Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 19
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 19
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 1973 - Testimony of Bruce A Kehrli, Special Assistant to the President United States Senate Caucus Room, Washington DC
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 19
Senator ERVIN. Senator Gurney. Senator GURNEY (R-FL). Thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr. Kehrli, I want to talk a little bit about the White House organization and especially those people closest around the President. Who saw the President the most of the time, more frequently than others? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Haldeman. Senator GURNEY. Who else? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Ehrlichman. Senator GURNEY. Who else? Mr. KEHRLI. I would say .... Senator GURNEY. Would Mr. Ziegler have seen him? Mr. KEHRLI. Well Mr. Ziegler that's right, but beyond that it would be a toss up as to the rest of the staff. Senator GURNEY. What about Mr. Chapin? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Chapin dealt primarily through Mr. Haldeman. Senator GURNEY. What was Mr. Haldeman's previous employment? Mr. KEHRLI. Pardon me sir? Senator GURNEY. What was Mr. Haldeman's previous employment? Mr. KEHRLI. He was with the J. Walter Thompson advertising company. Senator GURNEY. Where did Mr. Chapin come from, before he came .... Mr. KEHRLI. The same company. Senator GURNEY. Was he brought in by Mr. Haldeman? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he was. Senator GURNEY. Who was Mr. Ziegler with before he came to the White House? Mr. KEHRLI. He was also with J. Walter Thomas and company. Senator GURNEY. Was he brought in by Mr. Haldeman? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he was. Senator GURNEY. What about Mr. Ehrlichman, was he ever with J. Walter Thompson? Mr. KEHRLI. No, I don't think so. (smiling) Senator GURNEY. Was he a very close friend of Mr. Haldeman's? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he was. Senator GURNEY. What was that past friendship and association? Mr. KEHRLI. Well, the only I can relate is what I have read and they were evidently friends during their college days. Senator GURNEY. Who were you previously employed by? Mr. KEHRLI. I was with J. Walter Thompson and Company. (courtroom laughs)
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 19
Senator GURNEY. Now who were the people who budgeted the Presidents time, I mean by that, who were most responsible for those people who saw the President and those people who did not see the President? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Chapin was responsible for the Presidents schedule, and that was done on a weekly and a daily basis, a long range weekly schedule followed up by a daily basis, by a daily schedule. Mr. Butterfield was responsible for implementing that daily schedule. Senator GURNEY. Who was Mr. Butterfield? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Butterfield on the chart on the far right, reported to Mr. Haldeman and he was, he had an office right outside the President's door, and he was responsible for implementing the President's schedule on a daily basis, making sure that the appointments were there on time, that when people came in they were positioned correctly, things of this nature. Senator GURNEY. And he reported to Mr. Haldeman? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he did. Senator GURNEY. And Mr. Chapin reported to Mr. Haldeman? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes he did. Senator GURNEY. Did anybody who had anything to do with budgeting the president's time report to anybody else but Mr. Haldeman? Mr. KEHRLI. No. Senator GURNEY. Are you familiar at all in your job in the White House with the people that the President saw daily, during your time there? (MS courtroom with Mr. Kehrli seated in FG) Mr. KEHRLI. You mean was I aware of his daily schedule? Senator GURNEY. Yes, I mean would you be generally familiar with the people he saw or ....? Mr. KEHRLI. I received a copy of his daily schedule, so I saw the names of the people that he saw daily. Senator GURNEY. I see. Mr. KEHRLI. That were on the published schedule, now he often would call other people over and that wouldn't be on the published schedule because, obviously you couldn't keep it up on a minute to minute basis. It was issued in the morning and if it changed during the day, then it wasn't worth issuing a new one to everybody on the staff. Senator GURNEY. Would you generally be aware of people who came to see him, even though they weren't on the regular schedule? Mr. KEHRLI. No I would not be. My office is located in the basement of the White House out of the traffic flow. Senator GURNEY. Of those people that you are aware of who saw the President, because you did see the daily schedule, did many senators ever visit the President? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes quite a few, and he also he used to have as I remember or and he still does breakfasts for members of Congress. Senator GURNEY. But I mean on a personal basis, talking to him in his own private office, with him personally. Mr. KEHRLI. I don't have an exact number, but I do remember senators and congressmen on the schedule, yes sir. Senator GURNEY. Were these frequent visitors? Mr. KEHRLI. I really can't comment on the frequency of the visits.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 19
