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- 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.
- OCTOBER 17, 1972: THE PRESIDENT, JOHN CONNALLY, AND HALDEMAN, 3:03-4:07 P.M., OVAL OFFICE
- 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.
- HALDEMAN
- ...This Howard Hunt that was in the Watergate thing, and clearly was, was before that at the White House working on Pentagon Papers stuff.
- NIXON
- And drugs.
- HALDEMAN
- And drugs. And it involved some damn sensitive stuff.
- NIXON
- Very good.
- HALDEMAN
- Very damn sensitive stuff, and he was using these Cubans, I think.
- NIXON
- That's right.
- HALDEMAN
- For bugging.
- NIXON
- 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-
- HALDEMAN
- Of course, the tragedy of what's happened is, by trying to do it all right we've succeeded in totalling fucking it up.
- NIXON
- 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.
- CONNALLY
- No, no. All you condemn is-
- NIXON
- Is the illegal.
- CONNALLY
- -is the illegal, electronic surveillance, that's right. That's against the law.
- NIXON
- So that's what we're talking about. The other big thing - but on other things-
- CONNALLY
- 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-
- NIXON
- See how they operate.
- CONNALLY
- -see what was going on, see what was acting, see how they were operating against each other.
- HALDEMAN
- 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...
- NIXON
- 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.
- CONNALLY
- Well, this morning-
- NIXON
- 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-
- HALDEMAN
- Two weeks.
- NIXON
- -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.
- HALDEMAN
- I don't know what the pressure is.
- CONNALLY
- 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."
- HALDEMAN
- They all laughed...
- CONNALLY
- Incidentally, one thought. I had lunch with [potential contributors] Del Webb and Ludwig today at lunch.
- NIXON
- Ludwig was there, too?
- CONNALLY
- Well, he's an old tough bastard.
- NIXON
- He's always whining. He's only got $2 billion and he wants three.
- CONNALLY
- 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.
- NIXON
- Herb Brownell's his lawyer.
- CONNALLY
- 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..."
- NIXON
- 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?
- CONNALLY
- No, I don't.
- NIXON
- The most amazing, lovable Irishman.
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