About this recording
906-023a
- President Richard M. Nixon
- Henry E. Petersen
- Stephen B. Bull
- Ronald L. Ziegler
- UNKNOWN
April 27, 1973
Conversation No. 906-23
Date: April 27, 1973
Time: 6:04 pm - 6:48 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Henry E. Petersen.
[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was also prepared Richard Nixon’s
Special White House Counsel for Watergate Matters and submitted to the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives. This transcript can be found in Submission of
Recorded Presidential Conversations (SRPC), pages 1261-1293 (1-33). Please refer to the
logging below.]
Watergate
-Charles N. Shaffer’s meeting with prosecutors, April 23, 1973
-Shaffer’s threats against President
-Prosecutors’ reaction
-Prosecutors’ meetings with John W. Dean, III
-Grand jury
-Cubans, money, Mrs. Dorothy Hunt
-Alexander P. Butterfield, Jr.
-Threats to the President
-Seymour M. Hersh
-President’s desire for truth
-Dean
-Shaffer, Robert C. McCandless
-Leaks to press
-Earl J. Silbert’s reaction
-31-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 6:04 pm.
Request to Ronald L. Ziegler to meet in Oval Office
Bull left at an unknown time before 6:48 pm.
Watergate
-Dean
-Grand jury
-Butterfield
-$350,000
-John J. (“Jack”) Caulfield
-Frederick C. LaRue’s money
-Caulfield
-Liability
-Gordon C. Strachan
-Negotiations concerning lie detector test
-Witness compared to defendant
Ronald L. Ziegler entered at 6:10 pm.
Watergate
-Threats to President
-Veracity
-Shaffer’s meeting with prosecutors April 23, 1973
-Dean, John D. Ehrlichman, and H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 6:10 pm.
Refreshments
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 6:20 pm.
Watergate
-Threats to President
-Non-Watergate activities
-32-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-Shaffer’s meeting with prosecutors, April 23, 1973
-Dean’s statement
-California
-President’s telephone calls to Petersen
-Camp David
-National Security
-E. Howard Hunt, Jr.
-Photograph [?]
-Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office
-Ziegler’s call to Dean, April 27, 1973
-Dean’s possible statements
-President’s telephone calls
-Ziegler, Henry A. Kissinger, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Rose Mary Woods,
Dean, Leonard Garment
-Dean
-President’s feelings
-Conversation with Ziegler
-Hersh story
-Hersh story
-Ziegler’s conversation with Clifton Daniels
-Robert U. (“Bob”) Woodward story
-Content
-David R. Gergen
-President’s investigation
-G[eorge] Gordon Liddy
-L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] director
-W. Mark Felt
-William D. Ruckelshaus
-President’s instructions
-Petersen
-Presidency
-Possible resignation by President
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Possible resignation
-Washington Post
-J. Marsh Thompson
-33-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-Gergen telephone call to Woodward
-Story concerning threats to President
-Hersh’s story
-Daniels
-William O. Bittman, Paul L. O’Brien
-Dean’s statement to prosecutors
-Petersen’s conversation with prosecutors
-Harold H. Titus, Jr.
-Dean’s statement concerning the President
-Instructions to Ziegler
Ziegler left at 6:20 pm.