Senator GURNEY. How about Republican National Committee Chairman was he ever on the visitors list very often? Mr. KEHRLI. He was on the visitor list. Senator GURNEY. Very often? Mr. KEHRLI. It's difficult to say what, how often he was in there, more than once. Senator GURNEY. Would you say frequently? Mr. KEHRLI. How would you term frequently? Senator GURNEY. Well, you term it, I mean you saw the schedule, I didn't. Mr. KEHRLI. I would say ..... Senator GURNEY. Once a month? Mr. KEHRLI. Once a month is probably a good ... Senator GURNEY. That would be about right. Mr. KEHRLI. That's right. Senator GURNEY. What about other Republican Party People, State Chairman or other people who worked within the party, did you ever see them on the schedule? Mr. KEHRLI. I may have, but they weren't listed as State Chairman and I probably wouldn't recognize the names. Senator GURNEY. But at any rate, the people who saw the President were carefully screened by Mr. Haldeman and those people that we have talked about here who were brought to the White House by Mr. Haldeman, is that right? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Haldeman was responsible for putting together the Presidents schedule and based on I'm sure conversations with the President on what time was available and how it was to be used. Senator GURNEY. Would you have any idea how many people on the White House staff, how many were there now total staff? Mr. KEHRLI. A total on the White House staff, approximately 500. Now there s a confusing point there, and that I'm speaking only to the White House office, and the Domestic Council for instance, the National Security Council, the Council of Economic Advisors all of which are housed in the Executive office building White House office complex are not included in that 500. Senator GURNEY. I'm talking about the 500, the staffed. Mr. KEHRLI. Yes. Senator GURNEY. Who recruited most of those people, would you say? Mr. KEHRLI. It was done, I can speak only from the time in November of 1970 when I came on the White House roles, and they were recruited by the personnel office primarily. Senator GURNEY. And who was in charge of that? Mr. KEHRLI. Fred Malek. Senator GURNEY. Who brought Fred Malek to the White House? Mr. KEHRLI. I assume Bob Haldeman did, although I can't answer that for a fact because I arrived almost on the same day that Fred Malek arrived. Senator GURNEY. Well is it fair to say that all people who came on board, regardless of who they were recruited were okayed or turned down by Mr. Haldeman, is that fair to say? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Haldeman did want to be made aware, as he was responsible for them, of all members of the White House staff, all new members. And he was made aware of anyone of by one of the staff members if they wanted to bring an individual on. Senator GURNEY. Did you ever hire anybody for your staff? Mr. KEHRLI. No I didn't. Senator GURNEY. Did you have a staff? Mr. KEHRLI. I do now, yes. My staff is primarily career employees. One of my basic responsabilities is the 280 or so career government employees who serve the President, the office of the President year in and year out.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 19
Senator GURNEY. I see. Tell me, was one of your responsabilities the White House payroll? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes, I was responsible for monitoring the White House payroll. Senator GURNEY. What do you mean by monitoring? Mr. KEHRLI. Well, whenever for instance any raises of professional employees were sent to Mr. Haldeman for approval. I approved all raises for people below that level, in other words clerical types, secretaries. Senator GURNEY. Did you ever handle any monies that were paid to White House personnel that were not federal payroll monies? Mr. KEHRLI. No. Senator GURNEY. Did you ever handle any cash at any time? Mr. KEHRLI. I did, as I talking before about one of my responsabilities being that making sure that anything the President did, or that his staff did in supporting him while he was participating in a political event, was covered by funds by the Committee to Re-Elect the President, as opposed to appropriated funds. We did have a problem at one point, for instance when the President would fly somewhere and they needed to stock the plane, provision it with food, the way we had it set up was to have the military people go out and purchase the food, put it aboard the plane. Rather than having them, and most of them were low level military people put out money and have to be re-paid, we brought over some cash and paid them in advance to buy this food. Senator GURNEY. These were all monies paid in direct support of the president .... Mr. KEHRLI. Absolutely. Senator GURNEY. ... at any particular time. Senator Ed GURNEY (R-FL). And you testified that you made no cash payments to anybody other than in this area that you're now describing. Mr. KEHRLI. To the best of my knowledge, yes. Senator GURNEY. Well now, what does that mean? Mr. KEHRLI. Well, I can't remember any. Senator GURNEY. Do you think that you did? Mr. KEHRLI. No. Senator GURNEY. Do you know of any people on the White House staff who were paid monies by anybody else? That were not federal payroll monies? Mr. KEHRLI. No I don't, no.
Watergate Hearings: Senate Select Committee Hearings on Presidential Campaign Activities, May 17, 19
Senator GURNEY. Were you responsible for the assigning of office space in the White House and also in the Executive Mansion? Mr. KEHRLI. Yes sir. Senator GURNEY. What was the disposition of the office space assigned to Mr. Liddy and Mr. McCord and Mr. Hunt, after they were removed from the White House payroll, do you recall? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Hunts office was in a block of space that it had been assigned to Mr. Colson, what we don't assign specific offices within a staff, we assign a block of space to a staff and let them divide it up as they wish. Senator GURNEY. And what about Mr. McCord and Mr. Hunt? Mr. KEHRLI. I never knew Mr. McCord. Senator GURNEY. How about Mr. Hunt? Mr. KEHRLI. Mr. Hunt had an office in room 338. Senator GURNEY. Was that the executive office building? Mr. KEHRLI. Of the executive office building, that's right. Senator GURNEY. And what happened to his office after he was removed from the federal payroll? Mr. KEHRLI. It was left within the Colson operation and I don't know who was sitting in there now. Senator GURNEY. Was that part of the block of the offices that Colson was .... Mr. KEHRLI. He had people in various spots within the executive office building. Senator GURNEY. After these people were removed from the federal payroll, do you know whether they had access to their offices, after that time? Mr. KEHRLI. No I do not. Senator GURNEY. You don't know whether they used the telephones? Mr. KEHRLI. No I do not. Senator GURNEY. What happened to their file cabinets ..... Mr. KEHRLI. I know what happened to Mr. Hunt's file cabinet. (laughs) Senator GURNEY. Yes, well I'm not going into that. That's all Mr. Chairman.