Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973 - Testimony of Bruce A Kehrli, Special Assistant to the President United States Senate Caucus Room, Washington DC
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973
Senator Sam ERVIN (D-NC). Do you swear the evidence you shall give to the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Mr. Bruce KEHRLI. I do. Mr. Sam DASH. Mr. Kehrli, do you have any statement first to make to this committee? Mr. KEHRLI. I have no opening statement, but I do have a statement I may want to give later on in the testimony. Mr. DASH. Yes, alright will you first then for the record give your name and your address. Mr. KEHRLI. My name is Bruce Arnold Kehrli. And my address is 736 South Lee Street in Alexandria. Mr. DASH. And what is your present employment, Mr. Kehrli? Mr. KEHRLI. I am employed at the White House. Mr. DASH. What is your position? Mr. KEHRLI. My title is Special Assistant to the President. Mr. DASH. Now, how long have you had such a position? Mr. KEHRLI. I have had the title since January of this year. My Position is actually that of staff secretary, which I have had since January 1 of 1972. Mr. DASH. And to whom do you report, Mr. Kehrli? Mr. KEHRLI. Right now to General Alexander Haig. Mr. DASH. And prior to that time, to whom did you report? Mr. KEHRLI. H. R. Haldeman. Mr. DASH. Now, a chart has been placed on the easel to my left. Have you seen that chart before or something like it? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes I have. Mr. DASH. And did you assist our staff in the preparation of that chart? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes I did. Mr. DASH. Did you want to make some comment concerning the chart? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes, I would like to make a statement now about the chart itself. [2 second cut to angled view of committee table with chart on easel at top right] Mr. KEHRLI. The organization chart was prepared by the committee and checked with me for accuracy. It is accurate as far as it goes, but it could be misleading in two ways. First, it shows only those people about whom information was requested. It does not give an idea of the many hundreds of people who worked on or around various White House staffs, some of which, like the Domestic Council and the National Security Council are themselves administratively separate and independent entities. There are also the working relationships with members of the Cabinet and with other people in the various departments and agencies of the executive branch. In other words, the chain of command is not nearly so small or so closely integrated as the few dozen boxes and names on this chart might indicate. Second, there are often re-arrangements within the white house staff which is in fact a fairly dynamic organization. This is partly a function of the nature of the work which involves not only long range responsabilities, but also literally scores of short term projects and informal ad-hoc relationships. Since many individual staff members have a wide range of responsabilities, and each area of responsibility could conceivably have a different reporting relationship, some common denominator had to be chosen as the basis for the chart. The criterion chosen was the formal administrative chain of command. This chart describes then the fundamental relationships which existed in the white house during the months it covers and the dates in parenthesis on which the individuals left the White House payroll. I shall be glad to the extent of my knowledge to answer any questions the Committee may have about it. Mr. DASH. Alright now, would you please go to the chart and take a corner. Mr. KEHRLI. Sure.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973
(Mr. Kehrli walks over to chart) Mr. DASH. Mr. Kehrli, taking your statement into consideration, if at anytime in an explanation that you make, you feel that it is important to describe any other function or any other role of a white house personnel please feel free to do so, because the purpose of the chart is to relate to the resolution of our committee, but please do not feel constrained to the chart if you feel a full explanation requires you to do otherwise. Mr. KEHRLI. Fine. Mr. DASH. Now, on that chart do you find Mr. Haldeman? Mr. KEHRLI. (Mr. Kehrli holds up wooden pointer to chart) Yes, Mr. Haldeman is right here, he is in charge of White House operations. Now you'll notice that under Mr. Haldeman you'll find a number of other sub-organizations and as I said because this chart