Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 14, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 14, 1973
[00.13.53] Mr. DASH. At the, time. you were interviewed by the FBI, had the story been developed? Mr. MAGRUDER. We still had not, come up with the, money amount, but other than that, we basically had developed the guidelines to the story, yes. Mr. DASH. When you were interviewed by the, FBI, did You tell this false story to the, FBI? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes: I did. Mr. DASH. You say you were next brought before the grand jury when? Mr. MAGRUDER. In August, August 18. Mr. DASH. When You testified to the grand jury that time. did you testify to the false story? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes. I did. [00.14.23] Mr., DASH. What role did Mr. Dean play in preparing you for your second grand jury appearance? Mr. MAGRUDER. On the day before the grand jury appearance, was aware that I was a target of the grand jury at that time. So. I was briefed by our lawyers and Mr. Mardian. Also, I was interrogated for approximately 2 hours by Mr. Dean and approximately 1/2 hour in a general way by Mr. Mitchell. Mr. DASH. 'Now, after You appeared before the grand jury for the, Second time, did Mr. Dean give you a any report? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes: the day after Mr. Dean indicated that I would not be, indicted. Mr. DASH. Did he tell You how he knew that Mr. MAGRUDER. No ; he' did not,. Mr. DASH, By the, way, were You not aware of Mr., Dean's participation you were aware were you not,, that Mr. Dean worked in the White House and did report to Mr. Ehrlichman and Mr. Haldeman? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes. Sir. Mr. DASH. And I think you yourself, when you testified before us in executive session, indicated that YOU were familiar with the roles that YOU played at that time and that Dean played? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes; that is correct. Mr. DASH. What was your understanding, therefore, when Mr. Dean was working with You prior to Your appearance before the second grand jury? Was he doing this on his own, or was he doing it as a representative for other Persons the White House? Mr. MAGRUDER. Well, again, it is an assumption On my part, I think I should be very careful. He was in a staff and did report to the gentleman you mentioned. Consequently you would assume, and I did not know and at no time did I know, that he was directly reporting back to either Mr. Haldeman Or Mr. Ehrlichman. I did assume this but that was only an assumption form my work at, the White House myself, Mr. DASH. Were YOU again called before, the grand jury prior to the trial, the first trial ? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes. Mr. DASH. When was that? Mr. MAGRUDER. That was in September, the middle of September. Mr. DASH. Did you know -why you were being called before. that grand jury? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes. At that time, they had gotten a copy--they had subpenaed my, diary and my diary contained Meetings, primarily the meetings in January and February, with Mr. Liddy that we knew they very interested in. So consequently, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Dean, would be, and I met to try to determine how I would answer--- Mr. DASH. You mean prior to your appearance before the grand jury in September? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes, sir. Mr. DASH. What was the, purpose of that meeting? Mr. MAGRUDER. The purpose was to develop the story in effect of what took place at those meetings, Mr. Dean asked if he could be removed from those meetings, and I said that would not Work, because too many people knew he had attended those, meetings. Then Mr. Mitchell and 'Mr. Dean, and I agreed that we would indicate--would indicate--that the first. meeting never occurred, that We had canceled it, and that at the second meeting, we had discussed the new election law, which actually had been passed that week and that I introduced Mr. Liddy to Mr. Mitchell and he had not met Mr. Mitchell, it turned out that he, had met Mr. Mitchell, but I was unaware of that. So I indicated to the grand jury that, it was an informal meeting to introduce Mr. Liddy and also to discuss the new election law, Mr. DASH. Was any suggestion made that you might erase entries in the diary? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes; as I recall, one of the individuals indicated that. I think we agreed that erasures could be, determined by the, Federal Bureau of Investigation if anything was erased. Mr. DASH. During your appearances before the grand jury or preceding it and When the story that -was indicated was being developed, what if anything- was told to you or discussed with you or by you concerning the question of executive clemency for yourself or for those who were going to accept the blame in the story? [00.18.15] Mr. MAGRUDER. Again I would like to be very careful here. I think that--during the time, of course, since I knew I Was a target of the grand jury I was somewhat, concerned about, what would happen to me if I Was indicted, So I went through the same type, of thing that the other defendants in the, trial did and asked Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Dean for the kind of assurances that they did. They made those assurances to' me, but they--- Mr. DASH. What assurances specifically? Mr. MAGRUDER. Well, they made assurances about income and being taken care of from the standpoint of my and a lob afterwards, and that, type of thing, and also that, there Would be good opportunity for Executive clemency. But. having worked at the White House and being aware of our structure there, I did not take, that as meaning that had a direct relationship to the. President at all. In fact, the, use of his name was very common in many cases where it. was inappropriate; in other words, where he had not had any dealings in the matter. So I knew that this did not necessarily mean it came from the, President or anyoue else other than 'Mr. Dean or Mr. Mitchell, Mr. DASH. But you did not know to the contrary. Mr. MAGRUDER. NO, I did not know to the contrary. [00.19.29]