Charles Colson Talks to Mark Felt May 15 1972

Transcript of a conversation between President Richard Nixon's aide, Charles Colson, and FBI agent Mark Felt following the attempted assassination of George Wallace.

Audio can be found at the National Security Archive:
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB156/24-109.mp3

Audio with transcript can be found on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV7ZVFfTq1s

Conversation 24-109, 15 May 1972, time: unknown between 7:42 and 7:57 p.m.
Location: White House telephone
Participants: Colson, Felt, and White House operator

OPERATOR
Mr. Mark Felt is calling the President.

COLSON
Hold on just a moment.

OPERATOR
Okay.

COLSON
Mr. President, do you want to talk to Felt? Hold on just a moment.

OPERATOR
Hmmmm-mmmm.

COLSON
Put him on to me, please.

OPERATOR
Alright.

COLSON
Hello?

FELT
Hello?

COLSON
Mark, this is Chuck Colson. I'm sitting with the President. He just asked me to take the call. Can you give us an update?

FELT
There's one subject.

COLSON
Right.

FELT
In the original reports, there were three.

COLSON
Right.

FELT
The other two were two teenagers, who were apparently frightened, and were running. And were taken into custody. But they have been released.

COLSON
So there's only one subject.

FELT
-and released. There's one subject. His name is Arthur Bremer, B-R-E-M-M-E-R. He's a white male, and he's twenty-two years old, and he's from Milwauee, Wisconsin. He's here in a car with Milwaukee tags. This is from his driver's license. He purchased the gun in Milwaukee. It's a five-shot .38, one of those small models, and he's in Prince George Hospital. With mainly contusions, when they beat him up out there, after he got Mr. Wallace. No one has talked to him. Other than the doctor. And no one will talk to him, except- we will interview him as soon as the doctors give us permission. Tell the president that we have taken over the responsibility for his safety. And we'll have agents on duty out there in sufficient numbers where we can handle that. Tell him we are taking over the full responsibility for the investigation of the case, because we have not only the assault on Wallace, but the assault on the Secret Service agent. Incidentally, he's out of surgery.

COLSON
Wallace is?

FELT
No no, the Secret Service agent.

COLSON
Oh, the Secret Service agent.

FELT
And he's in the intensive care unit. But the indications are that he'll be alright.

COLSON
Hmmm-mmm.

FELT
Now, that's about the status of it now.

COLSON
Do you have any indication, Mark, of when they will begin to question?

FELT
Uh, probably within the hour.

COLSON
I would hope that your people out there would urge that they be allowed to question as soon as possible, that they not be put off on their questioning.

FELT
Alright.

COLSON
I assume you're asking them a whole gamut of questions, including political questions and-

FELT
Oh yeah.

COLSON
-his views on other matters, and-

FELT
Yes, that's right, we'll blow the whole roof. That's the indication-

COLSON
Mark, hold on just a moment.

FELT
Yeah.

COLSON
We just, one of my assistants was just saying to me that he'd had a couple of rumors, one is, that some Kennedy people were involved in the- that this fellow and some of his associates were Kennedy friends, and the second report we've had, is that the fellow was an anti-war radical.

FELT
I would say the latter would be more likely.

COLSON
Well, I'm sure-

FELT
I've heard absolutely nothing on that Kennedy angle. But I'll be sure to pass that along.

COLSON
Be sure you push that, Mark, just to be certain they ask those kinds of questions. You know, to get that kind of information.

FELT
Sure will. What I'll do, I'll be back in thirty minutes with another report.

COLSON
Alright, give us- tell ya, if there's some reason they can't start the questioning in thirty minutes, let us know that.

FELT
Alright.

COLSON
Hold on just a minute.

COLSON
Yeah, Mark, you can disregard John Ehrlichman's call, because we're taking care of it now with you directly.

FELT
Alright.

COLSON
He was going to arrange with you these two rumors that we'd heard. One, anti-war revolutionary from University of Wisconsin. The second, is that he'd been involved in some political activities with Ted Kennedy and some of Ted Kennedy's people. So that- But I think both of those oughta be checked because they're, as I'm told by my assistant here, they're running rampant, these rumors. But the President wants to be absolutely certain, Mark, that we don't delay in questioning, that's the most important thing, because-

FELT
We're pushing as hard as we can, and also giving assurance that we assume responsibility for his safety. Now that's something we don't ordinarily do, but (unintelligible) taken care of.

COLSON
That is very very important, because if you remember the President Kennedy assassination, they got right to-

FELT
I sure do. We don't want that to happen.

COLSON
No. That must not happen. But the thing that we really need, is some information as soon as possible as to, what this guy says.

FELT
Particularly on the issue of (unintelligible) I'll have them raise those first.

COLSON
Raise those early, and the moment, are you in direct-

FELT
I'll be careful on that Kennedy question, not to (unintelligible). We're going to have to draw him out.

COLSON
Yeah, right. Of course. Oh, naturally.

FELT
I think that's pretty wild.

COLSON
Well, I do too. But I'm just telling you, those are the two that-

FELT
We'll resolve those (unintelligible).

COLSON
My guy has been talking to all the pressmen in the last hour and those are two that've been floating. The only thing I would do, I would hope, apparently this fellow is not wounded seriously-

FELT
Oh, I don't think so.

COLSON
They shouldn't hold up the questioning, because- well, I don't have to tell you, the longer the fellow has to think, the less likely he is to come forward with whatever his motives and objects in trying to do this.

FELT
No question about it.

COLSON
Well, just move with some- Persuade the doctors that you want to get in there and talk to (him). And give us a report in thirty minutes.

FELT
Good.

COLSON
Great.

FELT
Very good.

COLSON
Thank ye. Bye.