Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 27, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 27, 1973
[01.00.15-GURNEY continues questioning DEAN] Senator GURNEY. When was that ? Mr. DEAN. This was on the 28th. Senator GURNEY. In the meantime. you had engaged counsel on the 25th? Mr. DEAN. Well, no. sir-yes, I did, I did, I engaged-- Senator GURNEY. Hogan? Mr. DEAN. I engaged Hogan in regard to the story running in the Los Angeles Times--- Senator GURNEY. And Mr. Shaffer on the 30th. Mr. DEAN. When I was at Camp David I -really made, a decision there was no way that I was going to continue in the coverup. [01.00.46] Senator GURNEY. All of these meetings on the 20th, 21st, 22d, as I understand it, they -were the first meetings between what I would call perhaps the most principal people involved in Watergate, at least those in the White House, to where you were coming to serious discussion about what, ought to be done and all of you realized that something certainly had to be done, and done rather fast, as I understand it? Mr. DEAN. I would not characterize the, meetings as to -what had to be done. In fact, the meetings -were, as I believe I described them in my testimony, very similar to many, many meetings had occurred, or I had been in earlier where we talked about, you know, how do -we deal with the Senate committee, the President at one point in the meeting picked up the phone and called the Attorney General and asked him why he had not been meeting with Senator Baker. Senator GURNEY. But the March 21 meeting -was a meeting that, as I understand it, you sought with the President to tell him, as I think you said, the broad outlines of the Watergate story. Is that -not, right? [01.01.56-DEAN argues that it was evident to him that NIXON knew about Watergate and the Coverup prior to DEAN'S meeting on March 21, 1973] Mr. DEAN. Well, as I said also, we had discussed the Watergate on previous occasions before that, we discussed it on the 13th. We talked about money and clemency. He had told me as early as my February -meetings -with him, that I was to report, directly to him at that point. If you check some of the exhibits that I have submitted you will see that there are a lot of Presidential decisions being made as a result of the La Costa meeting, and it was at one point I decided that I had to tell the, President what I thought the implications of this whole situation was. That I thought that not only was there a problem for some that were involved before the break-in had become known but I thought there, were a lot that had problems is a result of the break-in, and that the coverup could not continue. Senator GURNEY. Well, at any rate, whatever was being discussed at these meetings the 20th, the 21st, and the 22d, they certainly were very important matters affecting Watergate, is that not true? Mr. DEAN. They were affecting Watergate, to the degree of how to deal with this Senate, committee, yes. Senator GURNEY. You mean you only discussed the Senate committee in these meetings? Mr. DEAN. That is the thrust of virtually the entire. conversations that occurred, particularly -when Mr. Mitchell was present, the morning he was present, on the 22d. Senator GURNEY. What about the meeting of the 21st? You had two that day, one with the President when Mr. Haldeman came in later, and then another one, with Mr. Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and yourself and the President. Was that the subject of this committee here that you talked about? Mr. DEAN. I think, as I testified, that after I had completed my presentation to the President from some, of the, questions he asked and some of the statements he made I did not, feel that he fully understood the problem that people at the, White House had for their involvement in the post situation. It was somewhat like---- Senator GURNEY. So it was a much wider discussion than simply this committee? Mr. DEAN. Not really, Senator, it was, it was [01.04.12-TAPE OUT]