Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 25, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 25, 1973
[00.32.21-MacNEILL in studio] MacNEILL states that DEAN has been discussing the plan to create a coverup story to explain the events of January and February, 1972, when the LIDDY plan was being considered by MAGRUDER, MITCHELL, and DEAN. [PBS network ID-title screen "SENATE HEARINGS ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES"] [00.35.01-MacNEILL] [00.35.14-Sen. ERVIN bringing hearing to order] AFTERNOON SESSION. Senator ERVIN. The committee will come to order. Mr. Dean, I realize that when you have to do so much reading that sometimes it gets pretty hard on your voice and any time that you feel like you need a little break to sort of relieve your voice, let us know and we will certainly grant it to you. Mr. DEAN. I appreciate that very much. Mr. Chairman. If the Chairman is ready I will proceed. When we stopped for lunch I was just commencing on page 91. APPEARANCES Or WHITE HOUSE PERSONNEL BEFORE THE GRAND JURY Mr. DEAN-. I Shall now turn from the matter of Magruder's appearance before the grand jury, to the appearance of the members of the White House staff before the grand jury. The handling of the appearances of the White House staff before the grand jury was very similar to the procedure that had been followed with regard to their interviews by the FBI By that I mean either Mr. Fielding or myself Would discuss with the individual before he went to the grand jury the likely questions he would be asked, the unrelated areas that we, didn't feel It was necessary for the individual to get into. [00.36.49] When Colson learned that he was going to be called before the grand jury, he was outraged. He felt that the press had been rather hostile toward him because of his association with Mr. Hunt and his appearance in the courthouse before the grand jury would be most detrimental. He was very insistent that something be done about the situation and asked me 'to see if I could do anything to help him. I called Henry Petersen and discussed this with him and asked him if there was anything that could be done. Peterson told me he would explore it. Petersen called back and said he appreciated the problem of the White House staff people coming down to the courthouse to appear before the grand jury and he had worked out an arrangement whereby they could come to the, Department of Justice, be interviewed by the prosecutors with counsel present, and then the prosecutor would take a sworn statement without counsel present as if it were a, secret grand jury room and later the prosecutors would read the statement to the grand jury. This procedure was followed, as I recall, for Mr. Colson, Mr. Krogh, Mr. Young, Mr. Chapin, and Mr. Strachan. When Secretary Stans learned that he was being called before the grand jury, he expressed a similar outrage and requested a procedure like that which had been given to the members of the White House staff. I discussed this again with Petersen, but he said he didn't feel it would be possible to follow a similar procedure. Mr. Stans' outrage continued and finally he raised it directly with Mr. Ehrlichman. [00.38.26]