{"conversationCode":"046-033","tapeNumber":46,"conversationNumber":33,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-046-033","startDateTime":"1973-05-14T23:19:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-05-14T23:26:00.000Z","startDate":"14-May-1973","startTime":"7:19 PM","endDate":"14-May-1973","endTime":"7:26 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Ziegler, Ronald L.; White House operator; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Garment, Leonard;","description":"On May 14, 1973, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and Leonard Garment talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:19 pm and 7:26 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-033 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":"5.5","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part V","chronReleaseDate":"21-Aug-2013","aogpRelease":"Abuse of Governmental Power Release","aogpSegment":"Segment 0","lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 46-33\n\nDate: May 14, 1973\nTime: Unknown between 7:19 pm and 7:26 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nRonald L. Ziegler talked with the White House operator.\n\n[See also Conversation No. 917-44B]\n\f                                             -20-\n\n                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM\n\n     Telephone call to Leonard Garment\n\nZiegler conferred with the President at an unknown time.\n\n[Begin conferral]\n\n[See Conversation No. 917-44]\n\n[End conferral]\n\nZiegler talked with Leonard Garment at an unknown time.\n\n     Garment’s attempts to contact individuals\n         -Sam J. Ervin, Jr.\n         -Rufus L. Edmiston\n         -Howard H. Baker, Jr.\n\n     Garment’s conversation with Fred D. Thompson\n         -Allegation of theft by the President of $1,000,000\n\n     Garment’s schedule\n         -Harry C. McPherson, Jr.","filename":["046-033.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Ziegler, Ronald L.","White House operator","Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Garment, Leonard"],"prevCode":"046-032","nextCode":"046-034","transcript":[{"start":0.47,"end":3.38,"text":"Yes, please."},{"start":3.4,"end":8.45,"text":"Lend garment, please."},{"start":8.47,"end":11.28,"text":"Thank you."},{"start":11.48,"end":15.91,"text":"That's over, David."},{"start":21.11,"end":26.34,"text":"Hello?"},{"start":26.56,"end":26.92,"text":"Yeah, Lenny?"},{"start":27.12,"end":28.4,"text":"Yeah, what's wrong?"},{"start":29,"end":30.95,"text":"Yeah, I tried to reach Senator Irvin."},{"start":30.96,"end":31.85,"text":"He's not available."},{"start":31.87,"end":34.69,"text":"He's just back from out of town a short while ago."},{"start":35.37,"end":38.02,"text":"I tried to reach Rufus Edmiston, his assistant."},{"start":38.04,"end":38.86,"text":"He's not available."},{"start":38.9,"end":39.56,"text":"How about Baker?"},{"start":40.62,"end":42.38,"text":"Baker, that's the one guy I haven't tried."},{"start":42.4,"end":43.1,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":44.13,"end":44.89,"text":"Thompson..."},{"start":44.87,"end":46.39,"text":"Moments and tears."},{"start":46.45,"end":48.67,"text":"Said he's trying to get this thing moving."},{"start":49.21,"end":52.26,"text":"He said the thing to do is to try to get Irving."},{"start":52.31,"end":54.74,"text":"You tell Thompson that we don't give a damn about tears."},{"start":54.78,"end":55.48,"text":"We want action."},{"start":55.7,"end":55.94,"text":"Right."},{"start":56.24,"end":57.94,"text":"I told him just that."},{"start":58.14,"end":58.7,"text":"How did you know?"},{"start":60.3,"end":62.73,"text":"In any event, I shouted at him."},{"start":62.77,"end":72.5,"text":"Tell him that they put us in a position where I've had to deny on behalf of the president stealing $1 million in campaign funds, and God damn it, we don't like that."},{"start":73.18,"end":74.01,"text":"Right?"},{"start":74.03,"end":74.56,"text":"That's right."},{"start":74.58,"end":77.66,"text":"And I think the more they delay on this, the better off we are."},{"start":78.18,"end":78.88,"text":"You follow me?"},{"start":79.86,"end":84.5,"text":"They're doing themselves a disservice by, I think, tomorrow morning, you ought to say, or late tonight."},{"start":84.55,"end":88.41,"text":"The goddamn committee can't get itself together to deny what they know is false."},{"start":88.43,"end":90.13,"text":"They need a full meeting to do that."},{"start":90.15,"end":90.79,"text":"That's right."},{"start":90.81,"end":92.35,"text":"So you say that tonight or tomorrow morning."},{"start":92.37,"end":93.49,"text":"We're still waiting to hear from them."},{"start":93.81,"end":94.64,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":94.66,"end":99.82,"text":"In the meantime, you'll keep going off to dinner with Harry McPherson."},{"start":99.84,"end":101.52,"text":"Well, wait one on that."},{"start":101.58,"end":101.78,"text":"What?"},{"start":102.16,"end":104.31,"text":"You'll keep trying to reach Baker, huh?"},{"start":104.28,"end":106.72,"text":"Let me wait one on that."},{"start":106.9,"end":107.26,"text":"Okay, good."},{"start":107.28,"end":107.78,"text":"I didn't get that."},{"start":109.51,"end":109.91,"text":"Okay, fine."},{"start":110.19,"end":112.64,"text":"Thanks a lot, man."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Leonard Garment, coordinated by Ronald Ziegler, discuss the administration's frustration with the Senate Watergate Committee's delay in addressing false allegations that the President stole $1 million in campaign funds. Garment reports on his unsuccessful efforts to reach Senators Sam Ervin and Howard Baker, while Nixon aggressively instructs him to pressure Fred Thompson for swifter action. They conclude that the committee's inability to promptly deny these claims provides the White House with a strategic political advantage.","topics":["Watergate scandal","Senate Watergate Committee","Fred D. Thompson","Campaign funds","Leonard Garment","Public relations strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T07:23:43.085Z"},"topicSlugs":["watergate-scandal","senate-watergate-committee","fred-d-thompson","campaign-funds","leonard-garment","public-relations-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":117,"audioFiles":[{"file":"046-033.mp3","bytes":3762176,"durationSec":117.44,"bitrate":256279,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:20:04.103Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:42:44.992Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/046-033.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/046-033","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/46/conversation-046-033","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}