Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 326 › Conversation 326-004

Nixon & Colson on FBI and ITT

Friday, March 24, 1972 · 9:38 AM–9:45 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation326-004 on Tape 326 (tape position 00:46:07–00:51:28)StartFriday, March 24, 1972 at 9:38 AMEndFriday, March 24, 1972 at 9:45 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 326-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss the status of an FBI report and potential political maneuvering involving ITT and other figures. The participants weigh the risks of challenging the FBI's position versus utilizing external events to their advantage. They emphasize the need for rapid action to influence public perception and media coverage.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 61.1 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:46:07 into the tape and ends around 00:51:28.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
46:25Any word on that thing, on that FBI report?
46:27About what I meant is, I just want to know, did the FBI give a report to the committee, which may not have what it would say?
46:50No.
46:53It supports Andrew tonight.
47:03Well, that'll screw you up.
47:05Why did it move her after we sent him another pusher over there so fast?
47:26I'd like to get into, you know, the FBI, you know, it's not confident in this field.
47:37If you start fighting them, they'll just relax you on the court.
47:44You better just go and do your thing.
48:22Yeah.
48:23Yeah, I see your point.
48:25So the thing you've got to do then is to use the HMS event.
48:33Well, the Hoover recognizes, well, the Hoover said, when they ran the Chicago guy, he recognized the HMS event.
48:44Yeah.
48:47You can report how it plays in the Chicago guy's show, right?
48:54All right, all right.
49:21She disagrees with the title.
49:22It's the same type.
49:23She says no.
49:25Yeah, yeah, yeah.
49:35Well, better move fast, because I don't have a problem with that thing I'm begging you for.
49:49It was already out, apparently.
49:52Yeah, yeah.
49:52Yeah, that's right.
49:55Well, it's worth doing.
50:04The only thing is, it's got to be done so fast, I don't know where you can get it going fast.
50:09It might drop.
50:10It might drop.
50:14Yeah.
50:15Yeah.
50:20Right.
50:22Right, right, right, right.
50:25That's a very good one.
50:27Well, just so that I get, even if you don't need to, well, I tell her to say it any time, don't you?
50:35But she appears as an ITT expert.
50:40That isn't very good, is it?
50:46Yeah.
50:46Okay.
50:46All right.
50:47Well, they always try to move something today.
50:49Yeah, yeah.
50:50Hei.

NARA Description

On March 24, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:38 am to 9:45 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 326-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 326-4

Date: March 24, 1972
Time: 9:38 am - 9:45 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

An unknown person entered and left at an unknown time between 9:38 am and 9:45 am.

[See Conversation No. 22-11; one item has been withdrawn from this conversation]

Also recorded on March 24, 1972

  • 326-002 9:20 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:20 am and 9:38 am.
  • 326-003 9:20 AM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:20 am and 9:38 am.
  • 022-011 9:38 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 9:38 am to 9:45 am.
  • 022-012 9:45 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:45 am and 12:54 pm.
  • 326-005 9:45 AM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:45 am and 9:50 am.
  • 326-006 9:45 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:45 am and 9:50 am.
  • 326-007 9:45 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:45 am and 9:50 am.
  • 326-008 9:50 AM · 50 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:50 am to 10:45 am.

All 38 conversations from March 24, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 326-004, March 24, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/326-004 (accessed October 2, 2026).