Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 14, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 14, 1973
[00.07.39] Senator TALMADGE. Who all mentioned Executive clemency to you ? Mr. MAGRUDER. Mr. Dean and Mr. Mitchell -were the only two individuals who mentioned Executive clemency. Senator TALMADGE. Were they together or separately? ? Mr. MAGRUDER. Both, my recollection is, that at one meeting I had with Mr. Dean alone, and with Mr. Mitchell just in March of this year. Senator TALMADGE. I believe you also had a conversation, maybe, with Mr. Haldeman about Executive clemency? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes, sir. Senator TALMADGE. What did he say to you about that? Mr. MAGRUDER. At that meeting, he was very careful to say that he had no authority over that Issue and that, He could not speak for the President. He was very careful about that. Senator TALMADGE. The others were not careful !to say that they were not, speaking for the President either Mr. Mitchell or Mr. Dean"? Mr. MAGRUDER. that That is correct, I think it was n Senator TALMADGE. Implied---- Mr. MAGRUDER. [continuing]. Implied use of' the President's name without his authorization. Senator TALMADGE. Were there any conversations among you people during this period or time as to whether or not, the President knew about this situation? ? Mr. MAGRUDER. I just do not--cannot recall discussions where we discussed that specific subject. I think we all were very Careful, as I was with people who worked for me, to not discuss the Watergate in its true implications. As you know, Mr. Odle and Mr. Reisner have already testified that I did not tell them. I told them that everything was OK, purposely, so that they would not become implicated. nor, of course, would it spread to other people in Our committee or outside our committee So our discussions were limited in that- Sense. Senator TALMADGE. Now, as a former staff assistant to the President, YOU were very familiar IN-it'll the White House staff structure were you not? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes. sir. [00.09.33] Senator TALMADGE. The chain of command and decisionmaking processes that were involved. You have, testified that Mr. Mitchell was a principal figure in the planning and coverup of the affair.: that Mr. Haldeman. who traveled With the President, consulted With him daily On key issues as did Mitchell, was aware of the affair, either through your constant communications with Mr. Strachan or your meetings with him in January, 1973. And his two counsels, Mr. Dean and Mr. Colson were familiar with it, some of them involved in urging and planning it, that Mr. Kalmbach, the President's personal counsel, provided the money for these activities. Is it, your conclusion as a reasonable man in your position, that the Watergate affair. could have been undertaken and completely isolated from the, President by his closest aides and friends without his own personal knowledge? Mr. MAGRUDER. Because I did work at the White House Senator and because I am very familiar with the staff system that did exist' when Mr. Ehrlichman and Mr. Haldeman were his primary aides, it is very easy for me to see how he would not have been aware. Almost all of the work that was done by the key staff people and by our committee was capsulized and passed on to Mr. Haldeman and I am just positive that many things occurred in the White House that he did not or was not aware of. It was just the way that system worked. So I have no difficulty in believing that personally [00.11.26] Senator TALMADGE. What you are saying, as I understand it, is that his staff was so completely remote kept him so isolated, that this could have. transpired without his knowledge, approval, and consent. Is that that your testimony? Mr. MAGRUDER. Yes, sir; I can understand that very well. Senator TALMADGE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have no further questions. [00.11.48] Senator ERVIN. Senator Gurney. Senator GURNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think almost all the points of your knowledge have been covered, Mr. Magruder, and I am only going to try to your to bring out perhaps some of those, matters that need a little amplification. Let, us begin at the beginning on the January 27 meeting at Mr. Mitchell's office. Who Called the meeting? Mr. MAGRUDER. Well, one of my roles as his chief deputy would be to schedule, meetings when there was an appropriate number of subjects to cover. When Mr. Liddy indicated to me that he was ready to make his presentation--that -was a full month and a half, almost, after he. had indicated that he had this $1 million project, in the works--I scheduled the meeting and let--I think I had my assistant let Mr. Dean know that, the meeting would take place and he was to attend. [00.12.45]