Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 433 › Conversation 433-009

Nixon & Bull on Watergate and FBI

Tuesday, May 1, 1973 · 1:04 PM–1:06 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation433-009 on Tape 433StartTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 1:04 PMEndTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 1:06 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 433-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directed his aide, Stephen B. Bull, to forcefully communicate his refusal to allow personal and national security files to be held or scrutinized by the FBI. Nixon expressed intense frustration over the breadth of requests for his documentation, insisting that such materials are his private property rather than evidence for potential defendants. He instructed Bull to convey this firm stance to legal counsel, demanding the immediate removal of these files from external oversight.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
After the cabinet meeting, I think Roger's going to look at this goddamn thing and we'll see what it is.
But I'd like you to tell Carmen that this is much too broad.
I cannot, I'm not going to have my personal files held there so that you just, you know, these men are not defendants.
I'm getting them the hell out of there.
What'd he say?
He gulped.
Did you mention the fact that, no, that I could not have anything, and that anything that's personal between me and them is mine.
It doesn't belong to them.
Goddamn, his ass, he knows that.
And anything in the national security area is mine.
It doesn't belong to them.
And anything else, and that gets out of there.
I'm not going to have that locked up in the FBI.
And if goddamn him, you tell him to write something else, I'd better tell him off to his ass faster.
He's out of his counsel at 2.30.
We've got a map.
Just an old word.

NARA Description

On May 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:04 pm to 1:06 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 433-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 433-9

Date: May 1, 1973
Time: 1:04 pm - 1:06 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Stephen B. Bull.

[See Conversation No. 45-77]

Also recorded on May 1, 1973

  • 045-076 1:00 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:04 pm.
  • 433-003 1:00 PM · 15 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 1:00 pm and 1:04 pm.
  • 433-004 1:00 PM · 15 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 1:00 pm and 1:04 pm.
  • 045-077 1:04 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 1:04 pm to 1:06 pm.
  • 045-078 1:06 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:06 pm and 1:07 pm.
  • 433-010 1:06 PM · 10 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 1:06 pm and 1:07 pm.
  • 045-079 1:07 PM · 56 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 1:07 pm to 1:08 pm.
  • 433-011 1:07 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:07 pm to 1:08 pm.

All 181 conversations from May 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 433-009, May 1, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/433-009 (accessed October 5, 2026).