Nixon & Haig on Watergate scandal and White Paper

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I find my own way of operating it is better for me to rather sort of work with you as the editor at this point.

But I think you've got a very good start here.

Yes, sir.

A lot of good language in here.

So what the problem, I suppose, I was trying to read is

This is the story of everybody.

The intellectuals will throw their hands up and say, Christ Almighty.

They were engaged in water.

Why aren't you asking?

Water gaining.

So forth and so on.

Horrible mess.

I don't know.

How do you read it?

We've been able to sort of see it.

I don't know how we've changed.

I think, hey, we need to admit what we did was wrong.

It's not in an offensive way.

It's not regrettable.

It's just an avoidable mistake.

But I can just do three things.

I don't need to think of the tendency to take the time.

I don't think it's necessary.

With regard to the Pentagon case, I agree with that.

There was some rhetoric yesterday that was just cruel.

Second thing, there needs to be a disclaimer for the end.

In fact, there will be many weeks of security and so forth.

And many charges are going to be used and so forth.

And I am not...

I do not intend that I'm covering everything.

See what I mean?

So that if something else comes out, they'll say, ah, why didn't you mention that?

Is there this paper, this paper that covers all these things?

There's a number of the charges that have been paid to the paper.

Other rules.

I have to do it.

It's not my intention.

I've got to have the same confidence that

I thought that was quite sure.

Now, I think that the, and I know this is a problem, but it seems to me that in terms of the sensitivity of the

I would cry and suggest this, that I would push it out in some respect with regard to my call to agree.

What I'm saying is this, that I think we're, I think we should get what is basically the market, the parts that hold it in the hands of the more damn favorable to us that we know the press will never do.

And I would say sort of this, sort of an off-blank, I told Director Blay, congratulating him,

the progress of the investigation.

I asked him on that occasion whether or not we would discuss this matter.

I don't know.

Walden said, hey, I think you should read.

They both agreed.

And I said, and I gave him the instruction.

I said, carry on the investigation, no matter how high it goes.

In other words, we can put my own recollection

And then I would go on to say, through the months of the desecration, that when I called Mr. Gray into my office to tell him I was going to be nominated for FBI Directive, I specifically told him that there was a question in the water.

I asked him if he was satisfied that he had

I think that's a good point to make, don't you think?

Yes, sir.

That takes the great thing.

Then, where we talked about the meetings,

I guess that's the way to get them into the Walters meeting.

I would spell it out.

They met with

that the Watergate investigation be pursued.

But the investigation not steer clear of what appeared to be the CIA, et cetera.

Then I would go on to say that I still have to say that the director

I agree with you completely.

That's one of the things I thought was wrong.

But the grain is, to me, they're sharp.

That's a damn good stuff.

And then we can say that, pursuant to this, I particularly wanted assurance that the CIA was in no way involved.

What?

C.I.A.

He had his thing hanging over C.I.A.

He would talk to F.P.I.

Anyway, C.I.A.

walked through this, that the, uh, that the, uh, that the investigation needed to be done.

And as I would go on to say, the investigation, down to the C.I.A.

was by no way involved.

I mean, I think we have to

I think that ought to be the end.

Thank you.

Good work.

Excellent.

It shows again that your consciousness can even now, you know, work with your own thoughts, with your own techniques, or in such times as good, to know the smaller things.

You're welcome.

You might as well cover this room.

My, uh, my discussion with Peterson, that is, when I began my, uh, when I began my own investigation of this matter, uh, my personal investigation, uh, my, my, my first, uh, during, during my own investigation of that matter,

Uh, I, uh, I, uh, uh, I, uh, in discussions with Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Secretary General Peterson, I, uh, I repeatedly, repeatedly, uh, required him that he was to take the

to let us get the water deep, no matter how high it led.

I mean, no matter where it led, no, no, no.

But I told them of my concern.

I expressed my concern with regard to our national security operations and directed that the investigation

because I think in such a way as not to compromise our national security investigations, then our national security investigations, then I would go on to say that our

the course of Watergate, or the course of Watergate, it was found that hunt had been involved in the booking trip, or some of the Watergate booking trips.

And when that was brought to my attention, to tell you on blank, I may give you the record that that's the information that I received.

You see, let's just cover that face now, because that's

That's when they're going to try to screw up and do whatever they might try to do.

