The Evidence: Fitting the Pieces Together

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The evidence shows that Nixon again discussed the Watergate cover-up with Dean on March 17. A committee subpoena for the tape of that conversation was rejected by the White House. But during a later talk between Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler, a tape of which was obtained by the Judiciary Committee, Nixon recounted that on March 17 he ordered Dean to "cut off any disclosures that might implicate him in Watergate." The Judiciary Committee states: "The President said that [the former deputy campaign director] Jeb Magruder 'put the heat on, and [the former treasurer of Nixon's finance committee, Hugh] Sloan starts pissing on Haldeman.' " As the committee report summarizes the conversation: "The President said that 'we've got to cut that off. We can't have that go to Haldeman.' The President said that looking to the future there were problems and that Magruder could bring it right to Haldeman, and that could bring it to the White House, to the President. The President said that 'We've got to cut that back. That ought to be cut out.' "

The evidence also amplifies the record of the events of the fateful March 21. A statement made by the President on his Dictabelt machine just after his meeting with Dean and transcribed by the Judiciary Committee shows that he admired those of his aides who lied to investigating groups and had contempt for those who told the truth. He praised Gordon Strachan— who at the time was stonewalling FBI investigators and Government prosecutors with denials that led later to his indictment for perjury. In Nixon's words, Strachan was "a real . . . courageous fellow through all this." By contrast, Nixon talked of Magruder, who was cooperating with prosecutors, as "a rather weak man, who had all the appearance of character, but who really lacks it when the, uh, chips are down."

Strangely, Nixon began the Dictabelt by saying that March 21 was "relatively uneventful." But he went on to recount his long conversation with Dean and made a possible damaging statement about one of the most crucial parts of the Watergate case, E. Howard Hunt's demand for money. Lawyer St. Clair has argued that, in his March 21 discussion of a payment to Hunt from campaign funds, Nixon meant only legal-support payments. But the President's Dictabelt indicates that this was not so. "Hunt," said the President, "needed a hundred and—thousand [sic] dollars or so to pay his lawyer and handle other things or he was going to have some things to say that would be very detrimental to Colson and Ehrlichman, et al. This is, uh, Dean recognizes as pure blackmail."

On the Dictabelt, Nixon placed much of the blame for the whole Watergate imbroglio on Charles Colson, who had recently resigned as White House special counsel. "Apparently what happened is that Colson, with Liddy and Hunt in his office, called Magruder and told him in February to get off his ass and start doing something about, uh, setting up some kind of an operation . . . Colson was always pushing terribly hard for action, and in this instance, uh, pushed so hard that, uh, Liddy et al following their natural inclinations, uh, went, uh, the extra step which got them into serious trouble."