Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 6, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 6, 1973
[00.19.07] Senator ERVIN. Did he ask you anything about any efforts of -Mr. Magruder or others to persuade you to commit perjury? Mr. SLOAN. No, sir; he did not. Senator ERVIN. Were there any questions asked by him concerning' the activities of officers or employees of the Committee To Re-Elect the President? Mr. SLOAN. I do not believe so. I am not positive of that. Senator ERVIN, Were you present when Mr. Magruder was interrogated by counsel in the criminal prosecution? Mr. SLOAN. NO, sir; I have never been present when 'Mr. Magruder has been interrogated. Senator ERVIN. Were you present, when Mr. Silbert made his argument to the jury? Mr. SLOAN. No, sir. Senator ERVIN. Did you hear any statement, made by any counsel in the case that there was no evidence anybody was implicated in the Watergate affair except, the seven men on trial? Mr. SLOAN. I am not sure, Senator. The only period of my appearance at, the trial was just my own testimony. Senator ERVIN. Do you recall the prosecution of Bernard L. Barker in Miami in connection with an allegation about which he had falsely notarized a signature. of Kenneth Dahlberg? Mr. SLOAN. Yes, sir; I testified at, that trial. Senator ERVIN. Did you have. a conversation with anyone, with John Dean- did you have a conversation with anyone concerning the trial in Miami, Fla.? [00.20.38--DEAN is President's hitman on the coverup] Mr. SLOAN. I did not. I had one conversation with John Dean myself not specifically with regard to the trial but, in terms of the extradition proceedings in Virginia where he expressed a hope that my attorneys would oppose extradition. Following that, one of my attorneys, Mr. Treese, received a direct phone call from Mr. Dean. Senator ERVIN. Mr. James T. Treese, was your attorney and he is the gentleman sitting right behind your counsel there? Mr. SLOAN. Yes, sir; he is. Senator ERVIN. What did -Mr. Treese tell you that had occurred? Mr. SLOAN. He related to me that -Mr. Dean had called him and indicated that Hugh Sloan would be a real hero over here if he took the fifth amendment. Senator ERVIN. That is in Florida. You would be a real hero. Mr. SLOAN. Yes, sir. Senator ERVIN. Did Mr. Dean talk to you yourself about resisting extradition to testify in the Florida case?' Mr. SLOAN, Yes, sir. Senator ERVIN. And he advised you to oppose extradition? Mr. SLOAN. He expressed the hope that my attorneys would, yes, sir, Senator ERVIN. Mr. Treese, I wonder if you would mind testifying a moment. Just stand up and take the oath. Do you swear that the evidence that you shall give to the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Mr. TREESE. I do. Senator ERVIN. You were attorney for 'Mr. Hugh W. Sloan? Mr. TREESE. That, is correct. Senator ERVIN. And did you receive a call on or about October 21, 1972, in which you received you a suggestion about what Mr. Sloan should do about his testimony in Florida? Mr. TREESE. Senator, I received a call on October 31 on that subject. Senator ERVIN. Do You know who the call was from? Mr. TREESE. Yes, it, was from John Dean. Senator ERVIN. what conversation did you have with him? Mr. TREESE. Mr. Dean called trying to locate Mr. Sloan. That happened to be the day that Mr. Sloan and Mr. Stoner departed for Florida in order to participate in the trial in Miami. As a matter of fact , Mr. Dean had just missed Mr. Sloan, who had left, about a half hour before the call. he called to discuss the case very briefly with me and he said are you prepared to advise your client to take the fifth amendment? I laughed. I would like to explain that. I did not think it was particularly comical as I look back at it now, but taking it in the context of the events at that time, to invoke the fifth amendment on that kind of case, knowing Hugh Sloan as I did and knowing about the, case, what I did, was probably like swatting flies with sledge hammers. It was just so out of place and inappropriate that it did cause me to laugh. He pursued the matter and said Hugh could be a real hero around here if the took the fifth. [00.24.15--shot of SLOAN'S wife listening to testimony, SLOAN is out of frame, holds her hand] And I said, John, relax. Hugh is with Jim Stoner, he is fully protected, This case has absolutely nothing to do with the Watergate, it just happens to be a case that has come up involving one of the participants in the Watergate, he is going to draw an amount of publicity and attention and quite frankly, Senator, I believe at that time he was reacting in terms of public relations considerations rather than legal analysis of the case. I did make a promise to him to try to get hold of Hugh and Jim Stoner at National Airport by having them paged at the Eastern Airline counter and I signed off with him at that, point. I tried -to get them, it was about 15 minutes before their flight time and missed them. I called Mr. Dean back and said you have absolutely nothing to worry about, Mr. Dean, Hugh Sloan is not, going to take the fifth amendment. It, is totally inappropriate in a case of this nature. Senator ERVIN. Thank you very much. Mr. Sloan can come back to the stand. [00.25.34]