Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 25, 1973 - Statement of John Dean.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 25, 1973 - Statement of John Dean.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 25, 1973 - Statement of John Dean.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 25, 1973 - Statement of John Dean.
On Monday night, April 16th, I had learned that the President had informed the Government that he allegedly had taped a conversation in which I had told him I was seeking immunity from the Government in exchange for testimony on Haldeman and Ehrlichman. I have no recollection of ever telling the President that I was so negotiating with the government, and the President told me very specifically that he did not want to do anything to interfere with any negotiations that I was having with the Government. When I learned this from my attorney, I suggested that he request that the Government call for the tape and listen to the tape because I told him it must be a reference to the meeting I had with the President on April 15th. And if the conversation were taped the Government would have a pretty good idea of the dimensions of the case they were dealing with. I was referring to the fact that the President had mentioned the million dollar conversation and the fact that he had talked to Colson about clemency for Hunt. I do not in fact know if such a tape exists, but if it does exist and has not been tampered with and is a complete transcript of the entire conversation that took place in the President's office, I think that this committee should have that tape because I believe that it would corroborate many of the things that this committee has asked me to testify about.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 25, 1973 - Statement of John Dean.
When the President, issued his statement on April 17th in which he was quite obviously trying to affect any decisions I was having with the Government regarding my testimony by inserting the phrase there regarding no immunity and combined with the fact that he had requested that I sign a virtual confession on Monday of that week, I decided that indeed I was being set up and that it was time that I let the word out that I would not be a scapegoat. Accordingly, on April 19th, I issued a statement to that effect. After my statement of April 19th, I had virtually no contact with the members of the White House staff. I did have occasion to speak with Mr. Leonard Garment. I recall asking him who had placed the "no immunity" paragraph in the President's statement. Garment said while he did not know for certain, he believed that Ehrlichman had placed it in the draft because it had not been there in the earlier drafts, but in the draft that emerged from Ehrlichman's consideration when Ehrlichman went over the final statement with the President.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 25, 1973 - Statement of John Dean.
On April 22, Easter Sunday, the President called me to wish me a Happy Easter. It was what they refer to at the White House as a "stroking call. On April 30th, while out of the city, I had a call from my secretary in which she informed me that the wire services were carrying a story that my resignation had been requested and accepted and that Haldeman and Ehrlichman were also resigning.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 25, 1973 - Statement of John Dean.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my rather lengthy statement. I apologize again for its length, but I have sought to comply with the committee's request to provide the committee with a broad overview of my knowledge of this matter. Senator Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). Without objection on the part of any member of the committee the Chairman at this time will admit into evidence all of the exhibits identified by the witness in the course of his testimony except exhibits 5, 6, 7, and 8, whose admissibility will be considered later by the Committee. The committee will stand in recess until 10 o'clock in the morning.