was based on Administrative relationships, (CU chart) this may be deceiving, and that any number of these people, at any point in time may have had a different reporting relationship depending on what project or what subject area they happened to be working in. Mr. DASH. But basically under the organization that you have and to the extent that that chart is relevant, the people who are shown under Mr. Haldeman were reporting to Mr. Haldeman? Mr. KEHRLI. Right, but let me give you an example, for instance we have the speech writers here with Mr. Ray Price as the head of that group. (CU chart) Now at any point in time, the President may have called Mr. Price with a specific request, not one which went through Mr. Haldeman and Mr. Price may have responded to that request without ever going through Mr. Haldeman. Mr. DASH. Would you say he may have or would have, if the President called him? Mr. KEHRLI. On occasions he would respond through Mr. Haldeman on other occasions he wouldn't. Mr. DASH. Now, under the direct line of Mr. Haldeman, would you, who on that chart would be reporting based on that chart to Mr. Haldeman? Or through Mr. Haldeman. Mr. KEHRLI. Well, any of these people at some point in time would report through Mr. Haldeman, but as I said before there is on occasion these people may have reported through another staff member, for instance Mr. Dean who is the council to the President, on a lot of legal matters reported through Mr. Ehrlichman. Mr. DASH. Now, Mr. Hunt is listed there as a consultant on that chart. Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he is. Mr. DASH. For what period of time do you know that he served in that role? Mr. KEHRLI. I'm sorry I don't have his starting date, I have the, I was only asked to put the dates on which he left the payroll. Mr. DASH. When did he leave the payroll? Mr. KEHRLI. That was April 1st, 1972. Mr. DASH. And Mr. Colson, what was Mr. Colson's position actually, I don't think it's indicated on the chart? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Colson was in charge of liaison with outside organizations. Mr. DASH. And Mr. Malek's role? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Malek's role at this time was, he had charge of the White House personnel office, which was recruiting and placing people within the administration. Mr. DASH. Alright now, Mr. Dean as you said would either be reporting directly to Mr. Haldeman, but as you indicated he also would perhaps be doing quite a bit of his work with Mr. Ehrlichman. Mr. KEHRLI. That's right. Mr. DASH. That's true. And so that Mr. Deans primary responsabilities were through Mr. Haldeman and Mr. Ehrlichman, would that be true? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes it would.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973
Mr. DASH. And Mr. Chapin, what was his particular capacity and role? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Chapin was in charge of scheduling the President. Which included any meetings within the White House, any trips, any meetings outside of the White House. (CU chart) Generally, on a long range planning basis. Mr. DASH. Now going to Mr. Ehrlichman, Mr. Ehrlichman's I see is there on a line right to the left of Mr. Haldeman, is that true? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he is. Mr. DASH. Yes, and what was his official role? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Ehrlichman was an advisor to the President as well as Head of the Domestic Council. Mr. DASH. Now, Mr. Krogh, now what was his relationship to Mr. Ehrlichman? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Krogh was a member of the Domestic Council staff. I might add at this point, as I said in my opening statement my, I can only speak on out of first hand knowledge on the White House organization itself. The Domestic Council is a separate entity, has it's own administrative procedures and it's own administrative personnel. Mr. DASH. Were you aware, that a point in time that Mr. Liddy worked in the White House staff under Mr. Krogh? (CU chart) Mr. KEHRLI. I was aware only because I had heard his name mentioned, I can't verify that for a fact. Well, I couldn't at that point, I have since then checked and found that he was on the Domestic Council and left on December 10th, 1971. Mr. DASH. But based on your check, that therefore Mr. Liddy in fact did work under Mr. Krogh. Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he did. Mr. DASH. And did there come a time based on any check that you made in assistance of preparing this chart, that Mr. Young from National Security Council and Katherine Chenow worked with Mr. Krogh and Mr. Liddy. Mr. KEHRLI. Yes. Mr. DASH. Do you know what time that that shift of relationship occurred? Mr. KEHRLI. The National Security council records indicate that David Young was detailed to the Domestic Council in July of 1971, they don't have a specific date. Ms. Chenow was on the Domestic council staff at that point. Mr. DASH. Now the chart does not show it, are you aware of anytime with Mr. Hunt worked with that group, that later I understand has been become known as the "Plumbers" under Mr. Krogh? Mr. KEHRLI. No I was not aware of that..... Mr. DASH. Are you aware of that term as a .... Mr. KEHRLI. Yes, I am aware of that term because I read it in the papers. Mr. DASH. You are only aware of it because you read it in the papers? Mr. KEHRLI. That's right.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973
Mr. DASH. Now Mr. Straun, who was Mr. Straun, and where does he appear on the chart? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Straun was on Mr. Haldeman's personal staff, he appears right here. (points to chart with pointer stick) Mr. DASH. What was his particular function with Mr. Haldeman? Mr. KEHRLI. His particular function was liaison with the Republican National committee and with the Committee to Re-elect the President. Mr. DASH. Now, are you aware of your own knowledge as to how frequently Mr. Straun was in touch as liaison with the Committee for Re-election of the President? Mr. KEHRLI. No I am not. Mr. DASH. But, that was a main function of his. Mr. KEHRLI. Yes it was. Mr. DASH. And therefore he would be carrying back and forth for Mr. Haldeman, between Mr. Haldeman and the committee, whatever messages Mr. Haldeman had for the committee or the committee for Mr. Haldeman. Mr. KEHRLI. Carrying, I think he may have or may not have carried them, but they would probably come through him at one point or another. Mr. DASH. Now Mr. MacGregor at one point was a member of the White House staff as I see on the chart. Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he was. Mr. DASH. And I think you have him on the chart as leaving July 1, 1972. Do you know where he went from there? Mr. KEHRLI. He went to the Committee to Re-elect the President. (CU chart) Mr. DASH. And Mr. Magruder is show on that chart on the other, on the right hand side on the communications under Mr. Klein, staying until May 1, 1971, do you know where he went, after that time? Mr. KEHRLI. He went to the Committee to Re-elect the President. Mr. DASH. And I think you have Mr. Odle and Mr. Porter working for Mr. Magruder and they left approx, well one on Mr. Odle May 1, 1971, and Mr. Porter April 29, 1971 according to the chart. (CU chart) And do you know where they went, when they left? Mr. KEHRLI. They went to the Committee to Re-elect the President.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973
Mr. DASH. Now, down towards the bottom you have Mr. Hugh Sloan under scheduling, under Mr. Dwight Chapan. And it appears on this chart that he left the White House on March 6th, 1971. Mr. KEHRLI. That's correct. Mr. DASH. Do you know where he went when he left the White House? Mr. KEHRLI. He went either to the Committee to Re-elect the President or the finance committee and I would have to check that. Mr. DASH. Alright. And I see on the chart also at the bottom under, I guess a line down from Mr. Haldeman to a box marked Political H. Dent, and then under that Mr. LaRue. Mr. KEHRLI. That's right. Mr. DASH. And a date of leaving February 15, 1972 or do you know where Mr. LaRue went when he left the White House? Mr. KEHRLI. I assume he went to the Committee to Re-elect the President, I don't have that..... Mr. DASH. If the facts would show that I take it. Mr. KEHRLI. Yeah. Mr. DASH. Now, are you of your own knowledge, and I know that we have asked you to come here to assist us in reconstructing the White House staff and relationships around the time relevant to the 1971 - 1972 period that would cover the resolution in which we're engaged in dealing with the Watergate matter. Mr. KEHRLI. Right. Mr. DASH. And that this was the purpose of the developing this chart. Beyond being able to describe the various relationships of these people and their roles on the chart, do you have any further knowledge as to their relationship with the Committee to Re-elect the President? Mr. KEHRLI. No I don't. Mr. DASH. Do you know anything about the duties of Kathleen Chenow? Mr. KEHRLI. No I don't. Mr. DASH. Mr. Chairman I have no further questions.