And whereas we moved slowly, we did move, you know what I mean?

But I was trying to keep them the hell out of the hole.

This thing, this paper, gets at it really all better than my own recollections of it.

It's the rationale.

This is true.

We are very particularly concerned about them.

They're very committed to all the plumbers.

That's really what it was about, but I didn't give a shit about it.

I think it was sent to all the background or here, but this is where I, this is, I think it's going to help us quickly here, exactly right here.

I'm talking about this is where I get a clearer picture of the investigating instructions and whether or not, how do we handle the cooperation with them.

Well, I'm asking in disrespect, just to make you understand the rest of the issue.

That search is a problem.

What is it, Mr. Dern?

The cooperation with Dern was not my problem until after March 23rd, and I don't know very well what you're doing.

But at that point, then, the only thing that came to me was this goddamn radio.

We found out about it when we sent it to Bernie Brock's case.

It wasn't a question about cooperating.

It was about their kind of what they're talking about.

Is that what he's talking about, this particular case?

I said, ask me about Watergate.

Actually, the information that I have is that I got a call from my mom about this.

It's her and his belief that Dean and Peter supposed to know about this break-in in the summer.

That's the problem, you see.

Now we didn't, I didn't, I didn't understand.

So there was an operation.

But I did not know.

I did not know about the damn break-in until after March.

You see my mic?

Yes, sir.

And that's the only point we can start at.

What is bizarre to say is basically that they now are charging him.

I did not go up with the person.

Yes, there's a suspicion that Peter

I mean, that makes sense.

That is their question at the moment.

That question is at the moment.

They have been involved in that.

I think they should not go into that.

What has happened to you is that people have been lying, starting to get an affair.

But basically, Al, he didn't.

I think that's the problem with justice.

When you're standing at this picture, where there's two burglars on the side of the doctor's office, we didn't have that.

That's the thing with the Justice Department.

They got a bad case there.

But nevertheless, it didn't make any difference.

It had its effect.

We did cooperate.

We did get the words admitted.

I think Peter's only answer is it probably had to have been nailed or not.

But I would ask the Czar to

to take these points that I just may mention and have them work out rather hard.

I put it in quite specifically.

The more we can put in of these receipts, we don't have to.

In other words, we should never put out METCOPS.

We should never put out that.

That, I think, is a mistake.

Because they only tell a half.

Yeah.

And also because if we're putting out classified information, if we can put out basically what it's are,

I think Ziegler will have a good thing to bridge off with you.

Yes, the president did order it.

Did he order any Democratic cover-up?

Well, they did say that, too.

I think specifically they should answer a part about the CIA people.

The fact that, uh, that, uh, that a patch made, it is a patch, it is reported that some attempts were made, some efforts were made to get the CIA to put them on the table.

I put them on the table.

Unauthorized.

Unknown.

I don't even know her.

Totally unauthorized.

I think I ought to go in here, rather than have that come out at a later time.

But how does that, is that, I think that's going to help take a great deal.

That's the area that we're in.

Yeah.

As you can tell, those are, the work particular, that area, that, that, that, the, uh, the two areas that I just gave you.

I would say the record was figured out.

The record was figured out.

Because I did tell him.

I did it with the best of intentions.

I think this is good.

I wrote a song.

It's called Nothing Weak, Nothing to Do.

Well, I have to say, nothing helps.

Everything helps the world.

I mean, it sort of holds the ground.

I mean, let me explain.

I was looking back just three weeks ago, the day that I managed to get a very good speech.

But I tried to fix it.

The problem is we can't look at it from very different terms of where we are now, but where we would be if we had a better plan.

And also, we've got to look at it from other terms.

73 million people saw the

.

I checked the book, I had no knowledge of it.

I don't want you to see where you would have been.

Oh yeah, you still had them on the job.

On the job, yeah, yeah.

Here they are, they're raising three kids.

Yeah, that's really, you know, there's quite frankly, I mean, you've got some more problems with the statements and stuff, and then as they get them checked, it's kind of hard.

In the case of John, it would be a little tough.

But you see, you're always saying that.

That's what they're .

If you only have those two paragraphs of the .

This is something that I don't want to say, but we're going to .

We've all got .

I'm sorry.

Nixon & Haig on Watergate scandal and White Paper

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on May 21, 1973

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