Nixon & Ziegler on Watergate and Executive privilege

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I pointed out in terms of, you know, the participation question came.

I said, gentlemen, that was carefully considered.

I can't expand on it.

But I said it was not chosen to draw a distinction between participation and awareness.

The use of the word participation was chosen because

of the fact that there are allegations relating to the cover-up, and there's the investigating process that was involved.

So it was chosen not from the president's standpoint to distinguish between awareness and participation, but for those who were involved in the various investigating processes.

So it's fuzzy enough.

You got it.

And it's just very, very important to, as you said, give anything to indicate that something went wrong, that we should have to worry, because we're not doing it deliberately.

We're not trying to, God damn it, we remember all these things.

Sure.

You know what I'm saying?

Then they got into the executive privilege thing a little bit.

And I said, gentlemen, those were broad guidelines put forth.

so that the White House Council and the Council for Various Witnesses would have a framework to discuss matters.

And I said, I can't expand upon those, but the purpose of them is not to prevent passing of information in criminal activity, but they are designed to present broad guidelines, and they have no legal sanction.

And they don't.

So I left it there and got a little hung up on that, but not in a vindictive way.

Well, I see that.

I mean, there's, there's a point we're going to have to rile that down some.

Well, let's not move too fast on that.

I don't mind them, I don't mind Pierpoint and those fellows going out and reporting it.

We don't have to move too fast because part of the reason, too, is so that Bob and John are in a position where they've just got to go in there and fill their guts.

They've got to maintain something.

We're in hiding that they're saying they'll testify on their own activities, but it's not a property to testify on.

Except that they should always say that the President had no knowledge, and so they did.

I'll make that general statement, but I will not do this in the conversations.

I will.

The way they should always do that is to do that.

I was wondering what communication at all we had with Moore during his period, or with Bob and John.

Is that all true, or not?

Dick Moore.

Oh, Higgs, D-link, through Higbee.

Oh, Higgs.

Did they get any questions on the water game?

Yeah.

We covered the Soviet summit, and we covered the expression of pleasure about the film being released in Mexico.

And I got a special prosecutor.

I said, free hand again.

Question of immunity up to the Justice Department.

Right?

Absolutely.

What is the President's opinion?

I'm guessing maybe Dean, if I play out specifically.

Yeah, I said I can't address that, so I'll keep Justice Department.

That's right.

They got into the operation of the White House.

They said the President's going about the work, you know, that has to be done.

I got a number of things started in the last term that tends to carry through in the next three and a half years.

I gave a little of that

A little bit, but they understood.

They asked if he was offered a full-time position and turned it down.

I said I wouldn't speculate along that line.

We don't need that.

We just discussed with him what he would be able to do.

He said he started off the conversation considering he said

He said he wanted help any way he could, but that he could not do anything full-time.

So we just didn't discuss anything full-time.

Didn't discuss full-time.

As a matter of fact, we discussed getting an amputation, but we didn't offer anything.

He said, I can't do it.

Well, we don't even come together for that.

Well, the bed is likely to come to a head this weekend.

I think it's getting close.

We've got the hearings starting next week and so forth.

I've heard of the president's actions and so forth, but I don't think he's acting on all of them.

I mean, why are these special prosecutors not going to be doing that?

And their indictments, I don't think, would be coming down on them.

I mean, I don't think so.

I don't know.

It depends upon what they deal with.

They make a deal with me, and it's coming down towards some of the president's system.

You say that the stories of the Justice Department, or the garments of the Justice Department, decide today about whether or not to give me an immunity to the decision.

That's what CBS said.

What CBS said.

They're speaking that they will not.

That they will not.

61 1⁄2 of us don't have immunity.

What do you think?

Well, I...

Question of immunity, I don't think...

It does not bother me if they don't give it to them.

It does not bother me if they don't give it to me.

There's no change in it.

I think that he's getting some justice.

Well, he's dying.

He's dying.

But I guess you know, too, even.

We had Dean go to Camp David, but from that time on, I had Earl.

All the time we were in California, there was questioning.

Everybody in the goddamn stand was there.

Well, anyway, I guess it was not an evictive reason.

Hey, could you, why don't you, oh, this soccer player, I don't know if he can get a lot of energy at a time.

Nixon & Ziegler on Watergate and Executive privilege

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on May 8, 1973

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