Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 741 › Conversation 741-002

The “smoking gun” conversation

June 23, 1972: Haldeman tells Nixon of the plan to have the CIA ask the FBI to limit its Watergate investigation, and Nixon agrees. Its release on August 5, 1974 ended remaining congressional support for the President, who resigned four days later. More famous conversations →

Friday, June 23, 1972 · 9:41 AM–10:39 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation741-002 on Tape 741 (tape position 00:04:17–01:03:13)StartFriday, June 23, 1972 at 9:41 AMEndFriday, June 23, 1972 at 10:39 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 741-002 ↗

AI Summary

In this pivotal Oval Office meeting, President Nixon, H. R. Haldeman, and Ronald Ziegler discussed the Watergate investigation. Haldeman informed Nixon of a plan to use the CIA to impede the FBI's inquiry, and Nixon agreed to this strategy. This conversation, later known as the "smoking gun," significantly contributed to Nixon's eventual resignation.

Watergate investigation
CIA involvement
FBI investigation
Obstruction of justice
Presidential agreement
Smoking gun tape

Audio

Easy Nixon does not have audio for this conversation yet: the Nixon Library lists it as “being processed”, and the National Archives Catalog has not put it online. It will be added once it is released. See the Nixon Library record ↗.

NARA Description

On June 23, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:41 am and 10:39 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 741-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 741-2

Date: June 23, 1972
Time: Unknown between 9:41 and 10:39 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     [Signing documents]

H .R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at 10:04 am.

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 10:39 am.

     The President's schedule
          -Domestic Council
                -Time of meeting
                -Preparation
                      -Background reading material
          -Meeting with Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
          -A television appearance
                -Busing issue statement
                      -Patrick J. Buchanan
                      -Length
                      -Tone
                -Questions
          -George P. Shultz
          -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins

[Transcripts of the following portion of this conversation maybe found in RG460, Box 172, pp.

1-38; SI, App. III, pp. 39-74 (1-34); US vs. Mitchell, Exhibit 1, pp. 00002-00007 (3-8) and
00008-00009 (16-17)]

H. R. Haldeman talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 10:04 and 10:33
am during the transcribed portion.

[Conversation No. 741-2A]

Ronald L. Ziegler entered at 10:33 am during the transcribed portion.

[End of transcribed portion]

Haldeman and Ziegler left at 10:39 am.

Transcript (AI-generated)

No transcript is available because Easy Nixon does not have the audio yet.

Also recorded on June 23, 1972

025-130 9:41 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:41 am and 10:04 am.
741-001 9:41 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:41 am and 10:04 am.
741-003 10:39 AM — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Herbert Stein, Ezra Solomon, Marina von Neumann Whitman, John D. Ehrlichman, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House photographer, Stephen B. Bull, Charles W. Colson, Earl L. Butz, Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Kermit Gordon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:39 am to 12:41 pm.
741-004 12:41 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 12:44 pm.
741-005 12:44 PM — President Richard M. Nixon, Carlos D. Dixon, Mrs. Carlos D. Dixon, Stephen C. Dixon, Kimberley R. Dixon, Earl L. Butz, James V. Smith, John C. Whitaker, White House photographer, and Anita J. Dixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:44 pm to 12:50 pm.
741-006 12:51 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:51 pm.
741-007 12:51 PM — President Richard M. Nixon, Frederic V. Malek, Daniel T. Kinsley, E. Pendleton James, Stanton D. Anderson, John E. Clarke, Robert V. Davison, Michael T. Harrigan, Frank C. Herringer, William H. Marumoto, John Grinalds, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:51 pm to 1:00 pm.
741-008 1:01 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:01 pm.

All 35 conversations from June 23, 1972 →

Nixon, Haldeman & Haig on Watergate investigation and CIA involvement May 11, 1973 · 1 hr 9 min
Nixon & Dean on Watergate investigation and Media coverage March 8, 1973 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Buzhardt on John W. Dean III and Ervin Committee June 12, 1973 · 17 min
Nixon & Petersen on Watergate investigation and Executive privilege April 27, 1973 · 4 min
Nixon phone call with Haig on Watergate scandal and Vernon Walters May 15, 1973 · 5 min
Nixon, Haig & Ziegler on Watergate and CIA involvement May 12, 1973 · 29 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 741-002, June 23, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/741-002 (accessed November 14, 2026).