Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 429 › Conversation 429-004

Nixon & Ziegler on Watergate and Grand Jury

Thursday, April 19, 1973 · 1:39 PM–1:41 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation429-004 on Tape 429StartThursday, April 19, 1973 at 1:39 PMEndThursday, April 19, 1973 at 1:41 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 429-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler coordinate the administration's public messaging regarding the Watergate investigation. Nixon instructs Ziegler to emphasize that the President does not receive reports from the Grand Jury to combat rumors of scapegoating and leaks. He directs Ziegler to contact Assistant Attorney General Henry Petersen to confirm this official stance.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.

Hi, Rob.

You're going to Florida, aren't you?

Good.

We're going to leave at 12.30 tomorrow.

Tell the boys.

Did you survive the day?

I'll tell you, I used to do a little later.

I was just playing a little lunch now.

But did you, did you, right?

Did you make the point no scapegoat?

Again, I think you should say, the President does know that I do not believe in the reports inside the Grand Jury.

And if I refuse to take them, the reports shouldn't be given to me.

Oh, sir.

They're interrogatory.

They conduct very extensive interrogatory.

But the President specifically does not receive reports from the Grand Jury.

You've got to clear that up.

Call Peterson and tell him that we're going to say that.

Yeah, bye.

NARA Description

On April 19, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:39 pm to 1:41 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 429-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 429-004

Date: April 19, 1973
Time: 1:39 pm - 1:41 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See Conversation No. 038-109]

Also recorded on April 19, 1973

902-010 1:30 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:30 pm and 1:36 pm.
038-108 1:36 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:36 pm and 1:39 pm.
038-109 1:39 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 1:39 pm to 1:41 pm.
038-110 1:41 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:41 pm and 1:45 pm.
038-111 1:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 1:45 pm to 1:46 pm.
429-005 1:45 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:45 pm to 1:46 pm.
038-112 1:46 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:46 pm and 1:48 pm.
429-026 1:46 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:46 pm and 1:48 pm.

All 54 conversations from April 19, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 429-004, April 19, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/429-004 (accessed October 5, 2026).