Nixon & Ziegler on Watergate and John Dean

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She said he saw the president.

No, I didn't see him.

Right.

Any conclusions about any individual?

The president has an immediate investigation.

The August 29th statement, this is the operative statement.

The August 29th statement was based on the report of the investigation that Mr. Dean conducted.

And we, as far as, it would be improper to comment further.

I'm going to get into a little snow job with somebody so I'm back.

That's what I mean, yeah.

And how is it, what you have done over the last three weeks, while still consuming an awful lot of time on this call, rather than determine that with some of these things, that he himself, that he had to take this.

newspaper reports and all the rest of this, the one that he considered, he said McCartney was a public, right?

Right, yes, sir.

Oh, exactly.

What did he learn from it?

I'm not going to go into that right now, but at least that information is in the hands of the Attorney General.

This is the trustee's email address, sir.

I'm going to talk about that.

What I learned from him, of course, from Dean, earlier, all of the people in the practice,

Well, you're going to have a fairly rough time for the next year if you run some of this in front of me, because you're going to name Mitchell, and you're going to very likely to name all of them, and you're going to certainly name Dean, it's likely to blow his back.

He's determined to strike me down.

See, Dean is calculated in a way.

in relation to the fact that any man who goes for nine months who aligned to the president, which is the impression, if he is indicted or if he is involved in this, is discriminated.

He can walk out and say that King Timahoe, you know, ran in and got the...

He's discriminated pretty bad for all reasons.

He already is wrong.

Any time this becomes public, he is a bad fellow.

Automatically.

It's my view.

He, the threat, they have no grounds to threat.

Well, I mean, the kind of stuff he used, like, I guess, the promise of, you know, with regard to Watergate, and even with regard to, you know, the lease, and the elsewhere thing, there was some bugging of it, you know, some private.

He's still discrediting it.

The fact of the matter is that, you see, everyone has a stake in the, the president has a stake in the

the White House has mistaken me, the presidency has mistaken me, on the veracity of his report and his position.

If, in the course of the further investigation, it is determined that Dean was guilty of misleading, lying, providing, not the full story, he is certain.

The real problem here is not incarceration.

the other hand motives of others

I think this was the best step.

You know, the thing that troubled me about the garden approach, I mean, it might make me look like a hero for 24 hours, and I fired all of them early.

But first of all, it's wrong to call the bird.

Second, it's wrong to fire.

And they say, well, I've got knowledge.

And so they say, but because they are heated, they should go.

Well, I just can't.

I can't accept that proposition.

Or do you agree that they should have made a big play at it and said, we're going to fire all of them early?

Not move out, move with information.

I don't know that we face that.

No, in these names of the Holy Spirit, I think.

You mean the diet.

The way it was stated in the Coralism, perceived by the diet, that's right.

an unstable will be made by an employer that the following people were following in one way or another.

And then Bob, let me mention this as well.

Well, as a co-conspirator, this has a potential.

Basically, it's virtually indictment.

Now, it is indictment, but I mean, because they don't want to get in that legal position.

And it's a pretty rough procedure.

But whether they do that or not, we should see.

I think if he is named in open court, even by the Brewer, I believe that Bob and John, if they are named, are going to come in and say, look, are you so and so?

Are you so and so?

discussions i've had with them is that they were if they if as things break which we know are already in the memory bank it's going to come out at some point seizing the right time to take the initiative could strengthen them but certainly if they did not seize the event the initiative and it's drug out you know by state they were weak and so i think we're headed in the right direction i think today is the right to move

I think today was the way it was.

There's a certain advantage to Lynn's argument, but it was overshadowed, I think, by the complexity of the situation.

And this is a good start on it.

And, of course, you have to keep in mind, by going too hard, in other words, by a massive sweep,

that could have very shaking effects.

Or just on things.

I mean, a suspension of 300-level staff people would have been quite a joke.

Today's action lays the groundwork, lays the footing, conditions, and softens the whole situation.

Because I made this point to Bob and John,

I don't know why the president doesn't let the staff go, the White House staff go before the committee.

What did they use in the White House?

We've worked out arrangements.

From the public standpoint, that's boomerang news.

Yeah, that's even better.

See?

Sure, that's, that's true.

So, the, the, the, the, the, they said, well, why is Dean going before the committee?

I think I'll call Dean and tell him what I'm going to say.

Should I?

Yeah.

If leaks occur, now the fact is out that this is broader scope, you've determined that the generals have done it.

If guys come about some of the leaks, what is the motive of the leak?

In other words, that's another good reason not to comment.

Why don't you give Dean a call?

I'm sure that can.

Nixon & Ziegler on Watergate and John Dean

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on April 17, 1973

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