Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 7, 1973. Testimony of Herbert Porter.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
David Dorsen, attorney. You are now recounting what, Mr. Magruder told you. Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir. David Dorsen, attorney. Please continue. Herbert Porter, CRP aide. He said that I believe at that time Mr. Liddy had been fired from the campaign. He said it was apparent" was the word he used, that Mr. Liddy and others had on their own, illegally participated in the break in of the Watergate Democratic National Committee and Mr. Magruder swore to me that neither he nor anybody higher than Mr. Liddy in the campaign organization or at the White House had any involvement whatsoever in Watergate, at the Watergate break-in. And reinforced that by saying, "Doesn't that sound like something stupid that Gordon would do?" and you have to know Mr. Liddy, I agreed with that. [Laughter]
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Herbert Porter, CRP aide. He said, "I want to assure you now that no one did." He said, however there is a problem with some of the money. He said, now Gordon was authorized money for some dirty tricks, nothing illegal, he said, but nonetheless, things that could be very embarrassing to the President of the United States and to Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Haldeman and others. Now, your name was brought up as someone who we can count on to help in this situation. And I asked what is it you are asking me to do. And he said would you corroborate a story that the money was authorized for something a little bit more legitimate sounding than dirty tricks, even though the dirty tricks were legal it still would be very embarrassing.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Now he said you re aware that the Democrats have filed a civil suit against this committee. I said, yes, I have read that in the paper. He said, do you know what immediate discovery is? I said, I do not. He said, they may get immediate discovery which means they can come in at any minute and swoop in on our committee and take all of the files and subpoena all of the records. And you know what would happen if they did that. I conjured up in my mind that scene and became rather excitable. And no, I didn't want to see that. So I said, well, be specific. And he said, well, you were in charge of the surrogate campaign. You were very concerned about radical elements disrupting rallies and so forth. And I said yes. And he said, suppose that we had authorized Liddy instead of the dirty tricks, we d authorized him to infiltrate some of these radical groups. He said, how could such a program have cost $100,000? And I thought very quickly of a conversation I had had with a young man in California in December, as a matter of fact. And I said, Jeb that is very easy. You could get 10 college-age students or 24 or 25 year old students, people over a period of 10 months. Mr. Magruder had prefaced his remark by saying from December on. And I said, you can pay them $1,000 a month which they would take their expenses out of that and that is $100,000. I said, that is not very much for a $45 million campaign. And he said, now, that is right. Would you be willing, if I made that statement to the FBI, would you be willing to corroborate that when I came to you in December and asked you how much it would cost that that is what you said? That was the net effect, the net of his question. I thought for a moment and I said, yes, I probably would do that. I don't remember saying yes, but I am sure I gave Mr. Magruder the impression I would probably do that and that was the end of the conversation.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
David Dorsen, attorney. Now, Mr. Porter, did the conversation you agreed to tell the FBI actually take place? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Sir? David Dorsen, attorney. Did the conversation which you agreed with Mr. Magruder that you would tell to the FBI actually take place in December of 1971? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. No, sir, it did not take place in December. David Dorsen, attorney. Later, did you tell the FBI what Mr. Magruder asked you to tell them? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir, I did. David Dorsen, attorney. And subsequent to that did you appear before Federal grand jury? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir. David Dorsen, attorney. Were you asked about the surrogate candidate program? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir. David Dorsen, attorney. What did you tell the Federal grand jury? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. The same thing. David Dorsen, attorney. Were you a witness at the trial of the seven defendants who were indicted in the Watergate case? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir. David Dorsen, attorney. And did you give the same account? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir, I did.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
David Dorsen, attorney. Did Mr. Magruder ask you to make any other statements which you knew to be false? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Yes, sir, he did. David Dorsen, attorney. What did he ask you? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. Shortly after that, he asked me to, if I would increase the amount of money that I was going to say that I gave to Mr. Liddy. And I said, no, I would not do that. He said, why not? I said because I just, absolutely, I didn t give him that amount of money and I won t say I gave him that amount of money. I said the conversation that you are asking me to relate, I can conceive of it happening because I would have told you that in December if you had asked me. And that is a strange answer, but that is the answer I gave him. And I would not increase the amount of money. He wanted me to say that I gave Mr. Liddy $75,000, when in fact I had given him some $30,000 to $35,000, $32,000. David Dorsen, attorney. Did Mr. Magruder tell you why he wanted the higher figure? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. No, sir, he did not.
Watergate Hearings - Testimony of Herbert Porter, June 7, 1973.
David Dorsen, attorney. When was the first time you told any investigatory body that you had not testified truthfully at the grand jury and at the trial? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. April 18th, I believe. David Dorsen, attorney. 1973? Herbert Porter, CRP aide. 1973, yes, sir. David Dorsen, attorney. Mr. Chairman, I have no further questions at this time. Senator Sam Ervin (D North Carolina). We have a vote on in the Senate, so it will be necessary for us to take a recess so the members of the committee can go and vote.