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Richard Nixon and H.R. Haldeman Watergate White House "Smoking Gun" tape

Speaker: Richard M. Nixon
Delivered On: 6/23/1972
Place: Oval Office, The White House
Audio/Video Available:

Description: This conversation between President Richard Nixon and his Chief of Staff, H R. (Bob) Haldeman, establishes the President's involvement in a conspiracy to cover-up the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington DC
10:04 TO 11:39 AM

HALDEMAN:okay -that's fine. Now, on the investigation, you
know, the Democratic break-in thing, we're back to the-in the, the problem area because the FBI is not under control, because Gray doesn't exactly know how to control them, and they have, their investigation is now leading into some productive areas, because they've been able to trace the money, not through the money itself, but through the bank, you know, sources - the banker himself. And, and it goes in some directions we don't want it to go. Ah, also there have been some things, like an informant came in off the street to the FBI in Miami, who was a photographer or has a friend who is a photographer who developed some films through this guy, Barker, and the films had pictures of Democratic National Committee letter head documents and things. So I guess, so it's things like that that are gonna, that are filtering in. Mitchell came up with yesterday, and John Dean analyzed very carefully last night and concludes, concurs now with Mitchell's recommendation that the only way to solve this, and we're set up beautifully to do it, ah, in that and that...the only network that paid any attention to it last night was NBC...they did a massive story on the Cuban...
PRESIDENT: That's right.
HALDEMAN: thing.
HALDEMAN: That the way to handle this now is for us to have Walters call Pat Gray and just say, "Stay the hell out of this...this is ah, business here we don't want you to go any further on it." That's not an unusual development,...
HALDEMAN: ...and, uh, that would take care of it.
PRESIDENT: What about Pat Gray, ah, you mean he doesn't want to?
HALDEMAN: Pat does want to. He doesn't know how to, and he doesn't have, he doesn't have any basis for doing it. Given this, he will then have the basis. He'll call Mark Felt in, and the two of them ...and Mark Felt wants to cooperate because...
HALDEMAN: he's ambitious...
HALDEMAN: Ah, he'll call him in and say, "We've got the signal from across the river to, to put the hold on this." And that will fit rather well because the FBI agents who are working the case, at this point, feel that's what it is. This is CIA.
PRESIDENT: But they've traced the money to 'em.
HALDEMAN: Well they have, they've traced to a name, but they haven't gotten to the guy yet.
PRESIDENT: Would it be somebody here?
HALDEMAN: Ken Dahlberg.
PRESIDENT: Who the hell is Ken Dahlberg?
HALDEMAN: He's ah, he gave $25,000 in Minnesota and ah, the check went directly in to this, to this guy Barker.
PRESIDENT: Maybe he's a ...bum.
PRESIDENT: He didn't get this from the committee though, from Stans.
HALDEMAN: Yeah. It is. It is. It's directly traceable and there's some more through some Texas people in--that went to the Mexican bank which they can also trace to the Mexican bank...they'll get their names today. And pause)
PRESIDENT: Well, I mean, ah, there's no way... I'm just thinking if they don't cooperate, what do they say? They they, they were approached by the Cubans. That's what Dahlberg has to say, the Texans too. Is that the idea?
HALDEMAN: Well, if they will. But then we're relying on more and more people all the time. That's the problem. And ah, they'll stop if we could, if we take this other step.
PRESIDENT: All right. Fine.
HALDEMAN: And, and they seem to feel the thing to do is get them to stop?
PRESIDENT: Right, fine.
HALDEMAN: They say the only way to do that is from White House instructions. And it's got to be to Helms and, ah, what's his name...? Walters.
HALDEMAN: And the proposal would be that Ehrlichman (coughs) and I call them in
PRESIDENT: All right, fine.
HALDEMAN: and say, ah...
PRESIDENT: How do you call him in, I mean you just, well, we protected Helms from one hell of a lot of things.
HALDEMAN: That's what Ehrlichman says.
HALDEMAN: I think so. I don 't think he knew the details, but I think he knew.
PRESIDENT: He didn't know how it was going to be handled though, with Dahlberg and the Texans and so forth? Well who was the asshole that did? (Unintelligible) Is it Liddy? Is that the fellow? He must be a little nuts.
PRESIDENT: I mean he just isn't well screwed on is he? Isn't that the problem?
PRESIDENT: Pressure from Mitchell?
HALDEMAN: Apparently.
PRESIDENT: Oh, Mitchell, Mitchell was at the point that you made on this, that exactly what I need from you is on the--
HALDEMAN: Gemstone, yeah.
HALDEMAN: Ah, to have him take a...
HALDEMAN: An interrogation, which he did, and that, the FBI guys working the case had concluded that there were one or two possibilities, one, that this was a White House, they don't think that there is anything at the Election Committee, they think it was either a White House operation and they had some obscure reasons for it, non political,...
HALDEMAN: or it was a...
PRESIDENT: Cuban thing-
HALDEMAN: Cubans and the CIA. And after their interrogation of, of...
HALDEMAN: Colson, yesterday, they concluded it was not the White House, but are now convinced it is a CIA thing, so the CIA turn off would...
HALDEMAN: No, sir. We don't want you to.
PRESIDENT: You call them in.
PRESIDENT: Good. Good deal! Play it tough. That's the way they play it and that's the way we are going to play it.
HALDEMAN: O.K. We'll do it.
PRESIDENT: Yeah, when I saw that news summary item, I of course knew it was a bunch of crap, but I thought ah, well it's good to have them off on this wild hair thing because when they start bugging us, which they have, we'll know our little boys will not know how to handle it. I hope they will though. You never know. Maybe, you think about it. Good!
PRESIDENT: That's the way to put it, do it straight (Unintelligible)
HALDEMAN: Get more done for our cause by the opposition than by us at this point.
PRESIDENT: You think so?
HALDEMAN: I think so, yeah.