Impeachment Hearings: House Judiciary Committee, July 26, 1974 (1/2)
Impeachment Hearings: House Judiciary Committee, July 26, 1974 (1/2)
[00.22.08] Mr. WALDIE. Mr. Chairman, let me continue elaborating on the events that transpired immediately, immediately after the arrest of five employees of the Committee To Re-Elect the President, one employee of the White House, two employees of the White House that were fugitives immediately thereafter on June 17, to determine whether the President began implementing, immediately a policy of coverup, and I say he did and the, evidence justifies that. it 'Was evolving policy but the essential component of that policy was coverup. protect the 1972 election, but the information that occurs from Saturday June 17, immediately after the burglary, through June 22 enormously important information. These people are involved in the scenario as it is referred to at that particular moment in time. In Washington are Mr. Ehrlichman, Mr. Liddy and Mr. Kleindienst and Mr. Dean. In Key Biscayne are the President, and Mr. Haldeman and Mr. Ziegler and *in Los Angles are Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Magruder, Mr. LaRue, Mr. Mardian. The. phone conversations between those three varied points in this country practically burns up the wires immediately on Saturday as they discussed enormously dangerous event. Dangerous to whom? Dangerous to the President. The, first notice that the President got of it, according to Colson, was when he called the President--the President called Colson, as President had apparently heard from Haldeman who had already heard that Hunt, employee of the White House, was involved Hunt, he of the Plumbers and the White House horrors. When President was informed by Colson of what had happened it is alleged the President, threw in ashtray across the room. Vial, is not, the reaction of a man who is not aware. The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman will suspend until the committee is in order and the committee is not in order. The gentleman from California. MR. WALDIE. I thank the chairman and I thank the committee. That is not ,in action of -in individual who is learning for the first time in his life that there has been a burglary in Washington. D.C. I There are. burglaries that occur in Washington. D.C. with sufficient frequency that when the Presidents are informed, they don't throw ashtrays across the room. The next thing, we understand on that same day Mr. Liddy, one the burglars, goes to the Attorney General, and at the direction we are told of Mr. Mitchell, the former Attorney General, goes to Kleindienst, the very brain of the, burglary. and says to Kleindienst you have got to get our boys out of jail. And Kleindienst said, "Get out Of here." Interestingly enough, that's all Kleindienst said or did. He didn't say what are our boys doing in jail, or who are they, let's get to the bottom of this. And what are you doing out of jail. The Attorney General didn't say that. So, he understood what was going on. Mr. Ehrlichman called the President. Actually he didn't, he called Mr. Haldeman on Sunday, the day following the burglary from Washington to Key Biscayne, and he told Mr. Haldeman of the involvement of old Mr. McCord, a security officer for the Committee to Re-Elect President, and the involvement of Mr. Hunt, who was an employee of the White House, and whom the President knew had been involved In plumbers activities He told Mr. Haldeman that Mr. Haldeman was told by Ehrlichman that Mr. Mitchell had authorized, with Haldeman, a plan to procure political intelligence by bugging. He told him it was financed by CRP funds. and that Hunt and Liddy were in this team that had been involved in previous activities. NOW, do you really believe that Haldeman, the closest confidant advisor of the President, on Sunday, June 18, when told these startling and damaging facts did not convey them to the President in Key Biscayne? Was he that disloyal that he would not convey to the president something as enormously important to the President's election? That does not add up to common sense. Of course, he had convey it to the President, The next thing we know in terms of Presidential involvement is that the President called Mr. Colson, a good friend of Mr. Hunt, on Monday, from Key Biscayne. The President calls Mr. Colson and they talked for an hour. Mr. Colson had probably had more phone calls from more people in high levels of Government over those 1) days since the break-in than anybody in America, because Mr. Colson had brought Mr. Hunt into -White House employ, and they were worried about Mr. Hunt because Mr. Hunt at that point was a fugitive. They only knew he was employed by the White House, but they wanted to know, is he, off the payroll of the White House. So, everybody was calling 'Mr. Colson, including the President, and everybody that called testified 'they called Mr. Colson to find out about Hunt. Mr. Colson said that why the President called him. They discussed Watergate. It was common knowledge in Washington, there had been a burglary and President wanted to carry on a little conversation from Key Biscayne, calling Colson in Washington on a subject just to talk about a burglary. You know he asked Colson what he knew about Hunt. Then, June 20, all the President's men gather in Washington and the meetings that take place are these: Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Mitchell meet. Dean and Kleindienst join with them on the morning of the 20th, and they discuss strategy for Watergate. That's all they really discuss, and there is really no question about that in anybody's--- The CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentleman has expired. [00.28.31]