Watergate Impeachment Hearings House Judiciary Committee, July 26, 1974.
Watergate Impeachment Hearings House Judiciary Committee, July 26, 1974.
Watergate Impeachment Hearings House Judiciary Committee, July 26, 1974.
Watergate Impeachment Hearings House Judiciary Committee, July 26, 1974.
54.57 Peter Rodino (D New Jersey). The gentlelady from New York is recognized for 5 minutes. Ms. Holtzman. Elizabeth Holtzman (D New York). Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I would like to speak in opposition to the motion to strike. And I am absolutely overwhelmed by the evidence with respect to this and I think it has to be seen in context. When I spoke earlier, I said that John Dean had confessed to the President on March 21st that all kinds of people in his administration had been guilty of criminal acts. And not only did the President say to Dean that your involvement in this, your obstruction of justice, that was the "right plan." The President didn't pick up the phone and call Attorney General Kleindienst or call FBI Director Gray to say that criminal things are on in my administration and I want to put an end to it. He calls Kleindienst on the 21st. He called Kleindienst on the 22d and he said, yes you had better call Senator Baker at the Senate Watergate Committee and babysit with him like 10 minutes. And then On the 27th of March, even though the President is burdened with overwhelming information, this cancer that is growing, he tells Ehrlichman, he says to him the following, "Have a session with him," i.e. Kleindienst, about how much you want to tell him about everything." Ehrlichman, ah. The President, "I think you have got to say look, Dick, let me tell you Dean was not involved, had no prior knowledge, Haldeman had no prior knowledge. Ehrlichman had none and Colson had none." But what was the President told by Dean? He was told that Haldeman had been told about the first two Liddy bugging plans, that in fact Haldeman had ordered Liddy to move the capability From Muskie to McGovern headquarters before the break in. The President was told that Strachan knew and the President was told that. Colson called Magruder to tell him to get going on the Hunt and Liddy plan. The President is telling Ehrlichman not to tell Kleindienst about all this information and the criminal liability. Instead he is telling Ehrlichman to tell Kleindienst that nobody is involved, and nobody has prior knowledge. Is this the kind of conduct we expect from our President? Is this the kind of concern that he has for the enforcement of the laws?
Watergate Impeachment Hearings House Judiciary Committee, July 26, 1974.
57.35 Let's look at his conversation with Petersen in April. He says to Petersen April 27th, he is describing this March 21st conversation about the Hunt blackmail payment. He said to Peterson, "And believe me, nothing was approved. I mean as far as I'm concerned I turned it, off totally." But if we recall the language that the President used on March 21st at the end of his conversation, his very own words, he said to Dean, "That's why for your immediate thing you've got no choice with Hunt, but the 120 or whatever it is, right? Well for Christ's sake, get it, in a way that uh." And then he goes on and he says to Petersen, Well, he says, when I was talking to Dean about this blackmail money or this million dollars I said to Dean, "You couldn't put it through a Cuban Committee, could you?" Well, the President never said that to Dean. He never said anything like that. What in fact he said to Dean was how to make up an alibi on the Cuban money. The President's own words, "As far as what happened up to this time," and that is referring to all the hush money payments, our cover the is just going to be the Cuban Committee, did this for them up through the election." Dean, "That isn't, of course, quite the way it happened." President, "I know but it's the way it is going to have to happen." Where do we see the President of the United States in his conversations either with Mr. Kleindienst or Mr. Petersen making any attempt to deal with the criminal liability of the people around him and get rid of the cancer not only in his White House but in our country? And that is what we are, talking about here, Mr. Chairman. And I urge that this motion to strike be defeated. Peter Rodino (D New Jersey). The time of the gentlelady had expired.