1973 Watergate Hearings; 1973-06-06; Part 1 of 5

the pain is an attack democrats in the senate of the united states a resolution to establish a select committee to send an investigation stunning event illegal improper or unethical activities were engaged in by any person's acting individually or in combination with others in the presidential election of nineteen seventy two when a campaign campus or other activities related to it from washington now and black brings you traveled to gavel videotape today's hearings with the senate select committee on presidential campaign activities here is in fact senior correspondent robert

mike leigh and the watergate hearings today details about nearly two million dollars in cash was parceled out to watergate conspirators g gordon liddy and others involved and president nixon's campaign today's witness the former treasurer of the election committee who resigned in disgust after watergate hugh sloan jr also gave a full account of how people tried to keep him from coming out of the full truth and the watergate scandal continued to have consequences at the nixon white house president nixon moved today to reconstruct their white house staff that was reduced by resignations last month he announced that melvin laird will become head of the domestic counseling will be counsel to the president jonathan's replacement other words blair met with reporters today and city return to public life reluctantly but he said governor in some quarters as almost at a standstill and this cannot be allowed to continue and quote our hormones replacement as

white house chief of staff will be general alexander haig he's come under criticism for remaining in the military while working at the job temporarily up till now today the white house announced he will retire from the rt august one and will then officially be named counselor to the president the white house also confirmed reports that communications cheaper klein is leaving to join matt for media in los angeles ron ziegler remains presidential press secretary and will also be an advisor to the president with only a third of their schedule witnesses now heard from the big names still to come it became clear today that more hearings are going to be necessary the vice chairman of the committee republican senator howard baker disclosed this in an interview with impact peter carey i don't or haven't our country daily basis apparently and i expect we'll wait for the fourth of july recess but of that and of the lambs who

writes that he's flown jr as treasurer the president's re election campaign is the highest rank she ranking functionary have to testify before the senators and be a television before saul but he was much more than the actor his day on the witness stand there are many hard news aspects of his testimony but as you will say one of his overriding things was is continual desire details above in to get to the bottom of watergate the top a presidential appointment secretary white shape and presidential advisor john ehrlichman reelection committee officials fred mogul rupert jeb magruder among others one of the most interesting of his trips was to the officer former attorney general john mitchell sloan was asked if he spoke to mitchell about the watergate break in and cash given the g gordon liddy it was essentially

twenty nine years libya's but it is big it is an invasion could lead the ballot we're going to draw your own conclusions about his long and that's the beauty of being able to say the hearings in full a little background on the man himself might be helpful if you want human action though he's thirty two years old a graduate of princeton university he attended before and services georgetown university briefly that's here in washington and wasn't as a navy veteran he comes from a business family his father is vice president of a major paper cup as republican political activity began in nineteen sixty six when he worked for the gop senate campaign finance committee and he worked later in the nineteen sixty eight presidential campaign and then joined the white house

staff for two and half years before going to the committee to re elect the president for the nineteen seventy two campaign his wife deborah and we met when both worked at the white house was there today whether earth and you'll get a glimpse of or from time to time during the evenings she's the young lady in the green dress sitting directly behind her husband what kind of witness was use long pause i said that's the conclusion where all three liberal senator sam irvin has his opinion though and use some of his down home quotations to stay calm and at the risk of being accused of wanting to back here's what the gentleman from north carolina say about the witness long like you were calm we won despite the

committee's about happiness with his testimony sloan will be back on the stand when the hearings resume tomorrow there's no estimate of how much longer he'll be questioned but when he finishes the next witness will be no more was press aide for the committee to reelect president and herbert horner who served his schedule and director of that committee neither man has been mentioned significantly in the testimony thus far that his testimony today sloan returned repeatedly to the federal law which took effect on april seventh nineteen seventy two law requiring candidates for federal office report contributions and spending oh man in charge of administering outlaw the director of office of elections in the general accounting office the gao is with a strike the us uses these nine that is so our audience could more easily follow mistress was testimony could you tell us what that was all about the federal election campaign act out trying first of all the law became effective on april seven that's a magic date for us as well as for mr sharon and four campaign committees because prior to that

