Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 28, 1973 (2/2)
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 28, 1973 (2/2)
[01.03.54-title screen "SENATE HEARINGS ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES"] [01.04.49-LEHRER in studio] LEHRER states that Sen. BAKER has questions related to the break-in of Daniel ELLSBERG'S psychiatrist's office [01.05.02-gavel] Senator BAKER. The committee will come to order. I understand that Senator Talmadge left to avoid missing this last rollcall vote with possibly a question left unanswered. I was not here so I can't say but is there anything further you wish to add, Mr. Dean. Mr. DEAN. He -was asking me about people who had taken the blame for their superiors at the White House from some examples, and I had cited two examples. Mr. DASH. Yes, but you had not completed--I think Senator Talmadge as he was leaving, I think the last words said was the person taking the blame was Chuck Colson and the follow-up question would have been, who was he taking the blame for? [00.05.48-H.R. HALDEMAN is evidently not used to taking blame himself] Mr. DEAN. He Was taking the blame for Mr. Haldeman who had authorized the ads. There is one, other example that gets into an area I believe you indicated you were, going to question me on, and that is based on information that I have directly from Mr. Krogh, that it appears to me that based on a conversation I had with Mr. Krogh that he is taking the blame for something. Senator BAKER. Do you know who? Mr. DEAN. I believe the President of the United States. Senator BAKER, Maybe you ought to elaborate on that, a little. [Laughter.] [01.06.30-DEAN discusses KROGH keeping silent about ELLSBERG break-in to protect NIXON] Mr. DEAN. Well, it Was On either the 28th or 29th of March that Mr. Krogh came to my office, he stopped by to express his sympathy for the adverse publicity I had received as a result of the Gray hearings and asked me how I was holding up and I said, "Fine, it is not very pleasant but my hands are tied and I Can't speak." He said, he then began a discussion about how he had been haunted ever since he left the White House about his own experiences there, and then we got into a discussion of the fact that there was evidence within the files of the Department of Justice indicating leads that might let the investigators from this committee discover the fact of the Ellsberg burglary and we began discussing that, [00.07.26] I asked him then if that had been authorized by Mr. Ehrlichman, and he told me--knowing Mr. Krogh pretty well and knowing Mr. Krogh had a similar level I as myself and didn't, would not start something of that dimension without clearing it with someone, and he told me, no. that to his knowledge Mr. Ehrlichman had not learned about it until after the fact and told me that his orders had come directly from the Oval Office, and I was, somewhat surprised and so surprised I said, "You have got to be kidding," and he repeated again, no. he said, they came from the Oval Office. Senator BAKER. This was Mr. Krogh Speaking? Mr. DEAN. Yes, sir. And subsequently, of course, he has under a Sworn statement said that, he was totally responsible for the matter. Senator BAKER. Mr. Dean, it is now a little after 4:30 and in deference to my colleagues, I am not going to try to finish with the list of questions and topics that, I thought I outlined to you earlier. What I would like to do for about 10 minutes, almost 15 minutes, say, to 4:45 is to go once again to the narrow focus of what the President knew and when he knew it, relative to Watergate. So would you please, move then to the, next situation. Mr. DEAN. Yes, sir. Senator BAKER. That would shed any light on that. [01.08.57]