Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 200 › Conversation 200-003

Nixon phone call with Colson on IRS and political retaliation

Tuesday, August 8, 1972 · 10:53 PM–11:31 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 37 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation200-003 on Tape 200StartTuesday, August 8, 1972 at 10:53 PMEndTuesday, August 8, 1972 at 11:31 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 200-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss the political weaponization of the Internal Revenue Service against Democratic opponents. Nixon directs Colson to intensify pressure on the IRS to aggressively target their political rivals. This exchange highlights the administration's ongoing efforts to use federal agencies as instruments of political retaliation.

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.8 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

tell the IRS to just kick them right in the ass.
The hell with them.
Why do they go after some of the Democrats?

NARA Description

On August 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 10:53 pm to 11:31 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 200-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 200-3

Date: August 8, 1972
Time: 10:53 pm - 11:31 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 139-2; two items have been withdrawn]

Also recorded on August 9, 1972

  • 139-001 9:10 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:10 pm and 10:53 pm.
  • 200-001 9:10 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:10 pm and 10:53 pm.
  • 200-002 10:15 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:15 pm and 10:53 pm.
  • 139-002 10:53 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at Camp David from 10:53 pm to 11:31 pm.
  • 200-004 11:31 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 11:31 pm on August 8, 1972 and 10:18 am on August 9, 1972.
  • 200-005 10:19 AM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:19 am and 1:47 pm.
  • 200-006 10:19 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:19 am and 1:47 pm.
  • 200-007 10:19 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:19 am and 1:47 pm.

All 23 conversations from August 9, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 200-003, August 9, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/200-003 (accessed October 12, 2026).