're trying to get the president, that's going to really sink home, isn't it?
That's right.
That's the theme.
They don't mind getting Haldeman and Ehrlichman and Mitchell and a few others, but if they're going to try to get the president, then it's a straight-out political fight.
And this is what we got from Brinkley that his letters are all saying.
You know, that's the theme that's caught on with the American people.
Yeah.
that's what this game is now.
So we've got to keep hitting that and hitting it.
Right.
Charging them with it.
Yes, sir.
Right.
Right.
Well, we've given so much on executive privilege, it would be a tragedy if we get down to the papers.
And I guess gathered from Bazaar, though, that under the Brady rule, I don't know whether we were confused or not, that they would be entitled to the damn things.
But then on the other hand, he says, oh, no, they're not entitled.
you can hold them.
What is that?
Well, I'll ask him later, but how do you sort that out?
Well, he's involved in that technicality and the rule in the context of exculpatory evidence.
Yeah.
What we're dealing with here is an overriding constitutional issue.
Right.
And, uh,
You know, I think if he does some research, there's never been a precedent.
That's why I asked him if any time had ever come out of it.
We don't have any goddamn exculpatory evidence anyway.
That's the point.
That's right.
Okay.
Good, sir.

NARA Description

On June 5, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 1:12 pm to 1:16 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 039-089 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 39-89

Date: June 5, 1973
Time: 1:12 pm - 1:16 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See also Conversation No. 441-11]

       Haig’s schedule
              -Departure
              -Meeting with John B. Connally

       Gerald L. Warren [?]
              -Problem

       Julie Nixon Eisenhower
              -Use of government planes
                      -Contrasted with cost of commercial flights
                             -First class
                             -United States Secret Service [USSS]

       President’s schedule
              -J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.

       Watergate
             -White House response
                    -Buzhardt
                    -Haig’s role
                    -Confrontation statement
                    -Gerald L. Warren’s press briefings
             -Hugh Scott’s statement
                    -Attacks on President
             -Attacks
                                               -69-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 39-89 (cont’d)

                     -President
                     -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman and John N. Mitchell
                     -Letter to David Brinkley [?]
              -Executive privilege
                     -Brady Rule
                             -Buzhardt’s assessment
                             -Haig’s assessment
                     -Precedent
                     -Type of evidence

Also recorded on June 5, 1973

  • 039-088 1:07 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:07 pm and 1:12 pm.
  • 441-010 1:07 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:07 pm and 1:12 pm.
  • 441-011 1:12 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:12 pm to 1:16 pm.
  • 039-090 1:16 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:16 pm and 1:22 pm.
  • 441-012 1:16 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:16 pm and 1:22 pm.
  • 039-091 1:22 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 1:22 pm to 1:36 pm.
  • 441-013 1:22 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:22 pm to 1:36 pm.
  • 441-014 1:36 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:36 pm and 2:00 pm.

All 48 conversations from June 5, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 039-089, June 5, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/039-089 (accessed October 1, 2026).