Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Title screen "SENATE HEARINGS ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES"
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Robert MacNeil introduces questioning by Fred Thompson
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Fred Thompson, attorney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Dean, you have of course, made some serious accusations with regard to coverup of criminal activities. And we have heard other testimony about the coverup of certain criminal activities and of course the responsibility for prosecuting those criminal activities did lie with the Department of Justice. I would like to ask you a few questions based upon some of your testimony yesterday concerning your contacts with Mr. Petersen. Did I remember correctly that on the 19th or 20th of June that you first had contact with Mr. Petersen about the Watergate break-in investigation? John Dean. The first time I had contact with Mr. Petersen is when the Attorney General called Mr. Petersen to his office and that was either on the 19th or the 20th.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Fred Thompson, attorney. Do I recall your testimony correctly that you told him that you did not believe the White House could stand a wide-open investigation? John Dean. I told him, we discussed the implications of a wide-open investigation and how embarrassing that could be in an election year. That is correct. Fred Thompson, attorney. Well, did he indicate to you in any way that he would carry out anything less than a wide-open investigation of this matter? John Dean. As I testified yesterday, I don't recall Mr. Peterson saying anything specific. I left the meeting with an impression that Mr. Petersen would be fair in an investigation of the White House. And that that interpretation of fairness would mean that we wouldn't have an investigation of everything that occurred in the White House for 4 years. Fred Thompson, attorney. That was your of the use of the phrase, "wide-open investigation" John Dean. That is correct. Fred Thompson, attorney. I would think a wide-open open investigation would mean a complete thorough investigation of charges that were going around at that time and specifically all of the ramifications of the break-in of the DNC. Do I understand your testimony that you were only concerned that he not go back into the prior 4 years and bring up unrelated matters that had nothing to do with this particular incident? John Dean. I m trying to recall a meeting that was of course, over a year ago and the highlights of my recollection at that point of course are that we discussed what this would mean if this investigation led all the way to the President. I had Fred Thompson, attorney. Pardon me, did you discuss the possibility of Presidential involvement with him? I thought you said yesterday that you had that in your own mind but that you did not discuss it with him at that time. John Dean. I believe I discussed it with Kleindienst and Kleindienst conveyed my concern to Mr. Petersen and it s very possible that it was reraised again when Mr. Petersen and I departed Mr. Kleindienst's office. I do recall the note that the meetings ended on that I hoped that my fears suspecting the worst were not true.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Fred Thompson, attorney. Did you have the impression when you talked to Mr. Kleindienst and Mr. Petersen that Mr. Ehrlichman was depending on you to take care of the situation or to get them to take care of the situation so that the White House would not be hurt? John Dean. At this point, I was merely a messenger. I was a conveyor of information on back and forth and I was being sent to different assignments to find out information at this point in time. When I talked to Ehrlichman and he asked me to find out what the Justice Department was doing, he wanted to find out how extensive their investigation was. As time evolved, there was frequent criticism of the scope of the investigation by Mr. Ehrlichman. There was, very clearly, the concern at the White House that the investigation would come right back into the White House.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Fred Thompson, attorney. You testified that you told Mr. Petersen that you had in fact delivered certain documents to Patrick Gray that you did not discuss with Mr. Silbert or anyone else that you had delivered those documents to him and no one else knew about it, presumably except Mr. Ehrlichman. Do you know what he did after that, whether or not he made any inquiry of Mr. Gray, for example, as to whether or not this in fact was true? John Dean. I have heard after the fact in my discussions with the prosecutors this spring about the matter that apparently Mr. Petersen went to Mr. Gray and immediately raised it with Mr. Gray. And at that point in time Mr. Gray denied to Mr. Petersen that he had ever received such documents. So I assume that happened very shortly after I had reported it to Mr. Petersen and as I testified yesterday also, shortly after I had reported it Mr. Gray came to me at a luncheon at the Department of Justice and said, "Hang tight, John, with regard to that matter."
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Fred Thompson, attorney. You mentioned a telephone call from Mr. Ehrlichman to Mr. Petersen about Stans having to go down and testify before the Grand Jury, something to the effect that Silbert was acting like a local prosecutor and Mr. Stans should not be treated this way and so forth and used rather abrasive terms to Mr. Petersen. Do you know what Mr. Petersen's response to Mr. Ehrlichman was during that conversation? John Dean. I do not know. But I can only speculate that Mr. Petersen isn't the type of man who is easily pushed around. And I don't know what the sum and substance of it was. I subsequently called Mr. Petersen office myself, after I had departed Mr. Ehrlichman's office, and apologized for the call. And Petersen didn't seem particularly upset by the fact that he had received the call. When I talked to him he was annoyed at Ehrlichman, but I might add that Mr. Ehrlichman had been sort of riding hard on the Department of Justice for some time and there was a certain degree of animosity between Ehrlichman and the Department.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities June 26, 1973 - Testimony of John Dean.
Fred Thompson, attorney. The reason I am making these inquiries is that his name was mentioned and I think it was rather unclear at least to me anyway. As I understand your statement now is that just based upon your knowledge you know of no impropriety in conducting his part of the investigation on Mr. Petersen's part? John Dean. I know of no impropriety. I think he tried to be very fair with the White House in dealing with the White House and the fact that we had an investigation going on in a political year that could result in embarrassment on countless occasions. The entire arrangement to have the White House staff, for example, appear at the Department of Justice rather than go to the courthouse was merely designed to save the fact of the embarrassment that would arise politically of members of the White House staff appearing at the courthouse, all the cameras and pictures and speculation that are likely to run from that. That was avoided by simulating the grand jury situation in Mr. Petersen's conference room.