date committees operated in effect under the corrupt practices act which lyndon johnson characterizes more local law but as of april seventh avenue became effective the general accounting office the office and watch the loss of federal elections as cows got into the campaign finance disclosure business for the first time and as of that date campaign contributors and campaign expenditures in any significant amount are required to be disclosed in considerable detail and is that date april seventh day around which much of the so called watergate controversy swirls one of the things that mr sloan mentions as the audience will see is the great confusion that existed in a changeover from prior april seven regulations to new regulations that when in effect it went into effect on april so what was the confusion was there not a clear guidelines laid out for everybody to know what to

do all i think inevitably any change in the law as a source of some confusion i think the new law at least on the points that are an issue in the president's set of circumstances was quite clear and certainly our office was available for consultation and we had rather extensive consultations with all kinds of political committees all parties so but it is some confusion is inevitable i think perhaps much of a problem is centered around the fact that after forty five years i guess and the corrupt practices act it was very difficult for candidates and committees at least in some cases lula realize that the new law was being taken seriously by many including of course the general accounting office thank you very much really that's optimistic is a great ally until mosul matter of

the new campaign law at the closer to my three ply as riggan during each night are broken the testimony down into segments are here is our guide for unions doing and the fire starts use of almost two million dollars in cash including some one hundred and ninety nine thousand dollars to g gordon liddy went as nixon finance chairman murray stands what the money was used for stem said i don't want to know and you don't want to know either in the second hour of song describes her stanzas to take forty thousand dollars from it's a telling investigators about it stern says he assumed sloan says he assumes fans took possession of a similar amount of catch sloane also says that when he tried to tell john ehrlichman about secret cash payments the presidential aide said he didn't want to hear about it is that on the stern sloan offers his suggestions for campaign reform getting a time limit on religion at the questioning he admits he should have a book of cash donations to do what for states in the final hour of today's

hearing sloan starts about more efforts to keep him silent he says he was told the lady payments were politically sensitive and damaging there was a need to minimize the amount and during a trial and he relates white house counsel john dean called his attorney urging absolutely perfect and then all of this will be covered in the glorious detail by the committee that is long we can to justify this morning decision seasonal variations

this mini season thank you it is during the

recess women's rights sing it i mean you know

q w long june seven know two to house a ceo at four yes bunnies trees you're right

this season since nineteen seventy one assistant the citizens committee for the relationship the organization

he was looking for someone who had experience from the nineteen sixty and so forth that's right in my conversations with the final decision but it was nice oh geez serve the

citizens of the religion this is an appeal that was essentially a political and financial this on relief all decision was made to divide the campaign into two separate committees and one having political function responsibility i assume the chairmanship committee which was in existence until february fifteen nineteen seventy two at the time secretary stands left his position as secretary of commerce

he wished to restructure the committees in the campaign and have a fresh start is coming and so we changed the name of the committee at that point it had been a finance committee for the reelection of president nixon became the finance committee for the reelection of the president he became chairman of that committee i became her desk amid rampant really effective at the new campaign law which was april seventh nineteen seventy two seventy two was created the finance committee to re elect the president which was to be the principals committee in operation for an effective charitable a secretary stands maintaining the same position describe

this process the planet the selection of personnel differences a pigeon as we proceeded this involves one nation of various committees or receipt of campaign contributions all i'm asking people if they won't serve as german spoken of these various committees which votes on four hundred and fifty four are affected but all sort of central character of seeking out people getting people in place to be ready for a full fledged campaign says with the advent of the new law the situation

was complicated because of the issues an unprecedented situation and a candidate presidential campaign recently up the ground rules changed in midstream so that at this point there's a tremendous responsibility on my part to provide an organizational manuals to review the new law too providing instruction to the various state committees that we would set up and operate around the country in the post so there was a great educational function here i'm just fine mr pritchard does go away the introduction which divides to select committee but i served in the finance area of

president nixon's re election campaign for march six nineteen seventy one until my resignation on july fourteen nineteen seventy two last season including special federal bureau investigation federal prosecutors in washington and in new york the office of federal elections within the general accounting office i've testified before grand juries in washington and in new york and testified at the trial a person's indicted in washington dc have also testified at a trial in miami florida in addition i've given extensive depositions in three separate civil cases related to the nineteen seventy two presidential election campaign and become known as the watergate affair i stand ready to continue this cooperation and answer all of your questions about models thank you

