Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 27, 1973 (1/2)
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 27, 1973 (1/2)
[00.55.52] Senator INOUYE. [QUOTING W.H. MEMO ATTACKING DEAN'S TESTIMONY] "On March -21 Dean gave, the President a more complete, but still laundered version of the facts and so surprised the President that according to press accounts of what Dean is saying 'the President came out of his chair."' Mr. DEAN. I do not know where that press account came from. The President did not come out of his chair. I have never seen the President come out of his chair other than very easily and slowly, [Laughter] at the time that he got up on April 15 to walk around to the corner of the EOB office and then raise something with me. The President of the United States does not come flying out of his chair. Senator INOUYE. [QUOTING W.H. MEMO ATTACKING DEAN'S TESTIMONY] "At this meeting Dean indicated that Magruder was involved but that he did not know about Mitchell." Mr. DEAN. That is correct. As I have said before this committee I have never had a direct conversation with John Mitchell to ask him what his involvement was. On the 28th, when I came down from Camp David after there was this discussion about whether I would be willing to perpetuate the story that there had been one meeting in Mitchell's office there had been a discussion of the election laws and that that was the reason for my presence and it, was to introduce Mr. Liddy, at the end of that discussion I Said to Mr. Mitchell "I have never asked you of your involvement and I will not ask you of your involvement but I want to hypothesize what I see to be the situation," and I then gave them my hypothesis of the situation and as a result of that hypothesis Mr. Mitchell said "that is not far from accurate, but we thought it would be two or three times removed." [00.57.44] Senator INOUYE. If you did not know about Mitchell why did you advise the President that Mr. Mitchell could be indicted? Mr. DEAN. Because based on the information Mr. Magruder had given me, which was inferential and my -general assumption of the fact, I was aware of the fact that he had received the information from the electronic surveillance. Senator INOUYE. Did you so advise the President ? Mr. DEAN. Did I so advise the President? I do not recall that, I got into a detailed discussion. I was giving the President what I would say was a general overview and letting him come back and ask any specific questions he might wish to ask. [00.58.26] Senator INOUYE.' Do You not feel it was important enough to advise, the President of the United States that his former Attorney General was involved -and implicated? Mr. DEAN. Well, I told him I thought he could be indicted but I told him I did not have the facts for certainty myself that he was indictable. Senator INOUYE. I thought you had just testified that Magruder, Mitchell, and Dean were indictable? Mr. DEAN. No, no. You are talking about the meeting that occurred on the 21st? Senator INOUYE. The 21st of March, sir. Mr. DEAN. That was in the afternoon after I had earlier met with the President and I said that Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Dean were indictable for obstruction of justice. [00.59.00] Senator INOUYE. [QUOTING W.H. MEMO ATTACKING DEAN'S TESTIMONY] "He mentioned the Ellsberg break-in and possibly a second-story job at, the Brookings Institute. He told about the attempt by Hunt to blackmail Ehrlichman over the Ellsberg break-in. He, suggested that Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Dean might all have some problem about the financial transactions with the defendants but that he thought they were more technical and political than legal." Mr. DEAN. I do recall saying that I thought that some of the obstruction problems were technical. I said some of them are more serious than others. As far as discussion of the Ellsberg burglary, Senator, I don't recall raising that at that point in time with the President as the reason for Mr. Hunt's threat. In fact I was--when I raised it with Mr. Ehrlichman as to what these, seamy things were, Mr. Ehrlichman said, "Well, you know I just have no idea what he could be talking about." [01.00.08] i