Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 046-051
Date: Monday, May 14, 1973 at 9:55 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Klein, Herbert G.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/046-051

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] I had Mr. Klein up there.
[0:04] Yes, sir.
[0:04] How are you?
[0:05] What, have you got a hold of Gallagher at all on this?
[0:10] No, I didn't, because I talked to Ron, and he said he wanted to wait until tomorrow morning to be sure about the other questions they might ask.
[0:19] I think this story is a preposterous thing about him.
[0:21] I know, but the point is it's a terrible opening, and the AP is in a hell of a spot on this, because—
[0:27] I know the libel laws.
[0:29] Well, the libel laws make them totally liable.
[0:31] Yeah, they're totally liable, and naturally the president has problems in doing it.
[0:36] But I won't hesitate on this one, believe me.
[0:39] Gallagher better get off his ass.
[0:40] You better get on him and say he better retract this goddamn story.
[0:45] Yeah, all right, I will.
[0:46] The only thing that bothers me on the whole thing at all is that, you know, it's obviously a totally funny story, and there's...
[0:56] Yeah, but they printed it, Herb.
[0:57] What?
[0:58] They printed it.
[0:59] The Santa Ana Register says they stand by it.
[1:02] You see?
[1:02] Yeah, that's right.
[1:03] So?
[1:04] Which makes it a total libel.
[1:06] Right.
[1:07] And the AP has been—has reproduced it.
[1:12] Well, the only—as I was going to say, the only thing that bothers me at all on this thing is—there's no doubt they were totally wrong—is if from this thing then comes
[1:25] another statement about the property, which is perfectly legitimate, whoever does, but they force it out.
[1:33] We don't care about that.
[1:34] I'm perfectly, we're happy about that.
[1:36] Well, sure, and it's a perfectly legitimate thing.
[1:38] That's right, that's right.
[1:39] I don't own it.
[1:40] I know you don't.
[1:44] But, you know, if they put the other part out, it would have eased a lot of the problem on it.
[1:53] And, um,
[1:54] Because I understand, frankly, Marco is crying some kind of a statement on the thing overall.
[2:01] The statement that he should make should be the one we've made previously, that the property adjacent is held in trust.
[2:08] You know what I mean?
[2:09] And that's the case, and it isn't... Yeah, don't claim any part of it.
[2:15] Only as a beneficiary of the goddamn trust at some time in the future, and then it goes to a foundation or something, that's all.
[2:24] You know what I mean?
[2:24] I have no money in it.
[2:25] Well, I know you don't.
[2:27] That's the point.
[2:30] Well, I'll do it right away.
[2:33] I don't know.
[2:33] Well, maybe you don't want to bother with it.
[2:34] What bothered me is not telling them how damn wrong they are.
[2:38] And I think we're getting more and more.
[2:40] In fact, I've got a speech tomorrow, which I'm going to say this, in a situation where they're coming out with irresponsible things without checking anything.
[2:48] And this is a part of it.
[2:49] I saw an NBC show last night, which was the same thing.
[2:54] All the way through, but... You see, the attacks to attack the President of the United States for basically having taken a million dollars in campaign funds to buy a piece of property is totally liable.
[3:07] It's totally false, libelous, you know, per se.
[3:11] And now, God damn it, Gallagher shouldn't have allowed this.
[3:14] It's totally disgraceful.
[3:18] What I'm trying to say is the only difficulty I have...
[3:21] is that I like to shove back some other facts on them as to exactly what the holding on it is to prove it even more wrong.
[3:29] And that's what I'm having trouble getting somebody to give me.
[3:32] And you know and I know that it's all been set up for a long time on the most legitimate basis in the world.
[3:42] And I can say it's libelous, which is correct, but I also
[3:46] to complete the case with just the other information.
[3:49] Well, the trouble with that is you start saying, well, now, as a matter of fact, there are this and that and the other thing, that gives them something else to write.
[3:57] Screw them.
[3:57] The point is, what we have said is totally true.
[4:01] The president owns the four and a half acres, period.
[4:04] The balance is held in trust, period.
[4:07] And he has, you know what I mean, that's the whole goddamn story, period.
[4:12] No, I don't have any million dollars or anybody else in the present.
[4:17] No, you never do anything like that.
[4:20] Well, the point is I don't have that money.
[4:21] That's the point.
[4:23] No, well, of course, you know, they can go worse.
[4:25] They allege that it's from a campaign fund, which— I know, that from the 1968 campaign fund, we took a million dollars and bought the San Clemente property.
[4:33] All totally false.
[4:34] Absolutely false.
[4:37] Well, maybe you want to wait till tomorrow.
[4:39] I don't know.
[4:41] Well, if you want to, go ahead.
[4:43] I'll call him now.
[4:44] You see my point.
[4:45] I like to dispute him totally on the whole damn thing.
[4:49] And hard people, you know, suddenly go scurrying around too much.
[4:55] And I can do that, but it's more effective if you can say, this is dead wrong, you're wrong, it's libelous, it's irresponsible.
[5:05] And then, you know, then the other.
[5:07] Now, maybe I can do that and say...
[5:10] When they ask in the morning, they'll have the other hardwoods.
[5:14] I never have any doubt about any of these things as to what's fully right or wrong regarding you.
[5:21] The whole damn thing is so goddamn clean, it's just unbelievable.
[5:26] Well, everything you've ever done is— Yeah, the whole thing.
[5:29] I don't own a goddamn thing there except that four and a half acres.
[5:34] And the other is held in trust by friends for the goddamn foundation someday, I hope.
[5:41] Sure.
[5:43] That's all there is to it.
[5:45] Well, let me get Wes and get on that goddamn... Well, I don't know.
[5:49] Maybe you want to wait.
[5:50] Wait, let the son of a bitch...
[5:52] Wait till the morning.
[5:52] Wait till tomorrow.
[5:54] Well, I'll do it for sure.
[5:55] I just think that...
[5:56] But don't try to open up anymore.
[5:59] Don't give the AP any more to write.
[6:01] I'm not going to give more to write.
[6:02] You see, I'd like to say, well, as a matter of fact, here's the whole story.
[6:06] I don't think that maybe if we had been... God damn it, stick on what we already have said.
[6:11] My position should be to defend anything.
[6:14] Don't go beyond what we've already said, which is totally true, totally defensible.
[6:19] And it's no campaign fund whatever in this thing.
[6:23] None of the president's money's in this goddamn thing.
[6:25] No, no.
[6:28] That's absolutely right.
[6:29] And there's... Well, in any event, you see, the other thing in your speech tomorrow, I would say that this indicts the committee.
[6:38] The failure of the committee.
[6:39] Irvin made a half-assed statement, so did Baker.
[6:41] But the committee should apologize, retract...
[6:46] and failing to apologize and retract, letting this story lay for two days, indicts the committee in advance of its hearings.
[6:55] Do you see?
[6:56] That sure does.
[6:58] Okay, boy.
[6:58] Because it was all traced to those people.
[7:00] Oh, sure.
[7:00] They did it.
[7:01] They put it up.
[7:03] Sure.
[7:03] That's where it came from.
[7:05] Okay.
[7:06] All right.
[7:06] Thank you.