Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 7, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 7, 1973
[00.47.23] Senator BAKER. I am sure you understand why I asked that question. Mr. SLOAN. Yes, Sir. Senator BAKER. Because at some future time this committee. presumably will have to judge the likelihood or the appropriateness of the conduct of others in response to the information you imparted, your frame of mind, your attitude, and the quality and scope of your warnings or admonitions. It is important for me to know that quality, the subjective quality of concern as it relates to the future testimony of, say, Mr. Chapin, Mr. Ehrlichman, Mr. Haldeman, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Stans. Mr. SLOAN. Yes, sir, I understand. Senator BAKER. Does the description which you have given us, which obviously is subject to many interpretations, that of the general type warning, that all of these meetings or were there variations of it, say, with Mr. Mitchell or with Mr. Ehrlichman or Mr. Haldeman? Mr. SLOAN. Of course, in the case of Mr. Haldeman, this was sort of after the fact. It wasn't, a warning situation at all, it was merely: It is all over, I am going MY way, I want to pass through on the way out to be sure that you understand why I did what I have done. As far as I was concerned somebody somewhere had already made their decision between me and how they were going to go in this matter, which was a moot point. So I don't--he for instance, in this meeting discussed Mr. Chapin, what a difficult decision it had been for him, a man who had been very close to the power, to the President personally, which I had not been, to make the decision to go into the private sector. We discussed this in terms of the proper age for a young man who is not, because of being in an appointed position with a partisan administration, is not a career government official, you have to make a personal decision at, some point where you are going to provide in the long term for your family. Senator BAKER. I think I understand your point of view and just, for the sake of time I am going to ask one final question that, is even more patently subjective, but the committee will weigh it for whatever it is worth, if you can answer it. The questions I have asked so far on this subject, obviously lead to one master question, and that is, in your judgment, did the men to whom you talked, Mr. Chapin, Mr. Ehrlichman, Mr. Haldeman, Mr. Stans, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Magruder, did the men to whom you talked respond in your judgement in an appropriate way to the quality or the intensity of your admonition, warning or conversation? Mr. SLOAN. Senator, if I could I would answer that question in terms of how problems within a campaign are normally addressed. I mean it is not only for me but it was quite clear potentially there was great damage coming to the campaign just by nothing else, guilt by association, because the campaign is the very logical place to look for suspects in a case of bugging of the opposing party's headquarters. But the thing that disturbed me was not, the negative response but lack of positive response. In a sense that if you had a problem about gift, tax You get all of the appropriate people on the committee together and sit down and talk about it. As far as I know, in view of the knowledge I had about the money I could not believe that, at some point in time he, didn't have a situation develop where more than two people get together in a room at any one, time. This creates, a climate as you go through this, perhaps suspect what might be going on. I don't know 'Whether that is characterized very well but it did not seem to be a normal response given the nature of the problem. Senator BAKER. I am not sure-your response is ,it least as good as my question. We will lot it stay there, Mr. Sloan, you dropped one little pearl there that, I can't, resist picking when you said the bugging of each other's headquarters, do you have any information about that? Mr. SLOAN. No, sir. That was a slip. I have no knowledge of that. [Laughter.] Senator BAKER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator ERVIN. Senator Gurney. Senator GURNEY. No. Senator ERVIN. Senator Montoya. Senator MONTOYA. No questions. Senator ERVIN. Senator Weicker. Senator WEICKER. No questions. Senator ERVIN. Then, I would suggest that we close with letting counsel and minority counsel ask quite a few questions that they may have. [00.51.55]