Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 26, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 26, 1973
[00.23.52-DEAN discussing attacks on his credibility] Mr. DEAN. There have been efforts to say that I received $100,000 of missing campaign money. There is no truth to that, whatsoever and there is no Conceivable, way they will ever substantiate a story like that. Every neighbor has been probed, As I say, some of this has been press inquiry and quite legitimate press inquiry. Other of it has been by privately hired investigators. Senator MONTOYA. 'Now. how long did you know Mr. Liddy before he was hired by the Committee To Re-Elect the President? Mr. DEAN. I didn't know Mr. Liddy until I had--I may have met him once, while I was at the Department of Justice at a rather large meeting, when I -was in the Deputy U.S. Attorney's office. There was a program called "Operation Intercept," which I was not directly involved in. It was a drug program and I understand that Mr. Liddy was in- in involved in that. When I did meet him once at the White House, he referred to the fact, that I had met him earlier, I don't recall that. The, first time I ever talked to Mr. Liddy was, in, let's see, I guess it was late October, when I began talking to Krogh about whether he was interested or not in the general counsel position at the reelection committee. I was unaware of his activities with the plumbers unit. I had only known that he had been in a dispute With his employer at the Treasury Department 'Mr. Rossides, and there had been quite a fiery exchange between the White House and the Treasury Department the like for the White House intervening in this dispute and interviewing Mr. Liddy and bringing him to the White House. This I got from Caulfield who had friends in the, Treasury Department. Senator MONTOYA. When was the first time that you knew about Mr. Liddy and Mr. Hunt working together? Mr. DEAN. I don't believe I really realized that, until after the break-in. it just didn't occur to me, the fact that they were both in the Plumbers Unit. I was unaware of the fact, for example, that, Mr. Hunt spent most of his time as a consultant for the White House working for the plumbers. Now, I may have been told, but it didn't occur to me. I learned, I believe it was in April or May of 1972, I had heard the rumor about, the break-in at, the Ellsberg psychiatrist's office and heard that Hunt and Liddy had been involved in this. So it was much after the fact of their actual working together that I learned of the fact that they had worked together. Senator MONTOYA. Had you seen them around the White House talking together on or about March or February of 1972? Mr. DEAN. No, Sir, I cannot say I did. Senator MONTOYA. -Now, when you were having discussions with Mr. Liddy at the CRP, did he ever tell you about his activities other than being chief counsel for the CRP? Mr. DEAN. Well, if I recall our initial dealings after he went over there, my responsibility with him was to get him Very aware of the election laws. He had not had any experience in this area. I informed my staff that they should cooperate with him and assist him. I made my files available. We had a new election law to deal with, to interpret, to understand. Regulations were being issued by the GAO, and we had a number of discussions on those. I also encouraged him, because he frequently told me that there was More Work than one man could handle, to get himself some volunteer lawyers and I suggested some names of lawyers who I thought might be of assistance to him. Senator _MONTOYA. Well, I am not, speaking of his duties as Chief counsel. Were you aware that he was performing other duties? Mr. DEAN. I think the only time I -was aware ---I was Unaware of his developing his plan; no, sir. That has been always one of the great mysteries to me, what happened from the time he went over there--I guess it must have been December 10, because as I recall, it was 1 or 2 days after 'Mr. Magruder had interviewed him that he went to work-- what happened between December 10 and January 27, and my conception of what his responsibilities were and possibly his own 'or others Conception dramatically changed. There was nothing in my conversations with him that, indicated other than the fact that he was going to have a plan for dealing with demonstrators and convention Security. [00.29.06]