security checks thank you say in terms of the total campaign effort up to the april seventh period he proceeds to have the president's reelection in total twenty million dollars a year

eight hundred thousand dollars yes because when that's a direct answer well over the entire period to march forward in various types of this happened in different places at the outset that we used to say deposit boxes which are our headquarters located for natural by washington we obtained a safe

and stay within the confines of the finance committee at that point on were moved into the one of the other the states and south korea no one wants a voice physically in my office that the other safe of what's kept in the office of armed chambers the secretary to disrespect the police there's a line

and jesus because of the heat in the period of march seventy one up until secretary stanton and the campaign was essentially watching a lot of instructions he was the principal fundraiser for the president's re election campaign during that period the period of the market until april seventh two hundred and fifty thousand dollars it lays in the sun so in terms of oil

he received two hundred and fifty thousand dollars one no sir this entire period for the white house campaign committee this three hundred and fifty thousand dollars to come back on a day just prior

to precisely my best recollection would be within ten days prior to be affected at law to request from the white house for free in the conversation some point in the same day mr strong was present in the committee comeback indicated to me that the research on arranged to have his pick up mr levy money was physically or to my secretary now

the nomination for a time some fifty years three hundred and fifty thousand dollars that was thursday i do not believe this was the subject of the meeting i think it was a very brief reference my recollection is the district indicated to misunderstand this request for three hundred fifty thousand dollars they'd asked me to get together my best recollection is disrespectful no no

speakers in place starting in december blanket authority he would come in in an indicator on various occasions the ten thousand dollars his hundred thousand dollars is not a single dispersed them the increments of dispersants over distribution would probably in the range of ten fifteen thousand dollars over a period of time running up to april seventh npr six thousand dollars

in his testimony to the general accounting office which the figure higher eleven thousand dollars per se thus for memory i would not dispute his recollection and i believe he also recollects the total think you'd be somewhat less up i hadn't instructions and i forget who from the region that mr porter received no further funds after what's up i want industry stands i asked him what i indicated to him the likelier understanding was a reporter would no longer receive any caste want it to me

at the time but that was his understanding of what all that he would take the matter up with mr mitchell and let me know and it's returned it to get it to me and i checked in and making payments on request from the court i'm a gentleman mr carmichael he did not physically or spend much time in washington dc every week or two with his investments at some point i'm fairly early you going to get made and i believe in an unusually us with regard to all thought that i would not to disperse any money without proof of this would be prior to leaving the justice department

been probably the summer of seventy one what happened in this regard was essentially that i don't believe any cash payments came up before the forty years you saw what had been done prior to my singing the dispersants on a campaign going back to the services committee that when we first moved into the campaign before there was a division of the financing political arm name is jared fleming was handling the disbursements i received stock during that period of time he did establish a procedure with this provision let's send them down a monthly budget in what i care that procedure and with regard to meet operating expenses of the committee each month i was and then to the justice department a memorandum outlining the beat

the campaign for the following month seventy seven would be approved nasa asked what what was happening with mr mcgregor was meeting with mr mitchell regularly at the justice department with regard to planning for the political side of the campaign during those meetings he evidently was discussing financial matters expenditures and so forth and getting clearance from mr mitchell to go ahead and make those expenses following the district instruction to come back when the reader came back to me and said this has been the justice department

and issued instructions from nineteen forty four its rivers are in terms of customers and donated any time i asked you for a word money you could count this as mr mitchell's words conversation spencer's them in the campaign and it was no comment you know but the situation is very similar to the border situation that

it was at that point a great time to begin receiving cash and was general counsel to the political committee the committee for the reelection of the president a subsequent day he became general counsel for the finance committee to re election i know circumstances it was a similar type arrangement does a reporter's become combination give me a figure out how much how many much as he would need to leave joey after the time he gave the finance committee these were the journal in the same province pours a family of ten thousand dollars or fifteen thousand dollars a month there came a time in the

