Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 44 › Conversation 044-027

Haldeman & Dean on Watergate scandal and Grand jury

Tuesday, March 27, 1973 · 4:20 PM–4:57 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsHaldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Dean, John W., IIIConversation044-027 on Tape 44StartTuesday, March 27, 1973 at 4:20 PMEndTuesday, March 27, 1973 at 4:57 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 044-027 ↗

AI Summary

H. R. Haldeman and John Dean discussed the White House's urgent need for intelligence regarding ongoing grand jury proceedings and the testimony of E. Howard Hunt. Due to Dean’s increased public profile, they coordinated for Richard Moore and Fred Fielding to act as intermediaries with Henry Petersen to secure updates. The conversation also addressed concerns regarding potential political sabotage, specifically noting that attorney Bernard Fensterwald had reportedly expressed interest in targeting President Nixon while representing James McCord.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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?
I'm John Dean.
John?
Yes, Bob.
What is our status on getting a report from Grand Jury Activity now?
I'm just phrasing that with Dick Moore to ask him if he would call Henry Peterson.
OK.
I used to do that, but I don't think I ought to do it right now.
All right.
Will Peterson talk to Moore?
I'm sure he will.
OK. We're trying to reach Klein Dean's now.
He's gone to Arizona, and we're ordering him back.
Good.
Erlichman is.
We ought to know what happened today.
find out what Hunt did.
Well, I'll tell you what I was told after we talked the last time that it was planned.
He was going to give a written statement for any questions they'd ask him and take the fifth on everything else.
What is the written statement regarding?
Nothing very sensitive.
Taking the fifth on everything else?
Yeah.
Okay.
Now it's going to be hard to get a report out of council as to what occurred down there until
o'clock or so, because they had a 2 o'clock meeting and counsel were to be present.
Oh.
So the grand jury didn't meet this afternoon?
Yes, they did.
It was after that meeting.
All counsel were present in the courtroom, and then was to go before the grand jury after that situation.
So that would be going on now.
Okay.
We have a terrible breakdown in communication with both the committee and now the grand jury.
I used to be able to stay plugged in with the grand jury, but I'm too hot to do it now.
I'll call Dick right away and see if he's got a reporter.
Fielding step in and do that?
Point being, I'm sure Dick's fast enough to handle your communication stuff for you.
I agree.
Let me talk to Fred.
Fred's in Henry, too, so he's developing a relationship with him.
Here's the other thing is people probably won't know right now what's happened.
They don't report to him hour by hour.
He has not injected himself into it, so probably it won't be until later that we can get a report from him anyway.
Okay.
He doesn't expect anything anyhow, though.
Well, let me tell you another development, though.
Okay.
Emily Bailey called Mitchell.
He called him initially to raise that thing that Mitchell raised down here.
That lawyer?
He called on this thing, you know, his client regarding the gold reserve thing and all that.
Oh, yeah.
And then they went on from there and revealed this to Mr. Wald.
Mr. Wald, one of the two, I'm not clear on which it was.
that they be present in the court when McCord appears on Thursday or Friday, that he, Finsterwald, be present.
To request that Finsterwald be present?
Yeah, and join as co-counsel with Bailey's firm.
And in the course of the conversation, Finsterwald said to Bailey, we don't give a damn about McCord.
We're after Richard Nixon.
Really?
Mm-hmm.
Now, Moore, that's what he's working on right now.
He's getting some of the facts back from, some information back from Mitchell.
And maybe Mitchell will have a daily step forward.
We'll have a conference on this.
Finsterwald put up his bond, for one thing.
And the more I think about Finsterwald, the more I think that could be a link to Kennedy.
For this reason, Finsterwald...
served as the chief counsel to the Administrative Practice and Procedure Subcommittee, run by Ed Long as chairman.
Kennedy was the second-ranking member of that committee and then became chairman.
It's probable that Finsterwald was even on a while after Kennedy came on.
They obviously may have a relationship.
Okay.
Okay.
Yep.
Good.
Thanks.

NARA Description

On March 27, 1973, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and John W. Dean, III talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:20 pm and 4:57 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 044-027 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 044-027

Date: March 27, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:20 pm and 4:57 pm
Location: White House Telephone

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with John W. Dean, III.

[See also Conversation No. 423-13A]

       Grand jury
            -White House acquisition of information

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                  -Richard A. Moore’s forthcoming call to Henry E. Petersen
                         -Dean
                  -John D. Ehrlichman’s call to Richard G. Kleindienst
             -E. Howard Hunt, Jr.’s testimony
                  -Written statement
                  -Fifth Amendment
             -Counsels meeting in court

       White House sources of information
            -Ervin Committee and grand jury
                  -Dean
            -Dean call to Moore
                  -Fred F. Fielding’s role
            -Petersen

       F. Lee Bailey’s call to John N. Mitchell
                   -Bernard W. Fensterwald’s call to Bailey or Gerald Alch
                         -James W. McCord, Jr.
                                -Fensterwald co-counsel with Bailey
                         -Fensterwald’s interest in President
                   -Moore

       Fensterwald
             -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
             -Congressional staff position
                  -Edward V. Long
                        -Kennedy
             -McCord’s bail

Also recorded on March 27, 1973

  • 423-011 3:27 PM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:27 pm and 4:16 pm.
  • 423-012 4:16 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:16 pm and 4:20 pm.
  • 044-026 4:20 PM · 7 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:20 pm and 4:57 pm.
  • 423-013 4:20 PM · 39 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John W. Dean, III, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Charles W. Colson, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:20 pm to 5:20 pm.
  • 044-028 4:57 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:57 pm and 4:58 pm.
  • 044-029 4:58 PM · 7 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:58 pm and 5:20 pm.
  • 044-030 4:58 PM · 5 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:58 pm and 5:20 pm.
  • 424-001 4:58 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:58 pm and 5:20 pm.

All 50 conversations from March 27, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 044-027, March 27, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/044-027 (accessed October 2, 2026).