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Conversation 046-031

TapeTape 46StartMonday, May 14, 1973 at 4:00 PMEndMonday, May 14, 1973 at 4:04 PMParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ziegler, Ronald L.Recording deviceWhite House Telephone
AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss the public reception of William D. Ruckelshaus's statement regarding FBI files recovered from John Ehrlichman's safe. They aim to frame the narrative to demonstrate that the White House was transparent rather than obstructive in handling these documents. Additionally, they monitor developments regarding John Dean's files currently under judicial review and prepare for upcoming testimony from General Vernon A. Walters.

Watergate scandalWilliam D. RuckelshausFBIJohn D. EhrlichmanJohn W. Dean IIIVernon A. Walters
AudioNARA Description

On May 14, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 4:00 pm to 4:04 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-031 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 46-31

Date: May 14, 1973
Time: 4:00 pm - 4:04 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See also Conversation No. 436-13]

     Watergate
          -William D. Ruckelshaus
                -Statement, May 14
                      -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] activities
                      -FBI files in John D. Ehrlichman’s safe
                      -J. Edgar Hoover and John N. Mitchell
          -John W. Dean, III’s documents
                -Judge
                      -J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.’s viewpoint
                      -Senate
                      -Justice Department
          -President’s conversation with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -News leads
                                              -19-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      (rev. January-2011)

                 -Ruckelshaus’s statement
                 -Dean’s documents
                 - Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters’s testimony
                        -Senate Armed Services Committee

     President’s schedule
           -Nelson A. Rockefeller
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Did Recklesau survive?
Yeah, I think he did a pretty good job.
Right, right.
We're getting a readout now.
We don't have a readout quite yet.
Right, right.
Our initial indications are that he did well.
Yeah, yeah.
I trust it can be, and so forth, that it could be played more a case of a B.I.,
I was trying to hide anything.
He said, Al Haig was just saying to me, he said, within 24 hours after we were informed, we had, you know, that they were looking for the papers, we found them and turned them over.
This doesn't suggest that the White House was trying to hide anything.
It doesn't suggest that these FBI people were, it doesn't suggest that the FBI people were
involved in warfare in those terms.
It simply points out that Ruckelshaus said today that after an investigation, the bar tab files were found in a safe of former presidential aide John Ehrlichman.
It does not suggest there was an effort to hide them or to withhold them now.
It's playing pretty straight, as a matter of fact.
Point out that Hoover and
And Mitchell disagreed as to whether they were destroyed.
Well, it goes on.
I don't have a total readout yet, but it goes on to say that the judge, I understand, is now reading the papers from Dean's safe.
According to Al, he was going to read them at 3 o'clock in the court.
The court feels that he can get a readout on that in about an hour.
He's not going to read the papers before the court.
He's going to read them privately.
He's not going to read the papers publicly.
And then determine to give them to the Senate and maybe... And to the Justice Department.
Yeah.
To give them to the Justice Department, we should have them.
That's right.
Okay.
A little talk with Alan today.
He agrees totally with your philosophy.
He just says this is an old...
You know, so many big stories in a day, it's hard to handle them, you know what I mean?
That's right.
But on the other hand, your philosophy is so correct.
We just keep our balance and keep trying to do our thing.
That's right.
It's not mine.
It's yours.
I mean, that's what you pointed out in Florida in Camp David.
I heard with her.
Right.
And I see the Ruckelshaus papers and so forth.
Well, I don't think it—I mean—
Well, we should have, you know, a pretty good indication on how all of this played in a couple hours, and then we can report to you when we have it in full detail, which we'll be prepared to do.
We should have an indication about it.
We'll have a good indication on how the Ruckelshaus thing is moving and what the papers are, and we'll be able to report to you and maybe have an assessment.
And they have our friend the general up, Walters, up at the Armed Services.
Well, he'll be a damn good witness.
We should have a readout on that at that time, too.
All right.
Should we say about 6 o'clock?
Yes, sir.
5.30 maybe, okay.
5.30.
Yes, sir.
All right, good.
I'm going to see Rockwell.
All right.
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