Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 29, 1973 (2/2)
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 29, 1973 (2/2)
[01.25.49-DEAN is interrogated by DASH about the covering up of the DNC civil suit investigation] Mr. DASH. Are you personally familiar with any of the other rulings of Judge Richey that were made during the pendency of the, Democratic National Committee case that occurred prior to the election? Mr. DEAN. No, I am not. Mr. DASH. As a matter of fact, you have no other knowledge, really of that matter other than what Mr. Parkinson or other lawyers told' you about that? Mr. DEAN. That at is correct. [01.26.12-DASH asks whether it's conceivable or at all possible that NIXON was joking about the $ 1 million payoff to keep the Watergate BURGLARS silent] Mr. DASH. NOW, you indicated that on April 15, meeting with the President, the, President in bringing up the question of the, million-dollar discussion, told you that he was joking. When he first mentioned that to you, Mr. Dean, did he, indicate in any Way that he was joking, or did you understand him to be joking? Mr. DEAN. No, sir, I did not understand him to be joking. he repeated it twice, and indicated that there would be no problem to raise $1 million. He looked over at Mr. Haldeman and raised the same matter, and was very confident that $1 million was nothing to raise at all. When he reraised it, on the 15th, when he said he was just joking, I would have to characterize his characterization as being a rather nervous laughter kind of, "I -was just joking." [01.27.13-DISCUSSION OF TAPE RECORDING OF CONVERSATIONS] Mr. DASH. I think you testified. and you may have given us information on this, that you believe, that April 15 meeting with the President was taped and that, you were being asked leading questions. Have you ever asked the White House if you were taped, or any official of the White House? Mr. DEAN. I raked it with my lawyer, and I do not know whether he raised this with the prosecutors or not, but after I was told that I had been taped---- Mr. DASH. Who told you, Mr. Dean? Mr. DEAN. My lawyer, Mr. Shaffer, told me, that he had received word from the prosecutors that I had been taped, and I thought there was only One Occasion when that could have occurred that I was aware of where, I had a direct conversation with the President, because, all the, circumstances seem to indicate that, and that was on this April 15 meeting. -Now, I do not know for a fact whether he was or was not taped, but suggested that the Government might want to listen to that tape because if the they listened to that tape, they would have some idea of the dimensions of what was involved. [01.28.11] Mr. DASH. Mr. Dean, I want to refer to exhibit -No. and this is the exhibit that has first a memorandum from Mr. Charles Colson to you, reference Howard Hunt. The memorandum itself also includes a short memorandum from W. Richard Howard, who, as I understand, was Mr. Colson's assistant; am I not correct? Mr. Howard was Mr. Colson's assistant, was he not? Mr. DEAN. That is correct, yes. I have your exhibit now. Mr. DASH. All right. On that March 30 memorandum from Mr. Howard on the second paragraph the opening line is "Howard", meaning Howard Hunt. "has been very effective for Have you an understanding what he meant by that? It is a memorandum for Bruce Kehrli. Mr. DEAN. No, No, I do not. I am not fully familiar other than what some of the things that I recall and I have recalled to this Committee that I saw in the files of Mr. Hunt's that related to Mr. Colson that in fact, he had a close relationship with Mr. Colson. Mr. DASH, What was your understanding of the "us" in that, "Howard Hunt has been very effective for us;' Mr. DEAN. That would be a reference to Mr., Colson and Mr. Howard and Mr. Colson's general office. Mr. DASH. Would you look at exhibit -No. 34-37? This exhibit dated February 28, 1973. which has the heading Administrative Confidential is for Larry Higby and John Dean and is from Jerry Jones. Who is Jerry Jones? Mr. DEAN. He is the head of the personnel office, and I might add that while this was addressed to me it took me several days to get this memorandum, It did not come directly to me, and I finally got the Copy I had after having to make several calls to get the copy So that the memorandum really was not directly to me and I think I did not, get, an original, rather I got a Xerox.