Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 6, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 6, 1973
[00.07.16] Senator ERVIN. Well, on July 4 Mr. LaRue obtained from you the $40,000 which you had taken from the committee safes and put in the trunk at, your home. Mr. SLOAN. That, is correct. Senator ERVIN. And Mr. Stans gave the. $40,000 that he, had assumed custody of to Mr. LaRue, Mr. SLOAN. That, is what he indicated to Me when I checked on the propriety of having turned that money over to Mr. LaRue. [00.07.44] Senator ERVIN. That same day or same evening Mr. 'Magruder called you and asked you to come to the Black Horse Tavern. Mr. SLOAN. Yes, Sir. Senator ERVIN. And you went, to the Black Horse Tavern and Mr. Magruder suggested to you that you and he go down and talk to the U.S. District Attorney Titus, Mr. SLOAN. Yes, Senator ERVIN. And he wanted you to tell Mr. Titus that, you had given only approximately $40,000 to Mr. Liddy. Mr. SLOAN. Yes, sir. Senator ERVIN. -Now, had you told Mr. Magruder ruder or did you tell him in this conversation that the amounts you had given to Mr. Liddy was $199,000 or thereabouts? Mr. SLOAN. I don't believe I did on that occasion. The next morning, I knew he. knew that that was not a correct figure, which he himself had authorized a figure in the magnitude of $83,000. Senator ERVIN. You told him you Would talk to him the next day about it. Mr. SLOAN. Yes, sir. [00.08.40] Senator ERVIN, You did talk to him the next day and you told him if you went down to see District Attorney Titus dial, you wore going to make a disclosure of the truth in respect to the amounts you gave to Mr. Liddy. Mr. SLOAN, Yes, Sir. Senator ERVIN. And Mr. Magruder pursued the subject no further. Mr. SLOAN. That is correct). Senator ERVIN. On the evening of July 6, you met with Mr. Kenneth Parkinson and Mr. Paul O'Brien, Counsel for the Committee To ]Re-Elect the President. Mr. SLOAN. That is correct. Senator ERVIN. And they suggested that, they were afraid you would be called before the grand jury very soon and it would be well for your health, and the committee's health, and somebody's health for you to take a trip to California. Mr. SLOAN-. Senator, I think I expressed the concern about the grand jury. I said I was trying to get information as to what I was Supposed to do. My personnel themselves had been subpenaed that same day and in response to my concerns, they had not talked to me prior to that that point. I reviewed the entire financial disbursements to these key individuals with them. They were shocked by that. They indicated they had been lied to and requested of myself to consider a trip to give them time to confront the officials which they indicated to me had lied to them and they did not identify the officials. Senator ERVIN. Then that night after you got I home you got a from Fred LaRue who urged you to go to California. Mr. SLOAN. Yes, sir, that is right. As a matter of fact, he urged to leave the house that evening. Senator ERVIN. Did he give you any reason why he thought that you ought to go to California? Mr. SLOAN. I just do not recall, Senator. It certainly was in the context, I think, of the grand jury appearance that--- Senator ERVIN. Did anybody, did Mr. LaRue, or anybody else about that time tell you that it would be well for you to be out of town a few days so they could get some stories arranged or anything like that? Mr. SLOAN. No, sir. Senator ERVIN. No reason whatever was given for it being desirable for you going to California. Mr. SLOAN. The reason was they wished time to confront the officials at the committee. My information was new to them. They wanted to confront the committee officials who presumably had given them different information than I had. Senator ERVIN. Now, you did go to California for several days and when you came back I believe it was Friday, the 13th of July. Mr. SLOAN. Yes, sir. [00.11.22] Senator ERVIN. That is an unlucky day, I have always heard. At that time Mr. Fred LaRue met you at the Watergate restaurant and advised you that you ought, to either commit perjury or take the fifth amendment if you went before the grand jury. Mr. SLOAN. No, sir; I don't think he advised me to commit perjury, I think the emphasis in that conversation was he was implying to me that I had campaign law problems and that I should very well consider the option of taking the fifth amendment. It was at that point that I told him of the decisions I had already made and I told him in saying I would not consider the fifth amendment. I would also not consider perjury, I had every intention of telling the truth as I knew it. Senator ERVIN. Had he made any suggestion to you at that time or prior to that time that you ought to minimize in your testimony before the grand jury the amount that you had given to Mr. Liddy? Mr. SLOAN. Not in relation to any particular proceedings but very early in the first week he had suggested to me that the, amount,, and I did not have a precise figure, but I knew the general magnitude, would be very politically sensitive and damaging and there was L need to come in with a lesser figure. Senator ERVIN. Anyway, you drew the inference that Mr. LaRue thought and expressed the thoughts at the meeting at the Watergate restaurant that the only alternatives open for you, as he saw it, was either to minimize the amount that you had given 'Mr. Liddy or to plead the fifth amendment? Mr. SLOAN. By the time of the Watergate meeting, the luncheon, I do not know if we were at that point, even talking the Liddy figure, any longer. I think he was talking about the fifth amendment, to deny, any information on this subject, period. [00.13.19]