Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 039-089
Date: Tuesday, June 5, 1973 at 1:12 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/039-089

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Yes, sir.
[0:01] Hi, Al.
[0:03] I just wanted to be sure.
[0:04] Do you want to get off by 4.30 today?
[0:06] No, I can leave when the meeting with Connery is over.
[0:09] Yeah, fine.
[0:09] Good.
[0:10] Any problem with Jerry I need to know about?
[0:14] With... You were saying that... Oh, no, no.
[0:17] She was a little concerned about using government planes for private purposes.
[0:22] I said that she has no private purposes as a member of the First Family.
[0:26] And if people ask her about that, she should just say, oh, these security people.
[0:31] You know, she's self-conscious about it.
[0:33] Who is this?
[0:33] Julie.
[0:35] Well, there's no problem on that.
[0:36] That's the Secret Service.
[0:38] And also, we pay for all that, you know.
[0:40] Of course.
[0:41] We pay her first-class transportation round trip.
[0:44] Yes.
[0:45] So it really cost Secret Service more if they went on the commercial.
[0:48] That's right.
[0:49] And we could never consider any of it.
[0:52] See, they won't allow it.
[0:53] No, it just couldn't be.
[0:54] That's right.
[0:55] And I told them that.
[0:56] See, this, I think, was a little— I didn't know that was what the note was about.
[0:59] Okay.
[1:00] That was—I'll see Bazaar then after we leave.
[1:05] 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
[1:30] Well, make those decisions because—no, no, no, but I meant on a strategy decision like that, you be sure to make them.
[1:38] Your sense is good.
[1:39] Oh, I do, sir.
[1:39] The point that I make is that it's never right to have a confrontation when you don't need to.
[1:46] Always fuzz it up.
[1:47] Don't you agree?
[1:48] Exactly.
[1:49] Exactly.
[1:52] And then Jerry put us in that position.
[1:54] It's no fault of his, but he should quit answering legal questions from that podium.
[1:59] Now, we put a good statement together for him.
[2:01] I just left it, and it's good.
[2:03] You know, he'll get a little carping himself, but that's easy.
[2:08] But you think Scots will get a ride, do you?
[2:11] Oh, boy.
[2:12] And he did another thing.
[2:13] He said, now look, boys, we all know what the game is.
[2:17] He said, this is an effort to get the president.
[2:19] It's just that simple.
[2:20] And it's a simple political thought.
[2:22] God, he just laid it out.
[2:24] 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?
[2:30] That's right.
[2:30] That's the theme.
[2:31] 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.
[2:38] And this is what we got from Brinkley that his letters are all saying.
[2:43] You know, that's the theme that's caught on with the American people.
[2:46] Yeah.
[2:46] that's what this game is now.
[2:49] So we've got to keep hitting that and hitting it.
[2:51] Right.
[2:52] Charging them with it.
[2:53] Yes, sir.
[2:53] Right.
[2:54] Right.
[2:56] Well, we've given so much on executive privilege, it would be a tragedy if we get down to the papers.
[3:03] 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.
[3:14] But then on the other hand, he says, oh, no, they're not entitled.
[3:16] you can hold them.
[3:18] What is that?
[3:18] Well, I'll ask him later, but how do you sort that out?
[3:22] Well, he's involved in that technicality and the rule in the context of exculpatory evidence.
[3:29] Yeah.
[3:30] What we're dealing with here is an overriding constitutional issue.
[3:34] Right.
[3:34] And, uh,
[3:35] You know, I think if he does some research, there's never been a precedent.
[3:40] That's why I asked him if any time had ever come out of it.
[3:43] We don't have any goddamn exculpatory evidence anyway.
[3:46] That's the point.
[3:47] That's right.
[3:48] Okay.
[3:48] Good, sir.