Nixon phone call with Rogers on Watergate and Special Prosecutor

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I was wondering if you had any chance to give some more thought to that little problem.

Yes, I've been working on it all morning.

I tell you what I did.

I called Percy and sort of read the riot act to him.

I told him, Christ, if you want to undercut the government, go ahead.

I said, Elliot will just

won't take the goddamn job either.

He's going to take it and be the attorney general.

He won't take it.

And if you want to harm the country, go ahead.

Well, he didn't mean that.

And I said, well, Christy, the president said that in his speech.

He's given Elliot Richardson the authority to have a special prosecutor.

And why the hell do you have to do it the next day?

Well, he didn't mean it.

And he had it drafted before the speech and all this kind of stuff.

Well, I think that on balance, and he

He promised me he wouldn't say anything about my meeting with him.

He's very unhappy about the comments that appeared at the Chicago Tribunal, you know, on the cabin meeting.

That's right.

Good.

It better be.

Well, I think the best thing to do, I talked to Bill Timmons and he agrees that rather than try to get another vote, if we could get the damn thing off the calendar and just have him make some statements supporting Elliott and assure that he's going to do the right thing and that we don't need anything of that kind.

If we can get Goldwater and Percy and a few of those fellows up there to say that, then just let it ride.

Because actually there's nothing in the resolution that's inconsistent, really.

I mean, it says pretty much the same thing you did.

The only thing that it says independent of the executive branch or Gus Bell or something.

Hold on just a second.

Let me get the paper.

I didn't think so.

Hold on.

First he said that he, he didn't intend that, that he could be, he said that he thinks it ought to be, ought to be in the Justice Department and it ought to be, he doesn't, he has an office right next to Elliot and so forth.

Really what he was talking about, principally, was to have it, have it confirmation.

But you couldn't possibly do that.

Well, you could.

That isn't so difficult.

It would be just like having an assistant attorney general.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

No, it says the president immediately designated an individual of the highest character and integrity from outside the executive branch to serve as special prosecutor from outside the executive branch.

It doesn't mean that he remains outside.

I said to him, you mean he's got to be in the executive branch?

He said, of course.

To serve as special prosecutor for the government in any all criminal investigations over the rising out of the election, the president should grant such special prosecutor all authority necessary and proper to be effective in the performance of his duties.

The president should submit the name such as needed to the Senate.

So that isn't really all that bad.

Um, I mean, you would do that anyway.

If Elliot decides on a special prosecutor, you obviously would grant him whatever authority he needed.

And what about the, well, the submission to the Senate doesn't bother me anyway, because he's the kind of man that Elliot would pick would be for him to get by the Senate.

There might be some advantage to it.

Very good.

Right, right.

Well...

Would you pass it on to Elliot?

I will.

I just finished talking to Elliot, and I've talked to... Well, I don't think that... And Elliot should simply take the line where that resolution is completely consistent with what he is intending to do.

That's right.

Well, he wants to be a little cautious in that because he's not sure, but he can say it.

I think the best thing to do is just let it ride.

They'll say some nice things up there about Elliot now.

That's it.

Confidence in him is the thing.

Right.

All right, Mr. President.

I'll see you.

Basically, that's the whole problem.

The resolution was so unanimous, so, so much.

You see, coming as it did, it indicated a total lack of confidence in Elliot.

That's the thing.

It really destroyed him before he ever began.

I know that.

That's why Elliot was so upset last night.

That's right.

Well, I think it's... Incidentally, I was trying to think, Bill, of a council.

You remember Ray Dickey?

Yeah.

Could he do it, or...?

I don't think so.

No.

I think the best fellow probably is this dude from Chicago.

No, I don't mean special prosecutor.

Counsel for the White House.

Oh, for the White House.

Just somebody here, you know, that has to do the clearances and so forth.

Just some older guy that's... Let me think a bit about that.

I'd just like somebody.

It has to be somebody that I know relatively well and somebody who's going to bother me.

too much, but you know what I mean.

Would you give some thought to that?

I will.

I don't want him too young, but if you could give me a name, like for example,

I asked Chappie Roosevelt, he could do it.

He said, geez, I'm a member of ten boards.

He said, I just can't get off of ten boards.

And, of course, that's the problem.

Of course, this does not require confirmation or anything of that sort.

What about Bryce Tyler?

Have you thought about bringing him back?

Well, you see, he's not a lawyer.

I was thinking about that, but I mean, for other... Yeah, we could, but except... Bill, he just can't cut it financially.

I mean, he's, you know, that's his problem.

That's why he left.

He just, you know what I mean?

He's

I don't know why it seems to me that the doggone company has been very rough in that respect.

Is that right?

On leaves of absence and so forth.

Dennis mentioned to me the other day, he said, I think this would be a God-given opportunity to get very siloed back.

It would be sort of a signal that I turn around your relations with the Congress.

Right.

Well...

Well, we might try.

Another thing about Hilo would be pretty good is that he would work well with the cabin.

He's not a grab for authority.

No, no, no.

Well, we don't have any.

There's nobody around here who's been a grab for authority now, I don't think.

No, what I mean is I'd hate to have you put some big shot in there.

Oh, no.

Oh, no, no, no.

I mean, you couldn't bring in a Connolly or somebody like that.

Oh, I understand that.

One of the reasons I need a counsel fairly soon is that I've got to get Len off to his other things.

You know, he's got a lot of other things in the environment, and I just need a...

If you could, let me think about it.

I need somebody totally, you know, just frankly a good, gray, competent fellow.

In other words, a Charlie Ryan that wouldn't talk so much.

Okay?

Okay.

See you at 11.

Okay.

Nixon phone call with Rogers on Watergate and Special Prosecutor

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on May 2, 1973

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