Impeachment Hearings: House Judiciary Committee, July 27, 1974 (2/2)
Impeachment Hearings: House Judiciary Committee, July 27, 1974 (2/2)
[00.20.57] Mr. MOORHEAD. And I think that, of course, they have a, right to express their opinion but I do think that -when we are considering such an important thing as the impeachment of a President that we ought to stick to the evidence that we have, and the very best interpretation of the evidence that we have. Some of the things that have been stated are just not borne out by the facts. I Just received a copy of the recent version that, was just given, It was stated first on June 22, 1972, the President publicly adopted as his position, and as factually accurate to the previous statements of Mitchell and Ziegler that the White House had no involvement whatsoever in the Watergate break-in, and that, the CRP had no legal, moral or ethical accountability for the break-in. There is absolutely no evidence that the President, had any knowledge of the involvement of White House people at the time that he made this statement. In fact, the evidence is to the contrary. He had been told that there was no involvement. It was also stated that the grounds for this section were that on August 20, 1972. The President publicly stated that at the President's direction Dean had conducted a complete investigation which indicated that, no one in the White House staff or in the administration Was involved in the Watergate, and that the CRP -was also conducting an investigation of the Watergate. Ehrlichman directed Dean to conduct an investigation to see if anyone in the White House was involved. No one presently employed in the White House -was involved. as was stated. True, there had been one man in the White House that had been there previously that had left. The, third statement was given that on October 5, 1972, the President publicly stated that he wanted every lead carried out by the FBI to the end, "because I wanted to be sure that no member of the White House staff and no man or woman in a position of major responsibility in the Committee for the Re-election had anything to do -with this kind of reprehensible activities." This statement was true. The President did tell Mr. Gray to pursue his investigation. This goes down the line, and I do not intend to go through all of these various sections, but I want one thing very clear, and that is presentation of the live witness before this committee, from the present, it is apparent that Mr. Dean was the man in the White House that had the, responsibility to look into the Watergate investigation. And Mr. Colson told us here, with no ax to grind, that everything was forwarded to Dean that pertained to the. Watergate. Dean was the man that they looked to for any investigation that -was done. And when we listened to the tape of the conversation between the President and Mr. Dean prior to Mr. Dean going up to Camp David, the President's comment, and I do not remember the exact words, was well, this will give you an opportunity to think about the things that have happened and to prepare a report. Mr. Dean went to Camp David, did not prepare a report, although he was again specifically ordered to do so while he was there. I guess his involvement was too deep for him to really be able to prepare something. And as a result, Mr. Dean came back without the report for the President. But, it is perfectly clear that the President looked to Dean for the investigation, for information on this matter. The CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentleman FROM California has expired. The gentleman from Indiana. Mr. DENNIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [01.25.02]