Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 6, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 6, 1973
[00.55.24] Mr. SLOAN. I, in destroying the backup material, I did so with the clear and positive understanding relayed to me by him that he intended the material I gave him, which covered the same transactions essentially in a different, format as a permanent record of the campaign. I assumed that that record would still be in existence but it evidently is not. Senator GURNEY. And you also understood as part of that transaction that he wanted you to get rid of the backup information there would only be one copy in his possession. Mr. SLOAN. I suppose it is an inference he asked for one and recommendations to me or the conversation that led to my destroying the earlier reports and the summary book was with Mr. Kalmbach. when I asked his advice now that we have checked this all out and I and have this final report ready, what do you think I ought to do with these records? He operated as my boss through the entire earlier period, had a very close relationship with Secretary Stans, he was clearly a person I would look to for guidance in this kind of situation. Senator GURNEY. Now then, on this whole business of cash, some of which was deposited according to the graph up there, and some was paid out. Was there any general discussion between YOU and Mr. Stans or anybody else as to how cash was to be handled, that is, what was to be kept in safes and what was to be deposited in bank accounts? I would say the physical security of the money would be a judgment I would have made as To where to keep it. I would say, on handling of any deposits or any distributions of funds, I never made--- one possible exception of reimbursing somebody for a travel expense when there wasn't somebody else to write a check -I would say virtually every decision was made by somebody else, and with regard to the deposits, all those instructions came from Secretary Stans. Senator GURNEY. Well, what were those instructions? You come on board as treasurer and Stans is the fundraiser. Somebody must, have said all cash that comes in we are going to put In a lockbox or a safe. Did anybody say that? When did they said it Who made that decision? Mr. SLOAN. Senator, it goes all The way back to March 1971 and I am not quite sure how it evolved. but it was clearly MY responsibility in terms of preserving the physical security and a record of what was received in cash and what, was not. Senator GURNEY. I understand that. BUT my question really is, who made the decision that cash would be kept in safes and lockboxes and not deposited in bank accounts? Mr. SLOAN. I would have to make an assumption here because I would not make the decision myself. I would suspect that, this procedure evolved back in the period of time because cash was being received then and It has always been handled essentially the same way by Mr. Kalmbach. As to the making deposits out of this, in reviewing periodically the interim reports on cash funds and balance on hand in the office, Secretary Stans often said in the pre-April 7 period, this is too high a balance. we don't need that much. Why don't you deposit $100,000 in $3,000 increments among a number of our committees, and I would follow that instruction Senator GURNEY. Well, now, when he said, this is too much we do not need this much--what did he think he needed the amount that he was keeping in cash for, anyway? Mr. SLOAN. Senator 1 am not sure. He was fully aware that people were drawing on a cash fund. He was fully aware that people did have, authority to come to him. I do not know how he made his estimate of what the appropriate amount available for any one time was. Senator GURNEY. Well, now, may I try 'to reconstruct the testimony As I understand It, from your understanding as the keeper of the money here, you first got the. idea from Kalmbach that cash Money was to be kept either in lockboxes or in safes. Is that right" Mr. SLOAN, I am sure it came from him. the more I think about it, because it was from him that I got the initial instructions on Who should be the signatories on a safe deposit box and a procedure to have more than one signature for access if two people would have to go at any one, time. [01.00.10]