Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 778-005
Date: Friday, September 15, 1972 at 8:36 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Connally, John B.; Haig, Alexander M., Jr.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/778-005

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:14] There's a problem there, apparently.
[0:18] I'm not sure what it is.
[0:19] That's one of the things we're talking about.
[0:21] Earthman is assembling the people who are knowledgeable about it to get the facts, because apparently this is sort of out of the law to have a good direction, and we don't have one.
[0:40] And that's the fact of the law, I guess.
[0:42] Colson seems to have them, but they, you know, they sort of come out bit by bit.
[0:47] And I don't think he knows, but apparently the whole story.
[0:50] There is a problem here, that something was done wrong, apparently.
[0:53] Something by someone.
[0:54] But not by Colson, to you, as I understand it, is that Butts doesn't even know.
[0:59] Or didn't.
[0:59] Well, of course not.
[1:00] I know.
[1:01] And what happens is that sometimes these people, the department's called.
[1:07] And apparently it was not something that was,
[1:10] I think everybody thought that it wasn't
[2:09] He was wondering, ask you how you get that thing over to Rogers.
[2:16] Yes, sir.
[2:16] I think he's very comfortable.
[2:18] He's got a call from the Europeans.
[2:21] They've done that, and we coordinated on the instructions.
[2:24] They had a couple of mid-picks that they wanted to improve, which we accepted, and he's, I think, very comfortable.
[2:32] How does it work now?
[2:35] We don't announce matters.
[2:44] No, what will happen here is the Europeans now have the note that the Soviets gave us, which they've gotten through state channels.
[2:51] And that calls for a schedule of meetings.
[2:54] But we may very clearly not have an answer until we consult together and decide on what the scope is.
[3:06] Well, the system will come back.
[3:28] I don't think so, sir.
[3:29] I've been watching it.
[3:30] We don't have one.
[3:44] We told them that, but we didn't.
[3:49] We didn't want it done stupidly, and where the guy made a hell of a mistake was that he falsified reports, and this wasn't necessary.
[4:02] He did it in a very deliberate way, in which he involved a number of people in this falsification.
[4:32] Yes, tonight.
[4:33] It would be interesting to see how this meeting goes.
[4:38] We'll really set the stage if there's going to be any progress at all, I believe.
[4:55] Did he see him?
[4:56] Yes, he did.
[4:57] He's had him for a minute.
[5:04] He's waving around.
[5:04] Did he see Brown?
[5:05] I don't know.
[5:07] I don't see him.
[5:08] I don't know.
[5:10] And the state representative is with him in all the meetings, and I've reported back the substance of the conversation, which we're not really shaking at all.
[5:21] He had three people with him.
[5:28] Well, I think that... And there wasn't anything of the kind of substance to be done that would have been particularly sensitive.
[5:41] Well, I don't find it the Secretary's upset, especially about this trip he was originally, mostly because I think he felt he was snookered on in scope.
[5:50] Oh, to a degree he was, yeah.
[5:55] But it didn't make any difference.
[5:57] I guess you're right.
[6:00] I guess you're right.
[6:04] It looks like they're close to taking Quantree this morning.
[6:09] They've got two Marine battalions in there, right, taking half the city and bugging half, although they're sort of trapped against the river in the west.
[6:18] They're fighting like hell.
[6:20] Both sides.
[6:23] But the casualties have been very one-sided
[6:26] The attack, our Marines have only lost eight, and the enemy's been, I think they've got over 120 killed in just a day's action in this assault.
[6:41] Well, I still think we'll see it.
[6:45] I'd say within ten days to two weeks, but I don't think it's going to be a big one.
[6:49] I think it's going to be a big one.
[6:50] You don't think they have it?
[6:51] I don't think they have it.
[6:52] We've got increasing evidence today of shortages of food, sickness among the troops all up in the MR1 area at Western Way.
[7:02] Shortages of ammunition.
[7:05] It's funny, Cal, that we don't get these reports because the press looks for all the other stuff.
[7:11] Well, the point I'm trying to make, Al, is that we all know that we might be bombing
[7:22] You know, I thought it was huge, you see, this great, great deal of the Soviet money.
[7:53] I don't think so, but I think we'll have trouble getting MFN through for a bit.
[8:01] They can block that.
[8:04] Okay, thanks.
[8:06] I'll be...
[8:22] But Henry had sent all of them, you know, where you let me know about when and all.
[8:29] And Saul was very good.
[8:30] Yes, I thought it was great.
[8:33] He ate the two or whatever it was.
[8:35] Great.
[8:36] All right.
[8:47] See you at the right of the day, Henry.
[9:00] That's right.
[9:01] If this had happened two years ago, it would have been a blip.
[9:38] All the way together.
[9:49] And it has to be humanized somehow.
[9:53] You've got to get a guy who made something out of it.
[9:59] I hope nobody in the government did
[10:07] We were thinking that bugging business.
[10:26] Now that new... Well, you know, the Democrats found that bug in the telephone yesterday.
[10:33] They put out the story.
[10:34] One of the equipment that was sold.
[10:40] last night anyway, I haven't heard this morning, but the phone that it was in was one of the phones that the FBI thoroughly checked when they did their survey of the premises.
[10:50] They walked in, so they know the bug was not, it was an obvious bug.
[10:53] It was not any problem detecting an obvious device.
[10:58] And so they are certain that it was not in the phone at the time.
[11:10] working on that last night and i guess they're doing some checking they think the bureau thinks that did somebody get rid of it one of them may be bugging each other well they may be bugging each other or they may have it's an old unsophisticated buggy device and it may be that someone you know just so they can make the story out of it they went and bought a buggy device put it in the phone and called in the cops and said look what i found
[11:41] And they could ask everybody over there.
[11:45] Also, there was that big story that Jean Westwood discovered the Louis Hart box and everything.
[11:52] She turned the box over to Bennett Williams and that's disappeared.
[11:55] The FBI now have a basis for getting that.
[12:00] They wouldn't turn it over to the FBI.
[12:03] They're now going to insist on it.
[12:15] I think it does.
[12:17] I'm all for it.
[12:23] And when I saw it, I frankly was delighted with it.
[12:27] God.
[12:28] Actually, he alluded to it yesterday.
[12:30] He said it's not funny about the fact that they come up with it and put it on the telephone and behave like that.
[12:35] It raises suspicions that way.
[12:39] I'm bouncing it.
[12:47] I had this in mid-day today.
[12:49] It's a good thing, still.
[12:58] My dad mentioned me yesterday, and he apparently did a very good job of answering and wrapping things up.
[13:31] I think we may have some knowledge there that the
[14:06] and saying that he's, it's a personal suit to defend his own reputation, but that it could also be considered a class action suit defending all the people that are being maligned by this.
[14:20] But he's, he's a pretty, this is a good kind of role for Stanton.
[14:26] So effectively, that's it.
[14:28] And he looks, you know, when Stanton comes out,
[14:37] He just looks on us.
[14:41] That's been a disadvantage in some of these hearings and stuff, because the guy isn't able to dissent at all.
[14:46] But it's a plus when you go on to the attack on the offensive.
[14:56] I think...
[14:56] I think it'll be good somehow to go to this.
[15:13] I think very much so.
[15:18] And the fact that you're announcing things that have to go on all in the future is good.
[15:47] So the work isn't done.
[15:58] The timing worked out fine.
[16:00] I'm glad they got the salt.
[16:01] I think it's good to have salt done before you come back with salt, too.