us more about your very close to the april seven state and i'm not cost employers forbid before after my best recollection of recollection would be that it was before you came to me with a big budget two hundred and fifty thousand no less than the new issue of me to think and he said i will be coming to you or substantial and the first item of which will be eighty three thousand dollars and i would like the government there he said in the case of these additional expenditures beyond its distributions beyond what it didn't previously indicated that the procedure had changed that i was to clear each and every distribution not going on with mr mcgregor i called was regarded as two hundred fifty thousand dollars budget

at three dollars but its subsequent decisions time to review as i understand it in this situation i said my judgment because i've been sitting on top and ate the total figures that it's significantly the cactus division's becoming massive and this particular this provision and ari to make these

kind of decisions the returns and that was the model and eight he confirmed it was intended that was a story that i had with regard to my question and concern about the post season and i do not want to know you dont know now this is when the preliminary design understand from serving the nineteen sixty eight election and president interpretation of the corrupt practices act that for a

presidential candidate ms leachman has a difference in terms of administrative overreach from a standpoint it's obviously much easier thing to do with there was no disclosure the tables on the campaign election law is very stringent as massive accounting was recently in the disclosure it also puts restrictions on the advertising and so but what it essentially meant to us as a campaign was in the middle of the campaign we had to essentially restructuring closed down four hundred and fifty committees and set up a whole new structure under whole incident now you know i'm sorry i miss

the money it's the right thing the context of the top at that we didn't interpret it that kind of remark because of continuing problems between the political and finance committee was that he was unhappy and a sense that for a lot of his hands about the loss of control over the funding traditionally the rolls ben political people spend however there is a responsibility of the finance campaign to set realistic limits of what we can be raised and two for by a mechanism to monitor these benefits of the campaign so that he will be properly properly kcur have the wherewithal the home stretch i had the impression that with regard to the piano

and the cash warning situation but this is just a runaway situation that he lost yasser one when it came to the finances but it was clearly understood of monogamy and secretary stance that you would be able to devote time to ask continuing responsibilities which would take on special projects mm hmm he was

in europe yes it is and sometime early nineties probably more than were marginal members buried in london you know during the early part of a campaign i cannot penetrate on this in terms of

disbursement but he was at the time he came in to receive this morning from secretary stanton was the best my recollection was the political chairman of the republican party in america and is even the knowledge of the narrative time it was turn over my understanding was it the situation of those over thirty five pre april seventh period we're estimating to recede in the state to be turned into a national committee that in the case of ronald reagan was made simply between secretary stanton two of the other principles were that they were going to have a dinner virtually vice president agnew at a later date which they knew about and that yes they would be willing to turn on what you know at this point what they would expect a loan back as seed money for these dinner and

that money would come back to us again in terms of receipt i know the honest about it that this would be a nineteen seventy one was the administrative assistant to roger moore and the carpenter is that right but certainly creative attempts to get those files and the question for the purpose of aiding in the special election for a congressional seat vacated by robert morton when he assumed the sectors reporter and the names on the list the

executive director of the california the committee for the reelection of the president i'm not positive that was in cash but it's likely that was i had no knowledge at the time of the purpose of this would be truly are set for groomers since then from people again this was used for some purpose with regard to the walls are mr stone there was a political decision as i understand the circumstances there mr stone have made a very large contribution to the president's campaign that includes

the national mall that this would be instantly contribution for all political activities in the nineteen seventy two election year so it does and it was a request from history before a turn of certain portion of his contribution to be you that i believe in illinois for a bipartisan vote for uncommitted and i made a commitment to fifteen thousand dollars to back out of it and that case i'm not sure it will last or whether that was checked or catch up with robert though that point onwards the chairman of the republican national committee i do not recall how this request was made other members within the committee was disputed the funds i understood the more to pay for the trip to visit in vietnam we could not understand why

mr dorff right right right movies of the period of the nineteen seventies i think it's been the news of the breakdowns briefly in the seventies but was now

they're at a new user id not sure precisely of the timing of this but i believe it was i as i came into the chameleon morning which would've been i'm thirty four outside his office i stopped him whether there to say good morning or whether i had a specific question i really can't call you is obviously in a hurry something heading down the hall at the point i'm at the statement you made the best of my recollection that my boys got caught last night i made a mistake i knew somebody from here which i told them i would never do i'm afraid to lose my job you'd better not write that it was not stapled to