Watergate
-Dean
-Departures from staff
-Immunity
-President’s statement
-Possible testimony against Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Petersen’s responsibility
-Prosecutors’ view
-John J. Wilson
-Frank E. Strickler
-Immunity
-Blackmail
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-Dean
-Ziegler
-Dean
-Statements on White House involvement
-Subornation to perjury
-Conversations with Petersen
-President’s conversation with Kleindienst, April 26, 1973
-President’s contacts with Dean
-Conversations with Petersen
-Ehrlichman, Haldeman and Ziegler
-March 21, 1973, conversation with the President and Haldeman
-34-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-Bittman’s story
-Clemency
-President’s motives
-Clemency for Hunt
-Money for defendants
-Cuban committee
-John N. Mitchell
-President’s March 22, 1973 conversation with Mitchell
-Executive privilege
-Immunity
-Conversations
-O’Brien
-Bittman
-O’Brien
-Bittman
-Relationship with Petersen
-Allegation of blackmail for Hunt
-James W. McCord, Jr.’s statement
-Dorothy Hunt
-Possible testimony concerning fees
-Records of law firm
-Possible uses of money
-Dorothy Hunt
-Cubans
-Clandestine distribution of money
-Compared with public disclosure
-Washington Post
-Scottsboro defendants
-Berrigan brothers
-Alger Hiss defense fund
-Bill [Last name unintelligible]
-Conversation with O’Brien
-Bittman’s response to McCord
-Blackmail for Hunt
-Dorothy Hunt
-Dean’s story
-Hearsay
-35-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-O’Brien
-Possible testimony concerning funds for defendants
-Herbert W. Kalmbach
-Mitchell
-LaRue
-Couriers
-Rivers, Baker (pseudonyms)
-John J. (“Jack”) Caulfield
-O’Brien, Bittman
-President’s role in cover-up
-President’s March 21, 1973, conversation with Dean
-Funds for defendants
-Bittman
-Dean’s subsequent conversation with Ehrlichman concerning funds
-Ehrlichman’s response
-Dean
-Possible testimony concerning the President
-As witness
-Corroboration
-La Rue, O’Brien, Jeb S. Magruder
-Attorney’s statements to prosecutors
-Pressure from prosecutors
-Possible departures from staff
-Departures from White House staff
-Form and timing
-Leave of absence
-William P. Rogers’s recommendations
-Resignations
-Grand jury indictments
-Leaves of absence for Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Dean
-President’s contacts
-Dean
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Leaves of absence
-Dean, Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-President’s relationships
-36-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-Leaves of absence
-Effect
-Resignation
-Effect
-Petersen’s wife
-President’s knowledge of cover-up
-Gray
-Dean, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman
-Forthcoming FBI interviews concerning Ellsberg break-in
-Dean
-Ehrlichman
-Psychiatrist
-Evidence of information
Watergate
-Hersh story
-Dean’s report on President
Petersen left at 6:48 pm.
Date: April 27, 1973
Time: 6:04 pm - 6:48 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Henry E. Petersen.
[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was also prepared Richard Nixon’s
Special White House Counsel for Watergate Matters and submitted to the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives. This transcript can be found in Submission of
Recorded Presidential Conversations (SRPC), pages 1261-1293 (1-33). Please refer to the
logging below.]
Watergate
-Charles N. Shaffer’s meeting with prosecutors, April 23, 1973
-Shaffer’s threats against President
-Prosecutors’ reaction
-Prosecutors’ meetings with John W. Dean, III
-Grand jury
-Cubans, money, Mrs. Dorothy Hunt
-Alexander P. Butterfield, Jr.
-Threats to the President
-Seymour M. Hersh
-President’s desire for truth
-Dean
-Shaffer, Robert C. McCandless
-Leaks to press
-Earl J. Silbert’s reaction
-31-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 6:04 pm.
Request to Ronald L. Ziegler to meet in Oval Office
Bull left at an unknown time before 6:48 pm.
Watergate
-Dean
-Grand jury
-Butterfield
-$350,000
-John J. (“Jack”) Caulfield
-Frederick C. LaRue’s money
-Caulfield
-Liability
-Gordon C. Strachan
-Negotiations concerning lie detector test
-Witness compared to defendant
Ronald L. Ziegler entered at 6:10 pm.
Watergate
-Threats to President
-Veracity
-Shaffer’s meeting with prosecutors April 23, 1973
-Dean, John D. Ehrlichman, and H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 6:10 pm.
Refreshments
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 6:20 pm.
Watergate
-Threats to President
-Non-Watergate activities
-32-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-Shaffer’s meeting with prosecutors, April 23, 1973
-Dean’s statement
-California
-President’s telephone calls to Petersen
-Camp David
-National Security
-E. Howard Hunt, Jr.
-Photograph [?]
-Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office
-Ziegler’s call to Dean, April 27, 1973
-Dean’s possible statements
-President’s telephone calls
-Ziegler, Henry A. Kissinger, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Rose Mary Woods,
Dean, Leonard Garment
-Dean
-President’s feelings
-Conversation with Ziegler
-Hersh story
-Hersh story
-Ziegler’s conversation with Clifton Daniels
-Robert U. (“Bob”) Woodward story
-Content
-David R. Gergen
-President’s investigation
-G[eorge] Gordon Liddy
-L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] director
-W. Mark Felt
-William D. Ruckelshaus
-President’s instructions
-Petersen
-Presidency
-Possible resignation by President
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Possible resignation
-Washington Post
-J. Marsh Thompson
-33-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-Gergen telephone call to Woodward
-Story concerning threats to President
-Hersh’s story
-Daniels
-William O. Bittman, Paul L. O’Brien
-Dean’s statement to prosecutors
-Petersen’s conversation with prosecutors
-Harold H. Titus, Jr.
-Dean’s statement concerning the President
-Instructions to Ziegler
Ziegler left at 6:20 pm.
Watergate
-Dean
-Departures from staff
-Immunity
-President’s statement
-Possible testimony against Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Petersen’s responsibility
-Prosecutors’ view
-John J. Wilson
-Frank E. Strickler
-Immunity
-Blackmail
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-Dean
-Ziegler
-Dean
-Statements on White House involvement
-Subornation to perjury
-Conversations with Petersen
-President’s conversation with Kleindienst, April 26, 1973
-President’s contacts with Dean
-Conversations with Petersen
-Ehrlichman, Haldeman and Ziegler
-March 21, 1973, conversation with the President and Haldeman
-34-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-Bittman’s story
-Clemency
-President’s motives
-Clemency for Hunt
-Money for defendants
-Cuban committee
-John N. Mitchell
-President’s March 22, 1973 conversation with Mitchell
-Executive privilege
-Immunity
-Conversations
-O’Brien
-Bittman
-O’Brien
-Bittman
-Relationship with Petersen
-Allegation of blackmail for Hunt
-James W. McCord, Jr.’s statement
-Dorothy Hunt
-Possible testimony concerning fees
-Records of law firm
-Possible uses of money
-Dorothy Hunt
-Cubans
-Clandestine distribution of money
-Compared with public disclosure
-Washington Post
-Scottsboro defendants
-Berrigan brothers
-Alger Hiss defense fund
-Bill [Last name unintelligible]
-Conversation with O’Brien
-Bittman’s response to McCord
-Blackmail for Hunt
-Dorothy Hunt
-Dean’s story
-Hearsay
-35-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-O’Brien
-Possible testimony concerning funds for defendants
-Herbert W. Kalmbach
-Mitchell
-LaRue
-Couriers
-Rivers, Baker (pseudonyms)
-John J. (“Jack”) Caulfield
-O’Brien, Bittman
-President’s role in cover-up
-President’s March 21, 1973, conversation with Dean
-Funds for defendants
-Bittman
-Dean’s subsequent conversation with Ehrlichman concerning funds
-Ehrlichman’s response
-Dean
-Possible testimony concerning the President
-As witness
-Corroboration
-La Rue, O’Brien, Jeb S. Magruder
-Attorney’s statements to prosecutors
-Pressure from prosecutors
-Possible departures from staff
-Departures from White House staff
-Form and timing
-Leave of absence
-William P. Rogers’s recommendations
-Resignations
-Grand jury indictments
-Leaves of absence for Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Dean
-President’s contacts
-Dean
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Leaves of absence
-Dean, Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-President’s relationships
-36-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. October-2012)
Conversation No. 906-23 (cont’d)
-Leaves of absence
-Effect
-Resignation
-Effect
-Petersen’s wife
-President’s knowledge of cover-up
-Gray
-Dean, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman
-Forthcoming FBI interviews concerning Ellsberg break-in
-Dean
-Ehrlichman
-Psychiatrist
-Evidence of information
Watergate
-Hersh story
-Dean’s report on President
Petersen left at 6:48 pm.