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October 17, 1972: Nixon, Connally, Haldeman

Feb 1st, 2015
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  1. A transcript supplement to the post "The Treason of Richard Nixon Part One" (http://italkyoubored.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/the-treason-of-richard-nixon-from-possibility-to-certainty/). Transcript and introduction are by Stanley Kutler, from Abuse of Power.
  2.  
  3. OCTOBER 17, 1972: THE PRESIDENT, JOHN CONNALLY, AND HALDEMAN, 3:03-4:07 P.M., OVAL OFFICE
  4.  
  5. In August, Nixon had disavowed any intention of participating in fund-raising. But in the following meeting with John Connally, he talks a great deal about it. Connally, who had left the Democratic Party to support Nixon, was vital for fund-raising among disgruntled Democrats, and the President treated him respectfully. Nixon also informs Connally about Howard Hunt's other activities and LBJ's 1968 wiretapping.
  6.  
  7. HALDEMAN
  8. ...This Howard Hunt that was in the Watergate thing, and clearly was, was before that at the White House working on Pentagon Papers stuff.
  9.  
  10. NIXON
  11. And drugs.
  12.  
  13. HALDEMAN
  14. And drugs. And it involved some damn sensitive stuff.
  15.  
  16. NIXON
  17. Very good.
  18.  
  19. HALDEMAN
  20. Very damn sensitive stuff, and he was using these Cubans, I think.
  21.  
  22. NIXON
  23. That's right.
  24.  
  25. HALDEMAN
  26. For bugging.
  27.  
  28. NIXON
  29. Trying to find out - he was working the Pentagon Papers, trying to make sure it was Ellsberg. He found out about his girlfriend. He's the guy that got-
  30.  
  31. HALDEMAN
  32. Of course, the tragedy of what's happened is, by trying to do it all right we've succeeded in totalling fucking it up.
  33.  
  34. NIXON
  35. The main point is, it's three weeks before the election. The next point is that in terms of this you've got to - I don't like to see us having to talk on it, and so forth. We have other things to talk about. But you've got to keep it away from this office. You've got to first [because] it's absolutely true; and secondly, you have to condemn it. Now, as a matter of fact, when you condemn it you've got to b damn sure that you know what you're condemning. I don't need you to condemn the legitimate activities of following the other people.
  36.  
  37. CONNALLY
  38. No, no. All you condemn is-
  39.  
  40. NIXON
  41. Is the illegal.
  42.  
  43. CONNALLY
  44. -is the illegal, electronic surveillance, that's right. That's against the law.
  45.  
  46. NIXON
  47. So that's what we're talking about. The other big thing - but on other things-
  48.  
  49. CONNALLY
  50. The point is, I would admit that. I'd have Clark MacGregor or Bob Dole, I'd say - sure, what the fuck's wrong with this? Sure, Segretti, we hired him. You bet we hired him, and we hired him to go and case the rallies of all these people-
  51.  
  52. NIXON
  53. See how they operate.
  54.  
  55. CONNALLY
  56. -see what was going on, see what was acting, see how they were operating against each other.
  57.  
  58. HALDEMAN
  59. But we've been accused - Muskie came out with a big long list of all the things that happened to him and he said he might sue us. They decided not to. Well, we found out why he decided not to. That whole business, like the pizzas at his party and all that stuff, which was pretty funny...
  60.  
  61. NIXON
  62. Incidentally, you know the situation with regard to our own. I told you about it...That's all it was. We are never, we are never going to put that out, you know.
  63.  
  64. CONNALLY
  65. Well, this morning-
  66.  
  67. NIXON
  68. There's no reason to embarrass you. But I think that you will know what the situation is. Edgar Hoover told Mitchell that our plane was bugged for the last two weeks of the campaign. Now, the reason for bugging it, Johnson had it bugged. He ordered it bugged. And so was Humphrey's. I think. I'm not sure about Humphrey's. I know about ours. But the reason he says he had it bugged is because he was talking about - he had his Vietnam plans in there and he had to have information as to what we were going to say about Vietnam. But the plane was bugged, John, and that whole-
  69.  
  70. HALDEMAN
  71. Two weeks.
  72.  
  73. NIXON
  74. -by J. Edgar Hoover, and Johnson knew every conversation. And you know where it was bugged? In my compartment. So every conversation I had, for two weeks Johnson had it. Now, we're not happy with it. We're not going to say anything. It would look like hell.
  75.  
  76. HALDEMAN
  77. I don't know what the pressure is.
  78.  
  79. CONNALLY
  80. They asked me at the press conference this morning if this went on during the Johnson administration. I said, "I don't know; I wasn't part of the Johnson administration; I was in Texas, being Governor of Texas." But I said, "I would not want to give that or any other administration in my lifetime any seal of purity."
  81.  
  82. HALDEMAN
  83. They all laughed...
  84.  
  85. CONNALLY
  86. Incidentally, one thought. I had lunch with [potential contributors] Del Webb and Ludwig today at lunch.
  87.  
  88. NIXON
  89. Ludwig was there, too?
  90.  
  91. CONNALLY
  92. Well, he's an old tough bastard.
  93.  
  94. NIXON
  95. He's always whining. He's only got $2 billion and he wants three.
  96.  
  97. CONNALLY
  98. Yeah, he was whining at something. And I said, "What the hell have they done to you?" He was whining, oh God, about the administration.
  99.  
  100. NIXON
  101. Herb Brownell's his lawyer.
  102.  
  103. CONNALLY
  104. Yes, Herb Brownell is his lawyer...I said "Well, Mr. Ludwig...I thought you all were rolling in money." And I said, "No, we don't make any money...We're a million and a half short, and I said the committee's in bad shape now because of just fellows like you, that think everybody is loaded. We're not loaded." But I said, "I'm not going to ask you to contribute money. Hell, if you don't want to contribute, that's fine; I don't want you to do something you don't want to do. You'll be unhappy...if you can't do it in good grace, if you can't do it enthusiastically..."
  105.  
  106. NIXON
  107. What I would have, Bob, is I'd have ten people, each of whom would not be embarrassed if somebody got up and said, I'm going to put one hundred [thousand]. Now, I know Mulcahy will start, of course, and he will start it too high, and that'll embarrass the others. But I'd have Mulcahy there and have him - Mulcahy actually will put up - he's not rich compared with - he's only, Mulcahy's only worth $75 or $80 million, but he's willing to give ten. It's amazing. You know him?
  108.  
  109. CONNALLY
  110. No, I don't.
  111.  
  112. NIXON
  113. The most amazing, lovable Irishman.
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