make obviously i have no knowledge at that point in time of the break in itself and no real relevance as soon as people do it would have been i received knowledge of the break in order is wrong would eventually after that meeting with mr wood yes and that conversation is about forget all the circumstances surrounding that that's my recollection as a big general time frame that time period i forget his office

for suggested to me at what i'd given to mr libby in the range of the summer seventy five to eighty thousand dollars i did not i do not believe at that point on my head it sounds really interesting however i did know that this song was considerably larger than that because mr mcgregor himself at authorizing payments for eighty three thousand dollars in one single stall ice cream well just isn't the right figure out on whether i think that's too low he indicated at that time white said to him you must have been inconsistent because i remember making him a medication that statement i have no intention of performance art that you said you may have to he was a

special assistant this point in time was a gentle weirdness within the campaign that an internal investigation was going on and that the room was conducted and a half mr mitchell at that meeting we have discussed i believe in general terms and again my recollection of the time is right i would not have the right maybe figure we're just generally disgusting figures catch problems when he specifically mentioned it at a singer i'd received a fifty thousand dollar contribution from reporter and it's really afterwards he said that i said i've done nothing because i don't know wistful and i'm waiting for a kidney that information economist reporter this was in the context of the risk and invest expo investigation are there any remaining problems

in bars we've done nothing for an attorney in washington i'm not sure at a protestant and then are my secretary which indicated there were two agents in the fbi in my office on with the project i don't think you said there without saying john mitchell for that reason we hear and it went down the hall came back and got into the mornings in with waddle it is intimate

it was interesting it was falling apart for i said nobody was coming up with answers as to what was really going on there at very strong concerns about that it which is the position just one thing i'm sixteen

i'm going to do and none of the questions which were bothering me at that point i'm in opinion in my office following that interview essentially two find out what i've said and what matters to a lot of at that point he indicated to me that the precise words those that three percent the money is a problem was very politically sensitive weekend just not come out with a high figure were going after them that's a positive but if there's a problem i can see him as individuals two hundred dollars and two hundred thousand dollars drop the conversation

yes sir i believe in some of these events i'm describing the fbi meetings probably happened on the because i was a foreigner and the army at the president and i remember my wife picking up that day and i assumed it was probably in the voter file alonzo has gone through

is my movie party a number of people i talk to can call <unk> nasa council to change in the presence of one secretary and pat buchanan who was a speechwriter for the president i remember the depth with which i expressed the concern of the problem but i believe it is generally expressing concern that there's something very wrong at the campaign volunteers and lee yes sir mr colon it was expensive that i don't that john ehrlichman and tom goldman should be aware that there was a problem i do not indicate that i do not know what i specifically

requested eight they have this knowledge and he has a meeting comes in the next day at noon i can state called me at some point and sulfur summers' office that john erlichman would like to submit to a caucus and i want to try it again there's been here i do not precisely know what degree of not sure what conclusions i come to this point tremendous problem or something has to be done with jake and evaluate my condition at that point it's been a somewhat over rock and suggested a vacation which in fact i was quite leave on the next weekend edition it's been planned for a long time

and suggested that the important thing is that the president be protected twenty three i started to get into the same problem bananas i don't believe it was pointing fingers somebody gets the campaign has to look into this because the

concern of the reason my mind at that point at the possibility that the entire campaign organization involvement for good investigated so is his response as for the white house but don't tell many details of the us i don't wanna know my position would have to be until after the election and i think executive now this is long and there you met at that time to discuss that question remains that issue of immigration since april seventh of

secretary stanton been pressuring very hard on myself for the preparation of records in the final of any one of them honestly permanent record of the creators of the series is a very mammoth task with regard to solving the contributions and so forth would have been received at that point the problem with producing and selling was that in the report you want to be sure that every individual they acknowledged a lot of money on that list of having been received by themselves that there would never be an internal conflict or possibility of somebody saying some it's got within one so at this time and the reason for the delightful this late date with regard to this process was that

mr herbert combat for instance the first occasion i've had to sit down with him since his return that's sensitive about walking through the figures on that list is both