Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 42 › Conversation 042-038

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on FBI surveillance and Edmund Muskie

Wednesday, April 14, 1971 · 4:33 PM–4:36 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation042-038 on Tape 42 (tape position 00:40:32–00:43:20)StartWednesday, April 14, 1971 at 4:33 PMEndWednesday, April 14, 1971 at 4:36 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 042-038 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consults with Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler and aide Richard Moore to prepare a response to Senator Edmund Muskie’s accusations regarding FBI surveillance during Earth Day. Nixon directs Ziegler to frame these allegations as politically motivated, emphasizing that the administration employs surveillance more sparingly than its predecessors and exclusively for national security or criminal investigations. Furthermore, Nixon authorizes Ziegler to clarify that the President personally ordered the cessation of Army intelligence gathering related to domestic civil disturbances.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Mr. Ziegler, Mr. President.
Yeah.
Hello, Mr. President.
Yeah, hi.
Yes, I'm sitting here with Dick Moore and I'm getting ready to go out to brief.
I'm going to get a question, Mr. President, on this muskie statement regarding FBI surveillance of last year's Earth Day.
Earth Day?
Earth Day.
Earth Day.
Earth Day, yeah.
Earth Day, the event last year.
Yeah, yeah.
Both Dick and I feel that, although I don't get into this in any detail, I refer to the fact that political statements are being made and go back to the Boggs statement, which was what political and without substantiation, and then refer to the fact that the two areas of...
electronic surveillance that are conducted by the FBI, or those dealing with criminal situations.
And the second area relating to national security, which has been
the case with every president and every attorney general since Franklin Roosevelt, and that this administration uses these powers at the president's specific instructions very judiciously and sparingly.
And you could say further that this administration is using them less than they've been using in a previous administration.
Using them less.
than in previous administrations.
That's right.
And indicate that it's easy to grab a headline simply by saying that...
Taking the charge.
Taking the charge.
And that suggests that he likes Bob's, that if he's got facts, he should present them.
Right.
And then, actually, he said that...
I thought I'd make the other point.
It is absurd to say that surveillance is being undertaken at a public event, particularly when an individual is making a public speech which is widely reported.
That's right.
You know.
Well, he's just lashing out there.
Well, I could let this... Dick and I were talking about letting this go with a no comment.
I'm going to do that, but I'm not going to do it if I'm pressed into a situation that it looks like we're doing something and we don't want to talk about it.
That's what I thought I'd use this line, but wanted to check with you.
That's okay.
And in regard, if they get into the activities of the Army, I'm going to say that as soon as the President found out about that, he directly ordered the curtailment of that activity that was authorized under previous administration, that the Army at this time has absolutely no intelligence role to investigate any type of activity regarding civil disturbance.
Is that true?
Yes, sir.
Dick Moore has checked it.
That is true.
All right.
Say it then.
Okay.
Okay, sir.
These are matters that, but the main thing, there's less in this administration and on a very, and only where there's a clear, clear indication of national security.
When it relates to national security, right.
Well, just let them come on here and kill somebody.
That will stir people.
Right.
Okay.
Okay, sir.

NARA Description

On April 14, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 4:33 pm to 4:36 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 042-038 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 42-38

Date: April 14, 1971
Time: 4:33 pm - 4:36 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Ronald L. Ziegler talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 248-16A]

     Ziegler's briefing of press
          -Richard A. Moore
          -Edmund S. Muskie's statement on Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] surveillance
                 of Earth Day
                 -[Thomas] Hale Boggs
                 -Criminal situations
                 -National security
                 -Franklin D. Roosevelt
                 -Surveillance
          -Army's activities
                 -Intelligence role
                 -Civil disturbances

Also recorded on April 14, 1971

  • 248-016 4:20 PM · 47 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:20 pm to 5:10 pm.
  • 042-039 5:10 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:10 pm and 5:26 pm.
  • 248-017 5:10 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:10 pm and 5:26 pm.
  • 042-040 5:26 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 5:26 pm to 5:29 pm.
  • 248-018 5:26 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:26 pm to 5:29 pm.
  • 248-019 5:29 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:29 pm and 5:40 pm.
  • 248-020 5:29 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:29 pm and 5:40 pm.
  • 248-021 5:40 PM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Robert J. Dole, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:40 pm to 6:15 pm.

All 34 conversations from April 14, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 042-038, April 14, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/042-038 (accessed October 1, 2026).